Good Deal?

Lud

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Hey guys. I have been looking for a 4runner for some time now reading peoples posts and just getting an idea. I owned a 99 2wd and loved it and wanted to get another one but 4wd this time. Mine was a green limited. Well i found one pretty close to me and it is in really good shape. at least it appears to be and i can go to the dealership and get all the service records from 2001. It is a 2000 sr5 4x4. Cloth interior with manual windows (how common is manual windows) anyways it has the sport hood and only 131000 miles on it. I asked if there where any major accidents and he said no but on the repairs they had the transmission rebuilt 2 years ago. I talked to his GF and she said that the car wouldnt shift (strawberry milkshake?) so they had it rebuilt. I asked if they replaced the raditor and said he didnt know but would ask the dealer tomorrow. the timing belt was also replaced at 61,000 in 2006. what would be a good price to pay for it. I think i have an idea of what its worth but just asking some of youall's opinion for what a cali 4runner is worth He sent me a bunch of pictures and I went and saw it. It had some sun fading which i dont care about but other than that its in great shape. He was a really cool guy and knows its pending on the sale of my jeep which i should be getting back next week. He was talking about holding it for me.
5If5K35M83F33N13Hac8qcf516b80f81b1c1e.jpg


Thanks
Ryan
 
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Hey guys. I have been looking for a 4runner for some time now reading peoples posts and just getting an idea. I owned a 99 2wd and loved it and wanted to get another one but 4wd this time. Mine was a green limited. Well i found one pretty close to me and it is in really good shape. at least it appears to be and i can go to the dealership and get all the service records from 2001. It is a 2000 sr5 4x4. Cloth interior with manual windows (how common is manual windows) anyways it has the sport hood and only 131000 miles on it. I asked if there where any major accidents and he said no but on the repairs they had the transmission rebuilt 2 years ago. I talked to his GF and she said that the car wouldnt shift (strawberry milkshake?) so they had it rebuilt. I asked if they replaced the raditor and said he didnt know but would ask the dealer tomorrow. the timing belt was also replaced at 61,000 in 2006. what would be a good price to pay for it. I think i have an idea of what its worth but just asking some of youall's opinion for what a cali 4runner is worth He sent me a bunch of pictures and I went and saw it. It had some sun fading which i dont care about but other than that its in great shape. He was a really cool guy and knows its pending on the sale of my jeep which i should be getting back next week. He was talking about holding it for me.
5If5K35M83F33N13Hac8qcf516b80f81b1c1e.jpg


Thanks
Ryan

Manual Windows are pretty common back in 2000, You had to pay for power or it already came with it for some models.

Have you driven the 4runner yet? Not all accidents and mechanical problems show up on reports. 131,000 miles is good for an old 4runner, maybe too good?

I ALWAYS DO THIS IF IM BUYING A VEHICLE!
If you are going to drive it, try this.....

"The Accident Test"
If you are going to test drive it, a way to see if it has had an accident or a bent frame is to drive going about 35 and let your hands off the wheel(have the wheel straight) and slowly apply brakes. (Do it on a straight road btw) If it slowly goes to the left or right and you can notice it, it probably has a bent frame resulting from an accident or something else. Also look under the 4runner and at the frame to see if it has damage.

I've test driven a car with a bent frame, it will jerk whichever way it was bent. I didn't buy it.

If it was me who was buying it, I would offer 4,900 cash or less.
 
hes asking 9500. I have the vin to do a car fax search. Ive never heard of that braking test to check for bent frame, so i will have i will have to do that when i test drive it. I didnt test drive it as it was rush hour and i wanted to get it on the highway and i was some what under a time constraint. the interior is in great shape and underneath as looks very clean as well. i started it and let it run for a few while i checked underneath and couldnt see it leaking anywhere. any other little tips and tricks that i could do. im still waiting on the service records from the owner but i know i can go to the dealer and get them.

I remember reading something about taking the dip stick out and see if oil comes out while its running. whats that for?

Thanks
Ryan
 
I would be concerned about the rebuild as well, make sure it was done right by someone who does good work. There's a Toyota tech on here that I wouldn't even trust for an oil change given some of the things he's said, so just because it's a dealer doesn't mean it's good work. Get receipts and check online reviews.

Also, the timing belt at 61K? I believe the timer dings at 80K for that... Memory is fallible so check me on that, but that might be another flag. What about the water pump? Valves are supposed to be adjusted somewhere in there as well if I recall and are very seldom done (I've been in a lot of cars and maintenance schedules aren't the sort of thing I typically commit to memory). How do the valve covers look? Anything leaking underneath? Steering rack, transfer case, transmission, oil pan, etc. Check to make sure the valve cover bolts aren't over torqued (sounds like a common thing to do to make valve cover gasket leaks worse instead of replacing the gaskets). Make sure no one has done the deck plate or ISR mods (and then continue not doing them). Is the spare still under there? Roll down the windows and drive on a semi bumpy road with buildings on either side. Listen for external rattles AND internal rattles.

If you're curious about accidents, look for the vin stickers. They should be present on every major panel and they should all match. They're the little white (and maybe a holographic component, again if memory serves) stickers found on the sides of the doors, both front fenders, hood, if you look down the grille there should be one on a tab on the right I think for the front bumper, tail gate, body, etc. If any are missing or don't match it's been in an accident.

Carfax is a complete waste of money. It only reports things that were reported to them, and the only thing REQUIRED to be reported to them are accidents that aren't reparable without some safety concern, air bags, etc. If the VIN stickers are all present your frame should be fine minus any rust concerns. Oil coming out of the dipstick hole would be indication of a messed up PCV valve... Not sure why you would go out of your way to do that. Don't look for active drops of leaking things on the ground, look for wet spots on the car itself on the bottoms of things that have liquids in them.

For $9,500 those record need to be comprehensive and it needs to be the perfect truck for you (as in you won't regret paying more than what most people would for the same truck). I paid $9,000 for a fully optioned '99 (the only difference between the two years was the '99 had the tallest stock suspension) with roughly the same mileage, zero rust, a manual, locker, all the option boxes checked that could be while retaining the manual (aka, not a Limited but with leather, wood trim, etc.), every VIN sticker in tact, brand new brakes (rotors were warped during test drive so the seller replaced them prior to sale with new rotors AND pads AND calipers for good measure), and a COMPREHENSIVE stack of records including the original service booklet fully completed from beginning to end. I overpaid, but I got exactly what I wanted (including the color) when I wanted it and was willing to pay a little more for that stack of records. Ultimately it's your call.
 
hes asking 9500. I have the vin to do a car fax search. Ive never heard of that braking test to check for bent frame, so i will have i will have to do that when i test drive it. I didnt test drive it as it was rush hour and i wanted to get it on the highway and i was some what under a time constraint. the interior is in great shape and underneath as looks very clean as well. i started it and let it run for a few while i checked underneath and couldnt see it leaking anywhere. any other little tips and tricks that i could do. im still waiting on the service records from the owner but i know i can go to the dealer and get them.

I remember reading something about taking the dip stick out and see if oil comes out while its running. whats that for?

Thanks
Ryan

$9500!!!!! WTF :confused:

I've seen a 2003-2005 4runner go for that.

Car-fax's can be very unreliable. There can be things that were never reported.

Accidents don't always show up. Maintenance may not show up, they say that the owner did all the mechanical work but you never know if they did anything with it. Be sure to look online, off site, and listen to what others on the forums say. It can save you money and lead you to a better used car.

The Braking Test is just you going a certain speed and then making the steering wheel straight and taking your hands off and slowly applying the brake. All it does is to see if the vehicle pulls a certain way, left or right.
If it does pull then the frame is bent. But if it doesn't then the frame isn't bent but it doesn't mean it wasn't in an accident. That's all.

Listen to others!
 
The Braking Test is just you going a certain speed and then making the steering wheel straight and taking your hands off and slowly applying the brake. All it does is to see if the vehicle pulls a certain way, left or right.
If it does pull then the frame is bent. But if it doesn't then the frame isn't bent but it doesn't mean it wasn't in an accident. That's all.

Not at all! It could mean a number of things with a bent frame being maybe the worst, but only one possibility. Hell, after adjusting front drums that's how you check how even they're adjusted in some older cars and minor pulls will self-rectify as the brakes wear... A bubble in your brake lines will do the same thing if its between the master and one set of calipers. Some asshat changing one set of pads at a different time than the other will do that if they don't match, one is glazed, and on and on.

Also, don't just listen to others (myself included). Do your homework and educate yourself, then make an informed decision. What Joe Bob did is no reason to do anything. See deck plate mod, ISR mod, 285/75 tires 9 times out of ten, and several other things that are unbelievably common on these forums given that they either do nothing or do harm... Just because other people are doing it doesn't mean it's good (jumped off any bridges lately?). Educate yourself and make informed decisions.
 
Not at all! It could mean a number of things with a bent frame being maybe the worst, but only one possibility. Hell, after adjusting front drums that's how you check how even they're adjusted in some older cars and minor pulls will self-rectify as the brakes wear... A bubble in your brake lines will do the same thing if its between the master and one set of calipers. Some asshat changing one set of pads at a different time than the other will do that if they don't match, one is glazed, and on and on.

Also, don't just listen to others (myself included). Do your homework and educate yourself, then make an informed decision. What Joe Bob did is no reason to do anything. See deck plate mod, ISR mod, 285/75 tires 9 times out of ten, and several other things that are unbelievably common on these forums given that they either do nothing or do harm... Just because other people are doing it doesn't mean it's good (jumped off any bridges lately?). Educate yourself and make informed decisions.

See? We all learn stuff everyday, and I think I just did.
 
Manual Windows are pretty common back in 2000, You had to pay for power or it already came with it for some models.

Have you driven the 4runner yet? Not all accidents and mechanical problems show up on reports. 131,000 miles is good for an old 4runner, maybe too good?

I ALWAYS DO THIS IF IM BUYING A VEHICLE!
If you are going to drive it, try this.....

"The Accident Test"
If you are going to test drive it, a way to see if it has had an accident or a bent frame is to drive going about 35 and let your hands off the wheel(have the wheel straight) and slowly apply brakes. (Do it on a straight road btw) If it slowly goes to the left or right and you can notice it, it probably has a bent frame resulting from an accident or something else. Also look under the 4runner and at the frame to see if it has damage.

I've test driven a car with a bent frame, it will jerk whichever way it was bent. I didn't buy it.

If it was me who was buying it, I would offer 4,900 cash or less.

Yeah, ok, first off i can get my cars to veer off to one side of the road without them being in an accident, a bad alignment, frozen caliper, bad wheel bearing, shot tie rod ends, bad ball joints etc.

And you can have a bent/tweaked frame without it veering off the road using your test, hell you can have one without ever noticing it from driving.

Manual windows weren't too common then, only really base models would have them, the weird part is that its a sport edition and it has crank windows, that one confuses me a bit, who orders and automatic 4x4, sport edition, yet gets manual windows?
 
Manual windows weren't too common then, only really base models would have them, the weird part is that its a sport edition and it has crank windows, that one confuses me a bit, who orders and automatic 4x4, sport edition, yet gets manual windows?

Someone who knows how big of a ***** it is to replace those damn windows motors when they go out.
 

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