Help making a decision?

jay00

jay00

New member
I currently have a 2000 limited automatic elocker multi-mode diff with 185,000 miles desert dune with silver on flares. A deal came up where i could get a 99 sr5 standard elocker with 250,000 miles in black. Both are very clean. Mine has less mileage but I like the standard trans on the black one. What would you guys do, should i keep mine or get the black one. Thanks
 
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jay00 said:
I currently have a 2000 limited automatic elocker multi-mode diff with 185,000 miles desert dune with silver on flares. A deal came up where i could get a 99 sr5 standard elocker with 250,000 miles in black. Both are very clean. Mine has less mileage but I like the standard trans on the black one. What would you guys do, should i keep mine or get the black one. Thanks
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I bought mine at 180k miles. I now have 270k miles. I would never buy one at that high of mileage. Once I hit 250k miles its all been downhill. Slowly replacing ever part on vehicle thats not the motor or trans. I would not do it.
 
The engines can last a long time, but suspension, steering, etc. don't. 65,000 miles is a fair amount to jump up.

If you like black that much have yours painted.
 
jay00 said:
I currently have a 2000 limited automatic elocker multi-mode diff with 185,000 miles desert dune with silver on flares. A deal came up where i could get a 99 sr5 standard elocker with 250,000 miles in black. Both are very clean. Mine has less mileage but I like the standard trans on the black one. What would you guys do, should i keep mine or get the black one. Thanks
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Just because it looks good doesn't mean it is. You know the history of yours, buying another with 250k, not knowing the history and how well it has been taken care of, is a crap shoot. I wouldn't if I was in that position.

I'm not saying you can't find a good runner with 250k mileage, but you certainly can find ones that need work done and were neglected, but look fine on the outside. If nothing is wrong with yours, I wouldnt risk it just for the color.
 
Toy2play said:
Just because it looks good doesn't mean it is. You know the history of yours, buying another with 250k, not knowing the history and how well it has been taken care of, is a crap shoot. I wouldn't if I was in that position.

I'm not saying you can't find a good runner with 250k mileage, but you certainly can find ones that need work done and were neglected, but look fine on the outside. If nothing is wrong with yours, I wouldnt risk it just for the color.
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Agreed, a couple reasons it is sparking my interest...
Black: It is a Arizona/New Mexico 4runner. the guy that's selling it has a thick folder of all the maintenance records. Seems to be current on all common 3rd gen issues but like you mention, there is always the unknown, but in this case a lot of history of maintenance and no rust. Already has a OME bilstein lift which mine doesn't yet. Oh and its manual trans w/elocker

Mine: I just bought mine in December and got a good handle on the maintenance but know more about the maintenance side on the black one because the PO didn't supply me with any of that, the couple things he did say he fixed, was a lie because I already had to do it again. My 4runner spent a few years in NY which has caused some minor rust issues that aren't that big a deal but kinda bother me. but mine does have less mileage and the sought after multi mode and elocker...

just a little more info that weighing on my decision...
 
jay00 said:
Agreed, a couple reasons it is sparking my interest...
Black: It is a Arizona/New Mexico 4runner. the guy that's selling it has a thick folder of all the maintenance records. Seems to be current on all common 3rd gen issues but like you mention, there is always the unknown, but in this case a lot of history of maintenance and no rust. Already has a OME bilstein lift which mine doesn't yet. Oh and its manual trans w/elocker

Mine: I just bought mine in December and got a good handle on the maintenance but know more about the maintenance side on the black one because the PO didn't supply me with any of that, the couple things he did say he fixed, was a lie because I already had to do it again. My 4runner spent a few years in NY which has caused some minor rust issues that aren't that big a deal but kinda bother me. but mine does have less mileage and the sought after multi mode and elocker...

just a little more info that weighing on my decision...
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If that is the case and you do want the 5 speed then I don't see a huge amount of difference in the mileage. Going from an auto to 5 speed is a big difference and is worth changing vehicles if that's what you really want. IMO, on a 16 year old vehicle, 65k miles isnt all that much if it has been maintained. We have three 3rd gen in the family varying from 125k to 240k miles and you honestly can't tell the difference between them. All of the maintenance has been done on all of them and I expect to them last a long time.

If I had a choice, I would try to find one with less miles, but this is getting harder to accomplish. Do you use your runner has a dd? Have you been looking for one with a 5 speed for very long?
 
What's considered "high" mileage don't scare me like it used to. We also have three 4-runners in the family. A '97 with 294,000, a 2001 with 220,000 and a 2002 Sport Ed. with 231,000. The suspension on the '97 doesn't feel as tight as the others but they are all about the same as far as reliability. I also agree that finding low mileage vehicles is not an easy task considering that the newest 3rd gen is almost 15 years old now! It's all about price and taking into account replacement part cost.
 
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Toy2play said:
If that is the case and you do want the 5 speed then I don't see a huge amount of difference in the mileage. Going from an auto to 5 speed is a big difference and is worth changing vehicles if that's what you really want. IMO, on a 16 year old vehicle, 65k miles isnt all that much if it has been maintained. We have three 3rd gen in the family varying from 125k to 240k miles and you honestly can't tell the difference between them. All of the maintenance has been done on all of them and I expect to them last a long time.

If I had a choice, I would try to find one with less miles, but this is getting harder to accomplish. Do you use your runner has a dd? Have you been looking for one with a 5 speed for very long?
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no, just as a weekend hunting rig...pretty much a toy lol...I honestly haven't even been looking. I was on craigslist the other day and came across it...but now that I am kinda serious I have been looking and there's not much out there with much lower miles around here anyway.
 
jay00 said:
no, just as a weekend hunting rig...pretty much a toy lol...I honestly haven't even been looking. I was on craigslist the other day and came across it...but now that I am kinda serious I have been looking and there's not much out there with much lower miles around here anyway.
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If weekend warrior, I wouldn't be too concerned about higher mileage. How much are they asking?
 
As I said in your PM... If it's not a daily driver, I would not sweat the mileage.

I WOULD run a compression test on the engine and/or (mostly and) have a good mechanic check it over for you.
 
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