How long did it take for you to find your 4Runner?

[THEREALTOR1]

I went into a Honda dealership to see a buddy of mine about a Jeep Cherokee that I had seen online. My buddy said that the Jeep was out on a test drive, but that he had an 01' 4 runner on consignment from an AF guy who had just gotten transferred to Germany. He said he had driven both that day knowing I was coming in, and that he thought the T4R felt more like something I would like -vs- the Cherokee. So I took it for a test drive and then bought it. It will be 6 years in September

 

[shamading]

After a lot of research I knew I wanted a 99+ 3rd gen T4R when selling my frustrating 2011 Explorer Limited. It took about 2 weeks to find a dealership that had a few in stock. Found a 99 limited with rear locker, low miles, and clean carfax. They wouldn't haggle on the price but I bought it same day anyway.

 

[JohnMc]

About 3 or 4 months.

I was looking for a 5 spd e-locker. I knew it would be hard to find. I used SearchTempest over a very wide range to scour CL listings.

Eventually found a '99 Highlander. 5 spd, locker, running board-less flares. Just over 150K miles, immaculate condition. Had to road trip from St. Louis to Madison WI to get it. It had spent 2 years up there, then the bulk of its life in NM prior to that.

Stuck some side marker lights on it recently:

 

[PhdNPrerunners]

I found my first 4runner by mistake. At the time I was looking for a 4wd tacoma so I hoped on craigslist, type in "toyota 4x4" and the 4runner came up for sale for $5000. I called the guy up about it and he actually drove it to my house so I could check it out. I wasn't too sure I wanted cause I really wanted a tacoma so I told him I would think about it. Later that night he gave me a call saying that he was being relocated to Europe for work within the next couple days and he said for me to make him an offer so I said $3900, he said "DEAL!". It was a 99 SR5 4x4 with 140k miles that was from Canada but didn't have a spot of rust. Here is what it looked like when I sold it

Now for my second one took a little longer. I had been searching craigslist every hour for about 2 months for a Highland IJM with an e locker with no luck. I started to get very discourage and thought maybe it would be better to buy a car for a dd and just buy a 4r when I graduate but could never bring myself to pull the trigger on a car. One day I hoped back on here to see if there was any new ones for sale on here and saw a fellow members thread about wanting to buy on in SoCal. Going through the thread I saw that PBColt had posted on there about selling his 99 IJM Limited and he was local so I PMed him about it and we were able to work out a deal. Now I am the new proud owner of his rig and couldn't be happier! :banana: