Invest in 2002 4Runner with 276K on odometer?

[ghettoflow21]

Hi All,

I have a 2002 Toyota 4Runner with 276K miles on the odometer. I was considering getting into offroading and was wondering what you guys thought about dumping money into car wit this much mileage on it?

Some background: they're almost all highway miles and have had very few issues with the car, zero offroading. About 15K miles ago, the car was failing smog and I had to replace the charcoal canister. Besides that, she's been running very smoothly.

One question I have: should I do a full inspection by a mechanic and see what issues could arise from a car of this age? What would be potential failure points?

If it all checks out, I'd definitely love to get a lift, some tires start doing some offroading!

Thanks in advance, there's definitely a lot of information on here!

 

[BackRoadSeeker]

I just bought an 01 with 289k miles on it, so I think I understand your position.

I'm not really interested in the same off-roading route per se, but I put higher emphasis on a rust free frame and body than low mileage. Compression check revealed a very healthy engine, so I'm happy.

My advice: do a compression check and some drain and fills on the transmission. If that all looks good, then it's just a matter of replacing suspension, brakes and other wear items. All of which is applicable to a car with 100k less miles.

Mileage is just a number if you look after your truck!!

 

[JTsanchez]

My concern with the idea of off-roading a 276k truck is reliability. With that kind of mileage its only a matter of time until things start failing, would suck to be out on a trail when that happens.

 

[ghettoflow21]

I just bought an 01 with 289k miles on it, so I think I understand your position.

I'm not really interested in the same off-roading route per se, but I put higher emphasis on a rust free frame and body than low mileage. Compression check revealed a very healthy engine, so I'm happy.

My advice: do a compression check and some drain and fills on the transmission. If that all looks good, then it's just a matter of replacing suspension, brakes and other wear items. All of which is applicable to a car with 100k less miles.

Mileage is just a number if you look after your truck!!

Thanks! I'll ask my mechanic to take a look at these. Fingers crossed. Do you know about how much those tests would be?

 

[ghettoflow21]

My concern with the idea of off-roading a 276k truck is reliability. With that kind of mileage its only a matter of time until things start failing, would suck to be out on a trail when that happens.

I am not sure I would do any "extreme" off-roading or go very often (3-4/year). What are some key components that would fail first with high mileage under those types of conditions?