Is this Runner a good choice?

Chandler_Ross

Chandler_Ross

New member
I'm most likely going to be buying another 4Runner and selling my 97. I found this one. It looks awesome. But a quick look on the Toyota Owners site exposes a customer bringing it in to a Toyota dealer with the CEL lit and throwing codes P0440, P0441, and P0446. It also shows a P0420 code about a year and a half ago. With low miles, I'm wondering if it would be worth it to buy it knowing that I'll probably be fighting the evap system sometime soon. What do you guys think?

http://www.mikesautosalestn.com/mobile/mdetails.aspx?VID=211113021
 
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I wouldn't worry about that evap system if it was taken to the dealer and fixed.

But curious as to why you want to sell yours? Seems like more money down the drain to me?
 
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It's not me that wants to sell it. It's my Mom. It will need a motor swap sometime in the future. And my mom thinks I would do better in a newer one with less miles since I'll be going to college next year. And I'm itching for a 99+ 3rd gen. Hopefully a limited. So she's going to pitch in a few grand and I would pay her monthly until it's paid off. Knowing college is right around the corner, I'd rather get a newer and more reliable Runner than have this one blow and leave me without a vehicle for however long it takes to find a motor and swap it in. I am all for the motor swap and just drive it till the wheels fall off. But I can understand my mom wanting me in something newer. So I won't complain.
 
And it says on the owners page that the owner declined repair. Kinda fishy. It's at a Ford dealer now. Not sure if they would've tried to fix it, or just reset the codes. It wasn't even 2 months ago that it was brought in to the dealer with the CEL. But it has had all maintenance done by the book and at Toyota dealers. It just looks to me like the EVAP codes showed up, and the owner decided it was time to upgrade. Whoever owned it must not have know how well these are built and got scared away by all the codes.
 
Chandler_Ross said:
It's not me that wants to sell it. It's my Mom. It will need a motor swap sometime in the future. And my mom thinks I would do better in a newer one with less miles since I'll be going to college next year. And I'm itching for a 99+ 3rd gen. Hopefully a limited. So she's going to pitch in a few grand and I would pay her monthly until it's paid off. Knowing college is right around the corner, I'd rather get a newer and more reliable Runner than have this one blow and leave me without a vehicle for however long it takes to find a motor and swap it in. I am all for the motor swap and just drive it till the wheels fall off. But I can understand my mom wanting me in something newer. So I won't complain.
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why do you say/think that?
 
nevada said:
why do you say/think that?
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It knocks pretty bad. It started as a piston slap from overheating. Now it has developed another knock which is louder and only at idle. Haven't had the second one diagnosed. It's not losing any power. Compression isn't too weak. Just lower numbers on 3 and 4. Been driving it like that for 25,000 miles. It's going strong still. Kind of a testament to how well these motors are built. Running for close to 30k with terminal motor damage is pretty impressive.
 
Both valve seats popped out of cylinder #6 on mine and other than a loud annoying tap and a rough idle, it still kept going.

Anyways, why not ask your mom if she will instead of giving you a few thousand dollars to put down on a new vehicle, she pays for your new motor so you can go to college with a reliable vehicle and no car payments.
 
OTB said:
Both valve seats popped out of cylinder #6 on mine and other than a loud annoying tap and a rough idle, it still kept going.

Anyways, why not ask your mom if she will instead of giving you a few thousand dollars to put down on a new vehicle, she pays for your new motor so you can go to college with a reliable vehicle and no car payments.
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And its cheaper and easier. You already know the history of this vehicle. It's nice getting into something "new" but it also can get old real quick. New problems, no mods, missing your old ride feeling ect. I have been there and done that 7 times at only the age of 21.. :doh: Its not fun.. Car shopping can just plain suck. So I have decided I'm going to keep this one hopefully forever.
 
OTB said:
Both valve seats popped out of cylinder #6 on mine and other than a loud annoying tap and a rough idle, it still kept going.

Anyways, why not ask your mom if she will instead of giving you a few thousand dollars to put down on a new vehicle, she pays for your new motor so you can go to college with a reliable vehicle and no car payments.
Click to expand...

This was one of my first choice. But I see this as an opportunity to build my credit. I will turn 18 on Friday and figured this may be a good chance to start a line of credit. Also, my 97 is lacking some features I would really love to have (leather, keyless, roof rack, etc.). My 97 has been a great truck. But compared to just about every other 4runner around here, mechanically it isn't great. I've spent all my money fixing this one just to end up needing a motor. I think it's time to cut my losses.
 
LittleCaesar said:
This one is nice. But pricey. I'd give Mike no more than $8000, even in TN.

It is a good chance it is the EVAP canister. Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market should help you find another one for the time.

If it has not has the TB/H20 change, use that as leverage to drive down the cost.
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It says on the Toyota Owners site that all drive belts were replaced at 61k. Would this include the timing belt? Also, the owner had the LBJ recall done back in like 2005. Should I worry about replacing them again? If i do replace them, it won't be for another year or so. Or whenever I decide to lift it.
 
Here's a screenshot of the records for the 60k maintenance.
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GA Runner said:
I saw the one you posted when I was looking but $10k is way to high for it. You can find better deals out there.
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I know. I'm not giving them more than 8200 with tax, title, etc. I'm sure there are better deals. Such as the one you got. I looked at yours quite a bit before you got it. I don't think it's had the timing belt. And the fact that the previous owner brought it in 150 miles ago for EVAP codes can probably help me drive the price down. It's pretty much a given that they didn't fix it and just reset the computer. If that's the case, I'll probably just get an ultra gauge and clear the codes periodically.
 
Yeah I had been looking at the one I got for a bit before I went down to look at it. It checked out pretty nice. I know he was getting a lot of calls on it while I was looking at it.

There was one guy that kept calling that was getting pissed at me because I took so long to check it out and make sure it was good.
 
Chandler_Ross said:
It says on the Toyota Owners site that all drive belts were replaced at 61k. Would this include the timing belt? Also, the owner had the LBJ recall done back in like 2005. Should I worry about replacing them again? If i do replace them, it won't be for another year or so. Or whenever I decide to lift it.
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To me, "drive belts" means the belts that you can see on the exterior of the engine, which in this case would be power steering belt, alternator belt, and A/C belt. Doesn't look like timing belt has been changed to me.
 
Robb235 said:
To me, "drive belts" means the belts that you can see on the exterior of the engine, which in this case would be power steering belt, alternator belt, and A/C belt. Doesn't look like timing belt has been changed to me.
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You're right. I checked the part numbers. No timing belt. :/ I hope it's been changed. But if not, I'll just use that to drive the price down.
 
Definitely use it to drive down the cost, but you aren't saving a ton of money that way either. The belt should be changed fairly soon.
 
Chandler,

If you want I can give you the guy who sold me mine's number. He is a good guy and buys from auctions all the time and tries to buy nothing but clean Runners. He is a one man dealership.
 
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