It's amazing how hard it is to find a low mileage 4Runner 4WD

[JeffMerr]

As the title states, I had a hard time finding my 2WD 4th Gen with low mileage a year ago. Now that I'm looking for a low mileage 4X4 4th gen it seems damn near impossible. The last 4 months I've checked the Internet multiple times a day, every single day, and rarely find what I'm looking for. There's been a couple that were good deals and I've contacted them the same day only to find out someone came with cash hours after the car being posted.

I've now started looking outside California and doing a possible fly and buy, but I'm not sure how that works with California smog rules and stuff. Anyone know? I've always read the vehicle has to have a smog certificate which would pass in California prior to purchasing, otherwise you can't register it... but I see some out of state dealers advertising fly and buys

Thanks for the help and letting me rant

 

[DCGweez]

Check the emissions label under the hood. It will say "and to california regulations"

 

[Slowgoat]

I looked for mine for 13 months. I found the exact situation you did. Cash offers of above asking price. Ragged out smoked in crappy used 4runners on used dealers lots.

I watched from May 2013 to June 2014, and the prices actually went UP on the 2004-2006 4runners. Who ever heard of that? Demand went up, and some magazine listed the 4runner as the best used SUV.

I probably paid a tiny bit too much for mine, but it is pretty much perfect, and I have no regrets.

Be patient, it takes a while.

Also, now that gas has gotten cheaper, that cannot be good for the secondary market.

 

[Minn3sota]

Just for the sake of "looking on the bright side"

You could argue that it's a good thing you can't find a low mileage T4R. It means that:

A: The owner's love them.
B: Demand is high.
C: They are fairly well built.

If patience is a virtue, than be virtuous my friend and your 4R will pop up somewhere around you.

 

[Burnzy]

What is your definition of "low mileage"?

 

[youngr]

Im not sure what you consider "low mileage" but here is how i look at it:

4th Gens stopped in 2009. with the avg. annual mileage calculation your looking at 72,000 roughly. I personally put 100k on my 4runner in 3.5 years. I feel its trade off, if you want a lower mileage one chances are they are located somehwere in the Northeast where people tend to drive less but comes with a different set of downfalls although it has lower mileage. Where im from in Texas, nothing is close to anything. Therefore people tend to drive a lot more but will likely not have the downfalls of a car from the Northeast.

 

[NuclearN8]

If you don't mind the v8 you could always look at the Lexus GX470 platform. There are a lot of them on the market right now that have low miles per year and almost all have only seen pavement considering their original pricetage and target audience... most of these people don't buy them to take them offroad.

 

[Ventil8]

I've driven 114,500 miles in 10 years with my 4Runner. Is that low mileage? I would be cautious with buying a 'low mileage' vehicle that is 7-10 years old. I remember watching a dateline NBC segment on odometer fraud.

 

[LTDSC]

its amazing how many people think you need a low mileage toyota.

 

[DCGweez]

Most people (me just a few years ago) who don't have much experience working on cars overrate mileage on a vehicle. I used to.

Now if i'm looking at a 5+ year old vehicle i'm far more interested in location and maintenance history/visual inspection.

You realize that mileage is 3rd or 4th on a list of concerns.

 

[JeffMerr]

its amazing how many people think you need a low mileage toyota.

It's not that I need low mileage, but under 80k is what I'm looking for. I got my current 4th Gen at 84k and it was in really good shape. I think the thing that is making it hard is the fact that I'm tall and a LOT of the good deals I come across are models with sun roofs, which I'm avoiding due to the decreased head room.

 

[Sungod]

Most people drive on average 12K per year. To get something under 80K you would be looking for an 08 or newer. Anything older with less than 80K would be very rare for any vehicle.

I think the big factor hurting your search is that Toyota didn't really sell a lot of 4 runners later in the production run. From 03-05 the production numbers were over 100K. Once gas prices went crazy those numbers dropped to below 50K per year after 08. That means that you are looking at 50% less availability and most likely the people that were still buying them were not the type that would let them go after a year or two.

In the law of supply and demand, I would expect to pay a sizeable premium for a low mileage 4 runner when you do find it.

 

[Martinjmpr]

"low mileage"

I bought my '07 with 92k on it in June of 2012 and have put almost 40k on it since then, most of that time pulling a trailer, with no issues. I think as others have said, you're kind of looking for a unicorn here.

In fact, I would actually be a little leery of something that had miles that were too low (like below 50k) because that tells me it was a vehicle that spent a lot of its time parked, or worse yet, a vehicle that was only driven a few miles at a time and then turned off, which can be bad for the engine (causes sludge buildup because the water in the oil never gets hot enough to boil off.)

If you allow yourself to look for a vehicle that is under 100k I think you'll find plenty of them. I can tell you there are a lot of 4th gen 4runners here in CO.

As for the CA registration thing, I find it hard to believe that the vehicle has to be CA compliant before you buy it. What happens when people move from another state to CA, does CA make them sell their car and buy a CA compliant one? I don't think so. In fact I'll bet people buy non-CA cars and bring them to CA all the time.

 

[FI460]

I've now started looking outside California and doing a possible fly and buy, but I'm not sure how that works with California smog rules and stuff. Anyone know? I've always read the vehicle has to have a smog certificate which would pass in California prior to purchasing, otherwise you can't register it... but I see some out of state dealers advertising fly and buys

Thanks for the help and letting me rant

Dont quote me on it, but the way I understand it is California cert is only required for new vehicles to be sold in the state. I believe you can bring a "federal/ 49 state" rig in and it has to pass smog and conform to whatever standards it was originally built to.

 

[Lolrax]

You may want to consider looking in Canada. I know its a bit of a trip, and I don't know the legalities of bringing them across the border but I can't believe how expensive used 4th gens are in the United States! Cars are always cheaper in the US, except 4Runners/Sequoias/FJs. For the first time I am glad i bought a car in Canada. Our dollar is so low right now, you would be really getting a steal of a deal.

There are lots for sale up here, and they are all 4X4. Maybe you could look just over the border in Vancouver or something.

Check out Autotrader.ca and see whats available.

 

[macgyver_ga]

Don't be afraid to find something in the 100k range. That's what we did and I'm happy with our purchase. IMO the '06 4runner w/ 95k miles we bought is a much more solid vehicle than the '12 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited w/ 50k miles that we traded for it. 100k+ miles didn't scare me at all. It took my wife a little convincing because she comes from a family that's brand loyal to Chryslers for some reason (The worst of the big 3 IMO) so 100k miles is pretty high mileage to her.

I had a hard time finding a 4x4 down here in GA. We ended up having to drive to NC to buy ours. There were 2wd models all day long but 4x4's were few and far between.

 

[racer107]

+1 on the Lexus GX...if under 100K miles is important to you, there's lots more GX's out there that spend a lot more time garaged than driven. My biggest peeve with them is the stupid side opening rear door. That, and the price premium for that "L" badge on what is essentially a loaded T4R.

Personally, under 200K makes me comfortable...My '07 Limited I just bought has 156K on it, and other than a couple $5 dash bulbs being out it looks and drives like it has 50K. My criteria were: V8, Limited or Sport with heated leather, and timing belt done recently. Being in the midwest I had little trouble finding one, and at less than KBB private party value.

 

[Martinjmpr]

+1 on the Lexus GX...if under 100K miles is important to you, there's lots more GX's out there that spend a lot more time garaged than driven. My biggest peeve with them is the stupid side opening rear door. That, and the price premium for that "L" badge on what is essentially a loaded T4R.

Regarding the door: It makes sense on the Prado that has the spare tire there. I had a Prado in Kuwait and it was awesome. I wonder if you can order the parts to refit the back door spare onto the GX?

 

[mvp2765]

They're out there. Just might not be for sale or a rare find. My 07' SR5 has just under 33K miles. haha. Original owner too! You prob will have to travel to find one.

 

[YAM93]

Yes, (your problem seems to be universal) it was hard to find one here in Maryland-DC-VA area also. Took me a couple months of test driving and getting there too late as well.

Be patient, I don't see any need to go out-of-state.