It's been a great ride! Decided to sell the 4Runner...

[arouth]

I've got a 40 mile commute each way to work and I added it up and with normal driving on top of that it's 40,000 miles per year!! My 4runner has been great, but with gas prices so low I decided to sell it and get a used Acura TL. It requires premium, but my friend doing the same commute says he gets like 27mpg.

I'm going to miss the 4runner. It's been a great ride. I got it for 15,500 and the KBB value from a dealership was like 20k. Here is the new car that I'm getting.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...ing&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-navigation|E-ALL|M-_1_|H-|D-_7_|N-N|R-10000|I-1%2c7|P-COLOR+descending%2cPRICE+descending|Q-descending|Y-_2005-2004_|X-popular|Z-89084&aff=national


Oh, and if anyone is interested in my old 4runner here is the craigslist add. If this is inappropriate and I'll edit this post and remove this part.

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/965494749.html

 

[lawwailok]

.... I decided to sell it and get a used Acura TL. It requires premium, but my friend doing the same commute says he gets like 27mpg...........

FYI, if you planning to get the TL, try to find something at least 06, pre 06 had tranny problem and you have to make sure if the vehicle has been taken care of the tranny issue if that's pre 06.

yea, it can do 27 mpg as long as you keep your foot light on the gas.

if you like higher rev, more spirited driving, TL doesn't do any better than a V8 4runner i can tell ya.

my average mpg on the TL is only showing 16mpg...

 

[Barefoot]

I'm not sure I understand how you are going to save much by getting a car that gets maybe 20% better mileage, but uses gas that costs 20% more...

 

[Atlanta_man]

I had a TL before the 4R. And many transmissions !

Forgetting about the transmission issue, the 4Runner has a 10:1 fun and usefulness factor over the TL.

And 4R has many times the cargo capacity. It's costing me less than 10 cents a mile in gas now. I'd pay 30 and not complain.

 

[arouth]

Don't get me wrong here. I love the 4Runner, and it is the best vehicle I've ever had. It just is not the right car for me right now...

I'm driving 40,000 miles a year and my fiancee is starting in real estate so we are both going to be racking up the miles, so a 15mpg v8 AWD SUV did not feel like the best vehicle at the time. That is why I'm selling it. If I felt that gas prices would stay at like 1.60 a gallon forever then maybe I would keep it, but i'm willing to bet they go back up. The 4runner seems to be holding it's value pretty good too, so if I can sell it I'll be able to pay off the TL very quickly

As for the transmission, I had it inspected and on top of that the TL has some sort of special extended warranty for it. I believe up to 106,000 miles.

 

[audiqtr]

good luck with your choice.

I will be honest; You being in Omaha, your choice don't make sense to me. Unless you were having problems with the car, I'd keep it...

 

[dieselwolf]

Calculations..

The gas price should not be a reason to sell it. Premium costs more, so you won't save as much as you think. Go to edmunds.com, you can compare them. I did, 4runner and 3.2 Acura and according to them, (with 12k/year) the 4runner's fuel consuption is only $200 more. For you it's about a $600 saving a year. About $12 off your weekly paycheck.. The insurance will be more, so deduct $200 a year. Less room, harder to get in and out, etc.. Unless you bored with the 4runner and want something different, it will not make a huge impact on your wallet.

 

[arouth]

good luck with your choice.

I will be honest; You being in Omaha, your choice don't make sense to me. Unless you were having problems with the car, I'd keep it...

Oh, sorry, moved from Omaha and it's snowstorms to Las Vegas last month. Military transfer. dieselwolf...I'm not driving 12k a year, i'm driving 40k a year! Thats when gas does make a difference even with premium. And yes I am a car guy, and it is nice to have something new.

Roughly 140 a month at $3 a gallon (3.20 premium) which is about 1700 a year...

 

[Rowan611]

I drive a lot as well, and I came from owning 3 BMWs - the latest being a 4.8L 540; take it from me putting premium fuel in at $5 a gallon sucks! I was spending between $50-60 bucks a week on premium - my 330 averaged 28 mpg on the highway, but around town I was heavy on the pedal and got terrible mileage - better than the runner but more expensive gas. Not to mention the extra you'll pay for insurance.

Not trying to talk you out of the TL, but I don't think you're saving as much as you think.

 

[p nut]

Why not get a TSX that at least gets 30MPG or better on the freeway? (or a Civic that gets 40MPG) If you're doing it to get better MPG's, don't go to a heavy V6 sedan. Those other guys are right. I had a 96 and it got ~19MPG all around and ~24MPG on the freeway.

 

[ozzy4355]

Reading that craigslist ad i cant beleive how much the value of the 4 runners have dropped. I bought my 04 SR5 not even a year ago and the KBB was 24,000 and i bought it for 21 and it only had 30k miles on it. I guess i should have bought the gap coverage beacause it looks like i might be out 8 grand if an accedent does happen.

 

[dieselwolf]

I know, you are not driving 12K. The $200 was for 12K, I did triple that to $600 difference per year in your case. If you are a car guy than that explains it. And yes, I do understand the feel of changing for something new, been there too many times, even traded 4runner in for a car (new Golf GTI) and two months later back to a 4runner (both 4th gen) and now I know, cars are not for me.. Drooling for a V8 though. ;-) Anyway, good luck, it's a very nice Acura, seems like a good choice!

 

[Atlanta_man]

If it is a TL of the bad transmission vintage it will be very affordable. Unfortunately, resale value goes to 0 some where before 106K miles. The transmission replacement costs $7 - 8K and a week in the shop.

 

[arouth]

Reading that craigslist ad i cant beleive how much the value of the 4 runners have dropped. I bought my 04 SR5 not even a year ago and the KBB was 24,000 and i bought it for 21 and it only had 30k miles on it. I guess i should have bought the gap coverage beacause it looks like i might be out 8 grand if an accedent does happen.

I bought a 2008 Altima last year new and selling it private party I could have gotten 19-20k on it. Then gas went to $4 a gallon and the value of all SUVs plummeted, and now it is worth b/w 13,500 and 14,225...it's depressing.

Well you guys got me re-thinking. I might try to sell my other car (2008 Altima). One reason I bought the TL is b/c I added it up and with this drive after 5 years my car would have 160,000 miles on it...I felt that doing that as well as paying a monthly car payment would like just throwing money away (more than usual for a car since they are so bad of investments). I don't think it will depreciate as well as the 4runner to be honest.

Another reason I bought the TL car is b/c I'm a huge car guy and really liked that car!! I would probably have bought in when I lived in Omaha except for the fact that the winters were so bad there...AWD came in very handy.

 

[arouth]

Reading that craigslist ad i cant beleive how much the value of the 4 runners have dropped. I bought my 04 SR5 not even a year ago and the KBB was 24,000 and i bought it for 21 and it only had 30k miles on it. I guess i should have bought the gap coverage beacause it looks like i might be out 8 grand if an accedent does happen.

I bought a 2008 Altima last year new and if I had sold the 4Runner privately I could have gotten 19-20k on it. Then gas went to $4 a gallon and the value of all SUVs plummeted, and now a year later it is worth b/w 13,500 and 14,225...it's depressing.

Well you guys got me re-thinking. I might try to sell my other car (2008 Altima). One reason I bought the TL is b/c I added it up and with this drive after 5 years my car would have 160,000 miles on it...I felt that doing that as well as paying a monthly car payment would like just throwing money away (more than usual for a car since they are so bad of investments). I don't think it will depreciate as well as the 4runner to be honest.

Another reason I bought the TL car is b/c I'm a huge car guy and really liked that car!! I would probably have bought in when I lived in Omaha except for the fact that the winters were so bad there...AWD came in very handy.

 

[Dbone]

Best of luck to you...

Not a huge Acura fan in general myself, but I must say that the TL is the one car in their lineup that kinda "does it" for me...very nice...

A guy at my work place has a black TL-S and it is just beautiful...

Having said this, I am confident that you will eventually miss the runner.

Unless Toyota royally ****s up future renditions of the 4Runner I will always have one of these things in my driveway.

I have owned a number of vehicles in my time and I am convinced that the 4runner is something special...

Who's with me??!?!?!?!?!??!?!? LOL

Cheers

 

[Bigrupp]

Unless Toyota royally ****s up future renditions of the 4Runner I will always have one of these things in my driveway.

I have owned a number of vehicles in my time and I am convinced that the 4runner is something special...

Who's with me??!?!?!?!?!??!?!? LOL

Cheers

I'm with you on that. I knew after the first week of owning mine that I had found a ride for life.

 

[dieselwolf]

Right there! I'm not a huge fan of ANYTHING ELSE but the 4runner. My '07 will last for a long time but I'm already scared, what if they mess it up the 5th gen, if there's going to be one.. Anyway, it's not good to trade in anything right now, nothing worth anything. And no, it's not a buyer's market either, I keep following the new 4runner prices and it's the same as last year, there are no discount or anything. Since the dealers do sell less vehicles, they will have to make they money, they will give you almost nothing for your trade in and the new car prices are the same as last year. Just for fun, tried to see what did they offer for our 07 Xterra (was $23.000 last Oct.) and they said $10.000 because it's hard to sell. While we have a close friend dealing with used cars and he is still selling easily the Lexus SUV's, Audi's, BMW's, high end stuff..

 

[riverider]

I have not owned my 08SR54runner 2wd v6 long. But in the short time I have it's a lot better then what I had before. There are a few items that could improve, like the dash Inst.s very flat and cheap also hard to see in day lite. The digital Inst. orange also are hard to see in day lite. but everything else I really like.:awais:

 

[Canuckcarguy]

I'm a pretty recent convert to the 4runner world, having purchased my first one (2008 SR5 V6 4wd) a few months ago. It's a great performer. I've owned lots of different cars (I'm a car guy too), and I traded in a BMW 545i for the runner.

Frankly, I was looking for some reliability to go with a decent ride, and I wasn't getting that from the luxury sedan market. Totally different cars, I know, but I was using way more gas in the Bimmer. Part of the trick is that I'm less likely to push the t4r on the highway the way I would a sports sedan, so I think I'm more likely to actually hit those mileage targets.

If you're looking to save money on gas, trading into a sports sedan doesn't make much sense, you might as well buy a 4-banger.