Looking at buying this 02 4runner!

F

Fit4Action

New member
Ok guys, I am looking at this 4runner and it has some issues. It doesn't bother me as much because my dad owns a shop and we are able to get things done pretty cost effective. Anyways this small dealer is asking for 4995 cash.

Truck is a 2002 with 285,000miles

Things that need to be done:

Valve cover gaskets are leaking bad! The whole engine looks like it's leaking.
Needs brakes all the way around. Will likely do the Tundra brake upgrade. Can my current wheels fit those calipers.
Needs rear passenger axle seal.
Need's shocks as well, vehicle feels super bouncy.
Vehicle also needs a set of ball joints
Timing belt w/ water pump










I talked him down to 3700+ TTL which equals 4,000 Total for the truck. Which I think isnt so bad compared to all the work


What do you guys think?

Oh it needs a fresh set of tires. :bluejump:
 
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Fit4Action said:
Ok guys, I am looking at this 4runner and it has some issues. It doesn't bother me as much because my dad owns a shop and we are able to get things done pretty cost effective. Anyways this small dealer is asking for 4995 cash.

Truck is a 2002 with 285,000miles

Things that need to be done:

Valve cover gaskets are leaking bad! The whole engine looks like it's leaking.
Needs brakes all the way around. Will likely do the Tundra brake upgrade. Can my current wheels fit those calipers.
Needs rear passenger axle seal.
Need's shocks as well, vehicle feels super bouncy.
Vehicle also needs a set of ball joints
Timing belt w/ water pump










I talked him down to 3700+ TTL which equals 4,000 Total for the truck. Which I think isnt so bad compared to all the work


What do you guys think?

Oh it needs a fresh set of tires. :bluejump:
Click to expand...

I'd say you need at least another $1500 repairs (not including tires which will be another $700+). That is assuming you buy good replacement parts and either install them yourself or have it done at a discounted rate at the shop you reference.

That puts you at 5500 for a 4R with 288k miles. What if there are other issues? There is always other issues.

That seems like too much money in my opinion. It is pretty clean looking though.

If you got it for like 2000 or 2500 it may be worth it.
 
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At 284k miles you're going to be chasing a lot of steering and driveline/suspension issues. If you are not afraid of working then it's an ok price.

Rear axle = $200
Shocks = $200-$400
Tires = $700
TBU upgrade = $300
Ball joints = $150
Timing Belt kit = $200
Valve covers and other engine parts = $50

So just to get it up to date on maintenance will be $1,800 in parts.
 
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thegipper said:
I'd say you need at least another $1500 repairs (not including tires which will be another $700+). That is assuming you buy good replacement parts and either install them yourself or have it done at a discounted rate at the shop you reference.

That puts you at 5500 for a 4R with 288k miles.
What if there are other issues? There is always other issues.

That seems like too much money in my opinion. It is pretty clean looking though.

If you got it for like 2000 or 2500 it may be worth it.
Click to expand...



At the end of the day, you are getting a old car with lots of miles for 5k.

I couldn't do it, but that's me.





For what its worth, I got my 01 with 160k for $4,700 2 months ago.
 
You could always get a quote from a shop for having all of those repairs done (plus new tires) and go back to him. See if you can bring him back to reality.

Personally, I would avoid it and just find something else.
 
Fit4Action said:
Ok guys, I am looking at this 4runner and it has some issues. It doesn't bother me as much because my dad owns a shop and we are able to get things done pretty cost effective. Anyways this small dealer is asking for 4995 cash.

Truck is a 2002 with 285,000miles

Things that need to be done:

Valve cover gaskets are leaking bad! The whole engine looks like it's leaking.
Needs brakes all the way around. Will likely do the Tundra brake upgrade. Can my current wheels fit those calipers.
Needs rear passenger axle seal.
Need's shocks as well, vehicle feels super bouncy.
Vehicle also needs a set of ball joints
Timing belt w/ water pump

I talked him down to 3700+ TTL which equals 4,000 Total for the truck. Which I think isnt so bad compared to all the work


What do you guys think?

Oh it needs a fresh set of tires. :bluejump:
Click to expand...

Valve cover gaskets are leaking bad! The whole engine looks like it's leaking. $450
Needs brakes all the way around. Will likely do the Tundra brake upgrade. $1000
Needs rear passenger axle seal. $350
Need's shocks as well, vehicle feels super bouncy. $700
Vehicle also needs a set of ball joints $400
Timing belt w/ water pump - $450
tires $600

My estimate is you'll dump another 4+ grand getting it going and don't find any problems; you just took a $4000 vehicle and put that much more into it; in the end you'll have spent $8000 on a $4000 vehicle. This assumes you don't find any other seals, problems with it. My guess is there is likely antifreeze in the oil among other things. Other things are it likely needs all fresh fluids, diffs, engine, antifreeze, tranny, brake flush, etc.

Given the fact that you'll spend as much money repairing it as it's worth, I'd say "no" unless the dealer basically gives it to you.

Here's the litmus test on if it's a good financial decision. Ask the dealer to make all the repairs. He'll balk because the delta between rough value and clean value is approximately $1750 and it doesn't make good financial sense. If it doesn't make financial sense for him to do it, it doesn't make sense for you to do it either. Essentially daddy would be bailing you out on this one.

If this were a classic, like a FJ40 or something, then it might make sense to restore it. However, this is just a run of the mill, beaten to heck, red headed stepchild that needs a lot of love, time and money spent on him.
 
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I got my Limited 4Runner with 180k miles for 5.5k. Personally I would keep looking just because of the high miles, and the cost of what you need to do adds onto the total cost.
 
I wouldn't kick it to the curb unitl I saw the inside. If its pristine (maybe it had seat covers the whole time) I'd consider it. There had to be one in the crowd! :cowboy:
 
thegipper said:
You could always get a quote from a shop for having all of those repairs done (plus new tires) and go back to him. See if you can bring him back to reality.

Personally, I would avoid it and just find something else.
Click to expand...

Yes sir! My guess is the bill would be $4000-$5000 given the extensive list. The only time I'd buy this is if they were giving it away for $1000 or less.

If you want to spend lots of bonding time with dad after hours in his garage, it might be "worth" it.

If not let the dealer find another sucker for this money pit.

This doesn't always work, but I typically buy a new 4 runner every 2 years. I haggle like heck on the purchase and either sell private party or find a hungry dealer.

It works out something like this:
Spend about 36,000 on the vehicle
Trade in or sell at about 30,000 or 32,000.
Net cost over 2 years 6,000 or 3,000 a year or less, so I drive a brand new vehicle for $250 a month thanks to the super-high resale value of 4runners.

I do not do any upgrades to the vehicle other than possibly mats, install my ham radio and add some running boards. Any mods you make you'll never recoup even 20% of what you spent unless you find a real sucker.

I'll get heck for this, but the amount of non-recoverable money people dump into their vehicles is amazing here. In the end, it's a mass produced consumer vehicle. If I go "wheeling" I use my old Inline 6 jeep that I can beat up. If I roll it, whatever.

That's just the logical part of me speaking.

I do the same thing with Apple laptops/computers. Buy discounted, sell for about $500 less than I paid a year later before applecare runs out. Costs me $42 a month to have a brand new computer all the time. In comparison a 2500 computer you keep around for 5 years comes to the same amount per month, $42 and it was likely slow the last 2 years of having it.

If the resell values ever plummet, then what I'm doing goes out the door; but as long as suckers keep paying high values for used stuff, I'll keep doing what I do.
 
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thegipper said:
You could always get a quote from a shop for having all of those repairs done (plus new tires) and go back to him. See if you can bring him back to reality.

Personally, I would avoid it and just find something else.
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks for all the replies so far!

Let me make it clear that my dad OWNS an Auto Repair shop with Lifts, Bays, Technicians. I get all the parts for less than retail and usually pay cost for them. I can get all the replacement parts for very good prices usually 30% less than list at Toyota here in Houston. My dad is a Master Tech that really doesn't have a problem helping me do all the work. Which is why when I go look at a vehicle anything wrong with it usually doesn't bother me. I know it is alot of work.

Seats are actually in very good condition. Interior is clean and nothing too much to complain about. The only thing I see wrong with the interior is the carpet piece on the back seats is coming undone. I need someone to reupholster it.

The vehicle was owned by 1 person. All highway miles.

I am having a hard time finding a decent truck. This one fits the color I want with all the options that I am looking for. It even has SEAT WARMERS lol :dancin:

So is 4000 with Tags a bad deal even though I might spend another 750 in parts + lift and tires I might be at about 6k.
 
We all think it's way too money but in the end, it's your call. These trucks can last very long but they also sometimes die well before 288k.

It seems like way too much of a gamble with that many miles and it needing so many parts.

Just keep looking, you'll find one...

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
I would definitely say thumbs down to the original one. I just bought a 2000 4Runner fully loaded with 220k that has new tires, timing belt and pump recently replaced that had a undiagnosed issue with suspension (turned out to be crappy shocks and the LCAs)

The one you just posted seems better, but I wouldn't give $7500 for it.. There's still things that might need replacing if not already done like ball joints, tie-rod ends, LCAs, UCAs.

Here's my story: the undiagnosed problem caused rock and sway at higher speeds, and after tossing out some no name shocks and putting in Toyota OEMs (sort of a rookie mistake in terms of $$$) the problem was still there. My shop is amazing though, and basically demanded I bring it back in. Over 10 hours later of shop time and ~$400 in parts (at no charge), and after checking literally every component of the suspension, they settled on LCAs.

I didn't mind that much since I budgeted $5K, but only spent $3200. But if I spent $7200 I would be pretty rattled if anything like that happened..
 
Fit4Action said:
Lmao. I noticed that as well. Lets try this again.

2001 4runner SR5
Click to expand...


This 4Runner bothers me. The PO is admitting to legit off road use so there is no telling what you are inheriting from that use. The word "custom" always scares me - custom at a shop or custom in his garage? I know there are amazing garage fab guys; but they usually do not describe their stuff as custom. A Harbor Freight winch does not add value IMO. The "bigger and wider" tires equal slower and less MPG on the DD use. It may be an awesome 4Runner; but that is almost as much as I gave for my 4Runner with a supercharger.

I appreciate that you have access a full shop and a master mechanic but I would not discount that access. That is your benefit; not the seller's. Also time is never free and it can never be bought again so value it accordingly.
 
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tx_shooter said:
This 4Runner bothers me. The PO is admitting to legit off road use so there is no telling what you are inheriting from that use. The word "custom" always scares me - custom at a shop or custom in his garage? I know there are amazing garage fab guys; but they usually do not describe their stuff as custom. A Harbor Freight winch does not add value IMO. The "bigger and wider" tires equal slower and less MPG on the DD use. It may be an awesome 4Runner; but that is almost as much as I gave for my 4Runner with a supercharger.

I appreciate that you have access a full shop and a master mechanic but I would not discount that access. That is your benefit; not the seller's. Also time is never free and it can never be bought again so value it accordingly.
Click to expand...

Yea, Each 4runner has their own issues. I really want one with a supercharger on it, but those are few and far between. I am looking at spending between 3-6k on the truck depending on the issues. I know for a fact I will dump money into any truck I buy on CL. Buying it for 4k and putting 2k in parts into it is what I EXPECT to do. I unfortunately do not have the time to be "patient" and wait for "The One" to come along, because I am leaving in 5 weeks.

I do not mind repairing the vehicle, I just want to repair as little as possible. But I fully understand I will end up paying 5-7k on a truck.

What do you recommend me to do?
 
Wait

I think you should wait man, it took me 3 months to find a 4runner that was in good shape and well maintained. but on the first one i think that's too much for THAT particular 4runner. but keep looking! You might find a gem!:car:
 
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