Looking to Join the Gen 3 family - Need Advice on Purchase

[GVL]

Hey guys, first post here. I had an 02 Sport Edition for 10 years and loved it but sold it for something more practical for my heavy work related city/freeway driving miles.

We recently purchased a little mountain cabin bordering on the San Bernardino National Forest and I'm looking for an inexpensive T4R as a dedicated trail cruiser to keep at the cabin. The roads are fairly mellow but definitely 4x worthy in many areas and with snow 4x is a necessity on just about all the trails since it's really hilly.

I'm going to look at a 1998 Limited (with diff lock) with 200,000 miles that looks pretty clean and has had the timing belt, water pump and plugs already replaced and a nice set of new AT rubber on it. He's asking $4500 which seems fair, but just curious what else I should expect to need replacing soon assuming a normal rate of wear and tear. I don't want to get myself into a money pit if other expensive parts are going to start going soon.

This vehicle will likely only see a 1000 miles a year at most.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[UnderFire]

Sounds like a solid choice, all the hard work seems to be done, maybe little things will need replaced here and there, only thing that comes to mind is front suspension/steering components, but those aren't a huge deal.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Don't buy it without first:

1) reading the buyers guide here
2) putting it on a lift and checking for frame rust rot (quite common)
3) Get a compression test done. Its cheap and the car has 200k miles. Like seriously.
4) Carfax! Checks for mileage and other stuff. Not that useful for detecting accidents though.

These are all musts for buying such an old car, even a 3rd gen.


Good luck and welcome to the community (again) !

 

[GrampsT4R]

Sounds like a decent deal. I just picked up a 99 and paid more and it needs tires, shocks and some other stuff. If I wasn't daily driving it, I could have waited on the shock. The thing is still silent inside and rattle/squeak free, so I would imagine you'll be fine. Just make sure it doesn't have any leaks.

 

[GrampsT4R]

I still have 3 carfaxes I can run from my search. Let me know if you need one.

 

[Dee3]

Rear locker can come in handy. I enjoy using mine occasionally. Can't go wrong with another 3rd gen.. Im on my 4th and 5th runners. 4 out of 5 all 3rd gens. Just check it over good and give it a nice drive to feel it out on/off road.

 

[IBallEngineer]

We recently purchased a little mountain cabin bordering on the San Bernardino National Forest and I'm looking for an inexpensive T4R as a dedicated trail cruiser to keep at the cabin. The roads are fairly mellow but definitely 4x worthy in many areas and with snow 4x is a necessity on just about all the trails since it's really hilly.


This vehicle will likely only see a 1000 miles a year at most.

Any advice appreciated.

Welcome [MENTION=106327]GVL[/MENTION] Having driven thousands of miles out of Green Valley I can tell you there is great fun in your future. I don't get up there much these days but as you know, even the short drive to Crab Flats can be tough in the snow, and going down to deep creek is very hard year round even with 4wd. If you can afford it, you should look at buying something someone has already spent money and time prepping for trails. And since you intend to dedicate it to the cabin, you can be less concerned with it's highway manners. A good middle ground is what I'd suggest. Something like this

Toyota 4runner 4x4 Lifted & Locked

Probably a tad overpriced, but maybe he'll bend a little.

Is the "Lake Inn" open? It goes through owners since they rarely make enough money year round. Don't forget to buy your fishing license!

:couch2:

 

[GVL]

Thank you all for the replies. I went and checked out the 98 Limited and it was OK but the dark gray paint was very badly oxidized. Not that I'm too concerned about paint on a dedicated off-road T4R, but it tells me it likely has never been garaged and the owner(s) never cared to wax it so probably didn't care about maintenance either. I'm not in any big hurry so will keep looking.

GrampsT4R - thank you for the CarFax offer, if I find something I like I may take you up on that.

IBall - that rig you linked to looks perfect for our area, I may just save a few more bucks and look for something that is a little more trail ready. Yes, the Lake Inn is still there along with the Malt Shop and a brand new little tavern called Eagles Nest - we absolutely love it up here.

 

[IBallEngineer]

Yes, the Lake Inn is still there along with the Malt Shop and a brand new little tavern called Eagles Nest - we absolutely love it up here.

One of my best friends has a cabin there. I used to go up every weekend when he was building it to help. These days I might get up once every two years.
Hopefully I'll be getting up there more in the near future. When I do I'll make sure you are ready for some trails!

 

[CShaver1025]

Don't buy it without first:

1) reading the buyers guide here
2) putting it on a lift and checking for frame rust rot (quite common)
3) Get a compression test done. Its cheap and the car has 200k miles. Like seriously.
4) Carfax! Checks for mileage and other stuff. Not that useful for detecting accidents though.

These are all musts for buying such an old car, even a 3rd gen.


Good luck and welcome to the community (again) !

x2 on this.