Need 3rd gen purchase advice please

[flygirl0344]

I was immediately leaning toward this when I saw the list of repairs made within the last 5,000 miles. I mean, good maintenance is key, but if the seller doesn't have a good reason for doing all of that work and then selling it shortly after, then it would raise some red flags with me. A few of the repairs listed are basic maintenance on a vehicle that old (shoot, I've done these too), but they could also indicate a problem that the previous owner is still chasing.

Antkos, supp he’s having a baby and they got a van so this needs to go.

 

[flygirl0344]

…I would highly recommend shifting it from 2hi to 4hi to 4hi locked and making sure the system is operating like it should before buying it. The 4wd indicators on the instrument cluster will go solid once the requested transfer case setting is achieved. If it flashes give it about 10 seconds or so before putting it back to the previous setting and trying again. I found that changing settings while driving was the most likely way to get it to shift.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SHIFT BETWEEN HIGH AND LOW RANGE WHILE MOVING! ONLY SHIFT BETWEEN HIGH AND LOW RANGE WHILE STOPPED AND THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL!

Parts only for the mods listed including wheels and tires would be around $4000 give or take. That’s not including any labor costs if he had a shop perform any of it.

I have a cpl vids of the owner shifting 2wd to 4 Wd but I can’t get them to load. Can we post vids here?

 

[flygirl0344]

I hate to be a downer but $7000 for a 4Runner with 300K miles on it is not worth it. You are overpaying by several thousand dollars. There's no guarantee that the engine and transmission will last much longer at that stage. I do think the previous owner did do a lot of the big maintenance items but that's 300,000 miles over what, 21-25 years? So it has been driven roughly 12,000 to 15,000 miles every year for over two decades? That means bearings are worn out. The bushings are worn out. It will creak, rattle and things are coming loose. All rubber hoses are deteriorated. The engine is losing compression. The valves will be out of spec. The transmission clutch plates are worn out (if an auto). Need I go on? Sure, he replaced some items and upgraded the suspension but there's a lot more to a vehicle than that.

I see most major engine damage happening between 300K to 400K miles. I think you'd be buying a time bomb. Go for a lower mileage 4Runner.

The Toyo dealership will do a buyer ck for $185. Could they confirm or deny all of what you listed?

 

[desertegal7]

how to tell you need regearing? drive the car and of it feels slow then needs regearing. (according to my knowledge)

high milage 300k is raising a lot of speculation, how ever age is just a number, mine 300k+ and running strong.. some pass 150k and they are in bad shape, its about how it had been used and look after.

i would advise to check engine yourself and maybe to compression test to get the accurate image about its health.

 

[Romeo1]

I was immediately leaning toward this when I saw the list of repairs made within the last 5,000 miles. I mean, good maintenance is key, but if the seller doesn't have a good reason for doing all of that work and then selling it shortly after, then it would raise some red flags with me. A few of the repairs listed are basic maintenance on a vehicle that old (shoot, I've done these too), but they could also indicate a problem that the previous owner is still chasing.

Antkos, supp he’s having a baby and they got a van so this needs to go.

That makes sense, this was probably a passion project for them and now life changes happened.

7K doesn’t buy much these days though, unfortunately.

It looks really straight from the photos. That’s a huge plus. obviously I need to see it in person to really make a good judgment, but I don’t think I’d be scared by it.

Maybe the question we all should really be asking you here is what level of appetite do you have for fixing things? Maybe I missed it somewhere else, what are you planning to do with the truck? Daily? Adventure rig? Both? Just cause?

 

[flygirl0344]

game freak, this is all great info to consider. I def dont want any major issues with this after Im driving it home 5 hours. Thanks for sharing!

 

[flygirl0344]

Romeo, what are your thought on what gamefreak said regarding potential issues:

"....That means bearings are worn out. The bushings are worn out. It will creak, rattle and things are coming loose. All rubber hoses are deteriorated. The engine is losing compression. The valves will be out of spec. The transmission clutch plates are worn out (if an auto). Need I go on? Sure, he replaced some items and upgraded the suspension but there's a lot more to a vehicle than that. I see most major engine damage happening between 300K to 400K miles. I think you'd be buying a time bomb. Go for a lower mileage 4Runner"....

 

[gamefreakgc]

The Toyo dealership will do a buyer ck for $185. Could they confirm or deny all of what you listed?

They could, the biggest thing would be a compression check. Other things like worn bushings in the control arms, sway bars, etc. they may not check for as they can't check everything for $185.

I agree with the comment above and it does very much matter if you are able to do your own repairs. It is assumed that at 300,000+ miles you're going to have things break. I've purchases a few junker 4Runners over the past 5-6 years and parted them out and most engine failures I saw happened without warning over 325,000 miles. I bought one with a cracked piston like that. The thing still ran though!!

These 4Runners have a great reputation of lasting a very long time which is deserved. The problem about buying one is that this last owner was only one of many and we all have no idea how it was treated or taken care of before he had it. I do agree in that the list of maintenance items provided he was looking to make it last for a very long time. For example, I bought mine from the second owner. The first owner babied it like it was a collector's car and the second owner (a young guy, younger than me) absolutely thrashed the motor and drove it like it was stolen. I am still repairing damage he did to it during his ownership, and I bought mine at 190K miles.

 

[octanejunkie]

I'll chime in

If the seller can provide receipts and records then it might be worth it. For the reasons bad luck mentioned, I'm not a fan of the limited model transfer cases nor do I care for leather seats, but that's a personal preference

I'm not impressed with freedom off-road upper control arms, they don't do anything for suspension geometry other than change the angle of the ball joint and in all honesty a 2 inch lift doesn't require it.

I am a fan of 33 inch tires, 255/85 R16, and I don't mind e-rated tires considering I'll drop down to 8 PSI and ride the sidewalls, most folks not crawling don't have that requirement and can benefit from the weight savings of c rated tires

Like has been said, I would not go through the trouble of re-gearing unless you add a bunch of additional weight (armor, bumpers, winch) or have a use case, like rock crawling, to support the expense of changing gearing. If you were to pick up a factory e-locker with 4.30 gearing, it would be worth changing the front differential because that's a great ratio with 33s on a DD.

I would almost rather buy the lower mileage truck to perform all of my own mods and maintenance, that way I know it's done right. 300K miles doesn't scare me on these vehicles, however. Overall condition, does matter.

The last thing to consider are the things not easily changed, like interior color, equipment package, and rust. Buy the truck you like with the least amount of rust, damage or bs.

That's my take

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Romeo1]

Romeo, what are your thought on what gamefreak said regarding potential issues:

"....That means bearings are worn out. The bushings are worn out. It will creak, rattle and things are coming loose. All rubber hoses are deteriorated. The engine is losing compression. The valves will be out of spec. The transmission clutch plates are worn out (if an auto). Need I go on? Sure, he replaced some items and upgraded the suspension but there's a lot more to a vehicle than that. I see most major engine damage happening between 300K to 400K miles. I think you'd be buying a time bomb. Go for a lower mileage 4Runner"....

Well. I mean he’s not wrong. It’s going to probably need some more work if a high level of vehicle fitness is desired. If not trying it’s whatever. Mines in my garage right now getting ready for a full front end overhaul. Oem lower arms, JBA uppers, wheel bearings, and I’ll probably order an ECGS bushing tomorrow since mines a bit loose. My lowers are so shot now. Not only is the rubber visibly garbage, the steering changes upon hard braking from the lowers being so worn. My passenger tire even rubs the firewall on hard high speed hits while rallying from the flex.

Is a problem? No. Only problem I really have is the time to fix it. I’ll pulled apart this weekend and re condition it and it’ll be fantastic. So to me no it’s not an issue, I fix it and move on with life. Yes, it helps that I have the tools and the knowledge to do it. But anyway you cut it it’s still cheaper than a payment. I’ll rebuild the entire front end better than stock for what, 2 to 3 payments on the newer one?

Thing is, everyone has such a good resource available to them in the form of Timmy, the Toolman YouTube videos. They are practically a step-by-step with all relevant information, tips and tricks, torque values, the whole bit. An absolute incredible resource for somebody who maybe doesn’t know or have the knowledge or manual to go by. I used to get paid to turn ranches, and I still Tim and Sean’s videos.

I know this is a long winded response to your question. But there are no guarantees in any of this. It could be bulletproof and you drive it for another 300 K. It might die next week.

Sure, it’s very likely there’s going to be lots of little things that might need to be addressed. Things like hoses for vacuum. The heater valve is probably corroded. It’s like a 10 minute fix if that. The radiator might need swapped. It’s $130 radiator and you can swap it in like 30 minutes.

We’re not trying to discourage you, we’re just trying to keep it real in here, that’s all. I think it’s important to probably buy the best one you can afford. I’m kind of an odd duck that way and I look for the ones that have problems to go use that to my advantage in purchasing for less.

Like I mentioned, earlier, overall interior condition/color, level of rust, and how hammered it is in general to me or the biggest things. I can fix the rest easy enough.

Now, if the goal is to buy it, never ever open the hood on it, and just drive it, that expectation may be difficult to be met. All things being equal, lower miles is always nice.

 

[Romeo1]

I'll chime in

If the seller can provide receipts and records then it might be worth it. For the reasons bad luck mentioned, I'm not a fan of the limited model transfer cases nor do I care for leather seats, but that's a personal preference

I'm not impressed with freedom off-road upper control arms, they don't do anything for suspension geometry other than change the angle of the ball joint and in all honesty a 2 inch lift doesn't require it.

I am a fan of 33 inch tires, 255/85 R16, and I don't mind e-rated tires considering I'll drop down to 8 PSI and ride the sidewalls, most folks not crawling don't have that requirement and can benefit from the weight savings of c rated tires

Like has been said, I would not go through the trouble of re-gearing unless you add a bunch of additional weight (armor, bumpers, winch) or have a use case, like rock crawling, to support the expense of changing gearing. If you were to pick up a factory e-locker with 4.30 gearing, it would be worth changing the front differential because that's a great ratio with 33s on a DD.

I would almost rather buy the lower mileage truck to perform all of my own mods and maintenance, that way I know it's done right. 300K miles doesn't scare me on these vehicles, however. Overall condition, does matter.

The last thing to consider are the things not easily changed, like interior color, equipment package, and rust. Buy the truck you like with the least amount of rust, damage or bs.

That's my take

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

Agreed. Except on the E tire part[emoji481]. I like my C’s better in the rocks too. I do really wish I could get a 255/85R16 in a 3 ply sidewall C. That would be marvelous. Simply marvelous.

But I’m with octanejunkie. I like to put the mods on myself. That way I know they’re done, right.

You’re assuming it’ll take 7K to buy it. You might be able to get it priced lower.

I still don’t think I’ve seen it get talked about in the thread Are you looking to just drive it on the road, or are you looking to go adventuring with it out in the wild also?