Need help!!!! Time critical regarding first 4Runner purchase.

[Slappybabs]

I am in talks today to purchase a 2006 v8 sport with 39k on the clock. Car has one owner and no accidents and is salsa red with black cloth. The dealer wanted 17000 with all shocks and struts replaced and new brake pads and rotors. My major issue is the car will not go into 4wd low. They quoted me 2500 to fix the mechanism but it will drive fine as is. I need to put a deposit down by morning or it’s being sold to someone waiting behind me. What’s your opinion. Please help ASAP. Only a couple hours to decide. Btw I’ll be shipping it back to NJ

 

[AuSeeker]

I am in talks today to purchase a 2006 v8 sport with 39k on the clock. Car has one owner and no accidents and is salsa red with black cloth. The dealer wanted 17000 with all shocks and struts replaced and new brake pads and rotors. My major issue is the car will not go into 4wd low. They quoted me 2500 to fix the mechanism but it will drive fine as is. I need to put a deposit down by morning or it’s being sold to someone waiting behind me. What’s your opinion. Please help ASAP. Only a couple hours to decide. Btw I’ll be shipping it back to NJ

With only 39,000 it's very possible that by trying to get it to go into 4wd low a few times a week over a month or so it could unstick the acuator without doing the $2500 repair, several here have had success in this manner and they had way more miles on their 4th Gen but you'll be taking chance that it will unstick, if not you could always do the repair at a later date.

You don't find many 4th Gens V8s with this low of mileage very often or V6s for that matter, if you can afford the price go for it, but it's a bit steep for my wallet for a 2006!

 

[Slappybabs]

With only 39,000 it's very possible that by trying to get it to go into 4wd low a few times a week over a month or so it could unstick the acuator without doing the $2500 repair, several here have had success in this manner and they had way more miles on their 4th Gen but you'll be taking chance that it will unstick, if not you could always do the repair at a later date.

You don't find many 4th Gens V8s with this low of mileage very often or V6s for that matter, if you can afford the price go for it, but it's a bit steep for my wallet for a 2006!

Good to know. What would you think would be a fair price

 

[Slappybabs]

Here is the underside

https://imgur.com/gallery/rEA2Wgx

 

[Inv4drZm]

Here is the underside

https://imgur.com/gallery/rEA2Wgx

Me being from the Midwest would run away from the 4runner with the amount of rust it has. To me it negates the benefit of it's low mileage.

But maybe they are all like that on the east coast.

 

[Supersonic]

Start at the radiator support and look the frame over for rust, even low mileage can't stop it.

$14k, but being it's retailer advantage, you might have to pay their price if it is really what you want. Get a written guarantee on the exhaust manifolds not leaking and replace all the front and rear brake parts, pads, shoes, rotors, calipers and labor. All shocks and struts too.

Also depends on what your going to use it for, daily driver, work car - your going to have to add cost of fuel; or mostly week-end fun, that's where I can see the value, but if the 4 wheel low isn't working...did you try that while transmission is in neutral?

 

[Slappybabs]

Start at the radiator support and look the frame over for rust, even low mileage can't stop it.

$14k, but being it's retailer advantage, you might have to pay their price if it is really what you want. Get a written guarantee on the exhaust manifolds not leaking and replace all the front and rear brake parts, pads, shoes, rotors, calipers and labor. All shocks and struts too.

Also depends on what your going to use it for, daily driver, work car - your going to have to add cost of fuel; or mostly week-end fun, that's where I can see the value, but if the 4 wheel low isn't working...did you try that while transmission is in neutral?

Car is 7 hours from me. I would be buying it based on pictures unfortunately. They are replacing most of the suspension and all of the brakes. It would be a daily driver. I put about 3-4K a year on a car. Gas mileage would not matter.

 

[Beer Hounds]

I would bet a sammich there is no one waiting behind you to buy it. Give them a day or two and see what flexibility they find on that price.

 

[AuSeeker]

Here is the underside

https://imgur.com/gallery/rEA2Wgx

With the rust I see, I wouldn't buy it unless I inspected it in person and checked every part of the frame to see how much is surface rust and how much is major rust.

Also even if all the rust is minor/surface rust, I wouldn't pay anywhere close to their asking price, especially with the 4wd not working correctly, I would be hard pressed to pay $10,000 even with them doing the brake and suspension, on top of that if they fixed the 4wd and cleaned up the frame and applied fluid film, I would maybe go up to $13,000.

But my first impression would be to walk away, when you see rust on a frame like this even if it all seems to be surface rust, there's going to be rust inside the frame rails just as bad or in most cases worst.

 

[Bluesky 07]

Does a Carfax or any other evidence support their 39K claim?

And I sense you may be violating the first rule of successful car negotiations: you have to be objective. (#2 is be ready to walk away). My personal opinion fwiw is that you may deeply regret spending that much money on a truck you haven’t seen in person - and that’s if the 4Lo was working.

Took me over a year to find mine but patience pays.

 

[thennen]

Me being from the Midwest would run away from the 4runner with the amount of rust it has. To me it negates the benefit of it's low mileage.

But maybe they are all like that on the east coast.

Agree with Inv4drZm about the rust. It almost looks like it might have sat in water for a period of time. I also wonder why a vehicle with 39k miles needs most of the suspension and all the brakes replaced, unless due to atrophy from sitting. Then there's the 4WD Lo thing. My apologies, I tend to be skeptical sometimes.

Have you personally researched the VIN? I highly recommend it before buying a car that's 7 hours away. Sometimes you learn a little, sometimes a lot.

Also, where is the vehicle now?

 

[Slappybabs]

Agree with Inv4drZm about the rust. It almost looks like it might have sat in water for a period of time. I also wonder why a vehicle with 39k miles needs most of the suspension and all the brakes replaced, unless due to atrophy from sitting. Then there's the 4WD Lo thing. My apologies, I tend to be skeptical sometimes.

Have you personally researched the VIN? I highly recommend it before buying a car that's 7 hours away. Sometimes you learn a little, sometimes a lot.

Also, where is the vehicle now?

It’s at a toyota dealership in Ohio. I’m from NJ

 

[thennen]

Ha! I'm in central Ohio. East of Columbus.

 

[Cheyne1930]

Dont Do It!!!!

With that much rust I would walk sir! I live in a coastal city, looks like salty air had its way with it. If you plan on this thing being your work beater and nothing more okay, but that price needs to come way down.

 

[Supersonic]

As I look at the frame rail to the right of the muffler, the whole bottom side from front to rear makes me think this is one to pass on, the rust just shouldn't be that bad at less than 40k. I'm with the 'Keep looking'.

My 4Runner lucky day, 2005 SR5, last September I paid $2k dealer wholesale, had 294k, slight surface rust, come out of New Mexico, but with a little service updating, now runs/drives as new. Being I can do my own work, I'd have taken a head gasket repair even at that price, but would have passed on a rusted frame.

 

[ZiaMan]

These guys are being to nice so I’ll help out...get the f away from this and forget you saw it,

The major red flags I see with the your post and the vehicle:
- arbitrary/fake time pressure to make a purchase. This is a consensual transaction not a robbery
- fear of missing out. This is not the unicorn you think it is
- abnormal rust and repairs for mileage. Why does this vehicle need so many major repairs done? Would you buy this vehicle with 60k or 80k miles or are you enamored with the fact it only has 39k miles and overlooking everything bad?
-assuming that repairs will be done and done well. You are 7 hours away, if I’m selling you a turd what am I worried about? You won’t come see me to purchase the vehicle, are you going to show up after I botch all the repairs I to,d you I would do? Are you going to file a civil suit across state lines? If I’m selling you this I ain’t scared of shit.
- are you willing to pay to fix everything that is wrong with this after you pay $17k? Will you be ok with a worse case scenario? Do you wrench a lot and can you fix everything yourself? If not this could easily be a 25k or 30k truck just to get it running right. Would you be happy with that?
- lastly, you’re in Jersey. Tons of members closer than 7hours that you can buy their rig or buy from a California member and ship it out!

In case you’re wondering what the hell do I know, I bought my gx for way more than you’re 4Runner sight unseen accepting that I might find something catastrophic as well. Nothing catastrophic but my pics didn’t uncover anything like what I’m seeing here.

 

[Slappybabs]

These guys are being to nice so I’ll help out...get the f away from this and forget you saw it,

The major red flags I see with the your post and the vehicle:
- arbitrary/fake time pressure to make a purchase. This is a consensual transaction not a robbery
- fear of missing out. This is not the unicorn you think it is
- abnormal rust and repairs for mileage. Why does this vehicle need so many major repairs done? Would you buy this vehicle with 60k or 80k miles or are you enamored with the fact it only has 39k miles and overlooking everything bad?
-assuming that repairs will be done and done well. You are 7 hours away, if I’m selling you a turd what am I worried about? You won’t come see me to purchase the vehicle, are you going to show up after I botch all the repairs I to,d you I would do? Are you going to file a civil suit across state lines? If I’m selling you this I ain’t scared of shit.
- are you willing to pay to fix everything that is wrong with this after you pay $17k? Will you be ok with a worse case scenario? Do you wrench a lot and can you fix everything yourself? If not this could easily be a 25k or 30k truck just to get it running right. Would you be happy with that?
- lastly, you’re in Jersey. Tons of members closer than 7hours that you can buy their rig or buy from a California member and ship it out!

In case you’re wondering what the hell do I know, I bought my gx for way more than you’re 4Runner sight unseen accepting that I might find something catastrophic as well. Nothing catastrophic but my pics didn’t uncover anything like what I’m seeing here.

Very much appreciated man. Thanks for the honesty. I’m very green with Toyota’s. I’ll keep looking.

 

[Samm25]

Very much appreciated man. Thanks for the honesty. I’m very green with Toyota’s. I’ll keep looking.

Props to you for seeking advice and actually taking it, man. 4Runners are hard to find with low miles and a decent price, so seeing one with low miles will make anyone on here crave it. However, I agree with everyone on here. Seeing those pictures and seeing that rust with only 39k miles and seeing the amount of repairs that it’s needed, I would not budge for more than $12k or $13k on it.
I’m from Texas, so when I see that amount of rust on a vehicle, it makes me cringe. My girlfriend bought a certified used 2014 Corolla from a dealership in Cleveland last year and it already needs new rotors, pads, AND calipers because of that salt and it’s only 4 years old. I can only imagine what a 12 year old vehicle needs, even if it wasn’t run much.

I hope you find what you’re looking for soon. It’ll come along, and when you find it, you’ll know.

 

[Seymore Butts]

Run! That awful corrosion explains the need for all those repairs, and probably a lot more that you don't know about yet. This is the worst deal I've seen on this forum so far. Seventeen thousand? Insane.

 

[First 4Runner]

Car is 7 hours from me. I would be buying it based on pictures unfortunately. They are replacing most of the suspension and all of the brakes. It would be a daily driver. I put about 3-4K a year on a car. Gas mileage would not matter.

Do NOT buy sight unseen, ever. Do NOT fall in love with any car. You will always be sorry. That kind of rust, I'd run away. I'd rather buy a clean 100K mile truck with a good service history. Just my .02.