Need some advice on price to sell T4R

redrunner02

redrunner02

New member
The time has come my fellow runners. I must say goodbye to my 4runner.
Let me explain why..

I'm going to be a DAD!!!

I found out on Mother's Day that I planted the seed so, I decided I will need a fuel economy vehicle to help with the cost of living that comes with parenthood.

I haven't had much issues with my T4R, only..
I blew the engine, replaced it.
rear differential broke, replaced it.

Other than that no issues, mileage is around 130-140k

I basically need some numbers so I can wrap my head around what I can expect to gain out of it. Hope everyone is doing well.

Quick List of mods:
Ultimate Toytech 3" lift
20 inch Ultra Gauntlet rims on Goodyear Silent Armors
Outdoor Logic front bumper with custom stinger
Black Jaos Billet Grille
Black with Red Retrofit headlights
Bug Shield
LED Smoked Tail ad 3rd Brake Lights

I believe that's about it, I'll detail this as soon as I can, thanks everyone.
 

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Considering the damage / repair history ..... I think you could get somewhere near KBB with maybe $1000 extra for the mods.

Whatever you do please disclose the maintenance history as its the right thing to do.
 
redrunner02 said:
The time has come my fellow runners. I must say goodbye to my 4runner.
Let me explain why..

I'm going to be a DAD!!!

I found out on Mother's Day that I planted the seed so, I decided I will need a fuel economy vehicle to help with the cost of living that comes with parenthood.
Click to expand...


Congrats on being a future parent. But why unload your Runner?? Fuel economy? Cost of living that comes with parenthood.

Seems that you're reversed here. How I figure is that your current Runner is paid off... Why go buy something that gets just a little better MPG than your current ride. Finance it or pay $20-30K. How does that make any sense? You'd never make up for the money saved on gas by selling your current paid off vehicle.

Plus your future child will love you even more when you give him this Runner at 16 instead of some POS smart car.

I have 3 boys. The Runner especially with a little lift is the PERFECT height for loading/unloading babies into their car seats.
 
Congrats, fatherhood is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Luckily you already have a sweet ride! I am with [MENTION=67756]Lineman[/MENTION] here. I purchase my runner for a few different reasons.

  1. Toyota
  2. More room for baby crap ( you eventually learn to trim down what ya bring)
  3. Easier to get baby in and out
  4. Could take dogs with us again
  5. Easy to maintain / could do most of it myself
  6. Didn't want to worry about my baby getting stuff on the seats of a car

I had an 04 Altima before I purchased my runner and it was a pain in the neck for me to get him in and out of the car.

Why toss out all the good memories you have with it. Keep the runner and make some more with it!

Just my 2 cents. Good luck on your decision and congrats again!
 
I'm with the other two guys. I have a little girl on the way in August, and have no plans to sell mine or my wife's 4Runners. They get around 17-19 mpgs, which is decent enough for us. They are incredibly dependable, which makes cost of ownership low. If something does break, parts are readily available and relatively cheap.
Its a safe vehicle, as noted by the multiple flipped-wrecks-with-the-person-walking-away stories we've seen on here.
Does having a baby cost money, sure does. Is it enough to warrant selling a dependable, cheap to own vehicle? Not to me. YMMV.
 
Yeah i agree with them. Don't sell it, just stop spending money on it for mods.

And perhaps lower it back to stock suspension.
 
Brian -- I'm not sure how you think OP can get KBB value with a blown engine that he replaced? IMO, that decreases value by a lot. I personally wouldn't buy a rig with that type of history.

Anyhow -- OP is in a tricky situation. He doesn't live in an area (the Bay) where he really needs a 4x4 for the snow (Unlike here in CO where we do get a decent amount of snow a few months out of the year). At the same token, with a rebuilt engine -- how long does he have until another failure in his rebuilt engine? I guess we don't have many details to go off of.

In terms of the truck itself, it is really good looking, clean.

OP -- What are your plans for a new ride? Are you looking to buy a *new* fuel efficient/smaller car? Or a used? Some of us have assumed you are buying a new car, which does put you in a $25-30k hole (+ interest) compared to maintaining the 4runner/paying the gas prices.
 
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I agree with everyone else, I have a 3 year old and a 10 month old, I currently own my 3rd gen and a 2011 kia sportage and an excursion, and the 4runner is by far the most comfortable to take the kids around in, more space in the back seats than the sportage and the cargo space in the 4runner is nearly 2x what the sportage has. I would keep the 4runner nearly over any vehicle unless you have the money and just want a new vehicle.
 
tmaxx13 said:
I agree with everyone else, I have a 3 year old and a 10 month old, I currently own my 3rd gen and a 2011 kia sportage and an excursion, and the 4runner is by far the most comfortable to take the kids around in, more space in the back seats than the sportage and the cargo space in the 4runner is nearly 2x what the sportage has. I would keep the 4runner nearly over any vehicle unless you have the money and just want a new vehicle.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen one of these in a few years to be honest. What do you get for gas in that beast?
 
amalik said:
Brian -- I'm not sure how you think OP can get KBB value with a blown engine that he replaced? IMO, that decreases value by a lot. I personally wouldn't buy a rig with that type of history.

At the same token, with a rebuilt engine -- how long does he have until another failure in his rebuilt engine? I guess we don't have many details to go off of.
Click to expand...

He never said rebuilt, he said he replaced it. So assuming the replaced engine has around the same miles as the truck (or less) I think Brian's estimate is fair. Unfortunately weird stuff does happen sometimes. A friend of mine in CT blew a rod threw the block of his 4Runner not too long ago at 102K miles. Is it common? No. Can it happen? Yes.
 
Hopefully this helps

9 months ago I didn't have a 4runner (sold last one in 2010).9 months ago the wife and I both drove Lexus gs300's(newer,decent gas milage cars like you plan on getting.)within 2 months of the baby being home we HAD to start looking for a 4runner.it is a pain in the ass to get a baby out of a 4 door car,forget a 2 door.in a sedan with a baby chair in the back only the driver and whoever sits in the back with the baby can ride(passenger seat has to be scooted up to an uncomfortable position to clear baby chair.) ever since we got the runner the baby rides only in the 4runner.im telling you,you will not care about mpgs when u got a baby screaming in the back and your cramped as hell in a little four door car.

Just my experience.

My advice is do not sell it.
 
Thanks for the congrats and advice guys,

A lot of you are making some good sense. I'm still a youngster so it helps to get advice from more experienced individuals. I going to look into just replacing the Lbjs and other preventive replacements. What other changes do you guys recommends safety wise? Ubjs? Tie rods? Wheel bearing?
 
Its a really nice looking 4runner and some of the mods are nice IMO and others not so much IMO but here is my take since you asked. I am a dad too, to two handsome young men and my wife and I both have 3rd gen 4runners and have for over 8 years as well as a nice civic hatch that gets over 30mpg , a six speed acura legend coupe that gets the same mileage with my foot out of it, and we still both DD our runners for our kids. As far as having kids goes yeah you gotta have your expenses in check but the 4runner is the perfect family vehicle and reliable as it gets pending driving habits, scheduled maintenance intervals, and the unexpected, low mileage engine failure you stated you had along with your differential. I have seen guys on here with 400k+ and still running strong and mechanically in check, I have heard guys with under 100k who drove it like they stole it or drove like a teenager and had major failures at what I consider to be too early with low mileage as well. I don't know why your engine failed that early, you replaced it, that's great, but I wouldn't personally trust a seller who blew his engine at that mileage not to have caused it in some way, ( sorry no offense, just seen too many cars that were clean on the outside and driven like they were stolen and crap mechanically) driving habits, not performing repairs when needed, etc., and would would lead me to believe that I can possibly expect problems if I purchase this vehicle from this owner since they had low mileage failures. I check Carfax, kick tires, pull it in a shop and onto a lift if possible and ask the seller all the questions that piss them off, I say I don't care what is good, tell me what's bad. . I can't value it but it looks good too me besides the 20" wheels which is just a personal opinion I don't like big wheels unless they are for my kids. If you want to be as fair as possible let the prospective buyer test drive it, and talk with him about your problems you had with it along with the mods you have done and discuss a price that you and the buyer agree on. Good luck and congrats on planting the seed. Lol. Good day to find out your gonna be a daddy.
 
Congrats on the little tike on the way! My wife is due any day and I just bought my T4R which replaced an Infiniti I30. The gas mileage isn't too bad. I have been averaging right around 20 mpg (mine is stock) which is a lot better than my F150 and just a little off the 22-24 I was getting in the Infiniti. I also like that my wife can drive the T4R and have 4 wheel drive in a simple to use platform; we're in Colorado. I think the height is going to be easier to loan the kiddo into a car seat than the Infiniti.
You got a pretty bad ass T4R and I know it would be hard for me to get rid of it, if I were you.
 
If I could append any other advice to what I have already said is that realize that kids don't NEED much other that your time and love. The first 3/4 of their first year of life they will be on the boob :girl: ( so feed your wife and your kid will be fed too! Also if you do a baby shower you will have most of the needs covered. Invest in a good car seat and learn to put that sucker in before he/she comes into this world! Oh and hand me downs from friends and family are the best; most of the time a kid wears an outfit 5-6 times before they grow out of it.

Take care man and congrats again!
 
[MENTION=69690]redrunner02[/MENTION]: I actually just had a daughter about 3 months ago and was considering selling my 4Runner, but it's paid off so I decided to keep it. I'm glad I did.

The 4Runner is a blast to take her out in, and it seems a little more practical now that I've been driving with her in it for some time now.

This is us heading home from the hospital. She was 3 days old in this photo:
 
Like everyone else says, the smart money would be keeping the 4runner. Fix whatever needs to be. Don't F with it unless it's already broke.
Do yourself a favor and start saving $$$$$ now. In 9 months the dollars start disappearing at an alarming rate.
 
redrunner02 said:
Thanks for the congrats and advice guys,

A lot of you are making some good sense. I'm still a youngster so it helps to get advice from more experienced individuals. I going to look into just replacing the Lbjs and other preventive replacements. What other changes do you guys recommends safety wise? Ubjs? Tie rods? Wheel bearing?
Click to expand...

LBJ's for sure safety-wise, but you could also get them checked and see if there is even any play in them or not. There are debates about this issue (Replace them with X amount of mileage even if no play or replace them only when they have play). If you can afford it, I agree with the former view just for the peace of mind. Keep in mind OEM LBJ's aren't the cheapest thing in the world.

Some say if you are doing LBJ's to do UBJ's at the same time, but UBJ is more of a process/harder to do. LBJ failure is the big one to be concerned about due to the effect it has on our 3rd gens (I'm sure you've seen the horrid pics with the entire front end on the ground etc).

Tie rods -- replace them if they are bad. You can google bad tie rod symptoms:

AGCO Automotive Repair Service - Baton Rouge, LA - Detailed Auto Topics - Properly Checking Tie Rod Ends
 
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For LBJ's and other OEM parts you can usually find them for cheaper online. I bought mine from 1sttoyotaparts.com and saved a nice chunk of dough!
 
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