Hi all - new member here, looking forward to reading through the info and tips on the forum.
I'm posting for some buying advice (mods - feel free to move this to a sub-forum, direct me to another thread, or just tell me to do a damn search
)
I used to own a '98 4x4 Tacoma w/160k, ran good. But it's being bought back by Toyota after the frame rusted through and it failed inspection. So a truck I thought I'd have for another 100k miles is off the road, and I need to look for a replacement. Not necessarily another Tacoma, but something similar. I'd like to spend under 10k, so I'm looking for a 3rd gen 4Runner. FWIW, I've test driven an '01, and in general, I like the 3rd gen ride, interior, etc.
Main duties would be as a DD (I'm in New England, so I need to account for snow), plus some some minor off-roading...beaches, camping trails, etc. Nothing too severe, so a rear locker isn't a necessity. Only other preferences are for an automatic and the 3.4 v6 engine.
Any opinions on what year 3rd gen to look for? I've seen several for sale nearby...
I've seen '99 SR5, but they don't have the multi-mode 4WD, which I think would come in handy in the winter.
I've seen '99 - '00 Limited, which do have it, but don't have ATRAC and VSC.
I've seen '01 - '02 SR5 which have ATRAC/VSC (this the year they were first introduced?) and multi-mode, but I've also read some posts about VSC causing de-throttling, and nearly leading to accidents. So maybe that's not such a good feature to have.
Although my Taco didn't have any of these, I'm just trying to figure out which ones - if any - are worthwhile for my purposes.
TIA for any and all advice.
Lou
I'm posting for some buying advice (mods - feel free to move this to a sub-forum, direct me to another thread, or just tell me to do a damn search
)I used to own a '98 4x4 Tacoma w/160k, ran good. But it's being bought back by Toyota after the frame rusted through and it failed inspection. So a truck I thought I'd have for another 100k miles is off the road, and I need to look for a replacement. Not necessarily another Tacoma, but something similar. I'd like to spend under 10k, so I'm looking for a 3rd gen 4Runner. FWIW, I've test driven an '01, and in general, I like the 3rd gen ride, interior, etc.
Main duties would be as a DD (I'm in New England, so I need to account for snow), plus some some minor off-roading...beaches, camping trails, etc. Nothing too severe, so a rear locker isn't a necessity. Only other preferences are for an automatic and the 3.4 v6 engine.
Any opinions on what year 3rd gen to look for? I've seen several for sale nearby...
I've seen '99 SR5, but they don't have the multi-mode 4WD, which I think would come in handy in the winter.
I've seen '99 - '00 Limited, which do have it, but don't have ATRAC and VSC.
I've seen '01 - '02 SR5 which have ATRAC/VSC (this the year they were first introduced?) and multi-mode, but I've also read some posts about VSC causing de-throttling, and nearly leading to accidents. So maybe that's not such a good feature to have.
Although my Taco didn't have any of these, I'm just trying to figure out which ones - if any - are worthwhile for my purposes.
TIA for any and all advice.
Lou
