New guy in NC moving to WA, shopping for 1st T4R

[6-0 Prolene]

Hi, all. I'm working for the US Army right now, stationed in NC, deployed to Afghanistan, moving to WA in January. As much as I love my FWD VW SportWagen TDI down in NC, I don't think it's going to cut it for the activities we have planned in WA. My wife and I have a 4-year-old daughter and 2 dogs, and we love the outdoors. I've been doing my homework and it looks like the 4Runner is the way to go. After looking at the options (Jeep, Ford, Honda, etc) I think the T4R is the right mix of cargo space, go-anywhere capability, towing capacity, and on-road manners for us. I'm currently looking at a 2013 or 2014 Limited.

Anyway, I figured I'm far enough down the road that I should join and pick some brains before my purchase. I'm not really a hard-core off-roader, but would be looking at some long road trips with 2- and 4-legged family members, remote hikes, backcountry skiing, camping (the further off the beaten path the better), towing a camper, and having something that can get me to work under absolutely any conditions as my job doesn't really have snow days.

 

[twalk]

Check eBay. I just bought a clean 2000 SR5 with 147k miles for $4100. I did a lot of Craigslist hunting, but everybody withheld some details in their listing, so I was left disappointed upon seeing the trucks in person.

One person had thrashed the interior (hence no interior pics in their listing, and very hesitant to provide any to me prior to seeing it), another had some warning lights on the dash, and noticeable ride issues from worn out shocks.

I generally dislike eBay due to the fees, but there is some added insurance when going through them. I just set my max price (which was actually $4200, and held out until I won that eBay auction.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

 

[slowpoke99]

Welcome!
I'm right outside of Joint Base Lewis McChord which is probably where you're heading being in the army. You'll find plenty of "rust free" runners over here on this side of the states if you're planning on shopping for one when you get here.

 

[6-0 Prolene]

Thanks, guys. I'm actually hoping to buy before we move out west, just to make the road trip easier. That way we could haul a decent-sized U-Haul trailer as well and make things a bit simpler. The used market out here is pretty thin, though, so I'm resigning myself to buying a new 2014. I think I'll be back too late to snag up a discounted 13, but we'll see... And who knows. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a good one used when the time comes.

 

[RunningWriter]

Thanks, guys. I'm actually hoping to buy before we move out west, just to make the road trip easier. That way we could haul a decent-sized U-Haul trailer as well and make things a bit simpler. The used market out here is pretty thin, though, so I'm resigning myself to buying a new 2014. I think I'll be back too late to snag up a discounted 13, but we'll see... And who knows. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a good one used when the time comes.

Congrats on the move West. My wife & I are from CA, but have spent time in OR and WA. You should love it outdoors all up and down the west coast. Apologies for a longish post, but hoping to help because we just went through the same thing (and ended up with a 2013 4Runner SR5).

First, yes—Toyota. Our service record with them since 1983 keeps us coming back, including a 1989 V6 5-speed manual Camry that went 240,000 mi (nothing unusual about that in this forum, as you'll see) and a 2001 Highlander Limited AWD (130,000 and still going strong). No prejudice against other makes. In fact, until recently 2 of our family worked at BMW in SC producing X3, X5, and X6s. One of them purchased a Jeep, after leaving BMW. But we've just done too well with Toyota to abandon the brand.

Second, your profile sounds a lot like ours so the 4Runner should suit you well. We're active outdoors, have a big dog, mountain bikes, etc., and tow a 16' LivinLite camper trailer (looking at a 21'-er). Spent a lot of time backpacking Yosemite out beyond Tuolumne Meadows and through the Sierra, but got too old for sleeping on the ground.

Third and finally, we ended up with the 2013 SR5 because, like you, we were looking for a model year-end deal. The dealer we've dealt with for a long time had the SR5 we chose in stock. Your post suggests you think you may be too late, but when I checked inventories (click here) earlier today, there were 12 Trail Editions and more than 50 SR5s in the NC/SC/TN radius within 100 miles of us.

Limited, SR5, or Trail? We took the SR5 our dealer would "deal" on because it had almost everything the Limited offers except leather, navigation, and heated seats. Would I do it again, if I'd been smart enough to ask on a couple of forums, as you did? No, I'd probably have looked harder to get a Trail Edition, for a little bit more robust offroading. I'd have enjoyed a Limited's leather (as well as X-REAS rear suspension). But the Trail Edition (TE) 4Runner would have allowed us to get the KDSS not offered on SR5 or Limited, and we'd have gone for a TE with CRAWL, as well.

Again, apologies for the length. It's only because we've gone through the same thing recently and wish we'd had some of the insight that we have now. Good luck and safe travel! Most of all, thank you for your service to our country.

 

[the great him]

welcome and you will enjoy the PNW, we have a big portland or and seatle group, that tends to get together for everything from meet and greets to wheeling to work parties... -most of us are over in the 3rd gen section but we welcome any 4runner. good luck finding the right one for you. -my advice is dont buy one out here, they are way over priced here in the PNW, but they are all rust free...