Arthur4R
New member
Hello all,
I was considering getting the 5th gen 4Runner, after some research I noticed the current vehicle body was soon going to change and I said to my self "if I find a good used 4th gen 4Runner" (which are really tough to get) I will get it otherwise I would get a 2016 4Runner Trail Premium. After reading all the common issues on these vehicles and looking at more then a handful I finally found the one.
It's a 2008 Toyota 4Runner V8 4.7 Nav, Bluetooth and rear adjustable suspension. Msrp on the vehicle was $43,xxx 1 previous owner with 163,354 miles on it. Finding one with nav and bluetooth was almost impossible seems to be such a rare feature let alone the rear adjustable suspension this is the only 4Runner I seen so far with this option.
Now before purchasing it I looked out for common issues including rust, I was very surprised that this vehicle has no rust ( vehicle is from Maine) because it has anti rust coating under the whole vehicle black paint/tar sort of material. To me that's a good sign that previous owner cared and wanted a vehicle to last a lifetime. Mechanically the vehicle is great shape I took it to my mechanic, we lifted the vehicle checked out for any leaks,bushings, axles, control arms etc etc. Everything came back fine I asked my mechanic " Hey how much miles do you think this vehicle has" he looked and said " I would say about 80k at most" when I mentioned it had 163,xxx he called over the owner and said look at the condition of this vehicle it is unbelievable. No accidents and original paint everywhere expect a rear bumper (probably previous owned backed into something).
Now the fun part starts maintenance
- replaced front low beams and front fog lights with 4300k Hid kits (love the road visibility)
- Bought a used set of front back and cargo area husky water proof mats from a member here
- Replaced engine oil with 5w30 Mobil 1 synthetic and Toyota oil filter
- Cabin and air filter replaced with Toyota oem filters
- Front, Back and center differential oil replacement with Mobil 1 synthetic 75w90 ( 6 bottles were enough)
- Replaced F&R rotors (centric premium) and F&R brake pads (Akebono) and upgraded to 5th gen calipers F&R Centric rebuild and painted with G2 caliper paint kit black and flushed brake fluid
- Rotated and balanced all 4 tires ( I noticed a wobble in the steering wheel at speeds of 80mph and I knew I needed a good balancing job all is perfect now)
- Interior needed some loving cleaned and polished everything
- Hardwired my Valentine one
- Car had the famous drive train clunk ( I am familiar with this issue on my friends 2009 GX470 ) I just did not know all you needed a good lubing job on the shafts to have it go away Thanks to the forum a lot of great helpful information
- On order some LEDS for those horrible reverse bulbs and interior lighting
- On order OEM Cluster lens ( my cluster lens is scratched up and cloudy tried cleaning it but little to none improvement just going to change it out total cost $31 shipped)
- Added Scosche magic mount pro dash
- Added Reese tow hitch ball with Reese step that attaches around the ball
I was considering getting the 5th gen 4Runner, after some research I noticed the current vehicle body was soon going to change and I said to my self "if I find a good used 4th gen 4Runner" (which are really tough to get) I will get it otherwise I would get a 2016 4Runner Trail Premium. After reading all the common issues on these vehicles and looking at more then a handful I finally found the one.
It's a 2008 Toyota 4Runner V8 4.7 Nav, Bluetooth and rear adjustable suspension. Msrp on the vehicle was $43,xxx 1 previous owner with 163,354 miles on it. Finding one with nav and bluetooth was almost impossible seems to be such a rare feature let alone the rear adjustable suspension this is the only 4Runner I seen so far with this option.
Now before purchasing it I looked out for common issues including rust, I was very surprised that this vehicle has no rust ( vehicle is from Maine) because it has anti rust coating under the whole vehicle black paint/tar sort of material. To me that's a good sign that previous owner cared and wanted a vehicle to last a lifetime. Mechanically the vehicle is great shape I took it to my mechanic, we lifted the vehicle checked out for any leaks,bushings, axles, control arms etc etc. Everything came back fine I asked my mechanic " Hey how much miles do you think this vehicle has" he looked and said " I would say about 80k at most" when I mentioned it had 163,xxx he called over the owner and said look at the condition of this vehicle it is unbelievable. No accidents and original paint everywhere expect a rear bumper (probably previous owned backed into something).
Now the fun part starts maintenance
- replaced front low beams and front fog lights with 4300k Hid kits (love the road visibility)
- Bought a used set of front back and cargo area husky water proof mats from a member here
- Replaced engine oil with 5w30 Mobil 1 synthetic and Toyota oil filter
- Cabin and air filter replaced with Toyota oem filters
- Front, Back and center differential oil replacement with Mobil 1 synthetic 75w90 ( 6 bottles were enough)
- Replaced F&R rotors (centric premium) and F&R brake pads (Akebono) and upgraded to 5th gen calipers F&R Centric rebuild and painted with G2 caliper paint kit black and flushed brake fluid
- Rotated and balanced all 4 tires ( I noticed a wobble in the steering wheel at speeds of 80mph and I knew I needed a good balancing job all is perfect now)
- Interior needed some loving cleaned and polished everything
- Hardwired my Valentine one
- Car had the famous drive train clunk ( I am familiar with this issue on my friends 2009 GX470 ) I just did not know all you needed a good lubing job on the shafts to have it go away Thanks to the forum a lot of great helpful information
- On order some LEDS for those horrible reverse bulbs and interior lighting
- On order OEM Cluster lens ( my cluster lens is scratched up and cloudy tried cleaning it but little to none improvement just going to change it out total cost $31 shipped)
- Added Scosche magic mount pro dash
- Added Reese tow hitch ball with Reese step that attaches around the ball
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