new with hi miles or old with low miles?

[Kofaram]

Hi guys,
First post. I plan on coming back to a 4runner since my psycho wife asked for a divorce. My current truck is a diesel and the only reason why I drive this fuel beast is because my soon to be ex wife needed it to pull a horse trailer.
I owned a 1990 4runner years ago and it was my favorite vehicle ever! I put over 225,000 miles on it.
Anyway, I have about $20,000 to spend and my choices seem to fall into 2 catagories. 1. An older (2004-2007) model with relatively low miles (60K-90K) or 2. a newer model with higher miles. (100k+)
I'm leaning towards the newer model with higher miles, but I'd like input.
What would you do?
Thanks!

 

[BigredTEX]

I bought my son an '04 V8 with 70K mile a few months ago. It was cleaner than my '12 with 25K miles and the price was lower than the trade in on an '05 Jeep LJ. If you can find a lower mile 4th gen I'd go that route. Purchase price will be below $20K and you should have another 200K miles of life in it.

 

[slapdappy]

this

Buy this for $13,000. do whatever you want with the other $7,000.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-...-gen-4runner-13k-walnut-creek-california.html

 

[Kofaram]

Thanks for the advise!

 

[Martinjmpr]

Just my personal bias but I'd go with a 4th gen over a 5th.

 

[AntiVenom]

The reality is unless you are very unlucky, or don't do your maintenance, any 4runner should last you 250K-300K. The sooner you get your hands on it (i.e. lower miles) the sooner you know exactly what maintenance has been done. So that's a vote for low miles.

However, the answer to your question will be dependant on what you want to get out of the truck. If you are the type of person that likes to be seen in the latest body style, then go with the higher mileage 5th gen. If you are looking to build something out, then maybe an older model with low miles is the trick (not saying you can't build a 5th gen, just thinking of a budget). So that's a vote for older in my book.

conclusion: go with lower miles and older. This will leave money for some tires, lift, etc and give you a better feeling for the state of the vehicle over time.