Newly purchased 2004 4runner Ltd questions

[ET1985]

Hi all,

Just bought a used 2004 4Runner limited w/ 55,500k miles. Everything is great and the vehicle is in great condition. Only issue is that I have noticed a sulfur smell when accelerating. It doesn't happen all the time, only during hard/sudden accelerations.

After a few minutes of research, I discovered that there seems to be a TSB out for my vehicle regarding this issue. I have a few questions about this:

1.) I purchased the car out of state (I'm in St. Louis, Missouri, bought the car from a dealer in Virginia) so taking it back to the dealer that sold it to me is not an option. Can I expect a local dealer to honor the TSB even though I didn't purchase the vehicle from them? Are there any other major TSBs for this model I should be aware of?

2.) I took the car in for an initial check up to the dealer last weekend. They changed the oil and said everything looked good and did not recommend any other work. When I picked up the car and inquired what they thought over all, the guy said the mechanic had left him a note saying that there was a bit more rust on the undercarriage then they are used to seeing here in Missouri, but nothing to worry about. When I told them the car was from the East Coast, he said that made sense and once again, the rust amount was not anything to be concerned or worried about.

I guess my question is this: Would you guys be concerned about rust on the undercarriage, or is that normal?

Thats all for now, Thanks a bunch for your responses and I look forward to many quality miles in my new 4Runner!

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Will_4R]

There is a sticky thread at the top of this page that lists all the TSBs.

Any dealer should honour the TSB if the truck is still under it's original warrenty. Otherwise, I am not sure. You are probably more likely to get the dealer you bought it from to help you out, but that is not always the case and it is certainly worth a try with the local dealers.

I wouldn't worry about a little rust, especially in your climate. It probably isn't that bad coming from Va. I bought mine from Toronto, where there is way more salt, snow and rust issues than Va. For the past 3 years it's been in Vancouver where there is no snow or salt and the rust has not gotten worse.