Picking up my '99 Limited this Saturday :)

[RichardLee]

Hey everyone, I'm Ric.

I live in Aurora, IL, and this Saturday I will be flying to Michigan to drive home my new Imperial Jade Micah '99 Limited 4x4. I currently drive a '98 Honda Accord, but I need more room to haul around my dog (Bernie, a St. Bernard German Shepherd mix) and my guitars (I teach and perform full-time) and with the winters in the Chicago area as they are, the 4x4 will be nice. The Accord made me realize how important it is to drive a dependable vehicle, and after doing a lot of research I decided a Runner is the way to go.

So anyway, good to be here. Thanks for having me. I will try to be in touch...


Ric

 

[racedirt1]

Welcome to the board, I am up north of you by Great America.

 

[FoneRunner]

Wow! Looks cold there...oh, wait it's cold here too...welcome! Another Ric with a good looking rig. :bigok:

 

[manhunter]

Welcome to the forum from Texas from another 3rd gen owner. Nice looking runner.

 

[MikesToy]

Welcome aboard! Nice two-tone color. Looks like someone has messing with the driver's side-mirror.

 

[peter78]

Welcome, it does look like a nice rig. I hope you have seen it before you go up, or it has been checked out by a friend. It would sure suck to go up there only to find out, it isn't exactly what you thought the condition was.

Good luck flying up and getting your rig.

 

[RichardLee]

Hey everybody, thanks for welcoming me to the forum. It's good to know I have some friends to turn to for advice and general 4runner comradery

The vehicle actually belonged to my cousin's husband, who I know has taken very good care of it. They have a large family now and have switched to a minivan, and I know he isn't too excited to be giving it up but at least he'll know it's in good hands with a close relative. I have other pictures of the interior and other sides of the body, and everything looks good. They just brought it in for a 100,000 mile checkup (it only has 92,000... pretty low for a '99) and after a new set of tires it was given the 'all good' by the mechanics. They said it's a solid vehicle that will last for a very long time, and from what I have read about 3rd gen 4runners (which is quite a lot) I believe them.

When I bring it home this weekend, I'll clean her up and have a photo shoot with her. I'll be sure to post them here, where I know they will be appreciated

 

[brian2sun]

Cool 4runner. I like that color too. Welcome to the dark side.

 

[96743runner]

Very nice T4R! Nice two tone combo and congrats!

 

[Ron Helmuth]

looks like a beauty

let's make sure that timing belt is done

 

[peter78]

Sounds like your set. 92,000 miles is really low miles for a 99. I hope you have a safe trip driving home.

 

[Donlefarq]

Nice 4Runner! I just bought mine 2 weeks ago. I posted some pics under "New Member".

Welcome to the club!

 

[RichardLee]

I got it! :guitar2:

After a couple hours in an airplane and about 6 hours of driving back from Michigan, I finally have my new 4runner parked in her new spot at my place. I couldn't be happier (...well maybe if she got better gas milage) with the vehicle. It drives straight and true, surprisingly similar to my 98 Accord actually, and handled some unplowed gravels I happened to stumble across without flinching. I averages 17.2 miles per gallon over 360 miles or so, which is a little less than I was expecting, but considering I did have to test it's acceleration, passing ability, and 4 wheel drive... I guess it's not too terrible. When I got home I wasn't done driving it yet so I got my dog out and folded down the backseats and opened the back windows for him (despite the 17 degree temp here) ...he didn't know what to do with all the room! (he's used to the backseat of the Accord)

I took some pics. I know they're nothing special, and it's a bone stock 99 limited which I'm sure you've all seen hundreds of times, but this time it's mine! I'm getting the front windows tinted this week and then I'll be taking recommendations for mods...

 

[gptoy96]

Great looking truck! Congrats!

 

[MikesToy]

how much did you pay him?

 

[trd_4runnin]

Congrats on the purchase and nice truck! I too purchased my 4Runner from Michigan. Where in Michigan did you pick it up from?

 

[RichardLee]

Thanks guys.

4runnin- I picked it up from Midland, about a 6 hour drive back to Chicago. It was a good bonding experience.

Today I installed new fog lights and swapped the factory stereo with my old Pioneer deck, which was fairly easy when bypassing the factory amp the limited 3rd gen models had. The Pioneer deck pushes more power than the old amp did anyway, and it was much easier. If anyone needs help doing the same thing, just let me know and I'd be glad to talk you through it.

I'm getting to like the truck more and more the more I drive it. These things really do grow on you, eh?

I'm attaching some more photos. The first is the runner parked in it's new spot, showing that it even looks good on a cloudy day. The second is with my old car, a 98 Honda Accord LX (awesome car- put 100,000 miles on it with hardly any work done besides routine maintenance) and the third is of the new stereo installed.

 

[Y2KSR5]

Looks like a nice find! My favorite color combo on the Ltd.