POLL: In YOUR opinion, what was the best factory 3rd Gen 4Runner you can buy used?

[SnowLizard]

Read this 1st post BEFORE you vote!!!

I'm really curious now, many have posted in [MENTION=115590]StreetCreeper[/MENTION] thread http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/217592-poll-what-year-3rd-gen-4runner-do-you-have.html... but what year does everyone think is the best year and options?

If you could choose a 3rd gen T4R off a used lot, which ONE would it be?

Reason of this Thread: New owners are always looking for a great truck, and want opinions from others. so build ONE that you think is 'best!' (unless you think yours is the best in its 'stock' form)

Choose which is best, example you can choose limited for it's features, then post 'you would change to a sport hood' or open diff cause 'you want to add your own air locker(s)'. the point is to pick the 'best' stock 4runner, for your needs/desire of future changes... which 'blank' canvass would you start painting on?

I didn't know if their should even be the supercharger group (I understand it's not factory), but it would be great for new owners looking into a purchase to consider as it is popular and they do show up, so that might help educate new owners for things to look for. it was either SC or MultiMode, but figure the MM only related to 4wd ltd 99-00 and all 4wd 01-02, so I choose SC.

I'm NOT adding a Mileage Group, it's a 3rd gen, miles are what you find/luck. you can post what max mileage you would choose from.

for the sake of only 15 options, I've come up with the following, in groups. please PICK ONE FROM EACH GROUP, please pick the correct options pertaining to your year/choices.


Group1 - Trim (all years)
1: SR5 & Base
2: Sport (early years 'Highlander')
3: Limited

Group2 - Engine
4: 4cyl (note: 96-00 only, NO Limiteds)
5: 6Cyl

Group3 - Transmission
6: Man (note: 96-00 only, NO limiteds)
7: Auto

Group4 - type of 4wd, mechanical or electronic, or none/2wd
8: mechanical: e-locker or 'rr diff lock' (note: 96-00 4wd's only)
9: Open Diff(s)/2wd (note: 96-00 OR any 2wd)
10: electronic: vsc + v-trac (note: 01-02 4wd's only)

Group5 - Year
11: 96-98
12: 99-00
13: 01-02

Group6 - SuperCharger
14: No SuperCharger (to keep NA or install yourself)
15: Supercharger

of course there is other preferences, but I wanted to get down to the basics and mechanical of the truck. I did add the 'trim' cause that's what's seen on ads so I added those, SR5 and Base are put together.

In your post, list your votes, and reasons
you can add what interior you would choose, if it's a cali-emissions, heated seats, if its to be a daily or trail rig, what mileage would it have, what 'reasonable' price range you would purchase it, or what ever else you can 'choose from' like wheels/color, or a 2wd so you can SAS.

I didn't list rust, everyone knows to avoid rust.

 

[SnowLizard]

Reserved:

 

[SnowLizard]

What I think is the best year 4runner...
Limited - 6cyl - Auto - E-Locker - 99-00 - No SuperCharger

Why, I don't like working on the newer brakes, and I wanted a locker,
I do like multi-mode AWD,
I want to add a SuperCharger as one of the last items, although now that they stopped production, I might have to do so sooner than later.
I like the comfort the leather seats give, but I covered with cloth for a better feel.
I like the cladding the 99-00 limiteds give.

IMO have my 'best' 4runner mechanically
depending on condition, I'd would go all the way up to 250k miles now... before I wasn't sure/scared on what mileage, so I found mine @ 152k miles.
mine is a cali-emissions. oh well.
Color... 1st choice I wanted was a Limited Autumn Blaze Metalic, my 2nd choice was Desert Dune.

 

[Technoplasm]

Best is 01-02 with multimode and ATRAC, preferably 3.4L auto trans limited with no supercharger. Makes a great daily and can handle beginner trails without breaking a sweat. And if you ever add a rear locker, you still have ATRAC which is basically like LSD for the front. Just my opinion

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[JohnMc]

Grp 1: Sport. A few nice upgrades from an SR5, but no leather. Leather might have been nice for the first 5 - 10 years, but this many years later it's usually shriveled up bacon. The body colored grilled and bumpers also just look nice, classier than the chrome. Also, going to Limited eliminates the manual trans availability.

Grp 2: 6 cylinder. They last forever, they barely use any more gas than the 4 cylinder, although I have to admit I've never driven a 4 cylinder 3rd gen so I can't really say how much slower they are.

Grp 3: Manual trans. I really, really like the manual trans 99.5% of the time. That last .5% is in really rough off roading, going over big ledges and big rocks, where sometimes you'd like to be able to inch it along a bit slower than 1000 rpm/1st gear/low range can do. And you end up dancing on all three pedals like a madman. But for the vast majority of wheeling, and all of the road driving (which is most of the time anyhow) - manual trans just makes it a much more involving and enjoyable task.

Grp 4: E-locker. Off road use only, but it's a huge traction adder. Almost as good by itself (in 2WD) as 4WD with open diffs. If you can't find one, adding a locker to an open diff model would be OK, but that's a bunch of money. Finding a factory locker on a 4Runner usually doesn't add anything to the price at all (sometimes sellers don't even know it's there), so it's basically a freebie.

Grp 5: 99-00. Although this really barely matters. 99's are tallest from the factory, but that doesn't matter once you lift it anyway. Slightly improved interior 99+, but that's low on the list of priorities (condition, price, miles, etc). Not 01-02 because no manual trans, that's a no-go for me. AWD mode would be nice, but not at that cost.

Grp 6: No supercharger. Although this was a leaner for me, could have voted either way. But in general, a slightly faster 4Runner is still not a very fast car, it's just going to reduce the longevity a little bit and use a little more gas. And rebuilding the nose cone every 50K miles would add to the costs. But a little more zip is never a bad thing. Pros and cons sort of balance out pretty evenly in my mind.

 

[paddlenbike]

Where is the option for a 2002 Thundercloud gray Sport Edition with a manual transmission, multi-mode and e-locker? Oh yeah, I forgot that Toyota decided that would be way too cool for us.

 

[StreetCreeper]

Group1 - Trim (all years)
3: Limited-- Cause I like fancy shit sometimes. Especially fancy leather and wood shit.

Group2 - Engine
5: 6Cyl -- My current 3.4L has almost 400,000 miles on it and it purrs like a kitten and gets 21 mpg on the highway. Id have to be a complete idiot to not stick with the 3.4L

Group3 - Transmission
7: Auto -- I'm too old to be playing the 3-peddle-shuffle all the time.

Group4 - type of 4wd, mechanical or electronic, or none/2wd
8: mechanical: e-locker or 'rr diff lock' (note: 96-00 4wd's only) -- No need to explain here really...

Group5 - Year
12: 2000 -- Cause its as new as I want to go. Plus it has things that later years don't. Also it has the better seat belts in the back than my 97.

Group6 - SuperCharger
14: No SuperCharger (to keep NA or install yourself) -- If anyone is going to hotrod my truck -- Its going to be me. But i would rather not have to maintain the supercharger every year and a half nor feed it preimium fuel.

 

[SnowLizard]

I think it's very clear that it doesn't matter, as long as... it has a 6cyl, and it has a locker.

this is really cool

 

[T4R2014]

This is a trick question. There is no best one. The more variety the better. Otherwise, it would be similar to most new car lineups where you have five color options($495 extra if you want white) and three submodels with two options. :biggrin1:

Gotta catch em all.

 

[SnowLizard]

This is a trick question. There is no best one. The more variety the better. Otherwise, it would be similar to most new car lineups where you have five color options($495 extra if you want white) and three submodels with two options. :biggrin1:

Gotta catch em all.

you have a point, but my question is directed towards everyone... some people really LOVE the 4cyl, and with a 5spd it's as peppy as a v6 with an auto. I would have gone 5 speed, but wife has to drive mine every once in a while, hence my auto.

I wanna see more builds, it's apparent most want the locker over the vsc/atrac.
I'm surprised no one went 2wd for their SAS conversion, but guess you still need the computer and transfer case to do it easier.

 

[white_n_slow]

Poll is too complicated for me, but any 4WD, V6 with a locker is a good start. I used to be a manual transmission snob and owned two 5-speed 3rd gens, but now that I'm driving the LX, I'm starting to switch over to preferring an auto. Based on many posts I've read here, I don't know if the V6 has enough beans for an auto though, which I guess is where the supercharger comes in.

Stuff like color and trim level makes no difference to me, but 99+ for the cupholders!

 

[Scramble]

Where is the option for a 2002 Thundercloud gray Sport Edition with a manual transmission, multi-mode and e-locker? Oh yeah, I forgot that Toyota decided that would be way too cool for us.

LOL, that's my dream truck right there! Just add a SC.

From the showroom list, '99 or '00, Sport, 6cyl, 5 speed, E-locker & SC.

If you wanted to build a high performance engine the 3RZ has more options.

 

[the great him]

i basically chose a 99 highlander with 5spd and elocker. i made my choices on buying a stock rig and keeping it that way, but yet having the most capable rig outta the box.

sure if i was gonna build a rig id probably leave out the elocker(i like my ARBs better) and really a highlander wont matter if your gonna be lifting it, infact none of this really matters if your gonna be modding it, i mean doing a v8 swap, who cares what motor it had originally?

 

[jeremyc74]

I got lucky with mine. It looks like a Limited, but has cloth seats (which are better in FL IMO) and the simple J-shift transfer case. I didn't know as much about the 3rd gen when I bought it, but if I had it to do over and had plenty of time I'd buy the exact same thing, but with the addition of the E-Locker.

I'd even stick with the automatic. My car is a manual, so I get to row my own gears anytime I want, and it's nice having something else for heavy traffic. I used to avoid high mileage automatics, but in these it just isn't much of a concern (pink milkshake aside).

Even the red color has grown on me over the years. :reddance:

 

[SnowLizard]

for those that choose the 4cyl, care to enlighten me?

 

[GangsterOfLove]

for those that choose the 4cyl, care to enlighten me?

Fuel economy, marginally easier to work on.

 

[T4R2014]

for those that choose the 4cyl, care to enlighten me?

All that space under the hood to turbo the hell out of it.

 

[jman11788]

No way a sport edition beats a Limited my 2 cents.
Forgive me i'm biased..

 

[Chuckles89]

No way a sport edition beats a Limited my 2 cents.
Forgive me i'm biased..

Naw man, there's no way sport and limiteds beat SR5s

 

[Nunyabiz]

02' Sport