potential 5th gen buy

[3bears]

so I was a long time 3rd gen owner ( totaled a week ago thanks to black ice and my fast driving) and am looking at a 2012 5th gen. Bone stock basic SR5. No sunroof, cloth non heated seats ( two things I wanted, heated seats and sunroof). We were talking about any issues, and he said that he gets an occasional noise out of engine compartment right after start up. He said it sounds like an electric motor spinning.
Well Ive tried to do research on this 5th gen forum, I know with the 2001 and 2002 4runners that noise could be the brake master cylinder which is $$$$$$$.

Do these 5th gens have that issue too ? Any other big issues to look for in this year...2012 ?

Up here in Alaska good cars are few and far between, esp 4runners. Its got a clean title, 149k. Needs tires. body and interior are real clean, no rust ( been in this area for a while, we are too far from the ocean etc, so they dont salt roads or use chemicals....just gravel.) $14k which is cheap for here and makes me wonder.

Wrecking yards are also few and limited as far as 4runners, so picking up things like heated seats or misc stuff is pretty hard to get.

 

[BobsTrail]

Not much help about the engine noise but I have a 2013 that has had no problems and the 7 year warranty expired unused.

 

[Ehahn84]

The $14k price falls in line with the KBB private party pricing for Anchorage AK.

With that being said, similar 4Runners with similar mileage are going for $20-25k here in the Seattle area.

I would not buy the one you’re looking at unless you pay a reputable mechanic to look it over first. The weird startup sound is troubling and would probably scare me away. But, if a mechanic clears it, that seems to be a deal. Hopefully not too good to be true.

 

[Whippersnapper02]

The noise is the smog pump running that has been in the Runner since 2010.

 

[3bears]

The noise is the smog pump running that has been in the Runner since 2010.

Is this a normal thing ?

 

[3bears]

The $14k price falls in line with the KBB private party pricing for Anchorage AK.

With that being said, similar 4Runners with similar mileage are going for $20-25k here in the Seattle area.

I would not buy the one you’re looking at unless you pay a reputable mechanic to look it over first. The weird startup sound is troubling and would probably scare me away. But, if a mechanic clears it, that seems to be a deal. Hopefully not too good to be true.

the two "reputable " toyota shops, not dealers are 2 or 3 weeks out depending on which one I would want to go to.

Also the price does confuse me, it is not unusual for many cars to be worth a lot more up here. Yes I see in seattle, portland etc they are selling for more. Many people will buy a car in the lower 48 and ship or drive here and still save a lot. I know a couple of retired guys that go to the lower 48 every summer, visit family and friends, buy a rig, bring it up here and sell it and make enough to pay their trip.

 

[rightyouareken]

FWIW I had a 2002 3rd Gen that had the dreaded brake booster failure. I ponied up the $2k for a new Toyota part to put my mind at ease. I believe the FJ Cruisers and Land Cruisers had some similar issues with the brake booster/accumulator as well that were pretty well publicized on those forums. The failure mode on my was the "dying seagull" sound on cold start for 10-15 seconds.

However since I've been on the 5th Gen forum (bought mine in May of this year) I haven't seen any mention of it being a problem on high mileage 5th Gen 4Runners. Maybe they sorted out some of the reliability problems with those first generation units on subsequent generations. The 4th Gen 4runner also had a derivative of the same style of brake booster pump and I'm not sure if they've had any issues with theirs or not.

The units in my 2002 and 2020 do look VERY similar from the outside though...so I suppose it's possible we might be seeing some similar issues over time.

 

[Whippersnapper02]

Is this a normal thing ?

Yes. It runs for a bit when you start the vehicle and runs again when you shut it down along with emitting a pop from when the valves close.

 

[3bears]

Yes. It runs for a bit when you start the vehicle and runs again when you shut it down along with emitting a pop from when the valves close.

thanks

 

[3bears]

FWIW I had a 2002 3rd Gen that had the dreaded brake booster failure. I ponied up the $2k for a new Toyota part to put my mind at ease. I believe the FJ Cruisers and Land Cruisers had some similar issues with the brake booster/accumulator as well that were pretty well publicized on those forums. The failure mode on my was the "dying seagull" sound on cold start for 10-15 seconds.

However since I've been on the 5th Gen forum (bought mine in May of this year) I haven't seen any mention of it being a problem on high mileage 5th Gen 4Runners. Maybe they sorted out some of the reliability problems with those first generation units on subsequent generations. The 4th Gen 4runner also had a derivative of the same style of brake booster pump and I'm not sure if they've had any issues with theirs or not.

The units in my 2002 and 2020 do look VERY similar from the outside though...so I suppose it's possible we might be seeing some similar issues over time.

I also noticed that the 2001 and 2002 did not have separate parts available for the brake master cylinder, where the newer ones you can get all the individual parts related....so thats good. those early units were 2 grand plus.

thanks for your help