houndrunner
New member
Hi everyone!
I've been lurking on the forums for a few weeks now, ever since ownership of a 2002 SR5 has become a possibility. I'm hopeful that things will work out, and I'm cautiously optimistic, but I'd be curious to hear about what you guys think.
The seller, a friend of mine, will be moving out of the country and as a result will be selling his 4Runner. It's too bad that he has to get rid of it, but it's nice to know that he'd opt to keep it if he were staying stateside.
The good: Although this thing has a good amount of miles on it (over 175K), it's been fairly well maintained, and it's had some crucial replacements that I wouldn't have to worry about (timing belt, water pump and radiator!), so that's really appealing. The current owner has driven it across the country, and it's been super reliable. In addition, we took it to a shop and put it up on a lift to try to suss out any issues, and the frame and suspension aren't in bad shape! Especially great, considering it's a New England vehicle.
The bad: Unfortunately, the steering rack is apparently toast. The owner described a "wobble" at high speeds; I was initially wondered if it was the rotors after reading about known issues on the forum (they apparently look fine), but apparently the steering rack is the likely culprit. Also, there's an oil leak coming from somewhere... which wasn't readily apparent as the skid plate has been catching the leak for a while, hence a lack of evidence on the driveway.
Anyway, we were both majorly bummed to find all of this out. He's going to get the steering rack fixed as that's a major safety issue, and then have the shop diagnose the oil/fluid issue and try to figure out how costly a fix is going to be. I'm really hoping this all works out, as the truck seems to be in pretty great shape aside from these problems. Looking for a reliable vehicle though, so I'm not interested in getting in over my head with a potential money pit.
Which brings me to where I am today. Sincerely hoping that this works out, but in the meantime, if you guys have any advice or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I've already learned a ton just from perusing the 3rd-gen forums, and I'm hoping that if I do get my hands on this vehicle, I'll learn how to wrench on it a bit.
Thanks!
I've been lurking on the forums for a few weeks now, ever since ownership of a 2002 SR5 has become a possibility. I'm hopeful that things will work out, and I'm cautiously optimistic, but I'd be curious to hear about what you guys think.
The seller, a friend of mine, will be moving out of the country and as a result will be selling his 4Runner. It's too bad that he has to get rid of it, but it's nice to know that he'd opt to keep it if he were staying stateside.
The good: Although this thing has a good amount of miles on it (over 175K), it's been fairly well maintained, and it's had some crucial replacements that I wouldn't have to worry about (timing belt, water pump and radiator!), so that's really appealing. The current owner has driven it across the country, and it's been super reliable. In addition, we took it to a shop and put it up on a lift to try to suss out any issues, and the frame and suspension aren't in bad shape! Especially great, considering it's a New England vehicle.
The bad: Unfortunately, the steering rack is apparently toast. The owner described a "wobble" at high speeds; I was initially wondered if it was the rotors after reading about known issues on the forum (they apparently look fine), but apparently the steering rack is the likely culprit. Also, there's an oil leak coming from somewhere... which wasn't readily apparent as the skid plate has been catching the leak for a while, hence a lack of evidence on the driveway.
Anyway, we were both majorly bummed to find all of this out. He's going to get the steering rack fixed as that's a major safety issue, and then have the shop diagnose the oil/fluid issue and try to figure out how costly a fix is going to be. I'm really hoping this all works out, as the truck seems to be in pretty great shape aside from these problems. Looking for a reliable vehicle though, so I'm not interested in getting in over my head with a potential money pit.
Which brings me to where I am today. Sincerely hoping that this works out, but in the meantime, if you guys have any advice or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I've already learned a ton just from perusing the 3rd-gen forums, and I'm hoping that if I do get my hands on this vehicle, I'll learn how to wrench on it a bit.
Thanks!
op2:
