Potentially buying my first car ever today. A used 4th Gen 4Runner. Help?!

[njfastlife]

Afternoon all!

I *may* have found another diamond in the rough.

2004, Sport, 64k miles, $11,900

It's a 2 owner which I'm not fond of and I'd prefer a 2005+ but this is looking sharp

Interior looks good

Running VIN now.


Update:

Clean CarFax and AutoCheck

 

[heiser]

Are they really that cheap out east? A 4th gen out west for 10-12k was usually around 140k+ miles when I was searching for mine a few months ago.

 

[pjbrownva]

sidenote:
Wasn't there a white 4runner that was just submerged at a boat dock?? haha

Yes there was... it's right here but while I have a good sense of humor about it, I can't quite take it as a Haha (at least not yet!) olice:
:flamethrwoer2:



Still shopping for a replacement, but glad I wasn't hurt or killed.

Moral of the story... don't rely on the transmission to hold your 4Runner.

Always use the emergency brake, and consider chocking the wheels too!.


OP -- I'm with the others... walk away. There are too many red flags, and (unfortunately) some people are just plain liars. It's hard to internalize if you aren't that way, but there are holes a mile wide in this guy's story. That's a very bad way to start off, especially with your FIRST car.

 

[ben550]

Here is another one to look at in your area.

2008 Toyota 4Runner SR5

 

[njfastlife]

Here is another one to look at in your area.

2008 Toyota 4Runner SR5

Thanks! Just contacted him.

I really need to get over my fear of "100,000 miles"

 

[Derek]

Thanks! Just contacted him.

I really need to get over my fear of "100,000 miles"

I used to be the same way. I would keep a vehicle until around ~50-60K miles then trade it in. Then I purchased my '07 with 65K miles about 3 years ago and now I'm at 120K and it still runs like new. The only thing I've done is oil changes, new spark plugs, new battery, and new shocks/struts. I'm sure there is other preventative maintenance I should be doing/should have done but so far it has been great.

 

[ben550]

Thanks! Just contacted him.

I really need to get over my fear of "100,000 miles"

The difference between 80k and 100k is minimal. It has much more to do with the vehicle condition. Don't be afraid of a 100k 4runner. I have bought three and never had any problems. 2001 with 110k had for 4 years with no problems, 2004 with 135k miles father in law still drives it with no issues at 180k, and 159k now with 170k with no issues.

I would stay under 125k but 100k-125k should be fine. Sometimes a lower mileage vehicle can be worse because it was driven a ton of short little stop and go trips rather than a healthy daily highway cruise.

Average mileage driven is 12k a year. A 2006 is 9 years old @ 12k/year puts average at 108k miles today... Not bad at all.

 

[RPS13]

IMO, you're obsessing over tiny details and trying to buy some unicorn vehicle. You say a 2 owner vehicle isn't ideal - why is that really? The vehicle doesn't know how many owners its had, and I honestly don't see how it means ANYTHING on an 11+ year old vehicle.


Honestly, the average 11+ year old vehicle has probably had 3-4 owners at this point.



Find something that's close to what you want, drives ok, and get whatever checks done that you need to be happy, but you've just got to let go of the small details.

 

[njfastlife]

went and checked out the 2004. wasn't impressed. a video of a concerning sound and some photos:

 

[rick1987]

that frame rust looks pretty bad.

I would keep looking.

 

[Sporin]

Yup, that frame is not something I'd spend money on, makes mine look "mint"

You'll find the right truck, just keep searching, it's out there.

 

[pjbrownva]

I agree to skip the one with the rust.

Here are a few more you might wan to consider...

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-vehicles/203588-fs-white-2007-limited-4wd-4runner-%2416-500-va.html

Looks like a nice truck, and it has lots of upgrades. If the price is more than you want to spend, the owner might consider returning it to stock and lowering the price.


http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-vehicles/205266-fs-2006-4runner-sr5-v8-48k-miles.html

This one looks really nice to me, and it only has 48K miles! I guess the biggest question is how much is the owner willing to negotiate on price, and how much do you have to spend.

His asking price is higher than all of the vehicles that you were looking at, but you don't know. If you are able to come up some, and he is willing to come down some, maybe you can make it work.

Just a thought. Good luck!

 

[RPS13]

I still vote for a one way ticket to a rust free southern state. No way I'd deal with even 1/10th of that rust. Pretty much every fastener will give you hell when you work on the vehicle.

 

[tommyg55]

Thanks! Just contacted him.

I really need to get over my fear of "100,000 miles"

Man I totally understand the search struggle. I was in pretty much the exact same boat as you last month wanting 2006+ 4wd with less than 100k miles in the $15k budget area, and I ended up finding a smoking deal on a 2wd 2007 with 121k miles for $11k

For me it was a matter of questioning 2 things: the want for 4wd and the want for less than 100k miles

So i gave up on the 4wd because I really didn't need it. My family has owned 3 SUVs with 4wheel drive in the past 10 years and I think we've only had to use it twice and that was in a terrible snowstorm in buffalo. I don't know what part of NJ you're in but down in NC the snow is never bad enough for the need unless you're driving to Boone in which case 4wd won't help either lol, but for me I also didn't need it because whatever off roading I do will be very mild and anything I take on thats difficult and might get me stuck I'll be sure to be with someone who can pull me out or have the necessary recovery gear.


And the other thing was the want for <100k miles. I've never bought a car with more than 70k miles and neither had my dad but after reading about all the high mileage cars here on T4R and seeing pics of 300k odometers I realized it didn't really matter to me cause I was gunna have this baby forever.

If I could get over those 2 reservations I'm sure you can too. It really opens up a whole other market and lots of opportunities and if you save money on the car you'll have leftover $$$ for mods and be able to spend that money in no time.

Just my 2 cents :thumbsup:

 

[njfastlife]

Checking this one out this week but he already has an offer


2008 Toyota 4Runner SR5

As well as this one but it concerns me since it was sold and for whatever reason the deal fell through.

http://www.bkcars.com/used/Toyota/2...50a0e0adf66d85e40185e7743.htm?searchDepth=1:7

That one with 48k miles posted above looks decent from a rust standpoint

 

[pjbrownva]

Checking this one out this week but he already has an offer


2008 Toyota 4Runner SR5

As well as this one but it concerns me since it was sold and for whatever reason the deal fell through.

Used 2008 Toyota 4Runner AUTO For Sale Near Yonkers NY & White Plains NY in Orangeburg NY | JTEBU14RX8K028251

That one with 48k miles posted above looks decent from a rust standpoint

Good. I see you found it, even though I guess I forgot to include a link to the ad for it. This one was on my short list.

Although I eventually went with This one. I just bought it and picked it up this Friday (Sept 4th). It has a few small issues, but I'm making good progress taking care of the them. Overall, I feel it's a very nice, solid truck.

It's a Florida car too, so the undercarriage is super clean (see photo attached), but it does have 108K miles.

Good luck.

-Phil

 

[pjbrownva]

Checking this one out this week but he already has an offer


2008 Toyota 4Runner SR5

As well as this one but it concerns me since it was sold and for whatever reason the deal fell through.

Used 2008 Toyota 4Runner AUTO For Sale Near Yonkers NY & White Plains NY in Orangeburg NY | JTEBU14RX8K028251

That one with 48k miles posted above looks decent from a rust standpoint

So, I know it can get confusing and a bit overwhelming at time.

Personally, once I narrowed down what I wanted, I started to do a nation-wide search, although the car I bought ended up being only about 90 miles from my home.

You can have a car appraised and checked by a mobile service, and they will give you a full report on the car's condition, both mechanically and cosmetically. They will do a more thorough check than you or I could.

Using services like uship.com, you can often have cars shipped from anywhere in the country for somewhere between a few hundred dollars, to up to about $1200.


I'm sharing all of this, not to confuse you, but to see if you would find it helpful.

I've attached a zipped version of the spreadsheet I used. If you find it helpful, feel free to use it. Since I put it together over the past two weeks, many of the cars on it may still be available.

I looked at over 400 4Runners on-line (a bit OCD, I will confess), and this spreadsheet contains the top 47 that I was considering.

The "Closeness" was a loose categorization that I used. 1 being in my local area, 2 being within about a 2 hr drive. 5 being further away, like parts of Ohio. 9 being the west coast, etc.

This allowed me sort the spreadsheet different ways (example, by number of cylinders descending so V8's are first, closeness, then year descending so newest are first, then lowest miles first, then lowest price). (In the Excel sheet "auto filter" is already turned on. Choose "data --> sort" from the menu, and you can sort based on multiple criteria).

After several sorts and comparisons, I felt very comfortable about the market, and was able to weigh the pro's and cons of my decisions.

Use it if you like. If it's not your speed... then so be it.

Most of all, HAVE FUN!

-Phil

 

[njfastlife]

So, I know it can get confusing and a bit overwhelming at time.

Personally, once I narrowed down what I wanted, I started to do a nation-wide search, although the car I bought ended up being only about 90 miles from my home.

You can have a car appraised and checked by a mobile service, and they will give you a full report on the car's condition, both mechanically and cosmetically. They will do a more thorough check than you or I could.

Using services like uship.com, you can often have cars shipped from anywhere in the country for somewhere between a few hundred dollars, to up to about $1200.


I'm sharing all of this, not to confuse you, but to see if you would find it helpful.

I've attached a zipped version of the spreadsheet I used. If you find it helpful, feel free to use it. Since I put it together over the past two weeks, many of the cars on it may still be available.

I looked at over 400 4Runners on-line (a bit OCD, I will confess), and this spreadsheet contains the top 47 that I was considering.

The "Closeness" was a loose categorization that I used. 1 being in my local area, 2 being within about a 2 hr drive. 5 being further away, like parts of Ohio. 9 being the west coast, etc.

This allowed me sort the spreadsheet different ways (example, by number of cylinders, closeness, then year, then lowest miles first, then price).

After several sorts and comparisons, I felt very comfortable about the market, and was able to weigh the pro's and cons.

Use it if you like. If it's not your speed... then so be it.

Most of all, HAVE FUN!

-Phil

Wow this is great thanks so much!

Question on the mobile inspection service. Don't they not jack the car up to look underneath which is the most important part?

J/w.

 

[njfastlife]

All, hope I'm not annoying with the continuous updates.

Checking out this guy this week:

2008 Toyota 4Runner SR5

 

[pjbrownva]

Wow this is great thanks so much!

Question on the mobile inspection service. Don't they not jack the car up to look underneath which is the most important part?

J/w.

It would depend on the service. You can ask them. But, these 4Runners are so
high of the ground that you can see the undercarriage without jacking them up.

If they do jack it up, it's to check for wear in some of the suspension parts, and to make sure the wheels spin freely.

-Philip