Pre-purchase questions

[rileyru]

Hello! New member here. With my first child, I'm considering purchasing my first ever Toyota, to replace a two door Jeep Wrangler. (I looked at four door Wranglers but the 4runner wins out because of safety features like side air bags). I'm a Ford guy, but have had imports in the past (Honda Accords, Mazda 626, Nissan Frontier) with mixed results.

I've decided the 4th gen 4runner appears to offer comparable safety, reliability and interior space as the newer 5th gen but at much better prices. After searching around and driving some 2005-2008 V6 and V8 models at dealers and from private sellers, I think I have found a good one. However, I do have a couple of concerns.

I am looking at a 2007 Sport Edition V6, one owner, with 82k miles. The original owner is a nice guy and has a good stack of service records. CarFax is clean for what that's worth. The interior is in great shape however it really needs a good detail outside. At my request he had a local Toyota dealer perform a "41 point" pre purchase check and they stated it looks good, all they found was the OE battery was getting weak, the spark plugs should be changed due to age/mileage, and the tires need to be balanced due to cupping wear and road noise. (I'm fine with all that and he discounted his price accordingly). I drove the vehicle and it drives really well except for the tire hum.

Here are my other concerns with this particular vehicle:

When asked about the 4x4 the owner stated he sometimes has trouble getting it into 4wd low. I tried on the test drive, and although 4wd high seems to work fine, it would not go into low; the indicator light would flash but it would not engage. I did a search of this forum and saw that could be a number of things from easy fix to serious repair. Afterwards the owner took it to a shop and told me they are replacing the actuator, and it will work properly before I pick it up (I will check paperwork and verify operation before completing the purchase).

Second, there is some light surface rust on the bottom of the frame. Doesn't look too bad to me, but it certainly is not 100% clean like some of the others I have seen. It is not bad like it was a Northern vehicle or anything like that. Is that anything to be really concerned about? I did some light rust repair on my Jeep (sanding and spraying).

Also, am I missing anything else here? I like that I have met and talked to the guy who has driven and maintained it since new, some of the ones at the dealers are cleaner but there is absolutely no maintenance history (and they cost more!)

Any thoughts or advice are appreciated. I plan to keep this a long time and take it out on the beach whenever I can get down there

 

[YotaDriver]

If he's changing the actuator then I wouldn't worry about the 4-lo/4-hi/2-hi problem anymore; that's typically an expensive fix. I've got an '06 V6 Limited and mine still goes into and out of every possibly gear/drive combination smoothly. There are times when it won't engage, but I'll just pop it in reverse for a few feet and try again and it's never let me down yet (knock on wood).

As for the surface rust, I wouldn't be too concerned. I've got the same situation with mine and I'm borderline OCD about running it through a carwash with the underbody spray after every snow/ice event during the winter. As long as you're not seeing deep rust that looks like it could compromise the integrity of anything down there, again I wouldn't worry.

Here's what the frame rust on my '06 looks like. I'm in New Hampshire, for what it's worth...salt central:You could ask the dealership to check the calipers to make sure none of them is seized because that seems to be a problem both V6 and V8 4Runners are subject to, but otherwise I'd be pretty confident with your purchase.

Here's the first one of the rear axle from the back. I think it's the worst looking and I'm going to need to figure out how to arrest that rust somehow.

Here's the driver's side rear wheel well; not too bad for a New Hampshire-based '06:

Last one here is the passenger's side front wheel well:

I haven't looked at the frames of too many comparably aged vehicles, but I don't think this is too bad for a truck going on seven years old. I'm open to people's thoughts on whether or not I'm right about that, however.

Anyway, based on your follow-up (which I read before I came in here to edit my post), I'd say any of those four you're considering sound sweet. I've got the V6 and I think it's awesome but the V8 is definitely tempting in its own way. As long as the major mechanical systems are sound in whichever one you do go with, you'll be happy.

 

[rileyru]

Thanks!

Yes so far that one is in the lead due to his reasonable price of $16k. The surface rust is only on weld spots and I am certain I can fully address it.

The runners up are a dealer listed 2008 V8 AWD with 75k miles for $21k (super nice but high price); a dealer listed 2007 V8 AWD with 97k miles also for $16k (2 owners but clean and new Yokohama Geolanders) and a wholesaler owned 2008 V6 4WD with 68k miles for $19k (one owner but no maintenance history).

 

[Dylan]

Thanks!

Yes so far that one is in the lead due to his reasonable price of $16k. The surface rust is only on weld spots and I am certain I can fully address it.

The runners up are a dealer listed 2008 V8 AWD with 75k miles for $21k (super nice but high price); a dealer listed 2007 V8 AWD with 97k miles also for $16k (2 owners but clean and new Yokohama Geolanders) and a wholesaler owned 2008 V6 4WD with 68k miles for $19k (one owner but no maintenance history).

If you look further at the '07 V8, ensure the T-belt was done. It's scheduled for right around the mileage that one's at (90k) and so they may not have done it yet (about 1000 bones for the service.)