I am sorry to make this my first post. I posted it on another forum but did not get much feedback. I am going to look at the truck today so i would really like to here your opinions. It is a 2003 4WD V8 cloth seats 160,000 miles, 2nd owner with "some" service records. It does not look like there is any damage and it looks pretty clean but nothing out of the ordinary. Owner does not seem to mind hiving my Toyota mechanic give it a pre purchase inspection. They are asking $7900. My plan s to go look it over. If it looks good i will see if my mechanic can do a inspection on it. I kind of wanted a 05 with V6 and closer to 100,000 miles. But those look to cost closer to $12,000-14,000.
Price check on 2003 4Runner
- Thread starter rc51kid
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
03_4x4Runner
Senior Member
You will find a lot of info here. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-g...modifications-write-ups-quick-links-faqs.html
lunchindabox
New member
Price seems fair if Tbelt has been done. And assuming it doesn't need something else with a big price tag (like $650 worth of new tires or whatever)
I called the guy twice today and never got a call back. I have another to look at tomorrow. A 2004,V8,4WD, leather, 140,000 miles and $8999. Only bad part is that it is at a dealership. I really dont like buying form a used car place. I dopt they will let me bring it by my Toyota mechanic for a inspection. I have never bought off of a used car lot. How does that work? Are you just supposed to look it over yourself and "trust" them?
Bigbird192
New member
I just bought my clean 2003 Limited 4wd v8 with 144,000 miles for a hair under $10,000 (timing belt done at 115,000.) Though, it does seem like the prices are a little higher West of the Rockies. I bought it from a Honda dealership and even walked out during negotiations and had them call me back several days later and I still told them $10k wasn't low enough. After a couple more days, I broke down and bought it for that. So either one of the deals you mentioned sound good to me! I have no regrets paying what I paid. I was even about to book a flight to Salt Lake to look at a bunch of them because 4wd runners a little scarce in Vegas.
When you buy from a used car lot, you definitely want to have your mechanic friend look it over, but if it checks out, it checks out. Those lots will often have more wiggle room for negotiating than someone that is selling their baby or one of the name brand dealerships. You just need to protect yourself because they often buy beat up or broken down pieces of crap and fix them up just enough to turn a profit.
If I were you, I would just take your friend along and start checking out the 4Runner. If they stop you and tell you guys that you can't look that closely at it, run. I don't think they should have a problem with you thoroughly looking it over if they don't have something to hide.
Good luck!
Bigbird, thanks for the advice. The problem is my mechanic is not a friend. It is local Toyota shop that i was going to pay for a pre-purchase inspection. I doubt the "car lot" will let me borrow the truck for a few hours to drive to his shop. It is a preaty big car lot not some little corner mom and pop place. I dont know it that is better or worse. I am pretty mechanically inclined, having built a few motors, tranys,timing belts and other general mechanical work. But i am no Toyota expert. I can crawl around and look for obvious leeks and drips, check fluids and look for signs of "monkey business" under the hood. I guess it might come down to me and a flash light crawling around under it. I read the thread above about 4th gen info. is there any particular things i should look for?
