Should I buy this?

[ease]

Hey there. New poster. This will be my 2nd 4runner. I had a 98 sr5 that I loved, must have joined this site back in 05 when I still had it.

This is a 97 SR5 4wd with 200k on the clock.

It's a 5 speed, clutch feels good, every gear shifts smooth. Under body is amazing shape, probably one of the cleanest I've seen. Frame has only a few tiny spots with surface rust. The bumper is intact. Body is very clean, paint is just a little chipped from all those miles. This is in New England.
Only real issue I've found is that the valve cover gaskets are leaking a bit.

One owner, driven about 100 miles every day in a commute.

I do all my own work, so whatever does go down the line gets replaced by me.

They are asking 3700$

What are your guy's thoughts on this? Fair price?

 

[fightman80]

sounds like a good buy to me.......got any pics?? how's the undercarriage?

 

[Volley]

Yea price doesn't sound bad. How is the maintenance history? If everything works as it should and it is well maintained I'd probably go for it. For negotiating purposes I would use the valve covers as bargaining power. Did that with mine and ended up splitting the assumed repair cost in half. Got a few hundred knocked off price. I ended up just cleaning mine up and tightening all the bolts to spec (all were way loose) and haven't had an issue yet.

 

[wardriver]

I picked one up last week that sounds similar - 96, 5sp v6, minor bumps, good maint history, 200k miles body, 110K miles on engine.

Mine cost me $2,000 but I'd say that was abnormally low.

Offer him $3,000 cash and show him the 100 bills and see what he says.

 

[Opi]

Offer him $3,000 cash and show him the 100 bills and see what he says.

and keep another few hundred in the back pocket in case you really want it

 

[ease]

Getting her on tuesday

 

[96743runner]

x2 on offering $3k for the runner...it does sound like a nice find though.

 

[wardriver]

Lookin' good!