Thinking about buying a 3rd gen with 140k... too many miles?

270K miles

I'm kinda glad this has brought back to life... I'm looking at a '99 2wd with 270K miles on it for my son's first car (going to help him out a little)... it's on the 2nd owner and they have all the maintenance records.. All the things people talk about have been replaced... They're asking $4K... I don't know how much less that truck would fall in price with another 50K miles on it... but that's basically the same price the 3rd Gens are getting around these parts with 190K miles on them..

It still feels weird to be considering buying a vehicle with 270k miles on it.
 
Drummermonkey said:
I got stuck paying almost $10k for a clean 4Runner with good maintenance at 160k miles. Everyone wants one here in CO. Every truck in the area that was selling for less, around $8k, was falling apart.
Click to expand...

Paid a little more for mine as well here in CA. Crazy market too, all the other ones were garbage!
 
Don't invest in the stock or bond markets for your retirement, buy classic cars and 4runners!!!! In a few years my mom's 97 4runner will be 25 years old and eligible for collector status which means the insurance will go way down if it is a second vehicle. But the catch is it has to be rust free and original equipment including radio (that would suck for a 1960's car, you'd have to listen to a sh!tty old 1960's radio), so that might take some work to achieve. But my other 4runner, I'll build up away from stock...
 
I didn't even notice the thread date. I'm here thinking if its clean thats a good price. Lol hard to imagine how expensive 3rd gens are. Around here a clean one is around the same price as a not so clean 4th gen.
 
Take heart, at least you're not alone. I just bought a 270k mile, 1998 Limited 4WD automatic with e-locker. There's a little surface rust under it, but the body's in great shape, and there's rust on practically everything in Michigan.
It's got an O2 sensor code (the rear, sort-of-unimportant one) but I haven't been able to spot anything else seriously wrong, and I have maintenance records for it going back 10+ years.

I paid $1600, which is so cheap it makes me nervous I've missed something - but also so cheap that if it completely dies within a year I won't be TOO upset. I enjoy doing my own car work, and it's meant as a 3rd car/fun project/camping/hunting toy/MAYBE my 13yo's first car later; I wouldn't have done this on a daily driver.

I plan to do the LBJs, add a trans cooler, and then just maintenance - and if it goes badly, I'll drag it to Colorado and sell it for $4k. :)

Just had it detailed, but the weather's been rainy so I have no pics of it now that it's cleaned up, or I'd share.

gajake15 said:
I'm kinda glad this has brought back to life... I'm looking at a '99 2wd with 270K miles on it for my son's first car (going to help him out a little)... it's on the 2nd owner and they have all the maintenance records.. All the things people talk about have been replaced... They're asking $4K... I don't know how much less that truck would fall in price with another 50K miles on it... but that's basically the same price the 3rd Gens are getting around these parts with 190K miles on them..

It still feels weird to be considering buying a vehicle with 270k miles on it.
Click to expand...
 
I read the intial post that asked "is 140k miles too much for an early 3rd gen..?"

I just thought this person was crazy, nope just a zombied thread.
 
gajake15 said:
I'm kinda glad this has brought back to life... I'm looking at a '99 2wd with 270K miles on it for my son's first car (going to help him out a little)... it's on the 2nd owner and they have all the maintenance records.. All the things people talk about have been replaced... They're asking $4K... I don't know how much less that truck would fall in price with another 50K miles on it... but that's basically the same price the 3rd Gens are getting around these parts with 190K miles on them..

It still feels weird to be considering buying a vehicle with 270k miles on it.
Click to expand...

I just bought a '97 with 200k. Manual trans, 2.7 and the price was good - couldn't pass it up and have always wanted a 4runner.

Very clean for the mileage.

00404_gcwRg1sGJPO_600x450_zpssqwxxgmi.jpg~original


Ill be keepin an eye on this thread...

:beer:
 
I picked up my 98 SR5 3.4 5 speed with 200k last week for what I consider a good deal in NC, for 4K. It has a little surface rust above and right behind the spare tire in the back but nothing that can't be cleaned off and treated with a good coat of undercoating or epoxy. I searched for months and this one was by far one of the cleanest, low mileage and the only 5 speed I seen for sale in NC/SC at the time of my search. Gonna do a timing belt kit, thermostat and valve cover job and drive it till the wheels fall off
 

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Look at the polls. The 3rd gens will hold their value if nice like landcruisers for a variety of reasons.

They were imho the perfect blend of just enough tech where it matters, but still enough of the old school mechanical that you can work on them and plenty of parts and cross between years and even still there's decent aftermarket support. Even a little modding goes a long way and they can be modded pretty far in your garage a lot easier than other years or other vehicles.

The body style is classic Toyota truck with lines all the way back to the Marty McFly era...and what many of us longed for when we were growing up but couldn't afford them.

They have one of the most reliable engines ever built and now have proven overall they are in the landcruiser pedigree that way. Also the multimode features work great and are sought after.

Off road they are hard to beat. They are not solid axle but body on frame, elocker, great clearance, and coils all the way around are worth a lot and they are just small enough to be viable where larger vehicles are not. Really the best thing out there for more space and comfort than a Jeep but still really trail worthy.

I was lucky to find a clean one but I really didn't even look at anything but 3rd gens. Coming from a Jeep I knew what I was after and the synthesis of all that really only came in a 3rd gen. I paid a tad under mid teens for mine with 128k but it was a beaut and had a lot done to it and I knew what it would cost me to get to that point with a lesser one. I plan to keep miles moderate, garage it and use it but not abuse it and I think it will hold its value very well. Only problem is I doubt after all I've now done to it I'll want to sell it. Like I just said I know you can't just go buy a really nice built one like many of ours anytime you want. This post highlights that. Time bends the supply and demand curve! When I was a kid 1st gen broncos and FJ's were dime a dozen now they're collector status.
 
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I bought my current one in summer of 2015. It's a 2002 limited 4wd it had 199k on it one owner in excellent condition. I got it from a Toyota dealer for $4500.
 
JBDaddy said:
Take heart, at least you're not alone. I just bought a 270k mile, 1998 Limited 4WD automatic with e-locker. There's a little surface rust under it, but the body's in great shape, and there's rust on practically everything in Michigan.
It's got an O2 sensor code (the rear, sort-of-unimportant one) but I haven't been able to spot anything else seriously wrong, and I have maintenance records for it going back 10+ years.

I paid $1600, which is so cheap it makes me nervous I've missed something - but also so cheap that if it completely dies within a year I won't be TOO upset. I enjoy doing my own car work, and it's meant as a 3rd car/fun project/camping/hunting toy/MAYBE my 13yo's first car later; I wouldn't have done this on a daily driver.

I plan to do the LBJs, add a trans cooler, and then just maintenance - and if it goes badly, I'll drag it to Colorado and sell it for $4k. :)

Just had it detailed, but the weather's been rainy so I have no pics of it now that it's cleaned up, or I'd share.
Click to expand...

Well, I pulled the trigger and just bought a 1998 SR5 with 197K miles on it from the original owner. He has had all the work done I had planned to have done and he had a 2" pile of records to show for it. He and his wife got a little emotional when we signed the title... It's in GREAT shape. Roof paint has oxidized, but that's cosmetic... I hope to put 200K more miles on this one.
 
Thread resurrection, but why not? In January 2020 I purchased my 1997 2wd Limited 4Runner, with 300,000 miles for $1,000. The thing runs and drives so well it caused me to buy a 2003 V8 4wd 4Runner the next month for $6,000. I'm in the process on converting the 1997 to 4wd, and thanks to this thread, I might list it for sale in Colorado when I'm done. :wow:
 
I bought my 99 with 240K and now has 300k, zero problems with drive train in that time. most issues have been things like a door lock going out or sunroof motor. if your not a do it yourselfer and have to pay a shop to fix it , it will it will ad up.
 
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