To repair or not to repair?

[tikirob]

Afternoon, I have a situation. I bought a 95 4-runner 4x4 with the 3.0 v-6 for $4200.00 with 175,000 miles on it. I thought I got a good deal since the gentlemen that I had bought it from was the second owner and keep really good records of everything, boy was I wrong!:bash: I recently drove the 4-runner down to Florida from NC. it did fine going down no problems but the day after getting down there it started missing and running like crap. I took it to a mechanic down there to see what was wrong with it and possibly fix it enough for me to get home. What he found was a list of things wrong. 1. out of time. 2. spark plug wires cap and rotor back from 2003 I'm sure the plugs were too. 3. front wheel bearing loose. 4. pitman arm worn. 5. front rotors and brakes bad. 6. rear wheel cylinders leaking and the list goes on. I also found out that it burns about a quart of oil every 600 miles (no leaks). My question to all of the Toyota guru's should I repair this vehicle or just get rid of it. This was going to be my expedition style vehicle but I do not want to put to much money into it if the vehicle is not worth it! Any suggestions would be great and very helpful. Is it worth trying to find another vehicle?
Thanks!

 

[T?@\7]

2nd opinion from a trusted mechanic?

 

[tikirob]

The mechanic in FL. had it up on the lift and showed me all the stuff wrong. I just want to use my money wisely! Thats all! Thanks

 

[mikedks]

Not a mechanic, but have worked on cars for years. Most of what you have listed can be placed in the maintenance/routine repair category. Timing, cap/rotor, wires, plugs, brakes, wheel cylinders, bearings, even the pitman arm, are all fairly standard. But if you have the shop do it, it will cost a small fortune. If you are handy, you should be able to tackle most of these repairs, and keep the cost relatively low. But the first thing you need to do is to determine the health of the engine. I would bring it to your mechanic and ask for a compression test, and a leakdown test, this will tell you if its worth it to make the other repairs.

Good Luck

 

[tikirob]

Thanks guys!

 

[Iroke17]

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[run4yota]

if you do th work yourself (which all that stuff is simple) you could get it all done for around 300. and if thats all thats wrong with the truck then it's deff worth fixing. if you have severely worn rings it's prob about due for a rebuild. if you rebuild it it should run you about 600 for all the parts for all repairs listed (granted your heads and other components aren't warped or too badly daamaged. once again tho this is only if you have the knolage to do such things. if you do need a rebuild i would reccommend just putting in a used motor, or a 3.4 swap.... if you intend on keeping the truck for a long time the 3.4 is your best option, it's very reliable, more power and better gas milage. given it only has 175k i'd say it's safe to say just a in depth tune up and maybe thicken the oil with lucas to keep your compression up.