Transmission Life

K

Kiotae

New member
New here, read the FAQ and did some searching and didn't find a clear answer. I'm on the search for my first 4runner was wondering about the longevity of the transmission.

I'm taking a look at a '99 SR5 auto tomorrow with.... 276K on it. One owner, has all maintenance records and basically does everything the dealer suggests. My concern is that there's never been an engine or transmission rebuild.

So how long do these things last without a rebuild? Thanks in advance.
 
Register to hide this ad
I don't think I've ever heard of one of these autos failing with the exception of when coolant gets in there. These are very durable trucks but 1/4 million is a lot of miles and I'd steer clear unless it was free. It's just a matter of time until you lose a head gasket, valve seals, etc. Even if it was well maintained, I would expect to put a lot of money into it as things fail... In particular the suspension, axle seals, bearings, starter, etc unless of course that's all been done recently.
 
Thanks. I know he's had a lot of stuff replaced. I'll have to sort through the service records to see what's been done.
 
274k on my auto rig and I DD it and wheel hard about once a month with no issues. Just keep fresh oil/fluid in everything that needs it and it will treat you well.

If there are service records for new front end parts recently then you should be pretty set to go. If the other basics check out
 
I bought a 98 with 282k on it for my wife a few months back. Timing belt/water pump and other general maint have been done throughout its life. Se hasn't had any problems with it yet. I wouldn't be extremely worried about miles if you can get a good deal on it, and its been well taken care of (with docs).
 
I have over 250k, on it and never had any major issues. The motor and tranny have served me well, and are still pulling strong. I have wheeled mine hard in several states, take long road trips, and its also my DD, as well as my work truck for search and rescue. I would have no qualms about buying another one with this many miles, especially if it came with records. Toyotas especially the older ones are known to last a long time and still be reliable. Don't shy away just because of high miles. Just my thoughts
 
Mine was good at 333k but then got the red milk shake and swapped to a 5spd. They are great transmission and a $70 external cooler is well worth it. You WILL need it!
 
275k+ miles is a lot. My trans is still holding strong with no slippage at 215k miles.

Although the 275k mile truck may be a good buy, I question whether it makes a good base for a "build" - if you are planning on spending a lot of cash on mods then you probably want to start with a truck that has < 150 miles.
 
I have no intentions of building it out. Int and Ext in excellent shape. He's just driven it a lot on the highway.

I know that he just had the rear diff replaced and spent 1k on new tires. Seems like anything that's needed to be done at some point was taken care of and not put off.

Gonna page through his service records to be sure on suspension and front end stuff that was mentioned.

He's having no luck selling at his current asking price of 4,000 due to the mileage. If everything checks out, what might be considered a reasonable price?
 
Great, about what I was thinking. 3,000 would be nice.

I'm also looking at a '98 limited with 174k on the clock tomorrow, he's asking 5500. No service records on that one though other than a recent timing belt change.
 
Tiranmission Life

I got the milkshake at 220K. Had the trans cleaned and serviced then. I just broke 300K today and trans and eng run great. Going for 4.
 
Kiotae said:
Great, about what I was thinking. 3,000 would be nice.

I'm also looking at a '98 limited with 174k on the clock tomorrow, he's asking 5500. No service records on that one though other than a recent timing belt change.
Click to expand...

I think 174K for $5500 is a better deal if you can afford it. Maybe you could talk him down to $4500? I don't think high mileage is anything to worry about too much, but if you can get the same truck with 100k fewer miles for $1000-1500 more, that's what I would do.

I think service records are overrated honestly. I have lots of receipts for my truck, but since I do my own maintenance, I don't have service records if someone were to ask for them.. but my truck still runs tip top. Point is, if he just had the timing belt done, that's not cheap so he's obviously not neglecting the truck. Used vehicles are always a bit of a crap shoot. The main thing is to drive it and listen to it how the engine sounds. Look under the oil cap and check all the fluids. Listen for unusual valvetrain noise or knocks. Make sure the tranny doesn't sound weird while you are driving it. I always do a test drive with the windows up and then down so I can hear any weird noises inside or outside the truck.
 
Last edited:
The '98 limited was pretty beat so I'm not interested. Both my wife (the one who this is for mostly) and myself great prefer the look of the SR5 to the limited. The plasticy body cladding and fender flares aren't for us.

The 276k one was as good a condition as he claimed. There was some body control wobble that I think is due to a busted front driver side end link that I noticed. He hasn't been driving it and had no idea it was broken.

How much gear whine is normal when lifting off the gas and coasting? There was a noise that sounded (to me) like gear whine when I coasted.
 
it sounds to me like you could be in for a 3rd member replacement, sounds like there is some lash issues. and to be honest thats not too surprising with 275+k miles, i mean the gears are being used constantly. really replacing a 3rd member isnt that big of a deal.

in answer to your question i hear more noise from the motor, exhaust and tires/road noise than i do the rear end or tranny while driving. -and im running AT tires and have an 18" magniflow so neither one are gonna be making a lot of noise, more than stock sure, but not by much.
 
Well, he took it in to get inspected and ended up dropping $1100 to do timing belt, water pump, change all fluids, and replace the driver and passenger side end links.

All good stuff, but he's of course now asking more for it. I think at $4k I might do it, but not more. Other good vehicles do seem to pop up fairly frequently in the 4-5k range, but with waaaay less miles.

Thoughts?
 
did he fix the noise you were hearing? i mean even a used 3rd member can be $300, maybe more, maybe less, just depends on where you get one.

i paid $5500 for mine 2.5 years ago, and it had just over 200k on it, and i think i got a good deal. i have put over 50K on it and have had no major failures, its needed a tcase flush, new power steering pump(my fault for over working it in the snow), and i just did the Tbelt and WP. but other than that it has been a great rig and i have no worries or hesitations with it.

its kinda crazy in some areas these things pull a lot of money... but yest better deals do come around. but the thing with at better deal is you have to jump fast than the next guy, cause good deals dont last too long
 
He just emailed me with other info, shocks were done about 2 years ago. New 275 tires a year ago, cost him a grand.

Noise is still there. Maybe I'm being overly paranoid? I'm not familiar with what are normal sounds and what are not with 4runners. I would say it sounds a bit like when you're driving semi-quickly in reverse (in most cars I've driven).

This guy LOVES his truck and I have no doubt that if he thought or the dealer told him something was wrong, shy of a blown engine, he would have fixed it. So, I dunno
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 318 (members: 4, guests: 314)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,307
Messages
3,554,053
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top