What is an '06 4Runner with over 500K worth?

[ToyotaBrah]

Guys-

Would like to hear your thoughts on if I should pursue this truck.

Looking at an '06 4WD V8 4Runner for sale by original owner. Has 550K original miles (mind blowing, right). 90% of miles racked up by work use on highway. Interior is damn near immaculate for 550K so I believe him. Driver side is showing the typical wear on seat, but otherwise very clean.

The guy is meticulous about doing all the fluids on time (only used conventional) and has had multiple timing belt jobs done. Most recent was at 300K, so it's been 250K on that belt. That has me worried as the belt could snap at any point considering the belt's life is 100k, and it's an interference engine.

Everything is original on the truck. Drives 100% fine. No funky noises, no weird shifts. Exhaust manifolds are not cracked. Has the secondary air injection pump failure; triggering the CEL. Frame has surface rust on the frame welds; nothing that can't be managed with some prep and POR-15.

Was involved in one frontal accident of hitting a deer, which just affected the bumper and part of grill (verified his story and saw the hood is original with VIN tag).

This truck didn't get to 550K by neglect, but I am concerned of how many years are left in the engine and trans.

He's asking $5000. Any thoughts or advice would be certainly appreciated.

 

[ReconcileUs]

I only buy high mileage Toyta/Lexus because they are that, Toyota/Lexus. Any other manufacturer including Honda and I'm looking for 130k or less.

With that being said, I would never, under any circumstances, buy a vehicle with more than 250k miles. Even for a truck, above 150k miles is now high mileage in MY book. If I do buy a vehicle with this kind of mileage I'm only buying it because its a great deal, way below what it would normally cost to buy the same vehicle with less mileage.

A timing with 250k miles on it doesn't exactly represent anything close to meticulous in my eyes. To me that's a red flag that all his huffing and puffing about what he did to it is just huff.

 

[AuSeeker]

I would use the timming belt as a bargaining tool, on top of a much lower starting price, I wouldn't buy it for more than $3000 or less and that's only if the 4WD system works like it should.

Did you check to see if the 4WD system will shift into low range, if not that another possiblen issue that could be very expensive to fix, around $3000 to replace the actuator motor, the actuator motor will get stuck if not used every month or so, doesn't handle non-use very well.

That being said not long ago Toyota bought back a Tundra with 1,000,000 on it, they disassembled the entire truck, the 4.7 V8 after being completely disassembled showed very little wear, the Tundra was the same as you mentioned, most all of the miles were from long highway commutes, so the 4.7 V8 when regular maintenanece has been done will usually last a very long time.

 

[Roamed YT]

As an owner of a 200K mile 4th gen and 150K 3rd gen, I'd still nope out of this one.

250K on a timing belt? Nope. That's my biggest red flag.

I appreciate a higher-mileage Toyota. I understand that they were over-engineered. The UZ is a painfully beautiful and over-engineered engine.

However... everyone has their limit. That 550K mile truck is far beyond mine.

(As I debate between looking for an 08-09 V8 and a 3rd gen 6-speed Taco....)

 

[Trumpet]

While it's cool and all, 500k+ miles makes the vehicle value-less. Most likely your insurance company wouldn't write comprehensive, collision or theft on it.

Considering it needs an immediate, and expensive service and high mileage I'd walk.

Plus you could save up some more coin and buy a much lower mileage model...

All that said, if you 'gotta' have it, no more than 2k, better yet $500.

 

[Toyojay]

Looks nice but looks can be deceiving. Needing a Tbelt immediately and 500K+ that's a $2000 truck to me all day long. Especially if it has the 4LO issue.

 

[techno]

What's it worth? It's totally worth attempting to get to 1 million miles since it's over half way there already! Then Toyota gives you a brand-spanking new one, just like they did with that guys Tundra, haha.

 

[smyles1632]

$2-2.5K.
It can't be 5K as there plenty of 4R at half the mileage for this kind of $$

 

[That_Titanium_4RNR]

I wouldn't pay a dollar above 2k. I would honestly say that you could probably part this thing out if something catastrophic did happen to it and make all or most of that 2k back anyways...

 

[ToyotaBrah]

You guys speak the truth. I felt comfortable to get it for $3K as that would leave some wiggle room for maintenance repairs and possible surprise failures. All things considered, that might be offering too much as you all have mentioned. It needs A LOT done to bring it up to a baseline where I think it's roadworthy. Lower ball joints are original, radiator original, bushings are dry rotted. All of that stuff I would have to replace, but I am afraid it won't stop there.

Trumpet, excellent point on the insurance coverage issues. That didn't even cross my mind.

Yep, I'm crossing it off the list and continuing the search. Not a wise investment, especially with all of the unknown. Doesn't help either that he didn't keep the maintenance records. : /


Having said all of that, I have to take my hat off to Toyota for making one hell of a truck. I didn't hear one rattle or squeak from the interior. :smokin:

Appreciate all the undiluted, honest feedback!

 

[Ventil8]

I don't know. I've had my 4runner for 14 years and it has 160,500 miles. What's it worth? I don't know,I don't plan to sell it, in fact, I'm planning to drive it another 10 years. I know the entire history of what maintenance work I've done with it. It drives great. New suspension and new paint job are on my list and will be about $3500. The reliability of this beast has exceeded all of my expectations and then some. Good Luck!

 

[Kandor]

This makes me feel like a wimp for having some hesitancy over vehicles with less than 200k that I have considered. Someone on here should get it just for high mileage bragging rights and it might be fun to see how far it can go.

 

[John.Adam]

I wouldn’t be too worried about buying one with that many miles. But I sure woudln’t be buying it as a vehicle that I relied or depended on to get to my job. With the air injection pump and timing belt needing attention, I wouldn’t pay a dollar over $2000 for it. And maybe not even that much upon further inspection. I have an 08 limited that’s only job is road trips as I have a company truck. So buying something like this would just be for the hell of it. I would fix what needed to be fixed and turn it into a toy. Trail rig or something along those lines and if it ever blew up or became more expensive to fix than its worth I would take what parts I wanted for mine and then part out the rest and then scrap it. It would be a “what the hell, why not” purchase.

 

[CJFONNER]

Here’s what I think...how many other people in your area will pay $5k for that truck? Zero? It’ll sit and he’ll end up trading it in (if a dealer will even take it) for less than $2k.

If you like the truck and can justify putting some money into it to make it acceptably reliable to you - make an offer based on what you’d be comfortable paying for that particular truck after you’ve factored in above-mentioned expense.

Chances are it will be a good vehicle for you after it’s sorted -IF the price is right.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Terminator03]

Here’s what I think...how many other people in your area will pay $5k for that truck? Zero? It’ll sit and he’ll end up trading it in (if a dealer will even take it) for less than $2k.

If you like the truck and can justify putting some money into it to make it acceptably reliable to you - make an offer based on what you’d be comfortable paying for that particular truck after you’ve factored in above-mentioned expense.

Chances are it will be a good vehicle for you after it’s sorted -IF the price is right.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is exactly what I’d do. Just offer him $2k, and if he scoffs at it, which he likely will, just say, ok, that is what I’m comfortable spending on your truck given the expensive repairs just to get it to baseline, so please keep my cell number if you change your mind. Chances are really good he’ll be calling after a month or so with zero offers even close to that. I work with a guy that bought an ‘04 v8 Limited with over 250k miles, and he was able to talk the seller down to $1,500 because of the high mileage! This one has double that!

 

[Last Man Standing]

That is exactly what I’d do. Just offer him $2k, and if he scoffs at it, which he likely will, just say, ok, that is what I’m comfortable spending on your truck given the expensive repairs just to get it to baseline, so please keep my cell number if you change your mind. Chances are really good he’ll be calling after a month or so with zero offers even close to that. I work with a guy that bought an ‘04 v8 Limited with over 250k miles, and he was able to talk the seller down to $1,500 because of the high mileage! This one has double that!

I have been in the hunt for one under 9K now for the past month. I honed in on an 06 sport with roof basket rack and factory skid plate, lol. It had 170K miles on it, so sent it off to the dealer ( $128 ) inspection fee and came back with easily $5K+ in repairs after a $20 Carfax report with some standard maintenance scheduled. The other one was SR5 2005 100K cream puff and asking price was 10K???? What I have seen happening in the marketplace is 2003 - 2006 units around 6K+ seem to get snapped up unless over 200K miles with little maintenance records. This search is within 3 surrounding states! The hunt continues......

LMS

 

[AuSeeker]

I have been in the hunt for one under 9K now for the past month. I honed in on an 06 sport with roof basket rack and factory skid plate, lol. It had 170K miles on it, so sent it off to the dealer ( $128 ) inspection fee and came back with easily $5K+ in repairs after a $20 Carfax report with some standard maintenance scheduled. The other one was SR5 2005 100K cream puff and asking price was 10K???? What I have seen happening in the marketplace is 2003 - 2006 units around 6K+ seem to get snapped up unless over 200K miles with little maintenance records. This search is within 3 surrounding states! The hunt continues......

LMS

Don't give up, I looked for one for over 2 years before I found mine, I wasn't in any hurry to snap up the first one I found as I have a Suburban as well, I was just looking for the best deal and condition I could find, price wasn't really a problem for me but I have always looked until I found a good deal when buying a vehicle and have always paid in cash which I make sure I always have before even looking to buy a vehicle, I will never finance one, every time I found what I wanted it sold before I could even get to look at it, I finally lucked out almost 3 years ago and found mine for around $1500 under KBB value, went and looked at it about 30 miles away, it had 138,000 miles on it I drove it and then paid cash for it on the spot.

 

[Lowetony]

I think the price is way high. I just bought a clean 06 limited V8 4WD with 215K miles for $5500, and it was from a dealer.

 

[Last Man Standing]

Don't give up, I looked for one for over 2 years before I found mine, I wasn't in any hurry to snap up the first one I found as I have a Suburban as well, I was just looking for the best deal and condition I could find, price wasn't really a problem for me but I have always looked until I found a good deal when buying a vehicle and have always paid in cash which I make sure I always have before even looking to buy a vehicle, I will never finance one, every time I found what I wanted it sold before I could even get to look at it, I finally lucked out almost 3 years ago and found mine for around $1500 under KBB value, went and looked at it about 30 miles away, it had 138,000 miles on it I drove it and then paid cash for it on the spot.

Good to hear from you AuSeeker!

Been in business for over 30 years and all I know how to do is put one foot in front of the other and keep on keeping on. 2008 almost put me down, being a supplier to the housing industry, so real cautious about this purchase as if I'm buying old then need to calculate repairs necessary for uninterrupted service from the 4runner. I too would like to be strictly cash, but at this point it isn't in the cards sadly. Single Family Housing in the great state of NY is in trouble for the quality builders.

I went to the personal bank where I reluctantly store my money, and they said old vehicle loan 7% +/-?, LOC on my home 6%?? Thats a 6,000 - 7,000% swing from what they pay me for my deposits on hand in their institution :frusty: So I walk over to a local credit union which I have no relationship with and they offer me a $5K line at 5% not front loading interest, go figure. Of course one has to take into account an above 800 credit score on my end!

As you have another vehicle I have the work vans to rely on but need to retire the Chrysler 2000 as she is leaving a rust trail everywhere she goes and runs like a top 211K on her! I live in salt country so it reeks havoc on the bodies. I just missed a 99 runner 5 speed manual in mint condition $2500
That went in under 3 hours. I wasn't looking for such an old one, but for that price I would have had some fun with it....

I notice your a V8 owner and I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 with quadratrack, it was a beast, but alas the salt got that too. How do you like yours and is it AWD or your choice of 2 or 4 wheel? I spotted a nice 04 Sport about 6 hours away from me that had some recent service that would eliminate that side of the equation, 130K asking $8500 but was AWD and prefer a choice from an economy point of view.

PS: Scored a couple of nice Morgans off Ebay for the storage area. Still trust
Ag / Au over Fiat....

LMS

 

[AuSeeker]

Good to hear from you AuSeeker!

Been in business for over 30 years and all I know how to do is put one foot in front of the other and keep on keeping on. 2008 almost put me down, being a supplier to the housing industry, so real cautious about this purchase as if I'm buying old then need to calculate repairs necessary for uninterrupted service from the 4runner. I too would like to be strictly cash, but at this point it isn't in the cards sadly. Single Family Housing in the great state of NY is in trouble for the quality builders.

I went to the personal bank where I reluctantly store my money, and they said old vehicle loan 7% +/-?, LOC on my home 6%?? Thats a 6,000 - 7,000% swing from what they pay me for my deposits on hand in their institution :frusty: So I walk over to a local credit union which I have no relationship with and they offer me a $5K line at 5% not front loading interest, go figure. Of course one has to take into account an above 800 credit score on my end!

As you have another vehicle I have the work vans to rely on but need to retire the Chrysler 2000 as she is leaving a rust trail everywhere she goes and runs like a top 211K on her! I live in salt country so it reeks havoc on the bodies. I just missed a 99 runner 5 speed manual in mint condition $2500
That went in under 3 hours. I wasn't looking for such an old one, but for that price I would have had some fun with it....

I notice your a V8 owner and I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 with quadratrack, it was a beast, but alas the salt got that too. How do you like yours and is it AWD or your choice of 2 or 4 wheel? I spotted a nice 04 Sport about 6 hours away from me that had some recent service that would eliminate that side of the equation, 130K asking $8500 but was AWD and prefer a choice from an economy point of view.

PS: Scored a couple of nice Morgans off Ebay for the storage area. Still trust
Ag / Au over Fiat....

LMS

Mine's a 2WD but I'm keeping my eyes opened for a 4WD V8 and ready to pounce if I find just the right one, but that combo is hard to find for the most part and not to mention for a great deal which I have the patience to wait for, the V8 is an awesome engine and I have not had to do anything to mine T4R since I bought it other than regular maintenance, I did however replace all the outer door and hatch weather stripping.

That being said The V6 is also a awesome engine, but I would look for one with a biuld date after 12/05 to avoid the possible old designed head gaskets, unless you can find one that has proof of the head gasket being replaced already with the newer designed gaskets.

I'm lucky down here in the south, don't have to worry about salt and the rust to much and I always buy only rust free vehicles and I only buy used good condition vehicles, I will never buy a brand new vehicle and lose 10% or more value the second you drive it off the dealer's lot and not to mention paying interest if you finance it.

I also do all my own mechanical work so I know what to check and look for when buying a used vehicle, so estimating the value is easy for me.

I'm a gold prospector so all the gold I have is free for the most part other than my time investment which is a therapy for me and usually done on my vacations and a one time investment purchasing any equiptment to go and find the gold, all of which was bought years ago and has paid for itself already so any more gold I find is just money in the bank.

I also have a fair amount of Ag bullion/coins I have purchased when I see a good deal on it, IMHO gold and silver is the only "real" money and has always been that way, there are many other commodities that have just a good of value or more if the $hit really hits the fan which I also have a fair share of on hand.