Would you buy this?

[Fireball]

I'm sorry if I offended you, it was not my intention. Different vehicles have different values to different people. You say you have 356k on a rusty, beat up 91 but you'd never take less then $1500 for it. That's fair, it's worth that much to you, i'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying to me, that truck isn't even worth $1k. And sorry, but miles absolutely do matter to most, and they certainly do to me along with condition. I always look for the cleanest, lowest mileage vehicle I can afford, others have different priorities. Noone is right or wrong.

Ymmv.

Multi - good point. He wouldn't sell it for less than $1500, I wouldn't buy it for ten bucks. We'll just have to agree to disagree! I couldn't imagine buying a car with 300k miles on it. That's just not the way I work. Others may disagree and that is fine.

The specs and price you described for your truck is an exceptionally good deal: "$5,000 for a 1997, original owner, 4x4 SR5, immaculate inside and out with full maintenance history and receipts for everything ever done, by the dealer, including every oil change. It has 110k on the odo, and honestly looks like it couldnt even have 20k. Every inch of the truck looks new, everything works, and there isnt a blemish or a speck of dirt anywhere in the interior."

I agree with what you say below, but want others to keep in mind that you'll have to do some hunting and searching and waiting to come up with something like that.

"I take my time, research, scour ads for weeks or months, and always have cash in hand. If youre not doing the same, youre not a good used car/truck buyer."

For a fun exercise, I wonder what the best 4R we can find for sale RIGHT NOW for under $5k is. Something on autotrader, craigslist, etc that someone searching for a vehicle could buy. I doubt we could find anything close to this description:

 

[don's 4runner]

I'm sorry if I offended you, it was not my intention. Different vehicles have different values to different people. You say you have 356k on a rusty, beat up 91 but you'd never take less then $1500 for it. That's fair, it's worth that much to you, i'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying to me, that truck isn't even worth $1k. And sorry, but miles absolutely do matter to most, and they certainly do to me along with condition. I always look for the cleanest, lowest mileage vehicle I can afford, others have different priorities. Noone is right or wrong.

Ymmv.

You did nothing wrong and didn't offend me at all. I understand you looking for a low mileage truck and I agree with that, but there is nothing wrong with a high mileage truck that has been driven and treated right, if the price is right.

 

[nrgwar]

Holly Molly that she has high miles :lookout:

I got my 4runner for 5,200$ in September. She was a fleet & rental car. Its life before me was spent in auction for around 2 years & no one wanted it. I found it on craigslist.org the 4Runner had 115k miles give or take & I ended up doing all the major tuneups that I could think of just because the auction place did not have any papers on it. It was a clean title car. But yeah I would not do this again because I am very anal about my cars but yet I could not pass up this great deal @ the same time.

I would only buy this if the owner had all of the maintenance papers on the 4Runner & even oil change papers & etc. Also do a carfax report to see how many people have owned it & if the 4runner was used as a fleet car or rental. If the price is right & the person has all of the records then I would still think about factoring in how much a new engine & tranny will be.

Good luck mate.

 

[brian2sun]

You did nothing wrong and didn't offend me at all. I understand you looking for a low mileage truck and I agree with that, but there is nothing wrong with a high mileage truck that has been driven and treated right, if the price is right.

Then I have to ask, how would someone ever know in a million years if a used truck with 300K has been driven and treated right? It's always going to be a crap shoot unless you're buying it from family or a close friend and only if they are the original owner. And even then, people still BS and tend to easily forget about that "one bad cylinder" when $$ is on the table.

Here's some thoughts...
I love the "I've had it for 10 years and never had to do anything to it except change the oil" statement. If a truck is 10 years old and "you've never had to do anything to it", well then you damn well should have because you've freakin ignored dozens of maintenance items and now I (being the new owner) have to do all that shit. Changing the oil is all fine and dandy, but what about regular tranny services, ball joints, TREs, various bushings, shocks, springs, driveshaft and u-joints, plugs, wires, coils, engine sensors, emmision components, diff and t-case oil changes, timing and other belts, water pump, pulleys, bearings... you get the picture. Most people never ever even consider that stuff, they just think as long as they changed the oil every 3-5K, it'll run forever! - haha, bullshit.

I have almost 200K on mine, but if I were to ever sell it, I would ask a little more than the next guy with a '97 and 200K because (besides my mods) I can assure the potential buyer (with receipts) that I have taken care of all that stuff and more so he won't have to worry about what he's going to have to do to it. Without that proof you should always assume that it has ONLY had oil changes, and possibly not even that if it was single female owned (no offense but I live in the real world where that is 100% true).

 

[elkarshofy]

i agree with brian2sun

 

[Muti007]

Then I have to ask, how would someone ever know in a million years if a used truck with 300K has been driven and treated right? It's always going to be a crap shoot unless you're buying it from family or a close friend and only if they are the original owner. And even then, people still BS and tend to easily forget about that "one bad cylinder" when $$ is on the table.

Here's some thoughts...
I love the "I've had it for 10 years and never had to do anything to it except change the oil" statement. If a truck is 10 years old and "you've never had to do anything to it", well then you damn well should have because you've freakin ignored dozens of maintenance items and now I (being the new owner) have to do all that shit. Changing the oil is all fine and dandy, but what about regular tranny services, ball joints, TREs, various bushings, shocks, springs, driveshaft and u-joints, plugs, wires, coils, engine sensors, emmision components, diff and t-case oil changes, timing and other belts, water pump, pulleys, bearings... you get the picture. Most people never ever even consider that stuff, they just think as long as they changed the oil every 3-5K, it'll run forever! - haha, bullshit.

I have almost 200K on mine, but if I were to ever sell it, I would ask a little more than the next guy with a '97 and 200K because (besides my mods) I can assure the potential buyer (with receipts) that I have taken care of all that stuff and more so he won't have to worry about what he's going to have to do to it. Without that proof you should always assume that it has ONLY had oil changes, and possibly not even that if it was single female owned (no offense but I live in the real world where that is 100% true).

This.

 

[Ron Helmuth]

price is high

Nope-add me to the list- I would not buy it for anywhere near $5K.

at that kind of mileage- failure of the ball joints and other front end suspension pieces is well documented.Some of these very forum members are aware of this and could confirm.

If (and this is the huge if) the previous owner has a good receipt history of services performed-then you might be looking at around a $3K truck at best. For $5K you should easily be able to find a 99-00 or possibly even an 01-02 model with lesser miles. There are a number of threads regarding how some folks find the 99s to be the most desirable of all the years, while still others will argue the safety benefits of the 01-02s (VSC and TRAC spring to my mind) would outweigh anything the earlier 3rd gens had to offer.

we're giving you honest opinions and you're stirring up some emotions-please do not take any of it personally....we're all very fond of our 3rd gens and encouraging you to do better with your hard earned money.:lookout: