Would you have bought this one..... I just did...

bigdonniebrasco

bigdonniebrasco

New member
So I have been looking for a 3rd gen for MONTHS... it seems as if 90% of the craigslist / hack dealership 4runners are REALLY rusty underneath (I am in the midwest) or you can tell that they have either been a victim of the strawberry shake, or something else and it's been patched together.

WELL...

there was one truck on CL that I have been passing over for 5 or 6 weeks... 1999 Limited, great shape, no rust or damage... but 250k miles! That's why I passed it over.

Well the price came down to $4,000, and my plan was to offer him $3,500.

Great tires, no rust underneath, EVERYTHING works!! Even the antenna, clock and rear window!
Zero drips or leaks, and the guy works at a toyota dealer in service, and he's owned it for 7 years.

Literally the only negative is the mileage.

I'll post picts ASAP, but for $3,500 ... would you jump on it of pass it up?

Thanks
Don
 
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Thanks for taking the time to welcome me, really.... that's cool!
Was your comment based on the fact that if I really take care of her.... I could get a lot more miles out of her?

I plan on spending a LOT more time on here as I wrench around on her!

I figure if I can get 300k out of her.... that's 4 years down the road for $3,500 !

* not including maintenance


zoombyu86 said:
That mileage doesn't really mean much here! Can't wait to see pics. Welcome to the T4R club.
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Looks good from that picture. Like others said, mileage isn't a huge issue with these trucks. A girl I work with has a '97 limited with close to 400,000 miles! With regular maintenance they just won't quit.

Congrats!!! You're gonna love it
 
I paid a bit over $5K for my 00 T4R LTD w/ 230K miles without much sweat so I would be ALL OVER IT for $4K. If you have the VIN number, look it up on toyotaowners.com for any maintenance records. Carfax also helps if you have plate number for records and accidents. Before I bought mine, I had paid for 5 carfaxes and only used 4 so I still have 1 left, if you need it, let me know. Good Luck!
 
This might be the coolest forum I have ever joined!! :cry2:

I'll definitely keep you all posted !

I looked up the vin and "lube oil and filter" and all service go right to 3 weeks ago.
 
You're right, this REALLY IS a cool forum! I haven't been here for very long but I can confidently say there are a lot of very smart, creative, and kind people here.
 
bigdonniebrasco said:
I figure if I can get 300k out of her.... that's 4 years down the road for $3,500 !

* not including maintenance
Click to expand...

That's exactly how to do this sort of thing. You can expect a certain 'return' on the investment - and the rest is gravy! It'll should almost certainly be cheaper than the car payments you would make in the same period of time.

I copped my '99 with 184k for $6800 OTD - taxes, registration, etc. Dealer serviced, one owner, 100% functional. That was 4 months ago and I'm at 190k with no issues. The adventure begins...

These things are perpetually maintainable, almost. With a good sample to start with, just add up the expected/required maintenance and you'll know what TCOO (total cost of ownership should be). Decision made!

Keep records and tell us your story.
 
Welcome aboard man! Dollar for dollar, these rigs are hard to beat for cost / benefit. Although... they CAN get expensive if you stick around these forums and catch the modding bug. LOL.:rofl:


I think you made a good investment. Now, do yourself a favor and read the http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...ormational-threads-must-read-new-members.html

There are quite a few great pieces of helpful information within. And don't be afraid to get comfy with the "search" feature. Odds are, you are not the only one that has had an issue with something or asked about a topic. There are literally thousands of hours of reading at your disposal if you are interested.

Congrats!
 
DK327 said:
Congratz! Looking forward to pics and your future maintenance/build thread! Those 5 spoke OEM wheels are begging for a Tundra brake upgrade... :D
Click to expand...

I looked for the wheel type first....my exact thought!

OP, go ahead and upgrand those brakes to Tundra brakes....231s. Looks nice. Gold find.
 
Check this out:

You paid $3.5K for a truck that should give you 100K miles with minimum maintenance, more if you put some effort in to keeping it. Even if it eats something large these trucks are comparatively simple compared to new stuff, parts are everywhere and repairs are relatively cheap. A lot of the maintenance can be done in your driveway if you have the time and the patience. Keep the rust away and drive it until you can no longer bear the sight of it. Junk it for $500 at the end and walk away satisfied.

Not so the new truck. At $40K you'd have to drive 1 million miles plus to break even and maintenance is likely to cost you a lot more.

Let's look at it another way. Suppose you were to take your $3.5K and another $4.5K and use it for a down payment on a new 5 Gen. Your payment would rock in at something like $1K per month, $12K per year, 5 years minimum and the value of the truck would drop with every single payment you made.

$12K per year is more than the craziest modder on this board spends on their truck every year - at least after the first year. $12K you don't spend for 4 years = $48K you've saved by buying your 3rd gen.

My Dad always said that the time to buy a new car was when the cost of repairs each month exceeded the cost of payments on a new car. This never happens unless you buy some stupid European thing and particularly never happens with Toyotas.

I think you made a good buy.
 
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Ya'll should fly over to America's hat and road trip back home.
4th gen Limited v8's are 5-6,000$ canadian dollars all day with 150k miles.

:)

We will not build a wall to keep you away either ;)
 
You'll find the answer to that when you look at the TBU FAQ thread. I bought mine on rockauto.com (make sure to get a discount code) all for like $310 including some other stuff
 
Hell yes I would. I paid 6 for mine from a dealership with 190000..good frame is hard to find I would totally hop on that.


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