Bought a 1998 Toyota 4Runner with 203k miles on it today.

[JulesMaximus]

It is a one owner vehicle with complete maintenance history. Needs some work, brakes, struts, tires and timing belt, but the truck is solid otherwise and has never been in an accident. Previous owner is the wife of a fireman. My wife knows them through her work and has known them for years. I met them today and they seem like genuine people. I took the truck to a trusted mechanic and he looked it over before we made an offer. It has the V6 engine, power windows, moonroof etc. It is black with light blue interior. It drives and shifts smoothly. Everything works on it too, power windows, A/C, all lights and electronics. Plus, it’s a SoCal car so it has absolutely zero rust.

Looking forward to getting the wheels in the air tomorrow and starting to fix it up. We bought new front brake rotors, brake pads, struts and shocks. We have plenty of work to do and then it is off for new tires and an alignment. It also needs new steering bushings and a timing belt.

Pretty minor stuff really but it allowed us to negotiate a decent price. Should be a fun project and a good first car for our son.

Here's a pic of it.

 

[jlee]

Only 203k?

It's just a baby! That 5VZ will run basically forever.

 

[ponyo]

I love that gen 4runner. I had 97 SR5 I bought new. I gave it to my sister because she needed a vehicle. She then passed it to her BIL who's still driving it. It has over 400k miles and still going strong. That's about the perfect teenager vehicle. It can practically go anywhere and the rear trunk window rolls down and the back seats fold completely flat so you can even sleep in the car. It's awesome camping and off-road vehicle. Your son is very lucky.

 

[snoopy7548]

Toyotas are awesome first cars. Is it manual or automatic? My dad gave me his 1996 Toyota Tacoma with ~175k miles when I got my driver's license and I loved that thing. I beat the crap out of it and it never gave me any problems. Sometimes I wish I still had it around, but the gas mileage was pretty terrible.

 

[Rifter]

Nice, i DD a 98 4runner right now. The rust will take it before the engine or trans quits these things run forever.

And i beat the living crap outta mine, its lifted 4" with 35" tires. Ive had this thing buried in mud pits, water crossings with water up to the hood, rock crawling, you name it ive probably done it, and it just wont quit.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Nice, i DD a 98 4runner right now. The rust will take it before the engine or trans quits these things run forever.

And i beat the living crap outta mine, its lifted 4" with 35" tires. Ive had this thing buried in mud pits, water crossings with water up to the hood, rock crawling, you name it ive probably done it, and it just wont quit.

No rust here. I’m in San Diego, where this vehicle has spent its entire life. Not a single bit of rust anywhere on the body or chassis.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Great first car. It's a gutless tank. I had a 96 with the V6 and a stick. Loved it off road. On road not as much love.

For a father son project it would be hard to beat. You don't have to mess with the engine internals ever. Just swapping out wear out items is pretty simple on that vehicle. Beware the rear tailgate power window assembly/replacement.....

 

[JulesMaximus]

Great first car. It's a gutless tank. I had a 96 with the V6 and a stick. Loved it off road. On road not as much love.

For a father son project it would be hard to beat. You don't have to mess with the engine internals ever. Just swapping out wear out items is pretty simple on that vehicle. Beware the rear tailgate power window assembly/replacement.....

It actually works fine on this one. The rear window goes up and down with the key or the switch.

My son removing the right front brake caliper bolts (that's not me in the edge of the pic, that's my son's friend Andrew).

 

[eng2d2]

i dont care how secure the suv being up on something but I won't put any of my body part underneath a car. scary

 

[JulesMaximus]

i dont care how secure the suv being up on something but I won't put any of my body part underneath a car. scary

It is on a 3.5 ton jack with a jack stand under the frame rail. Someone on another forum suggested something that I will also do next time and that is putting the wheel that was removed under the car for added peace of mind.

 

[eng2d2]

It is on a 3.5 ton jack with a jack stand under the frame rail. Someone on another forum suggested something that I will also do next time and that is putting the wheel that was removed under the car for added peace of mind.

Yes, putting wheel removed and or ramp.then your son is good. The jack stand plus 3.5 ton jack is really not so safe.....
safety first

 

[jlee]

Yes, putting wheel removed and or ramp.then your son is good. The jack stand plus 3.5 ton jack is really not so safe.....
safety first

As long as the truck is properly resting on the jackstand and the jack is also there, I would consider that safe. It doesn't look like it's lifted high enough that'd you'd need two jackstands on one side for stability.

 

[Rifter]

No rust here. I’m in San Diego, where this vehicle has spent its entire life. Not a single bit of rust anywhere on the body or chassis.

Id almost kill for one with no rust. Around here getting something that old with no rust is a pipe dream, and even if you found one it would be selling for 2-3x what its worth.

Ive had mine 4 years now but rust was already beyond help when i got it, i expect at most another 2-3 years from it. Which is fine i got a good deal and if it died today on my way home it doesnt owe me anything and i wouldnt cry over it.

 

[chin311]

A beauty. My favorite gen of the 4Runner

 

[NutBucket]

I expect nothing less from you Jules; teaching your kid how to work on cars.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I expect nothing less from you Jules; teaching your kid how to work on cars.

Thanks man!

I ordered more parts this week to be delivered next week. We will be working on it again next weekend.

The President of the Anti-SUV Brigade owns an SUV now! Who would have thought?

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah, but I do recall you mentioning a while back you and the wife were looking at GXs

Hopefully between my uncle and I my girls will take some interest in such things. At the ripe age of 3 the older one is already hooked on rides in the RZR we have so there's hope

 

[JulesMaximus]

Yeah, but I do recall you mentioning a while back you and the wife were looking at GXs

Hopefully between my uncle and I my girls will take some interest in such things. At the ripe age of 3 the older one is already hooked on rides in the RZR we have so there's hope

Yeah, I really like the GX. Would be a great 3rd vehicle but we really have no room for another car at this point. My wife's car is parked in the garage along with my motorcycle, my car is on the street in front of our house and the 4Runner is in the driveway.

Maybe after I get rid of the sporty coupe I'm driving currently I'll look at the GX again. Really wish they'd do something about that hideous grill though.

 

[KIAman]

Congrats!!! I've always been in love with the N180. IMO it's the last 4runner that still looks like a truck while getting the driving dynamics of a modern SUV.

 

[ponyo]

Congrats!!! I've always been in love with the N180. IMO it's the last 4runner that still looks like a truck while getting the driving dynamics of a modern SUV.

No, that thing looks like a truck and rides like old truck. The ride is harsh even on regular roads. Modern trucks and SUVs are plush rides in comparison.

 

[JulesMaximus]

No, that thing looks like a truck and rides like old truck. The ride is harsh even on regular roads. Modern trucks and SUVs are plush rides in comparison.

It isn’t bad actually and I think that’s down to the comfortable seats in it. It feels a lot better than the Subaru Forester I rented last year... god that thing was a pile of crap.

 

[ponyo]

Is the truck 4x2 or 4x4?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Is the truck 4x2 or 4x4?

2WD

 

[Rifter]

No, that thing looks like a truck and rides like old truck. The ride is harsh even on regular roads. Modern trucks and SUVs are plush rides in comparison.

They ride better than leaf sprung trucks, but not as good as most coil spring trucks IMO. I am running larger tires, at lower PSI, so mine rides better than stock, at the price of lower fuel economy.

 

[mindless1]

Yes, putting wheel removed and or ramp.then your son is good. The jack stand plus 3.5 ton jack is really not so safe.....
safety first

Jack stand ALONE is safe, so long as you know what you're doing, put the stand in the right place, are on solid ground (use support plates when in doubt), have a good quality jack stand and briefly inspect it before use. In other words you're doing things correctly.

I can't even imagine the hassle it would be to jack up each wheel separately and leave the jack there for basic things like rotating tires. Don't use a jack alone without a jack stand, but jack stand alone, meh you're probably more likely to be killed by lightning than a vehicle falling on you.

On the other hand a child... sure, not only should you supervise but also have them do redundant backups whether it be the jack, wheel under frame, tree stump, whatever.