thinking about buying a 4runner...thoughts?

[Stallion Motorsports1647545491]

Drove a 97 4runner tonight. No body rust, no major frame rust, under body pan has the worst of the rust,Clean, but 175k miles, timing belt water pump done. Seems it needs brakes, leather front seats need wrapped and minor cosmetics. Anyone had one or thoughts on things to look for? I know all about the radiator/transmission cooler issues. using it to pull jetskis and letting the wife put the kids in it. Thoughts?

 

Tom

[Rustlestiltskin]

In to hear what ppl say. Been lookin at them for a daily

[Littleguy]

I had a 1997 Tacoma (very similar) and those things are fantastic, I highly recommend one.

[Rocky31186]

I worked at 2 toyota dealerships.

 

The 4 runners are very solid vehicles. The older models had some head gasket issues. Timing belt / water pumps are pretty easy to do.. Luckily yours are already done..

 

The front calipers are known to seize. Causing abnormal brake pad wear and warped rotors.

 

The rear Ebrake pivots freeze up. Tug on the cable going to each wheel and see if they move..

 

They also had notorious ABS issues due to the rear ABS wires being exposed on the rear end.

 

Had a good amount of converter issues.. And the tail pipe rusts off the muffler.

 

 

But this is me working on 10-20 per week. So Obviously I see alot more issues than a normal person would.

 

 

I would make the guy take it to a dealership just to get a full inspection to make sure everything is good..

[FourString]

Those are fantastic vehicles. I was looking to buy one about a year ago and did quite a lot of research on them. From everything I have read, they are relatively bulletproof. Keeping the timing belts changed seems to be the biggest priority with most owners. Like Rocky said, it is an easy job. I noticed that it is somewhat difficult to find one without rusted bumpers. The only reason I didn't buy one is because I found a deal on a full size Bronco that I couldn't pass up.