91Runner

Okay well i've been doing a lot of thinking today, mainly about how much longer my '91 4Runner is going to last. And I was talking to my parents and they told me that they will help me out with purchasing a new (well newer truck when I want to). My truck has a little over 165k miles on it right now, and I'm not sure how much more life it has left in it It's had some problems in the past, and in short i've spent close to $5000 in misc repairs and mods in the little over a year that i've owned my 4Runner. So i've been thinking that instead of putting a lot more money into my truck (especially since I don't know how much longer it will last) I've decided that I'm going to start focusing on getting a newer truck (with lower mileage) and also my girlfriend and I are having our first Baby in February so I'm going to definitely need a truck that will be there for me (I'm sure my '91 will, I just worry every day when i'm driving it that something is going to go wrong with it that'll cost me even more money :mad: )

I've decided that I'm going to get a newer 4Runner (probably a 98-02) Because I absolutely love 4Runners (not too big, not to small). So i'm looking for some input on the 3rd Gens. I've read just about ever topic on them; and I'm still wondering if a newer 3rd Gen would be a good upgrade from my '91 4Runner? hehe I know that this is a pretty bone-head question, and I already know the answer to it, but i'm curious if anyone has gone from a 2nd Gen to a 3rd Gen, and if you regreted it at all? My mom just recently bought a '97 Limited 4Runner (that makes 3 4Runners in the family ) and I really like it, except it's a little too plushy for me. So i'm definitely leaning towards an SR5.

What i'm looking for in a 3rd Gen (I would get a 4th Gen, but they're WAY out of my price range) is versatility. I know 4Runners are extremely versatile, but the 3rd Gens just seem so different compared to my 2nd Gen and it's confusing me I'm definitely going to get a 4x4 because I still want to go offroading and everything with it. But I also want to be able to comfortable seat my girlfriend and our Baby when we go to the mountains, or our to the desert, and just around town.

hehe I think i've been answering most of my own questions here

The one thing I don't know... What year should I look into getting? I don't know if there's any big differences or problems with certain years, so I could definitely need some help on that part, and also are certain years more reliable than others? And are there any options that are really nice to have on a 3rd Gen that I should look for when I goto buy one? I Know that some of the 3rd Gens are equipped with a locking rear differential (my mom's limited has one, hehe like she'll ever use it ), is that a fairly common option? I'd also probably want to either get a supercharger for it, when I get it, should I look for ones with a supercharger already on it, or should I get it later?

Sorry if i'm rambling or if any of this doesn't make sense, it's getting late, and after thinking about this all day I'm starting to get really excited about hopefully getting a new truck in the near future :rocking:

Thanks for any help you guys/gals can provide to a clueless 2nd Gen owner

-Braden

Stump1883

The only real recomendation I can make on this topic would be to shoot for a 98 with a rear locker. I know by looking in Consumer Reports when I was looking for mine that 96' Runners had a few issues in the reliability dept.(on little things though) and in 97' Toyota fixed them and in 98' the Runner was near perfect, and from then on the Runner has been THE MOST RELIABLE SUV out there. I'm looking at the book while I type this. 98' Runner SR5 w/ a rear locker would be an awsome upgrade for ya. I would love to be able to do the same w/ my 96', but my baby has to hold in there w/ me for awhile longer before I can upgrade.

91Runner

Cool Thanks for the info Stump I had completely forgotten about Consumer Reports.

When I goto buy my new 4Runner, I'll definitely look for a 98 (Or newer possibly) with a rear locker

Thanks for the help!

-Braden

Toddski

Hey there Braden.
I too would recomend '97 and newer.

Back in the winter of '96 we needed to move up to a larger vehicle due to the new addition to our family.
So we ordered a new 4runner. We took that 4runner all over the place.
It was so nice driving from northern Idaho to southern Idaho in the snow and not worry.
The 3rd generation 4runners are very nice. You'll enjoy it very much with the family

One word of advice!!!
Get all the sleep you can now. Come February you become part of that zombie dads club

HBoss

Coming from a '97 owner, I too would recommend a '98 w/rear lockers. Subtle, but nice improvements were made from the '97 to the '98 model & I sometimes wish I would have looked around more for the '98.

Al

91Runner

Thanks for all the input everyone When I'm ready to get a new truck (I'm probably going to run my '91 until it just up and dies, hehe I love my truck, but i'm hoping that someone will plow into me and the insurance company will total it Or that it will die soon so that I have a reasonable excuse to buy a new truck)

From all of your suggestions, i'm probably going to go for a '98 SR5, but I've also been really considering a 2000 or 2001 4Runner. I haven't heard much about the 2000-2002 4Runners, but I've looked at a couple (only from the outside, I don't know what the interior is like) and I really like them. And unless I hear something bad about the '00-'02 4Runners (besides the fact that I'll probably be spending a few thousand more for a newer one) I'll probably look into getting one of them instead of a '98-'99, mainly because of the colors. hehehe I know that sounds kind of stupid but all the 3rd Gens i've seen that are pre-2000 I don't like the colors very much (except the white and black ones) and there's atleast 10 of those silver and champagne colored ones around my town. I absolutely love the thunder cloud grey color of the newer ones (I saw it on an '01 and it was awesome!)

So I really don't know for sure what I'll choose. I really like the rear locker on the '98-'99s but I really like the hood scoop and colors of the 2000-2002 models Maybe once it's time for me to get a new truck there will be some '03s that the soccer moms didn't like and traded in that I could get a deal on (hehe okay so kill me, but I really like the look of the '03s, I like the grey moulding on them )

Thanks again everyone for your input

-Braden

cybrenergy

2K2 is the one for you!