BUNYKLR

On my nightly rural paper route, I had been spotting a bit of a reflection from my headlights as I pull into a certain customers driveway. It's off in the distance so I couldn't quite make out what it was, but I had a feeling it was a Toyota. Well today I drove over there in the daytime and sure enough, it's an 87-89 4Runner. It's black and paint looks good, windows are all intact but the drivers side fender is mashed in right behind the front tire. I looked at the tags and it hasn't been paid since 2001.

My guess is the guy will let it rot in that pasture, so I'm going to try to trade for it. I plan on trading him my 1970 International Scout 800A if he'll go for it. If not, what would be a fair price to pay for the rig? I have no idea of the engine runs or not so could someone give an estimated fair price for running engine and non running engine?

I'm hoping to get this rig cheap and start

garrett1478

if it has been sitting there for years...offer him loooow. use that as leverage to get a good price. just start listing off stuff that could be wrong with it from lack of maintenance.

bob200587

If he's gonna let it rot, he might not want the Scout....I say start at 500 and work up.

Crappie Heaven? sounds fun, I haven't caught a thing so far this year.

BUNYKLR

How low? $300-$400? Lower? Other than the driver side fender damage, the paint and body is in amazing shape.

bob200587

Give it a shot, you might get lucky

BUNYKLR

Well, the guy is a farmer and has some full size 4x4s parked in his yard. I'm guessing the 4Runner was his wife's vehicle and he doesn't know how to work on "those damned foreign cars." The Scout runs like a top and will pull tree stumps, it just has alot of body rust (but what Scout doesn't?)


Crappie Heaven is a nice little town that exists in my head. There are some really nice little lakes around here with tons of crappie around here, and I plan on wonton slaughter in two weeks. Grandpa has alot of good fishing ponds too, but the crappie are pretty thin, which is good for the bass population.

BUNYKLR

I'm gonna call him tomorrow. I would have liked to get real close to it today, but I wasn't about to step out of my car with those 4 huge arse dogs growling at me

1985 4Runner

If it has been 5 years since it has been driven, start low.

msw0085

man if he is a cool guy he may just tell you to come take it.. I would just ask him about it and see if he was interested in "letting it go" and see what he says.. worst case scenario he may just quote a price.. cant hurt to try and if you term your question that way it doesnt seem like youre asking for a gift.. just my 20 pesos

wrenchmonster

I personally would not offer the Scout. If you want to get rid of the Scout just sell it and take that money and perhaps offer it to the Farmer. If he let the 4runner rot, why give him the opportunity to let a Scout rot.

I live out in the country myself, and my personal experience with farmers is that they typically don't just sell their stuff. Principles mean more than money. Despite your best intentions, offering the farmer money for a rig could be taken the wrong way. I would approach him with kid gloves, and just ask him about the 4runner. Maybe he's saving it for his kid to fix up, or it's his brothers, etc. By just coming out and asking "Hey is that for sale?" can be rude.

On the same note, I have a friend who was able to barter some work for a Scout (oddly enough). The farmer happened to be an older gentleman and couldn't move around so well. My friend was able to work out a deal where he brought the farmer 3 cords of wood for the rig. Later that same year, my friend was able to barter use of a small backhoe the farmer had while building a house addition. The farmer told my friend that if he mowed his 10 acres of front lawn that he could borrow the backhoe for the week. Needless to say, they have become quite good friends and continue to barter good deals.

87rustbucket

tulsa_97SR5

agreed! Post up a pic of your scout if you don't have one of the 4runner! Heck, lets see the scout either way.

Intrepid

Before you offer anything talk to him and go look at it, the paint can look great but it could be rusting from the inside. Check under all the carpet and pound on the frame with a hammer. If it is rotted through, it is going to be more hassle than it is worth. Unless you are like Tulsa and love the taste of ground rust.
This summer I actually need to get under mine and start wire wheeling the frame and hitting it with some paint, its not bad at all, but I don't want to risk it here in NE... :cry:

tulsa_97SR5

LOL, it's not the taste of the rust, it's the aluminum oxide that gets in every nook & cranny that I like. Makes me think I live at the beach.

Intrepid

How goes the progress on that beast? I still haven't gotten you pics of my beamer seats, DOH! hahahaha.

vmax84

Yeah, I'd just start the conversation such as "So, what's up with the old truck out there in the field", and take it from there. Just kinda get a feel for what's going on with it.

I wouldn't offer him any money for now......just talk to him about it.

vmax84

Jimmeh

DON'T GET RID OF THE SCOUT! Since living in Montana, I have seen only one scout (my friends' neighbors garage). They are rare, so don't get rid of it no matter how ĊĊĊĊty it gets.

As for the 4Runner, do like everybody else said. I used to work for this old guy named Carl who was also a farmer. He had this old Chevy Pickup and I asked him about it. He said it was his wives who died a while back, and he just couldn't really get rid of it. Well, I started working up around his farm, cleaning out his horse stalls and putting in some hours on his lawn (60 acres of lawn mowing with a push mower sucks) and he eventually gave the old truck to my dad. He said do whatever you want with it. Well, my dad traded it in on an old Ford, which in turn, he gave it to the old farmer for giving me a job.

Bartering can be your best friend if you do it correctly.
1) Don't ever offer any money. Haggling over prices usually leads to the two consumers never talking much afterwards, and hell, maybe the old guy can be good conversation.
2) Ask him if he needs help around the place. An extra hand usually makes people really happy and willing to help you out. If you have extra time, just do a few small chores or one big job.
3) If he offers you money for doing the jobs around his house, SAY NO! Some people respect that, some people do not. If he seems like the latter person, kindly say no and tell him that you're just there to help out. If he is the former, then don't worry too much about it. Some people think breaking a sweat should be worth money, but a lot of older people respect us kids if we help them out without asking for the green.

Like others have said, don't outright as if he is thinking of getting rid of the rig, just ask him about it (like whats wrong with it, [thought you may know things about it] what year is it, what kind of engine) because people like to talk about their possessions. It may make him feel pretty cool if he can explain things about it. Never ask a bunch of questions about it all at once though. I know that personally, I don't like having people ask me questions about my rig all at once. I like to show it off of course, but it just annoys me.

Last but not least, if the guy is not going to get rid of that old truck, don't just out-right never talk to him again. Just be civil and understanding, and friendly of course.

BUNYKLR

Thanks for advice fellas. The guy is on my paper route, and I've never talked to him before. Secondly, I'm physically disabled (severe back injury 2 years ago, walk with a cane) and therefore cannot help him on the farm. I have a hard enough time just changing spark plugs. However, I do plan on doing alot to my truck, but I'll basically be doing fabrication stuff on a bench, and my buddies are more than happy to do the installation (I buy good scotch and beer )

Anyway, I think this is going to be a straight up cash or trade deal. If he wants more than I'm willing to pay, then I may try to talk him down a bit if I feel he's willing to go cheaper. If not, I'll just let it sit there until he needs some extra cash. What I won't do is make the guy angry or annoyed, as that's just bad manners.

dmatter

Never Say Toyota! He Will Know your a Toyota Nut and Up the Price! Just Say, Whats going on with the Rig you have over There.

vmax84

Bump for the upcoming pics!!!

vmax84

Dad had a 64 Scout..........great truck. Top speed was about 40mph, but that baby would get right down and grunt in low range!! Plowed a lot of snow with her and hauled a lot of wood.