yesterday on the way to my girlfriends house, on the outskirts of my little town, i passed by a 1st gen for sale,
here is the ad:
http://www.craigslist.org/eby/car/138356425.html

i stopped by and looked at it today and it appears to be really clean, the interior is perfect except for the arm rest which will need to be replaced. it looks very well maintaned, the tires look great, it has a three inch lift and the seller said he just did a compression test and a full brake job and he says it runs great. please give me some input on what i should look for and what you think about this one?

thanks alot~!~~

 

looks good, but not enough pictures to tell. Def. noticed the lift in the rear, proabably aal.

 

go for it dude...

 

go back and see if you can take it for a test drive. youll want to make sure it goes into all the gears, check 4hi & lo operations as well. open the tailgate window to make sure it works, roll up the carpet in the back and check the floor and wheel wells for rust. give it a good going over and after youre done your test drive, make an offer. it looks in decent shape, bargain hard and keep us posted.

lee

 

It looks to be in decent shape. Since it has the 3.0 V6 and not the 22RE, I would be concerned with the head gasket problems. With that many miles I'm sure it has blown and been repaired, but if for some reason it hasn't that would be my only concern with that truck.

 

IMO id pass on the 3.0 just because the 22re is such an easier engine to work on if anything goes wrong. plus runners are a dime a dozen, you can find'em anywhere.

 

The problems with the 3.0 head gasket pre-1990 were not near as pronounced. I have the original head gasket with 205.000 miles. So this statement is not necesarily true. It is true about 2nd Generation 4Runners as the gasket material changed at this time.

I'm assuming that the poster is in California where this statement may be true. However it is increasingly difficult to find 20 year old vehicles that have been well maintained. In my location a 1st Generation 4Runner is quite rare and those you do find are usually rust buckets.

As much as I'd like to defend the 3.0 with an automatic transmission please tread carefully here. I have almost the same vehicle and I love it. that being said I would rather have the 22re for the reasons mentioned in previous posts (easier to work on, and better gas mileage). In terms of reliability in this vintage (pre 1990) it is probably a toss up. But really consider the ease of working on the vehicle yourself and fuel mileage. The 3.0 with an auto transmission will vary greatly in terms of mileage. If i'm on pure highway I may get 15-17 mpg. Purely in town it is horrendous 8-11 mpg. Mixed is somewhere in between. That is my experience, others have a different experience.

I have the auto transmission as well and it is a bit of a dog. Not much power and it sucks the gas. The one I found was in very rare condition for my location so I jumped on it. If there are others to be found in your location don't be in a hurry. Take your time and find exactly what you want. It'll be worth it in the end.

Look hard at the records and receipts of the previous owner. I was lucky to find a one owner with all of the receipts and records so I know the vehicle was taken care of. Make sure you find a 4runner that has been maintained and has records to prove it.

 

make sure you look at the frame check for rust and if thr previous owner already did work on the frame to fix rust.