Well I moved to Birmingham to finish school, and didnt get a computer for a few months. I got out of the habit of checking the site everyday, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day.

The good news is I finally got new brakes after 160,000 miles. The bad news is, last week I had to rebuild the trans for $1700. So now I have a rebuilt engine (~96k) and a rebuilt trans. I got on the site to see if there were any '03 4Runners for ~20k, but no luck. I'm selling mine later this week, probably to Carmax. I doubt there's a market for my Runner.

It's still up in the air if I'm getting a 4Runner, Yukon Denali, or some random car. I was dead set on the Denali until I saw an '03 4Runner V8 with 60k, black, hood scoop, and leather for less than 20k. BUT a 2002 Denali with 65k with everything standard (AWD, 6.0 V8, leather, sunroof, etc.) is the same price. I checked Progressive and my 4Runner is 200/mo, the 03 4Runner is 210/mo, but the Denali is 190/mo. Go figure.

I hope everyone is great. There have been some characters I've missed, good to see them still here.

 

A little off-topic but why did you need to rebuild the motor at less than 100k miles and then the tranny at 160k?

From other threads here, everyone says that these trucks (if maintained) should last at least 200k. Most have validated this but there aren't many 3rd gens that I've seen w/ this kind of mileage. What I have seen is your truck go bad "early" and another guy not too long ago need major motor work at 130k (can't remember his name). He had to sell his truck at a loss b/c he didn't have the money to fix it.

 

The oil rings didnt do their job at 96k. It was ticking at start-up and steep hills. It was under warranty, so I had them pull the engine and see what was up before the warranty expired. The torque converter went to pieces and clogged the trans filter, made the trans overheat and spit fluid out. No fluid is kinda bad for the trans. That all happened in 1 hour. I heard a whine (torque converter) then I felt the thud. I was thinking about trading it in anyway, but just because I've had it since new and now it has 170k.

But, after all that, a new 4Runner is on the list.