MustangMike

I'm thinking about selling my '97 4runner which has 152,000 miles on it, mostly to upgrade to something newer with less miles (am looking at an '01 or '02). My main reason for this is to be able to sell mine for a decent amount of money, before something breaks...namely the transmission, or something else that will cost big money, which will leave me stuck with fixing it up and driving it for a long time (based on economics of selling it after having a major repair). Don't get me wrong, everything is still in great shape and it drives great...which is what makes me think about keeping it for a while yet.

Anyway, I had my trans fluid flushed about 2k miles ago at an ammco shop (I know the owner personally) and was talking with him about my 4runner. He was saying how the transmission in them is one of the most durable and reliable on the road. He said that when they do break, however, they are extremely expensive to fix given the labor and parts involved. He said they are a major pain to R&R since the transfer case is attached....which makes sense to me.

Anyway, he roughly guessed that it would cost me around $3000 to have it all done, when the time comes. Can anyone back that figure up? I know there are aftermarket transmissions out there, but I'm curious about the rebuild costs that have been quoted to others. He wouldn't try to rip me off, I just wonder if his quote was inaccurate because he does not work on these trucks very often.

Thanks!
Mike

bamachem

~$2000 to swap in a low-mileage used trans.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/so-my-transmission-died-105260/

it's very rare to have one give up the ghost in the earlier 3rd gen years as long as you don't have a supercharger and as long as you change the fluid on a semi-regular basis...

MTL_4runner

Andy beat me to it.....

Anyway, you're better off with the one you got (later models like the 01-02 can develop issues like Lee's did), just add a tranny cooler (if you don't have one already) and keep the filter clean and flush the tranny about every 60k miles. You can also do a drain and fill on the pan, but you're only changing about 1/6 of the fluid in there with that method so the interval should be much shorter (more like 20-25k).

MustangMike

Thanks a lot, guys....I did see Lee's thread. Is this a pretty common problem on the '01's and '02's? Do you still think I'm better off with mine being 4-5 years older and 100,000 more miles?

jjrgr21

a bit off topic, but say the 3.4 auto goes, can a 3.4 manual bolt up to the motor? just out of curiosity.

MTL_4runner

Yes it will.

MTL_4runner

I don't think it's common enough for everyone that owns a 2001 or 2002 to start worrying about it, but if I were in your shoes, I would probably just stick with what I had and just be as diligent as you can about maintenance and dropping tranny temps with an aftermarket cooler.

rimpainter.com

Do the math and I'm willing to bet, unless something catastrophic occurs with your existing 4Runner, that sticking with what you have will be your best bet.

Even worse would be factoring in a car loan for the 01/02 and the interest you will pay over the next few years, depreciation, etc.

lee

after having opened my auto up, i now fully understand why it is so expensive to rebuild one... they are SO complex it is astounding!

MustangMike

My only reason for buying something newer is the assumption that it would be more reliable, in general. I drive anywhere between 15 and 20,000 miles in a year and must have reliable transportation. The odds of a vehicle being reliable obviously go away with an older vehicle, in general. I want either vehicle to last 4-5 more years. I figure that my '97 could cost me about the same amount of $$$ to maintain over the that period that an '01 or '02 would. That is, I could spend $5-$6000 or more in trans, engine, suspension, etc on my '97 in that period of time (potentially, no way of knowing) or I could take that money and the money I get from the sale of my '97 and buy an '01 or '02 with 50k miles or so. I would end up spending a bit more on the '01 or '02 in the end, but it would take away most of the worry of something breaking and leaving me stuck somewhere ....again, I'm talking 4-5 more years. It would also be worth more at the end of 4-5 years than my '97 would. The point is that once something big breaks on my '97, I have to fix it and keep the '97, that's why I'm thinking my sell point should be soon while everything is working great so I can get a decent amount of money out of it.

Payments and interest are not of major conern, I hope to pay cash for most of it, and have the remainder paid off within a year or so.

Jamie - can you tell me more of what you know about the swap to a manual? Any idea how much I would spend to do this, roughly? I would do the work myself.

Thanks again!

lwin7

I have a 97 3.4L, overpaid $3000 for a rebuilt tranny, made the mistake of taking it to the closest shop because I broke down away from home. But I had quotes from 2k-4k, other than the tranny, 4runner has been great. I was thinking of selling mine for the same reason, but I know alot about what needs to be fixed on it or what may go bad soon. I figure if I pay cash for a used car, I'll have to deal with all the unknown issues again, so I'm keeping it!