they fix them if people bring it to their attention. but if it has been done, they will know.

i havent heard of any complaints on the airbags... to what are you refering to?

 

that's cool. It seems like the mirrors, gas guage and brakes are problematic. However, all of those should be easy to notice so they should have been fixed by the previous owner or by my dealer shortly.


I found the complaints about the air bags not deploying in some pretty substantial crashes after doing a google search for "Toyota technical service bulletin". I came up with two places:
mycarstats.com (requires an instantaneous free registration)
or nhtsa.gov. Again, the problem is you'll never know if yours will work or not unless you test them the hard way

below are three complaints--sorry about the CAPS LOCK--I copied and pasted this info. The first two seem pretty serious. The last one doesn't appear to be a frontal collision, so i don't know if the airbags should have deployed.

TOTALED OUR 2000 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER, LIMITED. NEITHER AIR BAG DEPLOYED EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS SUBSTANTIAL FRONTAL IMPACT AND ROLLOVER. THE EMERGENCY WORKERS WERE SURPRISED THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY

2000 TOYOTA 4 RUNNER, SUSTAINED DAMAGE TO THE FRONT END. THE ACCIDENT DAMAGED THE FRAME OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS A TOTAL LOST PER THE INSURANCE COMPANY (STATE FARM). I WAS KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS IN THE ACCIDENT. THE PROBLEM I HAVE IS THAT THE AIR BAGS NEVER DEPLOYED. I HAVE PICTURES OF THE VEHICLE AND THE FRAME DAMAGE

TRAVELING AT 25 TO 30 MPH WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE RAN A STOP SIGN WHILE TRAVELING AT ABOUT 70 MPH. AS A RESULT, CONSUMER'S VEHICLE HIT THE OTHER VEHICLE AND NONE OF THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. CONSUMER'S VEHICLE WAS TOTALED

 

I just bought one and my advice is buying the newer one or best maintained one. Auto is an option so it's more money. Call Dealership and check for recalls or service bulletins to se if this has been done or if they will do them if there are any. Also have mechanic/body shop check it for problems or accidents - never thrust a dealership/usd car salesman. Get the regular maintenance schedule from toyota and see what has/hasent been done because if something hasen't been done then you will have to do it.

 

I would get the 5speed. Better mileage and feels to have more power. I agree when towing a small camper the auto is nicer. The locker is a really nice option. i am currently seeking one to go in my 2000. Yards seem to want between 450 - 900 just for the third.