. . . to getting a 3rd Gen 4Runner. I found one in a lot that just rolled off the carrier. It's a 97 (5spd). Dirty as heck both inside and out. Rust on the brush guard, tail light guards, and tow hitch. No problem. A wire brush and paint will fix that. Otherwise, it was in really good condition and right in my price range.

Anyways, there's some issues that I noticed when I drove it. It either needs an alignment or something else is wrong with the suspension (tie rods?). It's slightly all over the place. The inside of the front tires were more worn than the outside. The clutch was a little mushy, but I can probably drive it for another year or so. The weirdest problem is that when I shift from 2-3 under 4k RPM, the brake light comes on. Nothing changes how the car drives, just the light flickers on/off and only during the 2-3 shift under higher RPM. If I drive normally, it doesn't do it. Any ideas?

The dealer said he'll take it in on Monday to do a full inspection and he'll note the comments that I made. He hadn't even driven it yet. I mean, I saw the car getting unloaded from the carrier. That's why I pulled over to take a look.

Anyways, any suggestions about the brake light and wobbly suspension would be great.

Thanks as always.

 

Unless it's selling for under 4 grand, I would avoid this rig

 

Agreed.

 

Yep, its going to need some work. No doubt about that. Do us all a favor and at least run a carfax on it before you even consider it. Sounds like a problem-child to me.

 

Wow that sounds like a scary machine.
The part & labor costs on this vehicle will likely move it up considerably from the purchase price.

 

On a side note, the brake light coming on is likely you sloshing the relatively low brake fluid resevior, and so the ligh triggers. How many miles are on this thing and what area of the country has it been driven in? I agree, run a carfax for sure. Is it a used car dealer or new?

 

Carfax ran clean. It's a Massachusetts truck with 80k. I'm not sure why this truck should be avoided? Alignments are alignments. That's all under wear and tear, right? The same applies to the clutch. My99 may be right in that it's low on brake fluid. All this should come up during the inspection. I didn't see anything majorly wrong with it except that it was dirty and was mentioned which, to me, is wear and tear and probably running on the original parts.

 

Sounds like it was well taken care of

 

Exactly, check the brake fluid, because when it gets low that light will come on when you shift.