It seems like you guys in the States are able to get good deals on some really nice used trucks.

Why is it so diff here in Canada?

Any canucks out there care to weigh in on this one?

I'm looking for a used 3rd gen but by comparison to the US we seem ridiculously overpriced. Are the prices at autotrader.ca a good indication of prices out there or was that just a bad place for me to start looking?

 

my belief behind this is northern vehicles rust more cause of all the salt... therefore making nice vehicles rarer and the price for those nice ones slightly elevated, usually only a little more then that of a vehicle from the states.. and remember if you were to buy from there you'd have to pay import fees $189, and pst and gst on the full value of the vehicle before you could bring it back, making it not such a great deal. i've found that the larger the center in canada, the better the deal.. i.e. Toronto, there are alot of cars there, so the price is slightly slower, vs up in the boonies, not so many, people want alot. it sucks, but it's the simple fact of supply and demand.

least, thats my take on it. shop around for a little while, you'll find a deal.. just a matter of time.

 

I searched for all of 2 days to find my '92. Got lucky and scooped it up in Peterborough for $2800. Compared to the price of the others I had looked at, it was a steal. Called the guy on a Saturday, had my buddy who lives 45 minutes from there look at it Sunday, I bought it Tuesday morning.

 

Yes the are overpriced by a bit up here but remember there is a crappy 15% tax you pay (unless you live in Alberta) not to mention the Canadian dollar is only $0.80 on the US dollar so I think those 2 combined make vehicles in general more expensive. Now if you factor in the fact that not as many of the more expensive vehicles sold (4runners fall into this category) they you will tend to pay a premium for them in decent condition. If you can find a good one in the states I say go for it (it likely won't have as much salt exposure and should be cheaper), but remeber you will pay the 15% tax on the market value of the vehicle when you try to import it (it will also need to sit at the US boarder until they clear the title for export which takes at least a week or more).

 

Thanks for the replies and thoughts guys.

I'm probably going to have a look at this one a little later today or maybe tomorrow.

I'd really prefer a 99 and up third gen but this one has low mileage and seems like a decent deal relatively speaking.

 

$16,800??? thats way too high in my books... for a 9 year old vehicle.

in ontario, they range from $8000, to $12000. although, the mileage on that one is really low. most here are 150,000km+

 

Well, just came back from looking at it and it's a definite no go.

Its had two accidents. One that cost $5500 (front end damage) and another for $3500 (they didn't even have the receipt or details for this one).

I'll have to keep looking but it seems around the lower mainland good deals are hard to find.

 

Looked cautiously for 3 months before I had the one that I wanted - so many duds out there. Used car dealerships love those trucks because they are an easy sell.

I ended up buying mine in Toronto (instead of London) simply because there was more selection and as a result the prices were lower. Rust is a huge problem, but every once and a while you'll come across a Runner whose owner took care of it from day 1 (oil changes, undercoatings, etc) - those are the ones worth waiting for.

For the mechanically changed (like me), get your mechanic to check it out - get it on a hoist and have them do a once over. I ended up walking away from a couple of runners after my mechanic told me what he saw. Good luck and be patient - the good ones will inevitably show up...

 

Sounds like you are from BC from what I've seen on the trader web site over the years runners are hard to come by in BC. My advice would be to try ALTA. I've seen several from around Calgary over the years. just check them carefully before you buy they may have gotten beat up in the oil fileds. maybe ask one of our calgary members to take a look for you. Aviator
PS there are several nice ones around here but it would be a liitle far to come don't you think

 

i second the 'stay away', i saw a really nice 98 sr5 back in january for 2g's more here in town. i had been looking half heartedly for about 6 mths before i found my 93. i saw it on the way to a job site in the morning, went back after picking up the better half that afternoon and signed the deal the next day. patience grasshopper!

lee

 

aviator - Yes, I'm in Vancouver.

There's no hurry really but you know how it is when you want something

I am, however, planning to sell my '01 Golf to help finance this so I'd like to get it done this year. The redesigned Golf comes out next year so the model I have will likely sell for less than what I can get for it now.

 

I have found that prices vary greatly for the 4runners . I have seen 97s for as low as 12 000 and as high as 18 000 .All depends on the condition and the mileage .

 

The bottom line is there are just more toyota's in the US. It's all about supply and demand. Are you set on a 4runner or would you consider a Tacoma as well?

 

I actually did consider a Tacoma for a while but for the bed would actually be a detriment for my line of work.

I may even broaden my options a bit and start looking at Xterras although it would definitely be second fiddle to a 4Runner.