I've had my '95 5-Speed Limited for about 5 years and it's got about 193K on it. My wife has dragged me around looking at Fords, Subarus, and new Toyotas. When we travel, we take 5 dogs (300 lbs) plus gear, so realistically we need a vehicle that can haul about a half ton, which knocks out most cars and even small SUV's. Add in the wheeling I do, and the fact that we're both teachers & grad students and really the only vehicle that we thought could handle everything was a 3rd gen 4Runner.

While we were at the Toy dealer yesterday, I spotted a cherry 97 LC with 77K, and lockers. Dealer was "asking" $21K, which I know is way too much. From perusing the forum, I know that I should get them to adjust the valves and repack the front birfs and rear axle bearings. Is there anything else I should know? I was going to offer $15K and maybe go up to $17K.

Also, there's not a lot of discussion about gas mileage. When I got my 4Runner it was getting 16 mpg and after swapping in synthetics in the engine, tranny and diffs, and a few other tweeks, it now consistantly gets 19 mpg in town and up to 22 on the highway. Is there anything I can do for a 3 ton pig?

 

Yeah... invest in the stock of your favorite gas supplier... Seriously. My LC gets MAYBE 12mpg... and it's S/C'd. Theoretically S/Cing an engine increase volumetric efficiency, and should thereby affect overall efficiency... NOPE. Of course, the front and rear bumpers, extra batteries, winch, 4.88's and full size spare probably don't do much for my rigs weight... 7250lbs... ugh. HEAVY. So, I guess I'm going pretty well, all things considered... If I could keep it out of boost on the highway, I'd surely do better.

J

 

This sounds stupid, but somewhere I heard to check the doors for rust on the underside. I can't remember what years had been affected, but I wouldn't leave it out.

I wouldn't give them more than 16k or so. Mind you they have little room to wiggle. It is there however. I would probably guess that they'll go down to around 17500 or so, maybe 18k. They probably won't take the 16k, so I personally would wait for another to come along.

If you want to win with mileage, you could buy an older one and swap a diesel into it. You'd be out with less than 12 grand. Also you'd be getting near the 30 mark for mileage.

By the way, how long do you think the nice interior would remain that way? I have a Golden Retreiver and he makes quite a mess tracking mud in and out, shaking swamp water all over the place. I figure I'll try to protect it, but that stuff happens.

Let us know what you decide.

Doug M.

 

Talked to my saleslady...who sold us the 4Runner about 5 years ago and she told me they had to do some repairs on it when it came in...no specific info...and the dealership needed $20K. Nice but between the high price and the low gas mileage (she said it would get 18 on the hwy...LOL), it's not the truck for a couple of teachers.

As for leather, I've had leather in my 4runner for the last 5 years with 5 dogs. It still looked pretty good everywhere but the driver's seat when I replaced it during the summer. Which is why I'm specifically looking for another leather interior.