Posted this over at t4r.org and no one seemed to have an answer, so I figured I'd throw it up here as well.

In my continued hunt for a 4runner, I managed to dig up a '97 SR5 4wd with only 120k miles. It test-drove fine - running maybe slightly rough, but it needs new spark plugs and I assume that this is most likely the cause - and I was all set to make an offer when I noticed that the airbag light wouldn't come on. The guy selling it is a mechanic, and he says that he's not really sure why it won't come on and that his shop doesn't have the equipment to check the ACU (airbag control unit). It has a clean carfax (1 owner) and doesn't appear to have any front end damage. He has offered to try to fix it though.

He was originally asking $5800 (which I wasn't going to pay anyways), but because of the airbag question, I offered him $4600 - he said he'd think about it and asked what it would be worth to me if he was able to get the airbag light working properly again.

He won't take it to another mechanic to have it looked at (at my expense) even though I offered several hundred more if he would do that and it got a clean bill of health. Something about not wanting to mix messages from multiple mechanics. Also, his uncle (whose car it actually is) apparently doesn't trust anyone but his nephew to look work on it. Not sure what to believe on this and it did send up a little bit of a red flag.

My question is: how easy would it be for him to fool the airbag light into working properly even if the airbags are shot? They probably weren't deployed, but it's possible that they were stolen or that he pulled them to put on a customer's car.

And secondary to that, how much would it cost to replace the airbags if I do buy it and they turn out to be missing? I did some searching, but I couldn't find prices for 3rd gen airbags.

From reading around, it looks like the most likely culprit is simply a blown/misplaced fuse or a dead bulb, but better safe than sorry.

 

I would be concerned of someone that is not interested in getting more money, just for a 2nd opinion. A guy I know bought a blazer from a retired gm tech. It turned out the check engine light had been tampered with and the truck had some expensive problems.

 

I ran into a similar problem with a corolla. Personally I'd walk away from it.