I bought mine used intending it to be a second car to my beloved '78 Celica GT hatchback. Only new car I bought was in '71. However the 4 Runner I bought just happened to be loaded with all the features for it's day and it is spoiling me rotten. It's got stuff I never had on any car before. Stuff I never thot I needed and truth be told still don't need. It's got 4 doors......a first for me. It's got a lotta luxury for something I basically bought to go camping and fishing in the Mts with. Yes it's 4 WD and I probably don't really need that. I for sure don't need it's power locks, windows, sunroof, rear view mirrors, but after a 700 mi round trip in 100 degree weather 3 wks ago I began to appreciate the AC even if it robs a buncha HP from it's somewhat wimpy 3.0 V6. It's a 5 speed manual shift model and took me about 5 mo to find one without auto trans. I'll drive an automatic when my left foot is amputated and not before! I used the cruise control for the first time on that trip and was a bit more annoyed than pleased with it. It's no good on the hills, drops out if it loses 10 mph, Has to be completely reset if U use the clutch or go below 35mph. I suspect it would work better in the auto trans version. OH but......it rides more comfortably than the Celica! I sit high enuf in it to see over a fireplug unlike the Celica. The manual seat has more adjustment than the Celica, I appreciate that and the features I like are not electrically powered. It has under body skid plates, factory running boards, roof rack, rear spare tire mount, and some fool ordered the towing package and an expensive hitch that I will never use because that 3.0 six got enuf to do pulling it's 4,250 lb self and whatever U can load inside and on top. I am well pleased with it's performance in 4WD. Of course I did buy it some nasty 31's with aggressive tread. What puzzles me is while driving the freeway in 2WD Hi range at 3,200 rpm 5th gear, 80mph it gets about 15.5 mpg. While driving the fire roads and 2 track jeep trails in the Mts up to 8,200 ft above sea level in 4WD Hi range tach reading 3,200 rpm, second and third gear, 30 mph or less it gets over 19 mpg! Unexpected by me! Every other 4WD I've experienced got less mileage in 4WD. Not done so much as one mile in 4WD low range, it wants to climb trees in Hi range!
And by now you are probably asking yerself what 4 Runner do I have? Well, It's Red inside and out. It's a Gen 2. 1990. 209,000 mi on it. Pretty much a cream puff. I'm the 3rd owner. Local dealer looked up the history and it's had all the recalls fixed including head gaskets. It passes emissions cleaner than the 2014 3.4 V6 does new. Ya, the driver's seat is a bit worn, There's a crack in the dashboard, guy I bought it from replaced radiator, water pump, timing belt, all hoses and belts, shocks, worn steering parts and brakes 10 mo before he sold it to me......receipts show $1300. So He was asking $2,400 for it, and there it sat on 4 maypop worn out tires Dead stereo. Freshly detailed all over inside out and under. I asked him if he had any wiggle on price? He say since U called I got 7 other lookers. I say I got $2,000 cash in my pocket! Lemme drive it! Even with the bald tires it drove and stopped straight and true. He took the 2K and I took it home. No sense at all for putting street tread tires on any 4WD that gonna go off road, so I bought it $560 worth of Nasty tires. Went to the dealer to try to get the dead AM/FM Cass/ CD stereo unlocked. They ran diagnostics on it and said it was fried. Could fix for $400. No thanks! Went to my local car stereo shop. Asked for JVC in dash unit with Cass CD, Am/Fm.......No such animal any more, Cassettes history! Ok fine I got a top line JVC stereo/Cd/ MP3/ USB, bluetooth, installed and they found out why the stock tunes were blown, the 2 front speakers were shorted. So New front spkrs, New kicking JVC in dash, $310. Boy does it sound sweet! So now I got about $2,870 into this 1990 4 Runner. And Edmunds sez it's worth $2,800 18 months later. Ya, the clear coat finish is flaking a little on the exposed roof and hood, color coat still good. Beats all hell outa spending 10 times the price on a 5-10 year old newer one that doesn't run one bit better. Or have less miles on it. Ya it's 25 yrs old! So What? It's got real glass in it's headlights, none of that foggy plastic! No exploding airbags either! Newer is not necessarily better. I kinda like my glorified station wagon. Ya it's NOT a "rompin' stompin" 4wd like the old WW2 Jeeps and Dodge Pwr Wagons. It's kind of a wussmobile. That's OK. I'm not a young buck looking to climb the rocks at Moab, I just wanna go to the woods in comfort with enuf gear to stay two weeks on the edge of the wilderness and come back without any troubles or breakdowns. Toyota reliability even 25 yrs old and properly maintained will provide that. I will take tools on my trip this month but will probably not need them. Planning on 1,000 mi or so 400 off pavement down the spine of the Oregon Cascade Mts. Have done similar trips in the Celica but poor little car drags bottom on those trails too much! Better to do in a 4 Runner!
