I'm a truck guy. Grease monkey.. White-collar Redneck...
About 4 years ago, I purchased this 96 4Runner. Cleanest 95K mile truck I ever saw, insanely well equipped (TRD headers, Level-10 Tranny, TRD wheels, Borla Exhaust, etc, hell - it even had LoJack.) Sold it to one of my best friends when I upgraded to a Tundra to tow the red beastie in the other thread.
Never should have sold it. Every one of my friends (even those who hate cars), my Mom, and my ex-GF think I'm a dumbass (yes, I know that's an open door, Debk
). Gave Odie a good deal at the time, and he loves this truck. I've been trying to get him to sell it for the last 3 months to no avail... Bastard!
So last week I found the bestie below - 5 hours away in SE IA. High miles (181K), somewhat rough in a few spots, but very cheap and perfectly appointed. Well, except that it's not white... Silver was my 3rd choice, behind White and the very rare Charcoal gray. Ex's (yes, we're great friends) first question was "is it white?"
It has a 3" Toytec lift and 285's already installed. So Odie and I left this morning for a roadtip to take a look. It needs a MAJOR cleaning, a minor tune and a couple of odd things taken care of (rear hatch switch has a short, brake booster bad, alignment, electric lumbar not working... and the normal BKG "new acquisition" once-over).
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The thing is pretty tight for it's age and mileage. Pulled about 19mpg on the way home, which is damn respectable considering the lift and tires. It may sounds stupid, but it's homey... feels good to be back in a 4Runner. And now Odie doesn't have to worry about peer pressure anymore.
Next steps... clean, fix brakes, figure out latch issue, alignment, fix lumbar switch, start sourcing a leather seat cover for the driver's side, replace power antenna mast with a whip, and setup an appointment with my cousin's body shop for some scratch repair and good buffing... And determine if the crease in the lower front valance is fixable, or if I should just order an ARB ... Then I have to decide if I'm going to throw some $$ at this for headers, Level-10 or IPT tranny and exhaust... The answer is likely "not with this mileage" ... Fortunately, I have an entire 63K mile spare drivetrain. :
My ex-gf may be buying the IS... She's always loved the car, and it would suit her better than the ES300 her parent's are thinking of selling. Then again, I may just clean this up and flip it... and pocket the $2K.
