I keep thinking the same thing, but I sure like the 4 banger mileage on the tacos, and it looks like 4runners went to 6 in the early 90's (?) which would mean getting a pretty old one.
From a 100 to a 3rd Gen 4Runner or 1st Taco?
- Thread starter btbowie
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Highway mileage ain't bad in 3rd gen v6. I just got 23mpg in my built 4runner on the highway last weekend (somehow, don't ask me). City mpg you probably looking at 17 or so stock form.
I think the sweet spot 4Runner is a 4th gen 4x4 V6. Great mileage, has 2wd option, and all around great car. I wouldn't mess with second gens. People will disagree, but engine is way under powered Compared to modern cars and some reliability issues (more than later years).
You can get a 4 cylinder in a 3rd gen, but prob not common in a 4x4 manual.
I think the sweet spot 4Runner is a 4th gen 4x4 V6. Great mileage, has 2wd option, and all around great car. I wouldn't mess with second gens. People will disagree, but engine is way under powered Compared to modern cars and some reliability issues (more than later years).
You can get a 4 cylinder in a 3rd gen, but prob not common in a 4x4 manual.
4th gen is 2003 to 2009 I believe. Never tried to sleep in the one I had, but I bet it's very doable if you remove second row seats (front seats move forward).
Long time lurker here, not much of a poster and came from a 2nd gen taco to 4th gen 4Runner to 3rd gen 4Runner. I have a 99' SC'd 4Runner and live in VA beach if you'd like to take a ride one day.
The following is the life story of both my 1997 4runner and my 2002 tacoma. Will this even answer any of your questions- who knows?
Back in 2007 I was looking for a 4WD Toyota to pull our 16' boat a few miles back and forth to drop it in the water. I looked at Tacomas but really wasn't into the price tag they carried. Then I discovered the 3rd gen 4Runners, which I had never even noticed on the road or even looked twice at. I can usually go a few weeks without seeing another one for some reason?
So I settled on an immaculate 97 SR5 V6 4X4 4Runner with 116K with all the maintenance done back in 2007. It was seriously the best working/driving mid size truck I had ever driven (I have driven damn near everything on the road working at an insanely busy shop). This was a superior automobile. A full dash of esoteric dials and indicators that I would never understand. A rear window that leapt up with a touch of a button like leapfrogs in a dynamite pond! I would consistently get 19-21 MPG combined driving and around 22-24 all highway.
Within a year or so, I discovered wheeling.... Soon came some lift, some bigger tires, sliders, locker, bumpers, winch, put a rear tank behind the axle after the stock one took too much abuse, some dual cases, tundra brakes, etc... I have taken the 4runner on some long trips to camp and wheel, sometimes even towing a pop up. It's been to badlands more times than I can recall. Next week will be It's 8th trip to missouri to wheel/camp/party (almost 1000 miles round trip). It's been to Washita when the park was open, Flat nasty, Redbird, Rocks and Valleys, etc...
I can sleep in the 4runner, but prefer not to. I am 6'1 and can fit comfortably with the seat bottoms removed, but the worst part is the transition of the seat back where it meets the floor. I can feel it even under a sleeping pad.
The 4Runner just turned 170K and I can honestly say that anything that has gone wrong with it has been my own fault.
During all of the 4Runner enjoyment, in 2011 I bought a 2002 Tacoma 4X4 Extra cab TRD V6 4X4 5speed with 200K. It was a trade in at the dealership I was working for at the time. I Jewed the owner down to 5K.
I replaced shocks, struts, timing belt, plugs, wires, tires, a little lift. That was about it. That became my daily driver while the 4Runner usually sat for a few months at a time in between wheeling trips. I loved the Tacoma and never once had a doubt in its reliability. Within the first two weeks of owning the truck we took it for about an 800 mile round trip on our honeymoon. It wasn't as comfortable as the 4runner, and the lack of interior space was a downside too. But there was something about the truck that I could look past all of that. I bought a used fiberglass tonneau cover for the truck, and that solved the lack of interior room problem. In the snow, it was as sure footed as a mountain goat! I performed the famous "grey wire mod" <--The creativity of whoever came up with that name? WTF? I could now engage the rear locker at my leisure for my pure driving pleasure.
Then back in 2014 In some -0 weather, I spun the Tacoma around on the highway on I80 over the Des Plaines river doing about 70mph. I had not been dicking around with said locker button in case you are wondering. Probably the scariest thing I've done. Tagged the wall with the r/f, and proceeded to continue spinning until catching dry pavement and went full speed reverse into the wall. I didn't get out for fear of getting hit by another person. The truck fired right back up and I limped off the highway. Bumpers smashed, r/f tire sliced open, frame bent, the truck had flexed so much that the bed hit the cab on the left side and then flexed back. I put a tire on the truck at work and continued to drive it and filed an insurance claim. The insurance adjuster first says "it's totaled". I professed my love for the truck and all the work I had done to it. He then tells me he will get the damage as high as he could without totaling it out. A half hour later he offered me a check for $7400 without being a total loss! Score!
I had the frame straightened, replaced the bumpers, new headlight lenses for the hell of it, and repaired the cab where the bed had contacted it. Came in at $900 A trip to vegas was in order!
Maybe it was the Tacoma and I's near death experience? But somehow our relationship had been rekindled! Skies seemed bluer, grass seemed greener (and more potent)! The truck was in even better shape than before the accident. New bumpers without chrome peeling off, new bright headlight lenses! It was getting close to showroom condition again and I enjoyed driving it more than ever.
Then- Spring of 2015 brought much disappointment after realizing there was some frame rot coming through in a few spots. I was still within the 15 years of recall time, so I called and talked to a case manager at Toyota.
Dumb bitch from Toyota will be simply DB in the transcript. I will be ME
ME- my Tacoma's frame is rotting, I hear there is a recall still open on this
DB- your truck never came in for the frame inspection recall
Me- I never received a letter
DB- we stopped sending them out in x/2012
Me- I bought my truck in 7/2011 and never received a letter
DB- well the previous owner never brought the truck in
Me- I had the truck for a year before you stopped sending letters, never received one and was unaware of this
DB- well the previous owner never brought the truck in
That's the gist of it. We went in circles like this for a few minutes and I ended the conversation because it was going nowhere. I honestly think it was her job to make the problem go away whether it meant being full or s*** or not. I even had the ball joint recall done before the frame recall had expired. The dealership had not mentioned the frame recall while performing the ball joint recall. Sounds kind of fxxxed up now that I think back on it.
So the frame was rotting from the inside out and I felt the need to get rid of the truck unfortunately. I sent it to auction with 225K on the odometer and announced frame damage. It brought 5K which I guess was an ok price. Had there not been frame rot, I think the truck could have gotten 8K easily considering the accident never showed up on a carfax or autocheck - so those are pretty reliable huh?
A few months later, my truck was on craigslist at a dealer in chicago with 120K on the odometer. He had it listed for 10K and said it had a solid frame when asked over the phone. I feel bad for whoever bought that. The auction odometer reading of 225K does show up on carfax though.
So I still have the 4runner. We're leaving tomorrow to go to missouri with it for 9 days of wheeling and camping. I really kick myself in the ass for selling the Tacoma because it still had a few good years with the frame. Maybe I should have kicked my argument up a notch with Toyota?
It really does suck that the Tacomas are that great of a truck- and my frame looked perfect when I bought the truck, but slowly rotted from the inside out. I don't know if I'll ever be able to have another Tacoma of that era.
My advice- get both
Back in 2007 I was looking for a 4WD Toyota to pull our 16' boat a few miles back and forth to drop it in the water. I looked at Tacomas but really wasn't into the price tag they carried. Then I discovered the 3rd gen 4Runners, which I had never even noticed on the road or even looked twice at. I can usually go a few weeks without seeing another one for some reason?
So I settled on an immaculate 97 SR5 V6 4X4 4Runner with 116K with all the maintenance done back in 2007. It was seriously the best working/driving mid size truck I had ever driven (I have driven damn near everything on the road working at an insanely busy shop). This was a superior automobile. A full dash of esoteric dials and indicators that I would never understand. A rear window that leapt up with a touch of a button like leapfrogs in a dynamite pond! I would consistently get 19-21 MPG combined driving and around 22-24 all highway.
Within a year or so, I discovered wheeling.... Soon came some lift, some bigger tires, sliders, locker, bumpers, winch, put a rear tank behind the axle after the stock one took too much abuse, some dual cases, tundra brakes, etc... I have taken the 4runner on some long trips to camp and wheel, sometimes even towing a pop up. It's been to badlands more times than I can recall. Next week will be It's 8th trip to missouri to wheel/camp/party (almost 1000 miles round trip). It's been to Washita when the park was open, Flat nasty, Redbird, Rocks and Valleys, etc...
I can sleep in the 4runner, but prefer not to. I am 6'1 and can fit comfortably with the seat bottoms removed, but the worst part is the transition of the seat back where it meets the floor. I can feel it even under a sleeping pad.
The 4Runner just turned 170K and I can honestly say that anything that has gone wrong with it has been my own fault.
During all of the 4Runner enjoyment, in 2011 I bought a 2002 Tacoma 4X4 Extra cab TRD V6 4X4 5speed with 200K. It was a trade in at the dealership I was working for at the time. I Jewed the owner down to 5K.
I replaced shocks, struts, timing belt, plugs, wires, tires, a little lift. That was about it. That became my daily driver while the 4Runner usually sat for a few months at a time in between wheeling trips. I loved the Tacoma and never once had a doubt in its reliability. Within the first two weeks of owning the truck we took it for about an 800 mile round trip on our honeymoon. It wasn't as comfortable as the 4runner, and the lack of interior space was a downside too. But there was something about the truck that I could look past all of that. I bought a used fiberglass tonneau cover for the truck, and that solved the lack of interior room problem. In the snow, it was as sure footed as a mountain goat! I performed the famous "grey wire mod" <--The creativity of whoever came up with that name? WTF? I could now engage the rear locker at my leisure for my pure driving pleasure.
Then back in 2014 In some -0 weather, I spun the Tacoma around on the highway on I80 over the Des Plaines river doing about 70mph. I had not been dicking around with said locker button in case you are wondering. Probably the scariest thing I've done. Tagged the wall with the r/f, and proceeded to continue spinning until catching dry pavement and went full speed reverse into the wall. I didn't get out for fear of getting hit by another person. The truck fired right back up and I limped off the highway. Bumpers smashed, r/f tire sliced open, frame bent, the truck had flexed so much that the bed hit the cab on the left side and then flexed back. I put a tire on the truck at work and continued to drive it and filed an insurance claim. The insurance adjuster first says "it's totaled". I professed my love for the truck and all the work I had done to it. He then tells me he will get the damage as high as he could without totaling it out. A half hour later he offered me a check for $7400 without being a total loss! Score!
I had the frame straightened, replaced the bumpers, new headlight lenses for the hell of it, and repaired the cab where the bed had contacted it. Came in at $900 A trip to vegas was in order!
Maybe it was the Tacoma and I's near death experience? But somehow our relationship had been rekindled! Skies seemed bluer, grass seemed greener (and more potent)! The truck was in even better shape than before the accident. New bumpers without chrome peeling off, new bright headlight lenses! It was getting close to showroom condition again and I enjoyed driving it more than ever.
Then- Spring of 2015 brought much disappointment after realizing there was some frame rot coming through in a few spots. I was still within the 15 years of recall time, so I called and talked to a case manager at Toyota.
Dumb bitch from Toyota will be simply DB in the transcript. I will be ME
ME- my Tacoma's frame is rotting, I hear there is a recall still open on this
DB- your truck never came in for the frame inspection recall
Me- I never received a letter
DB- we stopped sending them out in x/2012
Me- I bought my truck in 7/2011 and never received a letter
DB- well the previous owner never brought the truck in
Me- I had the truck for a year before you stopped sending letters, never received one and was unaware of this
DB- well the previous owner never brought the truck in
That's the gist of it. We went in circles like this for a few minutes and I ended the conversation because it was going nowhere. I honestly think it was her job to make the problem go away whether it meant being full or s*** or not. I even had the ball joint recall done before the frame recall had expired. The dealership had not mentioned the frame recall while performing the ball joint recall. Sounds kind of fxxxed up now that I think back on it.
So the frame was rotting from the inside out and I felt the need to get rid of the truck unfortunately. I sent it to auction with 225K on the odometer and announced frame damage. It brought 5K which I guess was an ok price. Had there not been frame rot, I think the truck could have gotten 8K easily considering the accident never showed up on a carfax or autocheck - so those are pretty reliable huh?
A few months later, my truck was on craigslist at a dealer in chicago with 120K on the odometer. He had it listed for 10K and said it had a solid frame when asked over the phone. I feel bad for whoever bought that. The auction odometer reading of 225K does show up on carfax though.
So I still have the 4runner. We're leaving tomorrow to go to missouri with it for 9 days of wheeling and camping. I really kick myself in the ass for selling the Tacoma because it still had a few good years with the frame. Maybe I should have kicked my argument up a notch with Toyota?
It really does suck that the Tacomas are that great of a truck- and my frame looked perfect when I bought the truck, but slowly rotted from the inside out. I don't know if I'll ever be able to have another Tacoma of that era.
My advice- get both
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I traded my 2001 4Runner LTD a few months back for a 2013 200 series LC. I need a suv that can tow 5000lb, the runner was not remotely up to the task. MY 4Runner was the best, most reliable vehicle I haver EVER owned. I actually miss it. Better MPG and ride compared to my fancy 75K Land Cruiser....So it goes, aside from the 80 series, I believe the 3rd Gen 4Runner is the best product that Toyota has EVER produced. I also own a 2000 Tacoma TRD Ex-Cab that has been absolutely bullit proof and is heavily modded for expo/offroading. Would love to really get back to basics and acquire a 40 series but my 60 series is pretty bitchin and overall, my favorite rig to cruise, enjoy the scenery and smell the roses.
