JeremyT101
Adventurer
Hey guys/girls!
My girlfriend and I have been planning our first overland trip, a 12,000km route across Canada and back for the end of this summer. During that time I'm going to sell my current car (03 ford focus) and I'm looking to buy a capable SUV which can handle the back and gravel roads, as well as some mountain passes and hopefully many future trips. I have long been a fan of Jeeps, and was actually looking into buying a Cherokee (XJ) before stumbling onto this site, where it seems that everyone has a Toyota of some kind. After doing some research and perhaps too many perilously suspicious parking lot walk around of cars, I settled on the 4runner and the XJ as the main contenders.
I'm going to be honest, my budget for this truck is pretty low. Something like 5-6000$ Canadian dollars. I got my current 03 focus 2 years ago for 4700, put 35k on it, and haven't had a single issue so I think cheap cars, if done right, can be fine.
My main questions pertain to, what should I be looking for in a toyota truck of this age? I don't know much about them like I do the Jeeps, and as they arn't a solid axel, what are the main suspension bits to get under the truck and look at/judge when one is buying one. Are there any sort of year specific gremlins I should check out and stay away from?
Overall I guess I should ask, is the 4Runner the best choice for the price range? It has 4x4, and the rear E-locker which is a plus, and I don't see many taco's in this price range.
Sorry for the super open ended questions, still very new here!
Thanks alot!
My girlfriend and I have been planning our first overland trip, a 12,000km route across Canada and back for the end of this summer. During that time I'm going to sell my current car (03 ford focus) and I'm looking to buy a capable SUV which can handle the back and gravel roads, as well as some mountain passes and hopefully many future trips. I have long been a fan of Jeeps, and was actually looking into buying a Cherokee (XJ) before stumbling onto this site, where it seems that everyone has a Toyota of some kind. After doing some research and perhaps too many perilously suspicious parking lot walk around of cars, I settled on the 4runner and the XJ as the main contenders.
I'm going to be honest, my budget for this truck is pretty low. Something like 5-6000$ Canadian dollars. I got my current 03 focus 2 years ago for 4700, put 35k on it, and haven't had a single issue so I think cheap cars, if done right, can be fine.
My main questions pertain to, what should I be looking for in a toyota truck of this age? I don't know much about them like I do the Jeeps, and as they arn't a solid axel, what are the main suspension bits to get under the truck and look at/judge when one is buying one. Are there any sort of year specific gremlins I should check out and stay away from?
Overall I guess I should ask, is the 4Runner the best choice for the price range? It has 4x4, and the rear E-locker which is a plus, and I don't see many taco's in this price range.
Sorry for the super open ended questions, still very new here!
Thanks alot!