I am going to look at a 4runner tomorrow. It is a 2003 4WD V8 cloth seats 160,000 miles, 2nd owner with "some" service records. It does not look like there is any damage and it looks pretty clean but nothing out of the ordinary. Owner does not seem to mind hiving my Toyota mechanic give it a pre purchase inspection. They are asking $7900. My plan s to go look it over. If it looks good i will see if my mechanic can do a inspection on it. I kind of wanted a 05 with V6 and closer to 100,000 miles. But those look to cost closer to $12,000-14,000.
Price check on 4th gen 4Runner
- Thread starter rc51kid
- Start date
surlydiesel
Adventurer
There is a thread not far from the front page here about the longevity of the V8 in these trucks. They are really great trouble free motors, close to the same MPG you would get with a V6 and tons of passing, mountain climbing power. That said, in 160,000 miles, if someone ignored your trans fluid or the diffs, you could have some nasty fluids floating around. Take it to the dealer and let them give you a list of what's wrong, they try to make money on service and will even tell you if the wipers need replacing. Make Sure LOW RANGE WORKS!!!!, can be an expensive repair if the actuator has failed from lack of use or water penetration. If it passes with flying colors, drives smooth, has good tires, shocks, seals, brakes, ect, I'd offer 7000.00 personally. If it needs tires or brakes or something big, look up trade in value and work up from there if it needs items fixed/replaced.
After reading about quite a few, not many but a few V6's with blown head gaskets, I'm a little weary of the V6's. There are soooo many on the road that are trouble free that it seems silly on my part but that V8 is a great motor and I have a small trailer that it would pull great.
Best of luck in your search/purchase, there are a lot of these trucks around. Don't get hung up on one, you might just have to travel a little further to find your "perfect" truck.
-jorge
After reading about quite a few, not many but a few V6's with blown head gaskets, I'm a little weary of the V6's. There are soooo many on the road that are trouble free that it seems silly on my part but that V8 is a great motor and I have a small trailer that it would pull great.
Best of luck in your search/purchase, there are a lot of these trucks around. Don't get hung up on one, you might just have to travel a little further to find your "perfect" truck.
-jorge
We just picked up an 03 V8 4 runner with 97000 miles and it drives beautifully.
Things that were important to us were; service records, timing belts and water pump replaced and no accidents. The only real downside to the V8 that we found was it's all-wheel drive where the v6 has the part time tcase.
Good luck with your search. I'm not normally a Toyota guy but I'm really starting to dig the 4runner
Things that were important to us were; service records, timing belts and water pump replaced and no accidents. The only real downside to the V8 that we found was it's all-wheel drive where the v6 has the part time tcase.
Good luck with your search. I'm not normally a Toyota guy but I'm really starting to dig the 4runner
4runnerteq
Explorer
Doesnt sound too bad. We have an 04 with the v8. Love it. V6 is still a good engine but that 4.7 is near bullet proof. Do make sure it goes into low range though for sure,costly fix. V8 is a real sleeper if you wanna have a little fun as well. Driving up to kansas a few weeks ago I had a little bmw drop the hammer next to me running 80mph. I pulled right in behind him, he tried to get away 5 or 6 times taking us to 100mph once (stupid yes) but he finally backed off and waved me on around. I had to laugh just a little. And yeah, only about 1 mpg difference from 6 to 8.
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
Not from what I've seen over on the 4runner boards (T4r.org.) I see a LOT of folks with V8's complaining about their poor MPG. To be fair, there are also folks with V6's complaining about mileage, but if you look at the "how can I improve my MPG?" threads, most of them are from V8 owners.
I've also noticed that people on that board with V8s showing good MPG often have 2wd 4runners, which seems to confirm my opinion that it's not the engine that causes the low MPG, it's all the drag caused by the full time 4wd.
Of course, I've also noticed that its the guys running the lifts, the big tires and the heavy armor that are complaining about 12 - 13 MPG, too. Part of that is failing to compensate for larger tires (the bigger tires show less indicated mileage just because the wheels aren't turning as many times) and part of it is the additional wind resistance and the weight they are packing.
And finally, people who deliberately seek out a V8 are more likely to be people who like to drive fast and accelerate quickly away from a stop - both of those are things that will kill your MPG in a hurry.
I've seen as high as 23mpg under ideal conditions (flat roads, moderate speeds, no 4wd usage) and that's hand calculated, not based on the "computer" on the dash (which always reads high.) Even pulling a 1,000lb trailer I've gotten in the 18-19 range and that's going over mountain passes.
I'm not saying the V8 isn't a great engine or that a V8 4runner isn't a great vehicle, just saying that if MPG is important to you (not only because of the expense, but also because of how it affects your range between fuel stops) you might want to take that into consideration when comparing the V6 vs V8.
java
Expedition Leader
Martin, you have the 05+ with the 5sp though. My V6 with the 4 sp gets poopy mileage. At times i wish i had the V8 (towing mostly) because i dont think the mileage would be much different. I have had no real problems with mine other than regular maintenance.
Im usually around 16 with mixed driving and traffic. But I did just weigh my truck, and its HEAVY.
7900 doesn't sound bad to me at all.
Im usually around 16 with mixed driving and traffic. But I did just weigh my truck, and its HEAVY.
7900 doesn't sound bad to me at all.
I have the V8. With a mild lift and stock-sized A/T tires, I get about 15mpg overall. Actually, I'm not entirely certain, I'm afraid to calculate it for fear my environmental conscience will get the best of me. 
The on-board trip computer converges on about 17.x if I drive it long enough without resetting it and I figure it's about 2mpg optimistic, as most on-board computers are. It's a thirsty truck, even cruising on the highway. I wish it had a bigger gas tank.
The only practical reason to get the V8 over the V6 is the higher towing capacity (7,000lbs vs. 5,000lbs). That's the main reason I went for it. Otherwise it's essentially an emotional decision. The V8 makes a nice, muted rumble and it's extremely smooth and refined but keep in mind it doesn't make the truck any faster. The V8 models weigh about 200lbs more than the V6 and they don't have a horsepower advantage, at least not the '03-'04 models.
Unless you need to tow, it's probably better to focus on finding a clean example with a documented service history rather than the engine choice.
The on-board trip computer converges on about 17.x if I drive it long enough without resetting it and I figure it's about 2mpg optimistic, as most on-board computers are. It's a thirsty truck, even cruising on the highway. I wish it had a bigger gas tank.The only practical reason to get the V8 over the V6 is the higher towing capacity (7,000lbs vs. 5,000lbs). That's the main reason I went for it. Otherwise it's essentially an emotional decision. The V8 makes a nice, muted rumble and it's extremely smooth and refined but keep in mind it doesn't make the truck any faster. The V8 models weigh about 200lbs more than the V6 and they don't have a horsepower advantage, at least not the '03-'04 models.
Unless you need to tow, it's probably better to focus on finding a clean example with a documented service history rather than the engine choice.