a Cruiser fan moves to Germany (GX470 and 4Runner content)

[Bushmaster6]

Short history:

Posting this thread from my new assignment in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

I've been fortunate to have two tours of duty in Colorado in the last 7 years. During my first tour I bought my (beloved) 93 FZJ-80 and made some good use of it exploring the Colorado passes and doing some family camping. Locked, lifted, ARB, proactive maintenance (by me), and running strong at 267,000+ miles, but has a punch list of things that need attention and I simply ran out of time before my move. This truck will be for sale shortly (available first week of May) as my wife/kids will be following to Germany then and she DD's it now.

 

[Bushmaster6]

enter the GX

In November of last year I was involved in a high speed collision on I-25. Girl adjacent to me lost control of her car and cut me off.. t-boned her at about 65 mph. Happened to be driving my wife's Avant that day:

other car was rolled completely onto its roof.... let's just say she was VERY lucky I wasn't driving my 80 that days as I suspect the ARB would have gone right into the passenger compartment.. everyone walked away, I had minor burns from airbag deployment, that's it.. lucky for all involved..

we began a laborious process to identify a replacement vehicle for my wife and after narrowing the field, eventually chose a GX470, and then began a (stressful) search for the "right" one.. we ended up finding a superbly maintained 2005 (the guy that owned it before me is actually the engineer behind VAIS tech Ipod integration kits for Lexus/Toyota... interesting cat).. not exactly the color combo we wanted but, couldn't beat the price and the condition.. 109k with full service history, original owner and well optioned (no KDSS, we just couldn't afford to wait any longer to find one, would've been nicer on the autobahns)..

we bought the GX about four weeks before we had to put it on a boat to Germany, during which we only drove it enough to earn it's first Colorado-cracked windshield (d'oh!). I've cracked 5 windshields in CO. Drove to Dallas (closest "port" to Colorado) and turned her over to the shippers.

Hoping she arrives in the next week or so.

 

[Bushmaster6]

two weeks ago I arrived here and started a vehicle search.. there's a constant running market of vehicles among arriving/departing service members.. after a frustrating search (I was leaning toward another Audi or BMW wagon but they proved, ironically, hard to find) I came across this:

2001 SR5 4x4 with 165k miles in pretty clean shape minus a fender bender in the rear (see lower tailgate and the DS bumper):

I've always liked the look of 3d Gen 4Runners, and it feels very comfortable/familiar after 5 years in an '80 (very similar feel, just about 80% of the size)

So, I'm starting my research to start learning the particulars on the T4R, figuring early priorities will be to baseline all the fluids, assess any safety/immediate needs (CEL popped on for me on the way home from buying it.. d'oh d'oh), and then figure out if I can improve the cosmetics.... I'll be investigating some overland-style travel here in Europe but, suspect this truck will mostly see road duty/commuter status.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Nice 3rd gen! Will it pass inspection with that damage?

Did you buy it from a local national? It appears to have German license plates as opposed to US Forces license plates. Or does everybody get German plates now (I haven't been to Germany since 2004 when I was on my way to Kuwait and I haven't been stationed in Germany since before the Wall came down!)

 

[Bushmaster6]

it did pass inspection (had to prior to the transfer of registration)... some years ago they went through several evolutions of the plates and eventually settled on using the local plates (presumably as a force protection issue: not so easily identifiable), but the US-spec vehicles obviously don't fit EU plates so, they tend to stand out anyway
I am, for the record, wondering if I can get my hands (or my wife's hands) on a replacement bumper before the movers come and take our household goods for shipping. Figure it's going to be very unlikely to find a suitable replacement here, and shipping it after the gov't moves us will be cost prohibitive. I've been scanning the Denver/COS CL ads pretty regularly.

 

[Bushmaster6]

Been searching online and having trouble finding a Chilton/Haynes manual that goes up to the 2001/2 model year in the T4R..? I've found some dead links to FSM and others, but nothing that goes beyond '99 for T4R. I have found FSM but, not sure that I want to drop $250 for basic maintenance stuff. Any leads?

 

[Samson360]

That 4runner is very similar mechanically to my old 1998 mk4 Hilux