Need Purchase Guidance

Hello all,

I do not know much about cars and I am not a 4runner owner (yet), so I hope you can excuse my ignorance. Anyways, my wife and I currently only have 1 vehicle between the both of us (Nissan Altima) and a growing family, so we need to get another car pronto. This car needs to be an SUV that has 4x4 drive and towing capability.

All the research I have done up to now has been pointing to the 4runner being the most reliable SUV on the market. I have noticed that even the older, higher-mileage 4Runners tend to be around double the price than say a Tahoe of the same condition, which shows that they hold their value!

I have 12K to spend on a vehicle at the moment which lands me at something like a gen 3 4Runner at around 180K+ miles.

If I purchase an older 4Runner like this, assuming it has been maintained well, how many more miles can I expect to get from it? And, can I rest easy knowing my wife and kids are driving around in it, or should I just save my money for another couple of years and buy something newer?

Thank you!!!

I love toyota and over all I like 4 runners. Never owned one but would. Here's the deal a car with 180k miles could go another 100k+ or 10k it's a crap shoot. Best advice I can give if you find one that looks in good shape take it to a mechanic you trust and have it looked over. If it was taken care of you should be fine but who knows what you'll find. Best of luck in your shopping.

I had a 2015 4Runner (but chose to sell it to help a family member). Fair to say that after tons of research, 500k miles is not out of the question as long as you do reasonable maintenance and it's not rusting out underneath.

"Most reliable" and "longest lasting" --- the 4Runner is top 3 in both categories world wide, among ANY vehicle. (at least the last time I checked)


Harleyguy's advice is good...and you're in Phoenix, so rust shouldn't be an issue. Might see if you can swing to buy a bit more expensive one, less miles and/or years.