Should I throw in the towel on my 2004 Toyota 4Runner?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I wanted to consult with the collective wisdom here at the SDMB…

I have a 2004 Toyota 4Runner with 239,997 miles on it. I bought it new back in Feb 2004. It is now the third car in the family – my son has been driving it during school breaks when he’s home from college. He graduates next week, and I was hoping my son could drive it for a few months at least while he starts his new job and collects a paycheck or two. Once he got a newer vehicle, I was probably going to sell it later this summer.

So I took it into the Toyota dealership service department this morning because I knew there were a few things wrong with it, including the power steering not working, and inoperative rear window, rear window defroster, and rear window windshield wiper. It sounded like it also needed a new muffler.

The vehicle hadn’t been driven in a couple of months, so I had to trickle-charge the battery first. When it started, the battery light stayed on. I didn’t feel like having it towed, so I headed off to the dealership anyway. On the way there, I noticed the temperature gauge rising. Before the gauge got near the top of the range, I pulled over and shut it down to let it cool off. In this manner, I made it the 3 miles to the dealer. No other warning lights came on.

It was grim when they got it up on the lift. Much of the frame underneath the vehicle is rotted out, including one main frame rail that was nearly rotted through. The exhaust was rotted from the catalytic converter to the muffler, with a crack in the exhaust. All four brake rotors were badly corroded. Brake lines were badly corroded. The rear differential body was badly corroded. The alternator was seized up, which broke the belt (which also drives the water pump). All of this was pointed out to me on the lift so I’m not just taking their word for it.

On the plus side, it has 4 good tires, good body (no rust whatsoever), good battery, and a good engine. The whole suspension was also replaced about 3 years ago.

Anyway, they said I was looking at about $2,000-$2,500 to fix just the exhaust and alternator, and many more thousands to fix everything else. None of this would address the rotted frame, though. They kept coming back to the rotted frame rail, telling me that the vehicle was really not safe to drive like this.

According to Edmunds’s TMV, the vehicle is worth between $1,250 (rough condition) to $1,750 (average condition) to as much as $3,000 (clean condition) on a private sale. But of course, it’s not worth anywhere near that in its current condition. The dealer service rep said I might get $300 or so from a junkyard for parts.

So at that point, the mechanic said he would be willing to buy it from me for parts. He offered me $250. And they’re not going to charge me anything today for looking at it. Is this a reasonable offer and course of action for me to take? Thanks!

2

Throw - in - the - towel! Lol

3

My reaction would be that this vehicle is not worth repair at all. It’s been used up. It happens to every car eventually.

The frame is the killer here. That’s a must repair. And probably not worth it at all. Sometimes you just gotta walk away.

4

If the frame rust is as bad you you say then that alone would probably cause me to drop this truck like a hot rock. Considering the other issues you have with it, there’s no financial logic in keeping it running.

As far as accepting the mechanic’s offer to buy it, that depends on your interest in disposing of it yourself. List it on Craigslist for $500 OBO, as is and take the first $300 off through the door. If you have the time, mechanical skills, tools and interest, you could probably dismantle it yourself and get quite a bit more money. If you just want a clean break, take the check and move on. There’s no right or wrong answer here.

5

Thanks. :slight_smile:

It’s not necessarily the mileage, though. Our other two vehicles currently have 90K miles and 60K miles, and both still feel “newish.”

We had another vehicle with 240K miles (a 2003 Subaru Outback) that died in 2015 only because my son got rear-ended by a drunk driver and totaled it.

For my 2004 4Runner, it had virtually nothing go wrong with it until relatively recently.

The biggest factor here in Connecticut seems to be simple age. The roadway treatment they apply for snow and ice in the winter seems to do a job on corroding vehicle underbodies.

6

As a former owner of two 4Runners (1989 and a 1998) with over 240K each, I’d say it’s not worth spending any more money on repairs. Both of my 4Runners were great vehicles, but stuff just started wearing out on a regular basis and I needed a vehicle that I could depend on. The $250 offer for parts seems a little low, but hey, a bird in the hand…

7

Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

You know how the next line ends.

8

Call the junkyards in your area to see what they would pay for the car. Some will give you a quote over the phone. That’ll give you an idea if $250 is a good deal or not.

9

Yeah, maybe it’s best that something big like this cropped up. I have a tendency to hang onto things past the point of what is reasonable and not let them go (as does my wife).

For example, that 2003 Subaru Outback I mentioned had a lot of things go wrong over the course of two years that added up to about $10K in repairs, including a new fuel pump, new fuel tank, and a engine head gasket repair, all because my wife didn’t want to get rid of the car her father bought for her right before he died. When the vehicle got totaled nine months later, we only got about $7,500 for it. :rolleyes:

That’s kind of what I was thinking. The vehicle is not currently driveable, so would have to be towed, which costs money. Or I’d have to spend the money to fix the alternator, which makes no sense for a vehicle being junked. I’d also have to spend the time to sell the vehicle and explain what’s wrong with it. The mechanic, on the other hand, knows exactly what’s wrong with it.

10

Is it normal for a dealership to keep old vehicles for parts? I’d have thought they would insist on using new components.

11

This has nothing to do with the dealership. The mechanic is offering to buy the vehicle for his own personal use.

12

The mechanic has access to a lift and tools. He will probably take it apart in his off time and sell the good parts on Craigslist/eBay. They will probably make a decent amount of money doing it too.

If it were me I would take the money from the mechanic and walk away. The extra $100-250 I would get selling it as a parts car doesn’t make up for having to deal with the craigslist scammers.

13

For what it’s worth, there may be an additional issue other than age and roadway treatments.

According to a Google search, there is one thing that does seem to go wrong with older 4Runners – there are a lot of reported problems with the frame rusting out, but not enough complaints that Toyota or the NHTSA ever did anything about it. :dubious:

14

I’ve got a '99 4Runner with 280,000+ miles on it, but I agree with Jasmine here, and I’ve already decided the next time my current 4Runner needs a major repair, I’ll be looking to sell it instead. Driving on salted roads in Utah during the winter has not been kind to the undercarriage.

15

This was a good idea. Thanks!

I live in a rural area, so there aren’t a lot of junkyards nearby. The one in my town is “closed indefinitely” for some reason. The three I spoke to are all about 20-30 minutes away, so transportation is a factor.

Anyway, the closest one offered $100, and $125 when I asked him if that was the best he could do. The next closest one offered $100, or $200 if I brought it there. The last one didn’t want it.

Incidentally, as I was going through the condition of the car with the junkyards, the first one said, “Let me guess…there’s a lot of rust underneath.” :smack:

Selling it to the mechanic is looking like my best option. I do not particularly want to deal with Craigslist or eBay myself.

Crap, it seems like only yesterday that I was negotiating the $33K I paid the dealership for the car back in 2004. :frowning:

16

If you have space to store the car, one option might be to use it as a parts car yourself. Get another 4Runner that’s compatible and then you’d have a complete set of body parts, interior components, transmission, etc. to swap in as needed. Bonus if it’s the same color, as body parts could be swapped without having to repaint. But I’d only recommend that if you can easily store it and would be able to do the repairs yourself when it comes up.

17

Thanks, I don’t have the space, expertise, or the inclination for this. Also, from I’m reading, many (if not most) other compatible 4Runners of that era are also likely to have frame and undercarriage rust issues.

18

He offered $250? I’d jump on that yesterday, if not sooner.

19

Kind of sidetrack, but not important enough to start a new thread.

I had a 2004 accord with 195k. I smashed up the front end because I’m an idiot. The car only cost me 4k when I got it and repair bill was over 8k. Took it to the junker and they offered me $400, mainly for just the unpopped airbags. I took it. One week later, got a recall notice in the mail about the airbags.

20

I came across this old post from 2014 while doing a search for car batteries. (The OEM battery in my 4Runner ended up lasting 13 years.)

So the vehicle didn’t last 300K miles for me – “only” 240K miles. However, it also got driven a lot less over the last four years and did a lot of sitting in the driveway.

As far as not having a speck of rust on it, this is still true for the body. Not so much for the frame underneath, though. :frowning:

If anybody cares, the part of the frame rail they were so concerned about is right at the weld between frame members. Every bit of the weld that is visible (from top to bottom and left to right) is pretty rusted. In talking to the Toyota mechanic, they had one customer a few years ago in which their vehicle’s frame separated at a rusted weld while driving down the highway. :eek: