Preparing for a drive and fly in a 2008 4Runner

Yes, that's right.  A drive and fly.  Our oldest daughter has a 300k mile Honda Pilot that has seen better days.  Given that she lives in Ohio and wants an SUV, I thought it would be better to buy it here in Colorado and deliver it.  The chances of finding a decent older, non-rusty Toyota or Honda in Ohio seem pretty slim.  OTOH, we would pay for the popularity of such a vehicle out here.

As it turns out, I found a very clean, relatively low mileage Toyota 4Runner on a dealer lot in Pueblo with 180k miles.  The photos looked good, it had a clean Carfax, and it drove great.  So I bought it last Monday and brought it home to clean up.  It definitely needs a new driver side mirror, but I'm astounded at the condition.  Here are some photos.

I went over it this weekend after having a shop check it over.  The only thing they found was dirty power steering fluid.  I had them replace that and do a spill and fill on the auto trans.  Today I checked the diffs and transfer case, and the fluid there is brand new.

The only other things to do are largely cosmetic.  I'm not a big fan of fake chrome, so I'm pulling the chrome trim and painting it satin black.  Also, a pin stripe was removed sometime before purchase, taking with it a strip of clear coat.  This needs to be touched up, and I'm thinking I'll cover that with a similarly sized pin stripe in a slightly darker gold.  There are also a few rock chips in the paint and windshield, this being a lifetime Colorado vehicle.

Compared to the FJ I bought several years ago of similar mileage, this thing is really nice.  Absolutely no rusted fasteners and very few dings.

I'm planning on driving it to Ohio in two 9 hour drives.  Assuming it survives, I'll visit for a couple of days and fly back.  What could possibly go wrong?

The back hatch area is really clean - no deep scratches or odd stains.  Congratulations 

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

The front is in similar shape.

One interesting thing from the shop inspection.  They claim the struts/shocks are original.  They are Bilsteins, so I guess that's possible.  But no leaks and very little bounce.  I'd guess they'll need replacement in a next few years.

Looks like a quality purchase

Bilsteins and a rear e-locker were standard on the trail edition, but nothing would stop somebody from throwing the Bilsteins on a different trim level.



 

I wonder if the previous owner swapped to Bilsteins?  This is just an SR5, so no locker.

Today's project was replacing the drivers side mirror.  The original one worked, but flopped around from being bent forwards.  It took less time than heating up a frozen pizza.

In reply to JoeTR6 :

I bought a new Tacoma SR5 in 2005. If I recall correctly, there were five or six different SR5 packages, so yours may have included the Bilsteins. 

I hate fake chrome, especially with gold paint.  I had some good satin black trim paint left over from the TR6 and decided to try something.

The trim above the license plate is no longer shiny.  That's an improvement in my book.

To make the front grill match, I'm going with a TRD pro replica grill.  The original one could be painted, but I've seen the chrome peeling off of the stock ones even in Colorado.

The original grill felt sort of loose.  It turns out the bottom 4 stanchions that the metal grill reinforcement screws to were completely broken off.  That, and the fake chrome that I dislike is starting to peel off.  So a replacement was ordered.

I think black matches the gold paint better, too.

Another job checked off was repairing the clear coat that came off with an old pinstripe.  Someone attempted to remove it earlier but the stripe was baked into the paint.  Doing the best I could and not wanting to respray the whole truck, I ordered a bottle of touch-up paint, masked the stripe area off, and gave it two good coats.  That was wet sanded and buffed down to fairly smooth, then new satin black pinstripe applied to cover the not-quite-matching touch-up paint.  It turned out presentable.

The Pilot this is replacing may be terminal, so I'll be starting the drive to Dayton next Friday.

I finished what I wanted to do before leaving on the 4Runner.  First, because I'll be driving for 9 hours two days in a row, something needed to be done about the plasticky steering wheel.  A stitched on leather cover will do the trick.

The second thing is just because they came with the new grill.  Raptor lights.

I sort of want to keep this thing now.

I would 100% drive that. 

I pulled a spark plug to check its condition.  From the effort it took to loosen it up, I wasn't expecting a fresh one.  This one probably has seen 60k miles at least.

I had a set of Bosch Platinum waiting for the FJ, so those got put into the 4Runner.  It seems to run smoother now.

My brother pointed out today that these have grease fittings on the driveshaft and they need a few pumps every 60k miles.  May as well do that before I leave.  I also need to get a road kit together for this.  I usually travel with a tire pump, plug kit, and at least a few hand tools and critical wrenches and sockets.

The 4Runner has been delivered.  It made the 1200 mile trip without a hitch, unlike my butt.  9 hours is a lot of driving two days in a row.  I even managed to get almost 22 mpg from Colorado to Ohio (a good bit was downhill).  Buying a used car is always a risk, but this one worked out well.

I don't know how fast you were going but that's significantly better than my wife's 2021 4Runner gets going between 70-75.

In reply to AxeHealey :

I was doing ~80 through Kansas and 75 after that.  Cruise control came in handy everywhere but going around Indy. Maybe the fresh spark plugs and bottle of Lucas deep clean injector cleaner helped.  It's running really good.  I'm now a Toyota truck fan.

Highlight of my trip to the PNW this week. 

The OG 4Runner.