AC Capehart/Buy my truck?

Created Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:59:54 +0000 Modified Thu, 14 Oct 2021 14:31:47 +0000
922 Words

I sent an email to peeps at work about my truck. We were considering donating it, but that doesn’t look all that easy either (or when it is, the charity only gets a percentage of the take) so I thought I’d offer it around.

Here’s what’s on offer:

1994 Toyota 4-Runner SRV 6-cylinder, 5 speed manual transmission with in-console 4-wheel drive (You don’t have to get out of the car to put it in 4-wheel drive.) It has anti-lock rear brakes, power steering, power windows and a moon roof. Heat and A/C both work fine.

I’ve put a bunch of photos up here: http://gallery.accapehart.com/v/Misc/4Runner/

The good:

  • I’m the second owner, and up until I moved to CA, it was always dealer serviced. I put about 160 of the just over 200 thousand miles on it myself.
  • I bought and installed a 7-year battery in Aug of 2008 – should be good for a while.
  • The timing belt was just replaced in Aug of 2009 at 201K miles
  • It’s a fun ride. It sits high so you get a good view / situational awareness. It’s got all the clearance you could want, and then some. Between that and 4wd, there’s no where I’d hesitate to take this thing.
  • Since I moved to CA, it’s been smog tested twice, the only thing we had to do was replace the gas cap which we did.
  • It drinks regular unleaded, none of that fancy premium stuff.
  • Comes with a nice Thule rack with 2 bike attachments and extra keys/locks in case you get other Thule attachments.

The meh:

  • I bought some good tires for it, but that was a while ago now. They probably still have a quarter to a third of their life left on ’em – a couple more years at least.
  • The radio works well enough, but the antenna no longer extends. You can hear the motor go when you first turn on the radio (or start the car) but it won’t actually raise the antenna.
  • One of the pedals (clutch?) lost it’s rubber foot. One of those things I meant to replace, but just never got to.
  • The steering wheel is starting to get a little sticky/flaky. I’d probably wrap it in something if I intended to get a few more years out of it.
  • I think the paper in one/some of the speakers is likely torn. It doesn’t sound good when you crank the tunes up, but is fine for normal volume listening.
  • The rear window no longer raises/lowers from the switch in the console. You have to actually use the key in the rear door to affect it.
  • It sits up high and the steering feels a little loose, so it can be a bit of a discomforting ride at first.
  • It is 16 years old with 200K miles on it. No spring chicken anymore.
  • No airbags.
  • It drinks (or more properly leaks) oil. It’s not too bad, but it will stain your driveway and you do need to keep an eye on the oil levels. The fix for this is (at least) a top-end rebuild, and the engine has been otherwise so reliable, that we’ve not bothered yet.

The bad:

  • It was involved in a “fender bender” on 80 a couple months back. My wife was on her way to pick me up at the airport, was changing lanes when then lane she was in came to a sudden stop. The front left bumper was crumpled. We got a couple estimates on getting it repaired from proper body shops, and they came in around $3,000 (replacement parts, labor, paint, etc.) — or about the value of the pre-accident car. I found the services of a roving body shop who offered to straighten everything out for about $300 cash. I imagine you’d still need to put in the left turn signal unit which I no longer have (was thrown away in a fit of miscommunication.).
  • To be clear about that, there is currently no left-front turn signal.
  • The crack in the windshield came after the accident which, in combination with a new creak on some turns or other loading of the shock absorbers leads me to think there might be something a little more than cosmetic damage from the accident. The crack hasn’t spread in the past month or so though, so it’s probably safe to repair/replace now.
  • The moonroof is all spider-web-y with cracks. They were all from before the accident. No idea what started it in the beginning. So there you go. I’m happy to provide the VIN to genuinely interested parties in case you want to run a carfax on it or whatever, but clearly, I’m not overselling the vehicle.

I think it was worth in the mid $3000s before the accident based on KBB values. Like I said, full repair costs on it were about the same size. I was thinking $750 or so would be a fair price now.