To this day, there are probably few automakers that rival Toyota for long life and reliability, or at least a reputation for such. With young children and a budget, I wanted what Toyota was selling: a long lived, reliable family SUV. The legendary 4Runner.
This is a brief COAL, since our time with the 4Runner was too short. About a year, give or take, as you will see. But it was a great vehicle. The body had been in production for several years at this point, but for 2001 there was a new, more pronounced front bumper and grille that gave the vehicle more curb appeal, in my eyes.
Ours was an optioned-up SR5, and something of step backwards from the Jimmy at the same time. It had leather, that silky Toyota V6, pleasant fake wood trim on the dash, and a glass sunroof. But, the small stereo had poor sound and was hard to see and use. The part time four wheel drive was operated with a stubby and stiff lever instead of the convenient pushbutton of the GMC.
The rear glass could be lowered into the hatch body by power control. The glass simply flipped up on the Jimmy, which seemed quicker and easier in daily use.
I had bit the bullet and spent a lot of dough…..but here was a car we could trust for years to come. I pictured the kids driving it as their first car in 15 years, for sure! And no more worries about stalling or near death experiences. Toyota quality, all the way.
We moved into the new house with the 4 Runner, right around the time of 9/11. Winter came and went, and we enjoyed the safety and sure footed nature of the 4Runner in the snow. As the spring of 2002 dawned, we were greeted with the wonderful though unexpected news that we were pregnant. Number three, on the way! Wow, we hadn’t ruled out more kids, but we weren’t planning on it right then, either.
My home office in our new three bedroom house was short lived……we set out turning it into a fourth bedroom, and I moved my office up to a guest room/bonus space over the garage.
Spring turned to summer, and we started inventorying all our baby stuff….we would need a lot with three kids aged 4 and under! We already had a couple of infant car carriers that had been outgrown. So we wouldn’t need new car seats for the new arrival.
Shortly before the birth of our youngest (now a rising sophomore in high school), I went to test the triple car seat installation out. This was before the days of the LATCH anchors, you just used the seat belt in locking mode to cinch everything down tight.
The three seats looked good in there together! I was proud….wow, three kids. It was tiring, but I liked being a dad. I went to close the door……and it wouldn’t shut. I tried again. Hmmmmm, that car seat is keeping the door from shutting. Must not have it in straight or something. I double checked everything, but the door still wouldn’t shut. I opened the rear door on the other side, then went back to the original offending door. It shut fine, problem solved. I went to close the second door and IT wouldn’t shut. Forcing the door didn’t help….it was not going to shut.
Three car seats were not going to fit in the 4Runner. This can’t be……my new family car……the car I didn’t want to have to buy to start with. I placed a somewhat panicked call to my brother in law. They had two kids, a little older than ours. I needed to try out all their old car carriers and seats, and find something that worked.
It was all for naught. The 4Runner was simply too narrow for three car seats across, for kids that small. If the two kids we had were older and just needed a little booster under their bottom, it would work. But we were years away from that age and weight.
It had always felt kind of narrow anyway, given the overall size. And there was no third row to use….not that it would have helped anyway, they would be too young to get back there and buckled up on their own. And a rear facing infant car carrier/seat can never be used in the front seat, where there is an airbag.
So, though we had a one year old 4Runner with less than 10,000 miles, we needed a family vehicle. Again. This was kind of unbelievable. So, for the next vehicle, we will make sure three seats fit and, once again, buy a quality vehicle that will last us for the long haul. Not going trade again in year or two! No way, no how. That’s not for us.
Yeah, right. As you will see!
What the shortest time you owned a vehicle?
Oh my gosh! That’s awful. I can only imagine how frustrated you must have been. Very curious to see what you guys bought next…
The shortest time I owned a vehicle was less than a day. The age of the vehicles tells you it was many, many moons ago.
The local Chrysler dealer had a 68 Ford XL500 and 69 Meteor (Canadian Mercury) on for the same price. Literally could not decide and flipped a coin. The XL won the toss. Picked it up first thing in the morning and brought it home to the old man’s gas station. Customer came in at lunch hour, fell in love with the car and offered me considerably more than I had just paid for it. Went back after lunch and bought the Meteor.
The only problem is it left teenage me with the silly idea I could make money on my cars rather than what it was….a fluke. It took a lot of years and a lot of coin to realize the only people that make money in such cases are the the local license bureau on the transfer fees!
I guess in that year 4-Runner there was no way to deactivate the passenger airbag.
Wonder if there are any issues with child-seats and rear-seat side-airbags these days?
Happy Motoring, Mark
From what I can see online, the now-typical roof-mounted side air bags are considered safe for kids in child seats. Older cars (say, from 2002 or before) may be a problem, however, so check your owners’ manual.
I had a 1960 Holden sedan for a couple of hours it was part payment for a car I sold, I drove it twice to and from a hotel then around to friends place whose car was on its last legs and basicly gave it to him to drive he bought it from me a couple of days later for the $150 it owed me so a good deal all round.
The 4Runner remains to this day (2017 model year) as a fully enclosed version of the 2013 Tacoma, right down to the 4.0 V6, and it retains all of the pros and cons of a relatively narrow mid-sized body on frame vehicle (though the 4Runner has disc brakes all around).
Today’s child seats seem huge, but I doubt that even the old (I mean really old) hook over the seat back child seats would fit three across in a 4Runner.
Those old fashioned car seats always seemed somewhat questionable, especially when hooked over the front seat back of a 2 door car with no locks on the seat back itself. Hence the still present habit older drivers exhibit when making a short stop, that of swinging our right arm out to protect the inhabitant of that long gone hook-over child seat.
! it even has a column shifter ! =8-) .
-Nate
You’re right that the powertrain is the same, but that’s it. Since 2003, the 4Runner has been based on a HiLux/Land Cruiser 70/Prado/Fortuner/Lexus GX chassis. The Tacoma has (or had) a chassis supplied by Dana.
Regarding 3 across, our 2012 Accord has been a fine vehicle for that rare situation.
Now that our kids are transitioning out of car seats and boosters, we’re looking at a 4Runner to start taking advantage of Idaho’s remoteness… we typically rent a full size SUV (at a very low company rate).
The current US market 4Runner isn’t that closely related to the 2nd gen Tacoma. They do share the 4.0 V6 but that’s about it as far as I know. Certainly different suspension. The 3rd gen 4 Runner as featured here is probably (arguably) the best 4 Runner … available with locking rear diff and AWD mode, and the bulletproof 3.4V6, at a smaller size than subsequent versions. And as always, made in Japan for (again arguably) better quality than the US or Mexican made Tacoma. They already are desirable CC’s. Though I prefer the earlier style without the pronounced “underbite” front end.
As others have mentioned, that’s not a really valid point since the 3rd gen, which did indeed have a lot of commonality and sitting in the front feels almost exactly the same as sitting in a Tacoma. But even back in the 3rd generation, there were substantial difference aft of the firewall area. The frame on the 4Runner was fully boxed. Out back, you had a 5-link coil sprung rear end and not leaf springs (2nd gen 4Runner had this as well versus the then-Pickup). The 3rd generation 4Runner shares most with the overseas Land Cruiser Prado 90.
The big shift came in 2003 with the new 4Runner being closer based on the new wider-body Prado 120 (read: GX470 body). At this point they felt substantially different to ride in/drive than the North American-only Tacoma. Much smoother riding, more car-like and refined. The 3rd gen 4Runner still rides/handles mostly like a truck, in terms of bounciness and stiffness, except for a smoother and more controlled rear end than a typical pickup owing to the coil springs and having more weight over the rear end.
I experienced the 3-abreast car seat problem when I bought an 84 rwd Olds 98 Recency. Funny, they fit so well in the 68 Chrysler Newport.
Practical me could never understand the appeal of the SUV, at least not for a family. Four passengers was their practical limit (5 was always a squeeze) and anyone with a family of four really needs 6 or 7 seats by the time you consider ride-along friends or carpools. Which explained my total-overkill approach of a Ford Club Wagon.
A neighbor has had either 3 or 4 of these 4Runners in a row (I’m unsure of the actual number because every one of them has been gray). Perfect for a couple with grown kids and a bicycling hobby.
J P the cargo carrying/transformation abilities of an SUV cannot be understated. Or for families that have a dog, the pooch can ride in the back. My 4Runner has 45 cu ft of cargo area aft of the second row of seats. Not even a massive American landyacht of yore can compete with that. Let alone the hauling ability once the seats are folded. My biggest item in terms of overall size has probably been a folded treadmill. Having said that, yes a minivan makes even MORE sense for most consumers. That will likely be our next family vehicle, not as a replacement for the 4Runner but instead my wife’s Camry.
That’s the thing. Back in 1999-2000 when I had a job that involved loading things into customers’ cars, I was always surprised by how little interior space most SUVs had compared to a similarly sized minivan. I’m less familiar with the current corssovers and car-based SUVs, but the earlier truck-based SUVs made really inefficient use of their space. I seem to remember reading somewhere that even the Ford Taurus station wagon had more cargo space than the Explorer from the same era.
For me it boils down to capability that I actually do in fact use: my skid plates bare the scars to prove it 😉
My family still has 2 of the old RWD-based Mazda MPVs (a ’89 4cyl with 250k and a 98 Allsport 4wd with 180k), they are just about the perfect mix of van interior space and SUV ground clearance/traction (for those that care for that stuff).
Having owned a 97 4Runner from 130k to 258k, including a round trip from VT to CA and back without a single hiccup @ the 230k mark, the thought of selling one of the kids would have at least crossed my mind. 🙂 I wish I had been around to pick up what you were laying down. Eh, probably couldn’t afford it anyway. The wood trim on the dash…was that factory or dealer option? I have never seen one like that.
It came with the wood……but I can’t say for sure where it was applied. Factory? “Southeast Toyota Distributors” which seems to add a lot of prep center appearance items? Dealer? Not sure. I don’t recall it being itemized as an extra cost item anywhere…….
Good Ol’ SET.
They were responsible for some of the most awful “packages” attached to Toyota vehicles I think I’ve ever witnessed. I can remember them putting faux convertible style roofs with stand up hood ornaments on 4 door Corollas and charging an extra $2,000 for the privilege…
This is the same outfit that would routinely add sunroofs to bottom trim Tercels to jack up the price by $1000. Not fully integrated sunroofs like other car companies would have, these were leftovers from the 70’s, the flip-up kind with no interior shade. But, you would pay the same as one of those fully integrated sunroofs, but none of the convenience.
I can’t imagine what they were doing by the 2000’s.
I have an old 44runner(95). Sitting here trying to think of anything that would better fit my needs. Can’t think of anything. Good story with a sad ending.
When my first wife bought that 2003 Toyota Matrix, she did it almost entirely because it could accommodate three car seats in the back. And then the dang thing proved to be so useful because of its capacious wayback.
The shortest I’ve owned a car was I think 18 months. It was a 1996 Mercury Sable wagon that blew a head gasket, and then blew a freeze plug, totaling $2500 in repairs. The mechanic said, “Get rid of it,” and so I did.
Ugh about the three across car seats. When our daughter was three, my wife babysat a pair of three year-old twin boys. One day she was going to take them somewhere and I had the privilege of putting their three car seats across the back seat of our ’01 Taurus.
They fit, but it was tight. So tight my arm didn’t really want to be removed from between the seats after latching the last seat down. This was offset by my wife later telling me a few women at the event thought she had triplets and asked her how she managed to keep an eye on three, three year-olds.
On a related note, the comments about 4 Runner reliability reminded me of something. Yesterday morning, I pulled into a gas station and someone in a newer, great looking 4 Runner barreled in toward the pump from another entrance. He puts in his fuel and fires it up. His 4 Runner wasn’t that old but it had a distinct knock in the engine.
We had a 1998 Honda Accord from 2004-2007. One day when my son was driving it, he lost just about all brake power. Hydraulic fluid had leaked out due to corrosion on the brake lines. When it needed another new battery and left him stranded again we lost confidence in it and replaced it with a Civic.
The shortest I ever owned a car was my 1962 VW beetle. I got less than a year out of her in 1973 when the engine gave out.
You had the exact same family planning experience as us, except 2 years later (my youngest is now a rising senior). But our SUV was a ’96 Cherokee, bought to replace my (anemic 4 cyl.) Mustang when #1Son was born. Somehow I don’t recall the same problem with car seats, even with the very intrusive wheel wells. Is a Cherokee actually wider than a 4Runner? Or is it from our choice of car seats?
However, given the tiny rear doors on the Cherokee, as soon as #2Daughter was born, the Cherokee was relegated to second string by a much larger Plymouth Grand Voyager.
(Actually it was relegated to 3rd string as we just couldn’t part with my wife’s 91 Miata, which I continued to commute in for several years.)
We put our Cherokee into recreational use after our third came along and we bought a Dodge Grand Caravan.
In 1984, we had a Bronco II, and in order to make room for adults to ride in the back seat, I built a little rear-facing plywood bench for our two little ones. Stephanie upholstered the foam cushions and I attached seat belts to the existing rear seat belt anchors.
We used it quite a bit, as Stephanie’s mom and/or sister were often around. And that summer we were on vacation up in Mammoth with my parents and sister, and all 7 of us took a long day trip over Tioga Pass to Yosemite in it. Worked pretty well, although it certainly wasn’t CR-approved.
What a pity…a really nice not-too-bloated SUV that will last a very long time.
The 4Runner was never officially imported here, but it reminds me of the contemporary Mitsubishi Pajero Sport we did get (see below). Technically based on the Mitsubishi pickups, IIRC. It also looked just fine, with a relatively low roofline.
The shortest time I owned a car was exactly 2 years. A 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser 90 (Prado) 3.0 TD, which I traded in when I bought a 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser 90 3.0 D4D. It was a good deal, Land Cruisers don’t depreciate that much after all. The maximum power output increased almost 40 hp (from 125 to 163) while the displacement stayed the same. On top of that, with a lower average fuel consumption.
I’m trying to remember what that body Mitsu was called here….I think it was a “Montero Sport”. They were very common where I live, anyway, and seeing one even now in traffic isn’t unusual.
Montero Sport in the continental USA but were called Nativa in Puerto Rico. I used to see a lot of the Nativa version around my way( Baltimore- Washington) with PR license plates but I have not even seen a Montero Sport for a while
A very capable off roader
There’s a reason why Pajeros are called Monteros in North America and other places with many Spanish speaking people. “Pajero” in Spanish is also colloquial for “wanker” or “tosser”.
?Sure you’re not thinking of ‘pendejo’ ? .
One of my very favorite junk yard, ‘Dos Pendejos’, closed a year or two ago, I’ll forever miss it .
-Nate
A former workplace had Shogun Sports and they were horrible lurchy things to drive. I assume these are pretty much the same thing.
That is a shame. I am eagerly awaiting the answer to what vehicle you got to replace this.
I had a friend that was in the same boat as you were back then. He owned a 2002 4Runner (the last of that generation) it had been paid off when kid #3 arrived. With a kid on the way and a newly bought home ,his finances at that time would not allow for a new vehicle to replace that one. What he did was removed the rear door panels and the speakers. He then took a piece of really thin carpet and measured it with the door panel and cut it so that is had the same shape as the door panel. He then punched holes in the carpets to match up with holes in the door where the clips went and attached the carpet to the doors using flat clips. He then put all the door panels and parts safely away in the loft above the garage. Two years later when the oldest child did not need a carseat he was able to install the door panels again and all was well. Sure while the door panels were off the sound system was not the best (with 2 speakers gone) and somebody sitting in the back seats could not open the doors or put the windows down but that was a small price to pay for not having a car payment.
That’s creative! It reminds me of a later SUV we had with reclining second row buckets…..the kids would fight over the positioning/reclining of the seats. Whoever was in the third row was invariably mad about the setback angle. I put them in a “normal” position and removed the handles so they couldn’t be adjusted. And lost them over time. I’m sure the next owner wondered what happened.
Clever Thinking!
My brother still has 1998 4Runner, and he was able to fit three car seats in the rear seat for his three children (who were born in 1995, 1997, and 2000). Same with his former wife’s 1993 Corolla. I am not sure what type of car seats he used to shoehorn them in both 4Runner and Corolla.
I often borrowed her Corolla when taking my nephews and niece out for the ‘day with Uncle Oliver’. It’s quicker and more effective to borrow hers than move car seats to my car and back.
I was thinking that removing the door trim panels would create enough room, but the carpet trimmed to door panel shape is really a great idea to finish it off.
We’re facing a similar problem with replacing our ’00 Diamante. With us the problem is grandchildren. Whatever we get needs to be able to fit two child seats and an adult across the rear seat. It’s not easy…..
Wanted the Toyota quality, something that would last a long time, and something that would fit all 3 car seats that the 4Runner could not… Toyota Sequoia! Could this be your next COAL entry?
It’s almost impossible to comprehend how much room baby seats take up in a car. When we had our first baby, I was shocked at how tight of a squeeze it was to get the rear-facing baby seat in the back of my Ford Contour. The only way I could do it was to put the baby seat in the middle of the Contour’s rear seat — otherwise one of the front seats would have to be shifted so far forward that it would make the car impossible to ride in.
That definitely factored into getting a new car, which is something we hadn’t planned.
Like you said, the irony is that if your kids were older, they would have fit fine. But the littlest passengers take up the most room, making it almost impossible for young families to drive small cars. Personally, I think that the child-car-seat arms race has gotten ridiculous, but I suppose that’s a discussion for another day. I’m just glad that when I was little, kids weren’t required to be stuffed into these things.
Funny that you complain about the separate 4WD stick selector. While the redesigned 2003 Toyota 4Runner got a rotary knob integrated into the dashboard, its upmarket Lexus GX470 cousin (the first generation of the GX) kept the gear-stick knob, although since the Lexus had a full-time 4WD system, its knob only had 4HI, 4LO and neutral; it did not have a 2HI mode. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps it’s because the Lexus GX is a direct counterpart to the Land Cruiser Prado sold in other parts of the world, which also had the mechanical stick selector for that generation.
As for the shortest time I ever owned a car? I owned a 2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i Premium for four months, from August 2015 to December 2015. In that time, it incurred over $7,000 worth of warranty work (thanks MaxCare), so I got fed up with it and dumped it. I did quite like the car, especially the Multi-Contour seats, which could be adjusted in all manner of ways. And the car’s driving dynamics (when it could be bothered to drive at all) belied its heft…which I have not found to be the case with the oversized and overweight 2014 Lincoln MKS I am currently driving.
Shortest time I owned a car? Legally (ie registered in my name), about 8 months for my ’81 TransAm. Rejected impulse acquisitions which I ditched before transfer of ownership, a ’69 Volvo 142S and a 4 door Hornet, at most a few weeks. Kinda wish I’d kept all there now.
Worst car seat scenario? Putting two car seats in the sideways-facing rear jump seats of my Ranger SuperCab. Did that for several years until we bought our Land Cruiser. Seemed safe at the time … and the kids could look at each other but not touch each other ?
This generation 4Runner’s narrow width was the very reason my mom crossed it off her list twice when looking for a new car, both in 1999 when she went with her second Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo instead, and in 2002 when she purchased it at the end of its lease.
Small correction: the “fat lip” front bumper appeared in ’99, some kind of safety related thing. I personally prefer the flatter nose like my ’96, although the advantage of the fat lip trucks is that it’s possible to fairly easily and cleanly integrate a hidden winch behind the bumper.
My ’96 has been an absolute gem, bought with 99k miles in 2013 when I first relocated to Indiana, currently at 142k miles. It’s our road trip vehicle any time we’re taking dogs, or camping, or going somewhere in the winter. Just did a long road trip to the Outer Banks at the end of June, truck performed great, aside from a crappy tank of gas near the OH/WV border that had me pinging up hills. Spent the week wheeling around the beach to prime surf fishing and isolated areas, yanked a CrossTrek out of the sand that barely made it 50 yards off the hard-pack ramp. Mine’s a Limited with the optional rear locker, 3.4L V6, auto, 4wd. With my new General Grabber AT tires fuel economy in mixed driving dipped somewhat (from 20 to about 17.5), but my highway driving to the OBX still yielded multiple tanks of 20-21 mpg, a few of those being Premium as I tried to dilute out the crap gas.
We’re starting our family soon and yes, fitting child seats is on my mind. No latch anchors, narrow cabin. I’d honestly hate to upgrade to a newer 5th gen 4Runner as much as I think it’d be a good fit and extra peace of mind when doing long trips.
A few other points:
“The rear glass could be lowered into the hatch body by power control. The glass simply flipped up on the Jimmy, which seemed quicker and easier in daily use.”
The lowering glass wins hands down in my book. I can have fantastic flow-through ventilation on the highway for my dogs (and the humans), or haul longer pieces of lumber without worrying about a piece of glass flapping around.
“The part time four wheel drive was operated with a stubby and stiff lever instead of the convenient pushbutton of the GMC.”
That mechanically shifted transfer case is many times more reliable than GM’s servo-controlled engagement, which has plagued many an older GM-4WD owner. I also just like the reassurance and satisfying mechanical feeling of shifting that t-case myself and knowing it engaged because by God I felt it through my hand!
That roll-down rear window can sometimes make the difference between happy dogs and some car-sick dogs.
Mine’s basically stock clearance wise (Monroe air-assist shocks in the back, OE-height Moog rear springs, KYB struts on stock old front springs), with the running boards removed and the stock-sized but more aggressive All terrain tires on it. I can’t think of another stock vehicle short of a Wrangler Rubicon that offers as good of ground clearance, approach angle/breakover, and stock underbody protection. 5th gen 4Runner is very good, but let down by a fragile and scratch-prone front bumper.
I’ve mentioned this a couple times before here but I had a 2000 4Runner after an Explorer Sport. Compared to the Explorer I found the 4Runner to be cramped, underpowered, and less comfortable. I got it because the Explorer was horribly built and always in need of repair. However the Explorer’s problems, numerous as they were, never left me stranded. The 4Runner, while better built and better off-road, failed to start in -20 degree weather and had a mysterious issue where it randomly stalled for no apparent reason.
I ended up getting rid of it when our second child was on the way because at 6’3″ it was tight with me in the front and two child seats in the back. It was replaced with an F-150 Supercrew and I couldn’t go back to a smallish SUV. The pickup is just so much more spacious, comfortable, and capable and my real world mileage is about the same. And it easily fits 3 child seats abreast in back.
The 4Runner still has its niche off-road, and it’s good at it, but like its competitors at that time it’s success was largely based on image. It did, for the most part, back up that image though, something that can’t be said of any of its current CUV competitors.
How do you like the Supercrew as a family vehicle? I’m largely leaning in that direction for my next do-it-all vehicle, but have reservations about passenger comfort in the back row without any sort of seat angle adjustment, as well as having to fit dogs and kids together in the back row. How do you keep luggage in the bed from sliding around excessively, and how do you generally load it: from the tailgate and keeping it towards the back there somehow, or loading over the side nearer the cab? I’m obviously pretty new at the truck thing, my little ’97 reg-cab Ranger is the first pickup I’ve owned (and has been an eye opener as far as open-bed utility goes).
Personally I love the Supercrew as a family vehicle, but there are compromises. My wife hates driving it because of the size and it is a bit unwieldy in parking lots. I have a cargo bar similar to this https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Ratcheting-Pickup-Truck-Cargo/dp/B004JL0QZA that I use to keep things in back near the tailgate, you can also get a rubber bed mat or carpeted Bed Rug, which are much more durable than you’d think. I also use a tonneau cover. Do have to be careful about what is back there in the winter so it doesn’t freeze. I haven’t had any issue with the rear seatback angle, it’s not much different from most cars in that respect. Perhaps a bit more upright but the kids have never complained.
On a day-to-day basis it does everything I ever ask of it. Enough cargo space for my needs and much more than an SUV, great at towing, competent enough off-road and a spacious interior that easily seats 5 and with the front bench 6 in a pinch. And best of all anything and everything can be tossed in back with no worries about smells, stains, scratches, etc.
Thanks for the reply Phil. What year/trim/engine of F150 do you have? I’m looking hard at the new aluminum bodied ones, my coworker’s 2012 already had the cab corners rot out(!) which kind of convinced me of the benefits of the new tech. I’m fairly brand agnostic although somewhat leery of Rams based on historic/anecdotal evidence, and I’m a fan of the F150 and Tundra having the highest US-made content percentages.
Mine is just a 2006 XLT. Avoid the 5.4 3v, it is not a good engine.
If I bought today it would probably be another Ford for these reasons: Full seating with head restraints for 3 in the rear, economy/performance of the 2.7 ecotec, and built domestically. I do wish I could get the auto 4×4 in the XLT though, as it’s better in the winter and the Lariat has a bunch of stuff I don’t care about. I also like the new Ridgeline, though the bed is shallow and overall it’s rather effeminate.
Shortest time I owned a car? Six months. I, on a whim, traded a leased 1993 Honda Accord LX Coupe that was WAYYY over on miles for a mint condition 1988 300ZX with only 50k miles on it. I was driving home and we had a snow squal (not uncommon here in New England, but somewhat unusual for the first week in November). That car HATED any type of precipitation on the road, and I hated the car even worse for it. I ended up doing a complete 360 reminiscent of James Rockford in his gold Firebird Esprit. Needless to say, I sold that car right after that incident happened and never looked back.
As far as reliability is concerned, no one does it as well as Toyota and Honda do. I mean, the debate will always be there about which of the two brands is better. But I have to admit I still see a ton of older Accords still on the road, and I drive a 1999 EX sedan with 212k miles on it and it really does drive like a new car. Sometimes I may see four or five Accords like mine in the same day! Pretty amazing considering it is an eighteen year old car!
In areas with bad roads, IMO Toyota suspensions stand up better to the abuse (simple Mac-strut and durable multi-link vs double wishbones with a bunch of balljoints to go bad), and speaking specifically of the Camry vs Accord, the Camries have better rust proofing for sure.
I’ve been in school for the last 2 years and I was driving a 1992 Camry LE V6 since I was 18 (Was 28/29 when this story occured in October 2015, 30 now) that I bought from grandparents. Very reliable, but it’s old age became it’s doom in the end. I was short on cash and trying to diagnose the car on my own time which was so hard because it only had OBD-1. so it was a pain. Anyway, I gave up for a while and ended up buying a 1998 Grand Caravan SE for $1,100 because I thought it would be a little easier with the kids. Had 128k on it and that blasted Mitsubishi 3.0 V6. Long story short, it did ok on the test drive, It was in good physical shape for a van and was clean on the inside. I drove it for a half an hour and even got on the freeway. Didn’t show any signs of trouble initially.
After 2 days of use, the coolant kept bubbling out of the radiator cap but I wasn’t getting any bad readings on the temp gauge, nor was the check engine light coming on. I scheduled it in at Firestone (They’ve been good to me, personally, Some have told me bad stories) and they informed me that the engine fan was not coming on as the relay failed, and when it failed, it took the engine computer out with it. Only then did I find out that this is apparently a common problem on many Chrysler vehicles, not just Caravan. Lesson learned. Just gotta know what to look for. I did some research and found a company that programs engine computers to the VIN# for $200.00 so I bought one, as well as a new relay. Everything worked, but it revealed the true problems of this vehicle. Dash lit up like a Christmas tree, yea I was taken for $1,100. I sold it for $500.00 and gave the buyer both computers and told them what was wrong with it. I didn’t wanna get involved in serious cooling system problems. I told them that it was theirs to fix up but they took it. So I was done with that after about all of 12 days.
Ended up fixing the Camry and it was a fuel pump which I thought at first, as well as the starter. Spent $400.00 getting it going and got another year and a half out of it before it finally had a catastrophic failure. Power steering went out on I-15 in Sandy, UT and I got off the freeway and could feel it dead, It was cold out and I really had to be to my destination which sucked and it ended up boring a hole in its power steering pump and something cut through the lines. My rack and pinion was on it’s last legs at 231K and I was quoted $1,200 in repairs, plus this year a lot of suppliers stopped providing new replacement parts for the 1992-93 3VZ-FE V6 that was used for the Camry and ES300. Finding a lot of these parts was not that easy and I wasn’t willing to pay top dollar for the few I could find to fix a 25 year old car, such as a 349.00 Power steering pump, I had actually replaced this pump 4 years ago and they were easy to find and only about $100.00, but they don’t make or at least re-manufacture them anymore it seems. I said goodbye after 11 years of driving, 25 years in the family.
I found a very well kept 1999 XLE V6 with 150k for $3,000 which I ended up with and have been happy with. Aside from a few normal items like brakes and replacing some hoses it has been very nice to drive and I like more in a lot of ways than the gen 3, but I can see some of the cost-cutting as well, but oh well, it gets me around in reasonable comfort and it looks good for its age. I will always have love for gen 3 though. That car got me through 11 years of ups and downs and life changes and kids and moving and hot Colorado and Utah days and bitter cold Winters. My Grandmother had it in El Paso where it also endured hot temperatures in its first 13 years until I bought it. It had 84K. Served me well, Had most of the options including sunroof. Very reliable machine that was silky smooth right up till the end. Toyota did a great job on them. That car just had a solid feeling that is truly hard to come by in a lot of cars, even newer Camrys.
Shortest ownership for me would be 5 months. Bought a ’91 Crown Victoria, slightly high miles but in good shape, when I was a junior in college in March 2001. Paid $1800, everything worked except one of the power windows. My friends called it an “old man car” but I liked it and didn’t particularly care what they though. Fast forward to late July; I had traveled from North Carolina to New Jersey to visit a friend. Car performed flawlessly there and back. Got back into Raleigh in the early evening, and my roommates and I decided to go get some dinner. Pulled back into the parking lot afterward and smoke started pouring out from under the hood. The fire was quickly doused; a short in the alternator was the culprit. I had comprehensive insurance so I figured it’d be fixed in short order. Nope–the fire had melted part of the main wiring harness and replacing the entire harness caused them to total out the car. Silver lining to it all was that the insurance payout was $2800, so I made $1000 on the deal.
Three years ago I purchased a 1998 Toyota 4Runner that had 318,000 miles on it for $4,500. The paint still gleamed and its interior looked like new. No cracks, not rips and no fading. With 350,000 miles now on the clock my 4Runner is one amazing machine. I have done nothing to it except change the oil, tires and replace a burned out headlamp bulb. That’s it! Never in my life have I ever driven such a high mileage vehicle that drives as tight and nimble as my 20 year old 4Runner. Everyone says that Toyotas are barely broken in at 100,000 miles. That is so true. Most American made cars are spent at 100K.
Kevin the third gen trucks really do wear like granite (just keep them undercoated if you’re in the salt-belt). I would definitely check to make sure the front lower balljoints are in decent shape, it’s one of the few Achilles heels of these and they will not give much warning before letting go (they are in tension, which keeps them feeling tight right until they pop).
My ’96 is a baby at 142k miles, but just like yours feels tight as a drum (more so than my wife’s 2012 Camry).