270,000 maintenance question

I have 270,000 miles (Highway) on a 2008 V6 4 runner sport. Love the car would buy a new one if Toyota had not changed body style. Facing tough maintenance issue with AC. Have a slow leak in coil and dealership believes they can not replace unless also replace the dash. Total cost projected to be $3,900 (replacing dash as well). Also have a sun roof does not work and leaks in heavy rain (patched this up twice).

Other than the AC leak have had zero problems with this beautiful vehicle. Nothing last forever even a 4-runner. Have I reached that point at 270,000 everything is going to start to break down? Can I expect another few years high mileage out of this work horse???

Thanks - Greg 270000

 

Compare the repair cost to what you would be able to pay for a replacement vehicle that pleases you as much as your current one.
I just put about $6000.00 into my 3rd gen with 190k miles. Now she runs and rides like new. The choice IS a difficult one, however, I'm happy with mine.

 

exactly....look at the pros and cons...look at potential costs for a new or 'used' replacement vehicle...myself, my '97 was damaged in a auto mishap. initial estimate was around 8k to repair. TOTALED. I looked at possible purchase of a similar 3rd GEN ..prices range from low of 1500, up to 20k....and some were just trashed out...and some had dreaded frame rot. I decided to spend money repairing my 4runner....eventually it came to around 9400. was it worth it ? YUP. I know exactly WHAT I have with my vehicle. I know the service record. no surprises...one way or another, you will spend the money. i'm at 260,000 miles..barely broken in....lol.....my friend's 4 runner is at 600,000 and still running strong...and I'm happy with the decision to repair my '97.

 

Call around to other shops or mechanics, this repair can be done without replacing the dash & will be much cheaper anywhere besides the stealership. There is a recent thread on here or other 4runner forums about how to do this yourself, but if thats not an option it should be less than ~$1000 including parts.

 

If you look at reliability engineering/science one tool they use in product development is called a reliability growth curve where you just plot problems over time on a graph. The best predictor of the future is the vehicle's past so if you've basically only had 2 problems in 13 years then there is no reason to expect lots of things to suddenly go wrong now.

 

254k on my 2007 and just spent $3k on lift, $1.5k on new bumper, $300 on sway bar end links and $600 on winch. When it dies I will repair or replace what is needed and keep on driving it. 270k miles is worth the repair IMO.

 

That's a lot of miles to be putting into it just my opinion but as stated if you can get it done cheaper may be worth it. Nothing else may go for another 2 years or you could need a transmission next month...

 

LOL, this thread is just funny IMHO, me coming from the Ram 1500 forum...LOL, spending thousands on a vehicle with 300.000 miles, while most Rams never make it that high...and yet it makes sense and it is actually worth it.

 

I had the AC compressor and evaporator (in the dash - big job) done by a talented recommended AC shop. I've been cool as ice for two months now.

2005 4runner with 160,000 miles.

The evaporator at Amazon which fit my car was $90 and fit perfectly. The whole job (labor) was $800.

Unless you got the equipment and know-how, take it to a good AC shop or it will end up costing twice as much and taking forever.

 

Does your friend actually have a 4Runner with 600K miles on it? How is that possible?

 

Absolutely possible with the right maintenance and a bit of luck.

I'm still a ways off from the 600k mark but at 339k on my 2003 V8 4Runner, I'm hoping to get to over 600K someday.

 

It's so possible that Toyota makes special High Mileage Club window clings for each 100,000K milestone that you can get by sending them a pic of your odometer.



The person I was emailing with at Toyota said she just sent one for 1,000,000 miles to a guy in California who drives an '06 Tundra 80-90K miles a year for work.