Looking to Buy this 2004 4Runner ! Need Advice !

So I'm interested in purchasing this 2004 4 runner, 140k miles, its from one of the rust belt states. Zero rust on it, apparently its been sprayed every 2 years. I have no idea really what to look for when I go and check it out next week, any help or advice is appreciated. They are asking about 9k usd ( a bit high, but I believe they are willing to come down a bit)

pics included

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! Looks like it has recently been 'sprayed'. Take a screwdriver and 'probe' ares that would rust first... like corners on the frame, crossmembers, areas that water/salt might sit in etc. Look in the gas filler door, just look everywhere you can, if you find some rust, ask them when it was last sprayed. If you can't find any rust.. great, then ask for maintenance records, according to the odometer it's time for some preventative maintenance, after that you can start the negotiations, did you check Blue book price? Good luck, hope it works out.

 

Welcome

 

Whats the driver seat look like?
Have you got the VIN and looked it up on Toyota.com for the maintenance history?
A vehicle of that age with only 140,000 miles isnt unheard of but its not normal. That is only 6,500 miles per year which just doesnt add up unless it was sitting a LOT. Looking at the drivers seat will usually tell you how many miles its had an arse in it and sometimes you can quickly determine that its got more miles than the odometer says. Looking up the maintenance history will also show you a lot about it and show you the mileage the odometer had when the maintenance was done. I have looked at quite a few vehicles in my day and found they had super low mileage but after a maintenance history record search found that the miles were FAR HIGHER than the odometer. People rolling back odometers is still a thing or switching out clusters from junk yard finds. The mileage is stored in the cluster and people can and do try to scam you. I saw one a couple weeks ago on the Tundra forum, it was a CRAZY low mile tundra on BAT and everyone was talking about it. It was close to spotless, the place that had it clearly did a dry ice blast on the frame and suspension to clean the undercarriage and under body. The interior was detailed to brand new levels, i think it had something like 35,000 miles on the listing. I found the link below, the truck was pristine, but when you do a search on the VIN and history you can see that it had more miles. The last time it was serviced at a reporting dealer / shop was in 2012 at 66,000 miles. This means someone probably traded it in and it looked really nice on the outside with lots of potential and some hack shop decided to detail it and roll the miles back and sell it as a 35,000 mile truck.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/35k-mile-tundra-sr5.157509/#post-3903558

 

Yea they are going to hoist it up for me and my more mechanically inclined friend to take a closer look. I have the maintenance records, and seems to have regular oil changes etc.. unfortunately its not super detailed, just says it was in for service alot of the time. The undercoating was done every year or two.. Last time it was done was last fall. Blue book price is a bit lower than asking price, so I'm definitely going to try and negotiate that a bit .

This is the only picture of the driver seat.. but the whole interior looks pretty clean

I do have the carfax that has alot of the maintenance records. Although it doesnt mention what was done, there are dealer odometer readings over the years that seem like they add up.

 

Interior looks about right for the miles. Make sure it goes into and comes out of 4H and 4L without any issues and the center lock diff works. Check the oil for milkshake this might be one of the years susceptible to head gasket issues. Check brakes for wear and sticking calipers and CVs for torn boots. Maybe check under that front bug guard make sure its no hiding any rust.

 

yeah the interior looks legit for the miles.

 

welcome