Fix it or not ? 2004 4Runner Head Ga$ket

I have a 2004 Toyota 4Runner Sport Edition. I drove it for about 14 years and its paid for. My son turned 16 recently and I gave it to him. It's got about 153,000 and always ran solid. I am fairly certain I have a bad head gasket.

Anybody had any issues or success with replacing head gasket in this year 4Runner? I have heard the 2003-2005 models are known for head gasket issues. It will cost around $3000 to have it fixed, but I am thinking if it's a worthwhile fix then my kid could get another 100,000 miles out of it and I am only paying 3K for a vehicle for him. The plate says 4Funner, cool right LOL

This Runner is sentimental to me and he loves it, any advice on fixing it or walking away from it. I heard the head gaskets were redesigned and much better now for the 2004 models.

Thanks for any feedback !

 

I’d go for it. You know what ya have. Won’t find a better vehicle for 3k

 

Totally agree! My logic is, these are virtually problem free vehicles. It's a 2004, which means it's 17 years old. $3000/$17=$176.47 a year in "maintenance."

I know it's a strange way to think about it, but if you consider how trouble free these vehicles are, you'll realise it's tough to get that nowadays.

Cheers,

Sean