1999 SR5 H.S. Graduation gift still driving to this day

Salutations everyone,

My name is Nick, I graduated High School in May 1999. A few months later my Grandfather sat me down and said,”Nicholas the worst investment you will ever make is buying a vehicle. So I’m going to help you out and give you a head start and give you $15,000 to buy a car of your choice.” But he wanted me to find a vehicle that that was more than 15k so he could do co-finance it with me and make payments on the difference to build my credit.
Naturally I was really excited so I began looking right away, I knew I wanted a 4Runner because my Dad purchased 1989 4Runner and he would let me drive it to school a few days a week. I loved that 89 4Runner it had 4 wheel drive. So it was great for off roading.
Anyways, unexpectedly my parents decided to get a divorce, I started college and my girlfriend at the time had moved in with me at my parents house while she went to college. I had my DaD’s 89 4Runner so I waited 3 (2002 at this point) years before I finally made my decision on a used 1999 4Runner that my Dad helped me negotiate I guess was a good price. $19,700. I financed roughly $5000 with the extended warranty. My monthly payments were $121 and some change per month. Roughly 2 weeks later my grandfather got sick to the point of hospitalization. I sat next to his bed and he reminded me about the “bad investment bit” so I promised him I would keep the 4Runner and keep up the maintenance until the engine ran out he died a few days later so my 4Runner has sentimental value.
Well here we are almost 18 years later and I just passed 180k miles. The vehicle still runs well enough but little things are beginning to go out the ABS light is on, the back window won’t go down with the front controls or with the key turn in the rear, paint on the hood is faded and chipped. It’s ugly. But I made my promise and I’m standing by it.
I’m hoping to get to at least 250k but more and more auto repair shops are refusing to work on the truck because of its age some won’t even change the transmission oil. What’s that about? I’m in San Antonio, TX any advice on what to do.

Am at a point where I’m going to have to to actual arse raping Toyota dealerships for repairs. I don’t do my own repairs or maintenance, it’s just not my thing. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks Yota’ers.

 

If you can change the oil you can do the trans. It’s easy peasy just drain out 2quarts and add two quarts at a time when you change the oil. With credit and a college degree maybe park it and get a newer one. Check out this jewel....

 

Great car and great story. If you can turn a wrench, or you're willing to learn*, you can probably do a lot of the maintenance yourself, just lots of reading and digging to find out what's going on (what's the code related to the ABS, is that something you can replace? why's the window not going down, is that just a switch or motor?)

If you want another general resource in addition to this forum, listen to car repair podcasts (ie CarTalk, but that's in syndication; there's a great one called The Automotive Hour by some cajuns at a shop called AGCO, it's great if you can understand them) to get a general sense of what's going on and help picking out a good mechanic. Most mechanics, for instance, won't touch your transmission because it works and if they replace the fluid and it all-of-a-sudden breaks (which isn't common) then you'll blame them for the damage. Many mechanics see a transmission that old as a "don't touch, don't fix" item--if it works, leave it alone. At that age, it would be a replacement or full rebuild and not a repair. But if you build a relationship with someone who knows how to work on your car (some with at least as much gray hair as you?) you'll get good honest guidance on what to do.

Good luck on your 250k, and I think your grandpa gave good advice, at least it's worked out well so far.

*If so, probably good to buy a Haynes manual or Toyota service manual for your 4Runner

 

Welcome to the forum, maybe someone on here can recommend a shop that knows 4-runners in your area, that they feel good about. What area are you in?

 

Good story!! A great way to continue paying homage to your Grand Father is to start learning some maintenance on your 4Runner. No bad investment learning a new skill. If you haven't joined a San Antonio local T4R and Tacoma crew this is a start. Try instagram too.
If your scene is anything like Florida, I would bet a lot of those Texas boys know plenty about your 4Runner. Which shops/members do the best work, how to do most of the work yourself, and hell, Pizza and Beer goes a long way for getting some of them to help out on the bigger jobs. Toyota Networking is the ONLY thing good about Social Media imho lol. Good Luck and Welcome!!

 

I had an '89 at one time w/ a rear window problem. Turns out the wires had a crimp and had simply broken inside the tail gate. I'm willing to bet that's the issue on something this old.

 

Keep the faith...My wife / sons 1997 went for over 300000 before it gave up the ghost...or should I say the 5th cylinder

 

Thanks for the warm welcome I’ll look around San Antonio and see if I can link up with some Toyota specialist. I’ve defiantly learned that I may need to go old school aged mechanics someone born in the 80s like myself or older.I have a buddy that went to high school with my girlfriend who is a mechanic but he is struggling with figuring out the cause of the back window malfunction.

Additionally he discovered the back windshield wiper isn’t working either so there is some relation with the back window, the back window wiper, and the turn key for the back window all not working. Oh and the up/down button in the front for the back window as well.