The Toyota 4runner (and Tacoma) have a death grip on used values. It’s been this way for years. Go ahead, go try and buy any TRD trim that’s a couple of years old; it’ll cost you as much as a new one — not that you could buy a new one at that price anyway because they’re likely marked up. One generation of 4Runner, though, has pricing in some places that borders on naked greed.
The third generation 4Runner, on sale from 1998-2002, is priced pretty highly in some places; prices for these things have been over $10,000 for a while. Some places though are hoping that people are dumb enough to pay big money for one. Take Jordan MotorSports in Portland, Oregon.
This place is full of stuff you can just hear them saying “I know what I got” over. We’re talking 25-year-old Dodge Ram HDs for $30,000 and $40,000 among other doozies. Then there’s this 1998 4Runner SR5. Now don’t get me wrong, its clean and has “just” 147,085 miles. Dealer says it has no paint issues, rust, or scratches.
It just had new parts installed, like belts, a new head and taillights. It’s also got 33-inch Falken off-road tires, Bilstein Toytec adjustable 2.5-inch lift with Old Man Emu rear coil and differential drops, among other things. Despite these parts, the dealer says its never been off road, which tells me that this is all dealer installed. Because of that, the dealer has priced this 4Runner at $32,997.
What makes this price worse is the second sentence of the description. “We can finance this 4Runner for up 84 months!!!” Most reputable banks won’t finance a vehicle older than a decade, which means this would probably be done through their in-house financing. Who knows what kind of rate you’d get on that 84 month term.
If you’re looking for one that’s stock, those can be found as well, but they’re priced similarly. Shift Automotive, a dealership in Denver, Colorado, has 59 4Runners in its inventory. Many of them are modified with things like lift kits and off-road tires. Just a couple of them are stock. The pricing is stupid though. This 1998 4Runner SR5 looks to be bone stock. It’s clean and has a 5-speed manual transmission. But it has 203,939 miles — which isn’t an issue because these things run forever, but still. The price? $27,997.
If you’ve got a hankering for a third-generation 4Runner, don’t give in to prices like these. It’s true that the more you spend the better chance you have of getting one in good condition. But you can find decent examples well under $10,000 if you look hard enough.