2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 ... All Around Great Vehicle!

Hello, I read the reviews here on the 2000 Toyota 4Runner before considering purchasing our used 4Runner in May 2005, and the reviews definitely persuaded us in our purchase of this fine automobile. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, this is a long review...

This is our first Toyota and after one year of ownership I have to tell you that the quality and reliability are unsurpassed! I know - yadda, yadda, yadda, but what you hear about Toyotas is true...Period. We purchased our 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 with 127,000 miles on it and we did not go into this purchase without a little apprehension...Well, alot. We did our homework, talked to current owners of this type of vehicle, read reviews, ran VIN numbers, etc...and were once again drawn back to this vehicle. The first thing that amazed us was the blue book value on this Toyota. It had at the time of purchase 127,000 miles and blue book on it was $17,500! Amazing! And still today with 139,500 miles it is worth more than our loaded 2002 Chevy Silverado 4x4 with 96,000 miles... What lead us to the purchase of our Toyota 4Runner was a car accident that totaled our Jeep Grand Cherokee. Our Jeep was a corporate car that had every conceivable option on it and while it was a sharp looking vehicle that did everything but wipe your nose it also looked sharp sitting in the dealer's garage because unfortunately that is where it spent alot of its time. And after the accident we were shocked to learn that our Jeep had a value of nothing! Thats right...Zip, Zilch, Nadda...

So when we came across the ad for our 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 we knew we were looking at a very used vehicle. We seriously thought we had lost our minds, we could buy a newer, loaded American made for this amount of money but Toyota reliability kept playing over and over in our heads. Not to mention, when you know the names of the Jeep dealer's shop manager's kids...there's something wrong. So we were pleasantly surprised to learn that what we expected and what we got were on two different ends of the spectrum. When we arrived for the test drive we were impressed with the overall appearance and looks of the vehicle. It has a very beefy, matter-of-fact stance to it. Being a black SR5 with the sport package really gave it this "king of the road, take no prisoners" appearance. Hmmmm, okay so far... We meet the owner and he proceeds to tell us that it is all highway miles and while he was a stickler for regular overall care and maintenance (wash/waxes included) that this was not a "babied" vehicle. He used it for his business, hauled construction supplies, towed his boat, drives to his beachside vacation home 600 miles away, etc... My husband and I looked at one another and we were thinking the same thing, "well, this was a waste of time". While the 4Runner looked like a million bucks sitting there it was obviously U-S-E-D in every sense of the word and probably was like driving and riding in a trash truck! We were wrong! Oh, were we wrong!

During the test drive we were speechless...Not a word spoken. I think we were in shock and overcome with amazement! This vehicle did not rattle or squeak; the doors, windows did not leak; the handling and suspension was tight; the engine purred and responded quickly; it drove and rode like new; the leather seating showed no wear and still looked and felt like new; the dash and components all worked; the stereo/CD sounded great. The owner was selling it because he had purchased a new 2005 Toyota 4Runner and had mentioned that he loves 4Runners but was disappointed with the newer models. He really liked the 'truck like' ride of the 2000 model (which is very 'truck like'...) but felt the new models were built more for soccer moms and that Toyota was steering more towards a mini-van ride and away from its "rough, tough and ready" 4Runner history. He went on to say that he felt that this model year would be the last of the Mohicans as far as 'real' Toyota 4Runners were concerned. So with all of this being said, at the end of our test drive we thought there is something wrong here and proceeded to pick the vehicle apart. Still nothing... All we could come up with was a small ding in the back door and a few minor scratches and when it came time to haggle the price, there wasn't any... Toyota owners seemingly know what they have and that the overall majority wants one. Toyota. Price. Deal or no deal?

Needless to say, it was May 2005 and we came home with our new 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5. We both comment on how we have to look at the odometer from time to time or otherwise we would never believe we are driving a vehicle with almost 140,000 miles on it. It will be due for a timing belt and the previous owner replaced the shocks and struts but other than regular scheduled maintenance it doesn't want for anything. We have been warned that if something should need to be replaced that it will be expensive but I will take that any day. And of course on the flip-side we have been told that we can drive this Toyota to its grave, so if Epinions.com is still around when that time comes I will be back for an update...

I wasn't fortunate enough to purchase a 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 new but I feel fortunate to have purchased one used. Enough said.