Having two fewer doors than expected makes today’s Nice Price or No Dice 4Runner a rare enough beast. Let’s see if its price tag also makes it a rare deal.
When it came to the comments on last Friday’s $2,200 1997 Ford Mustang GT convertible, a theme developed early on and proceeded to grow from there. The kernel of counter-commentary centered on the supposedly cheap part the seller claimed would fix the car’s glaring check engine light. That raised enough red flags in the comments that I thought we had gotten a jump on our Lunar New Year celebration. Instead, it was you all calling out the ad’s description as an warning, and that led to the Mustang falling in a 70 percent No Dice loss.
OK, so I have to be honest, when I first saw the photos in the ad for this 1990 Toyota 4Runner, I thought that it had some sort of custom mountain range silhouette two-tone paint scheme. “That’s cool,” I thought, but at a closer look I realized that what I had mistaken for mountains was just the clear coat layer of the paint having been blasted off by an unrelenting sun.
The ad claims this 4Runner to be rare by dint of its two-door body and says it’s in relatively good shape, having been an Arizona car its entire life. That life wouldn’t have included much in the way of snow or salted roads, so it’s apparently rust-free. The years would, however, have included lots of cloudless skies which seemingly led to the sun eating away the clear coat like it was trying to get to the Toyota’s soft, chewy center.
You know what? Big deal. I’ll take the need for a respray over a Swiss-cheesed frame any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
This Toyota looks to be in pretty good shape otherwise. And when was the last time — if ever — that you saw a two-door second-generation 4Runner on the road? Speaking of road, there has been a reasonable amount of it under this car’s tires. The ad says 180,000 of them and offers a pic of the odometer to back that up.
Making those miles possible is a drivetrain comprising a 150-horsepower 3-liter 3VZ V6 and a five-speed manual gearbox. That powers both axles by way of a two-speed transfer case. The seller boasts that everything works as it should, right down to the air-conditioning. The ad also touts this car’s SR5 option package, which means it’s optioned to the hilt, offering a tilt steering wheel and a moonroof. Oddly enough, the window lifts are of the Armstrong variety.
The interior under that glass roof looks to be in reasonably solid shape. The seat upholstery appears almost as-new as does most of the rest of the cabin. Breaking the illusion is a dash that exhibits a couple of cracks and some untidy wiring around the center console. An aftermarket head unit stands out in the dash above that. On the plus side, the two-door 4Runner apparently had vent wings. Booyah! Also, check out the second door latch lever on the passenger side, allowing back seat dwellers to get out on their own.
The car rocks a set of aftermarket wheels, which is kind of a shame since the 4Runner’s factory alloys are pretty iconic and, in my estimation, more attractive. Those can be replaced, so that shouldn’t be considered a deal-killer. Neither should the title, which is clean.
The price tag may be, however. The interesting thing about this 4Runner is that it is less practical than its four-door siblings. That has to balance its uniqueness and, let’s be honest, better looks. That balance (and the paint) is likely why the seller has set the asking price at $7,900 OBO. What do you think about this 4Runner at that price? Does that seem like a fair exchange for the car in its current state? Or, are you all about that OBO?
You decide!
Los Angeles, Craigslist (although the car is in Arizona), or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to John Lunde for the hookup!
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