Another Random Rant

Hello ToyHeadz,

I'll make this quick. Are there just too few of us 2nd gen Runner (and 3rd gen Pickup) folks to support an aftermarket, or are we just too stubborn and/or stupid for wanting to keep our rigs?
I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want a clumsy, midsized, 40 some-odd thousand dollar Taco/Runner.

Give me restoration parts or give me death!

Blessings

 

There are too few of you.

Far far too few.

I can't remember the last time I saw one down here in NC...and we don't have rust. Still plenty of 3rd gens running around though. But those have thinned out in the last 3 years. I used to see at least 3-4 on the way to work and now it's usually 1 and I'm lucky if I see 2.

4Runners aren't fancy or flashy or fast so they aren't going to attract the collectors or the type of owner that puts down the money to pay for resto parts. Hell, it's a hard sell to just have people buy the good Toyota parts.

I haven't seen a proper resto of one of these yet. It's always a fix-up project of some degree, but never a frame up, numbers matching, factory perfect resto, with all paint markings, engine decals, etc etc etc. Until you have people doing those, there is no resto market.

What little collectibility 4Runners have is helped by the fact that it's really the only capable Asian 4x4. But that is also very niche and will only bring some aftermarket vendors to make accessories.

 

I agree that there are too few of us. I see lots of 3rd gens but very few 1st and 2nd gens in my travels.

 

They just don’t think people will buy products, but of course the few products that are available for them sell like crazy. There is a market for all of these products, but convincing the companies is the key

There’s more of them around than you think. Also the 2nd gen 4runner market may not be booming but the 3rd gen pickups 100% are. I own one and am in several groups centered around them and there are many example being cleaned up and restored. Parts are also becoming very hard to come by for them because so many people are trying to fix them up. I have not been able to find several parts I needed that used to be very readily available in junkyards

as all the 3rd gen 4runners and pickups are getting snatched up it is starting to raise the value of the 2nd gens. I used to be able to find $900 examples all day long, now I’m lucky if I see one for $2000 with a blown head gasket.

vehicles don’t need to be flashy or fast to become collectors items. The 1985 Pickup is a great example of this as it has become one of the most sought after Toyotas on the market behind the supras. These early 90’s ones are on their way up the collector’s list

 

You and your newfangled 2nd gen...what about the poor 1st gen folks?? What do they get?

Hmm...now that I think of it, weren't you putting up your prized 2nd gen for sale just a few weeks ago?

 

They get quite a bit actually, you’d be surprised actually

 

The reason there is less parts support is there are less of you. Look at the number of pages for each generation. 2nd and 1st gens always have the fewest, even combined they are well behind.

But that makes sense not only because of age, but also numbers. The 3rd gen sold as many units as the previous 2 generations combined, probably twice over. And it didn't have reliability problems of the 3.0 while being not a total deathtrap. The older age doesn't help 2nd gens, but they were never going to get as much support as a generation that sold 3x as many.

Eventually the 3rd generation will fall victim too. Toyota has stopped carrying some prominent parts like CV axles lately, so parts are starting to dry up. Will normal people move on once this happens, or will they use aftermarket parts? I don't know, but no car is prevalent forever.

 

Bummer, but true. I can't even get an OEM electric switch for my 2nd gen 4runner. .
I guess it will eventually goy the way of the Dodo bird. *shame*

 

It is for sale, not because I don't LOVE it, but because I want to fund a 1UZ in my 93 4x4 Xtra-Cab Pickup. I have 19K into my 2DOOR 4runner as of today and it's great (for what it is) I'll miss Her when she's gone .