First time 4runner purchase. Help me choose between two!

Hi! I’m buying my first 4runner and have narrowed down to two vehicles. They are both gray 2018 TRD off roads. One is a premium with 48k miles, the other is a certified pre owned with 7 year/100,000 mile warranty and 36k miles. In addition to heated leather seats and sunroof the premium has a 2 in lift with aftermarket wheels and larger tires, a roll out cargo bed in the back, a rooftop basket, and aftermarket mock TRD pro grill. The certified Preowned non premium lacks the sunroof and leather along with any included accessories but the dealer will install unheated leather free of charge and the dealership does a standard coating of the interior and exterior to protect from scratches, fading, etc. The out the door price of the premium is about $1600 less than the certified non premium. The big question, are the 10,000 fewer miles and warranty of the certified preowned worth more than all the lower price and extras of the premium? Which would you guys buy?!

 

You need to answer the question on do you need the lift and all the other goodies or do you want the warranty? $1600 is a pretty good chunk of change for only 12K miles. Do you plan to lift it if you buy the CPO one? If you choose the lifted one, find out what lift it is and possibly who installed it if you can. Personally I wouldn't want the sunroof, basket, or rollout cargo bed and I would be doing my best to talk them down on the price of the warranty one.

 

We don’t really need the lift, although it does look pretty cool after seeing it in person when we hadn’t given it a second thought before. My wife likes the sunroof and I like the heated seats in the premium. I agree with you that 12,000 miles seems almost negligible considering the life of most Toyotas and the fact that we plan to keep this vehicle for the rest of its life. The other accessories that come with it also aren’t necessities but if they come with the vehicle we’d use them. I’m torn because on one hand I do think I like the premium better and with the reliability of a Toyota I wouldn’t expect to need to use the warranty but at the same time you can’t predict if something will go wrong and it’s always nice to have that peace of mind. Any guidance on how common needing major engine or transmission work before 150,000 miles on a 4runner would be great if anybody can speak to that! The dealership with the CPO does seem very willing to work with us to win our business though so I guess one way or another we’ll probably have something new in our driveway tomorrow evening!

 

If it was me, I'd get the Premium. I really like the Premium trim. I use the heated seats all the time and the softex seats are really easy to clean. If you have kids, you'll love having softex seats.

It's very rare for the 4Runner to have any engine or transmission problems up to 200,000 miles and a lot of them go quite a bit further than that. I wouldn't pay extra for an extended warranty on these vehicles personally.

 

Check out what the lift is. If its a spacer lift, you can have that for very little (and possibly won't want it). The leather and wheels and other stuff may make up for the difference depending on your preference. Also I've been on both ends of a modified vehicle at the dealer. They give me less when I want to sell it with mods because dealer. And when you want to buy a modified vehicle they charge you more because of the awesomeness. If you like the other features aside from the aftermarket mods you can use that route and lowball the shit out of them.
Edit
Just saw that the premium with mods was less. On these trucks reliability isn't a huge issue. If you like the premium and the mods, I'd go that route and still low ball the dealer because aftermarket stuff. The "certified" preowned gets you something, but not that much. Mainly a used vehicle selling point on toyota trucks

 

What ever your choice, haggle them down.

 

Tried to go buy the premium today and they wouldn’t budge off their internet price leading to an out the door of $35k, not horrible after all taxes and fees but did rub me the wrong way a bit...They kept talking about how their store strategy is to have the best prices around and make money on the added warranties and service plans. When we ran numbers I discovered they have a $1000 dealer fee and add another $400 onto every used vehicle for improvements, cleaning, etc regardless of what needs to be done. Suddenly a really great priced car turned into a pretty average priced car and they weren’t willing to work with me at all because “their internet price is so low”. I got ahold of another dealership who includes their fees in the online price and should end up being close to the same out the door as the first after taxes, title, etc. However, they said they want to work with me to win my business. I have no problem with a fair priced car but when you tack on nearly double to triple what many other dealerships do in fees and then expect me to believe you still have the lowest prices in the region it’s just a little offensive.

 

Premium my vote.

 

Standard unscrupulous dealer practice. Jack up the admin fee and hope no one notices or after you’ve bought into the vehicle you won’t back out once you know. I’d stay away from these guys. There are a lot of off road premiums out there! This is not a rare vehicle.

 

Agreed I'd tell them to kick rocks. Plenty of deals to be made with our 4Runner in Premium trim level. To OP check Carguru it's a pretty good site to gauge the availability of the models you want around your area.

 

What’s your out the door price? That’s the real deal maker.

 

I did it guys! Went with the premium!

 

Hey, Jesswrk88, that looks great and congratulations on your decision.

 

Looks really nice!

How do you like it?

 

Congrats!!

 

Great choice! I hope you enjoy it!

 

Very nice, should serve you well for years to come.

 

Big mistake. Should have bought the other one.

LOL Totally kidding of course.


I was going to suggest the Premium (because other than color it is pretty much the same as mine) but you already bought it. Good job. The extra few miles means nothing on these vehicles. But, since it is used, if it were me I would have all the fluids changed right away and check brake pad wear etc.... Just something I do on every used vehicle I buy regardless of miles or certification.

Welcome.

 

Looking good man! Good choice in colour too! These vehicles will take you well over 200,000 miles with no issues. Congrats!

 

Awesome, were you able to haggle them down any?

 

I wont comment on your two choices but will offer the following:
I have owned 3 generations of SR5 4RUNNER's and always bought new, cash, with 13 to 15% off from window sticker. I have never had a repair before 100,000 miles that I had to pay for. My current is a 2007 with 110,000 miles on it and just spent $2500 in repairs and service. Over the years I have found that the prices on used and certified 4Runners does not make them a good buy. This is specially so with the new generation not offering H4 until you get to the top of the line (the old guys are holding their value) My technique is very simple. I research (Autotrader, etc.) inventory within 300 miles (one day driving). Find specific vehicles, make several offers (17 below widow sticker) cash, OTD. Negotiate the answer over the phone or internet and send a deposit to the agreed lowest. If I was to buy today I'll make offers on a new Limited and start at about $35,000. My method works well because I don't care about color except RED.(burgundy OK)

 

Welcome and congrats. Good choice.

 

Looks good!

 

Like $200... it was kind of a slap in the face but it was just so cool and none of the other off roads in the area were priced much better so I went for it!