Where to buy an engine for a 3rd gen

I have a 2002 Toyota forerunner that blew an engine. Where is the best place to purchase a replacement motor. What price range is fair? Should I stick with the same year vehicle so that everything goes back together correctly? Taking on this task myself, any advice, do’s or dont’s?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304708665941?fits=Year:1996|Model:4Runner|Make:Toyota&epid=657338996

 

In all that is not a bad price even with shipping and lift gate service

 

expect $1000-3000 if you go JDM. It’s a great option as they’re low mileage, but do your research, you’ll want to swap over some parts from your blown engine to bring it to US Spec. It’s more involved than finding a junk yard motor. Also, I’m going to assume you aren’t in California, which has a ton of extra dumb rules. If you aren’t in Cali, you can use a 5VZ-FE from a 3rd Gen 4R, 1st Gen Tacoma, or 1st Gen Tundra- if it’s older then a 99 there will be some minor differences in throttle body and injectors etc, so again you’ll want to have access to your old engine and may need to grab some spare parts to make the new one work

Watch some YouTube’s and scout some forums - Google is your friend