2007 Toyota 4Stunner

[Senor_Taylor]

Consuella the Tacoma took great care of me through high school and college. I beat on her and she only showed me love. She got me to work and back home safely in 18 inches of unplowed snow, she hauled motorcycles, mopeds, motors, wood, camping gear, all of the stuff for 4 car shows, and way too many drunk people around Harrisonburg. I dubbed it the MM Support vehicle my freshmen year because I must have been used to jump start at least 10 people just that year, drove people to work in the snow, pulled tons of cars out of ditches including a certain green Subaru on the JMU Campus, a motorcycle off the side of 81, and my own Miata off the side of a mountain. Honestly, as much fun as the Miatas and the E46 were, this truck was responsible for more cool things happening in MM than I'd suspect many other vehicles have been. (I heard it was pretty fast too!) Sadly, it's time for it to go. I always dreamed I'd be able to keep it forever and turn it into the off-road rig it deserved (and clearly wanted) to be, but that's just not in the cards. My back is pretty borked and this thing doesn't really do well on the commute from Sterling to Tyson's. I need a little more comfort and inside space.

For months, I pondered what would replace her. I was stuck between a newer F150, Mid 2000s Silverado. I really wanted something with 4 doors since all Zach and I own are vehicles with either 2 doors or 2 wheels. More recently, I almost bought a 2017 Tacoma. I mean, I was REALLY close to buying one. Standing in the dealership crunching the numbers over and over in my head hoping somehow they would change. In the end, Jake and Joey talked me off the edge of that financial suicide and Joey sent me a 4Runner he found that looked really clean, in my favorite color, and with every feature I wanted. I just so happened to have a short day at work so I stole him away from his gluten free pizza and we drove to Front Royal to look at it. I really liked it. Obviously it didn't make giggle and squeal like a little kid being chased by a leaf blower or anything, but it was comfortable and the thought of how much easier it would make day-to-day life made me feel really good. The rumble of the V8 and 300+ lb-ft of torque didn't hurt either. I was approved for a loan from my bank, so I went inside and told them I'd take it. My bank was closing, wasn't open on weekends, and the dealer needed to replace the right rear caliper anyway, so we agreed I'd come back Monday.

Natalie gave me a ride back down there and I picked it up today. Not only did they replace the caliper, but they threw a new battery in and handled the tags, title, and registration for me. The dealership is G & W auto sales and they seem like really great people. Not pushy at all, really nice to talk to, and honestly they ask seemingly great prices for their stuff. I didn't get this thing for a steal, but I certainly got a great deal considering the mileage and condition. That said, here's the details:

2007 Toyota 4Runner Limited
- 2 Owner, Pennsylvania car with a clean carfax
- 116,000 miles
- 4.7 Liter V8 with variable valve timing ( 260hp and 306 lb-ft of torque)
- Only weighs in somewhere between 4000 and 4300 and you can tell when you step on it.
- Heated leather
- JBL Sound System
- Front window tent
- Power moonroof
- 100Watt outlet in the center console
- Dual Climate
- Locking Center Torsen Differential
- 18 inch wheels
- Running boards
- Tow Package
- Tons of other nice things I've never had (or only had briefly with the E46) like a self closing tailgate, folding rear seats, one of those automatic rear view mirrors, power rear glass, memory seats, electronic lumber support, radio controls on the steering wheel.
- This is obviously the newest vehicle I've ever owned, but also it's essentially the lowest mileage as well since the 95 Miata now has just as many miles.

I've already spoken with Jason and we're pricing out a Timing Belt, Water Pump, Front/Rear/Center Diff fluid, Trans fluid, Coolant flush, etc. I only used Toyota products in my Tacoma and I'll continue the trend here.

The drive home was absolutely splendid. It soaks up bumps and rough road ten times better than my Tacoma on those crazy high spring rate lift springs. I will echo what Cabell said when he got his and say that the stock suspension is pretty tired and really floaty at highway speed (vertically, not laterally). The extra gear and extra 100 lb-ft of Torque was so satisfying when you could pass people no problem on 66 while only taching 2100 RPM at 75MPH. Another thing to note is this gets essentially the same mileage as my Tacoma did. The stereo sounds great and will be even better when I upgrade the head unit to something with Nav and Bluetooth. Joey and I were surprised to see that a 2007 Toyota had a factory aux port in the center console, but then again, this was a $40,000 car. Also, after doing some math, it seems absolutely feasible to pull an open trailer with this. That will have to be further down the road when I have room for a race-car or I finally nut up and sell the Miata to build one. Regardless of that, I'm excited to get out and do some trail riding and camping with this thing. It certainly won't do what my Tacoma could do without dumping large amounts of money into it, but it'll hold it's own on some trails and will be super comfortable while doing it.

Future plans:
Baseline maintenance
Small lift and more aggressive tire (Depending on how much I turn out to care about gas mileage)
Double Din Head Unit with Nav and Bluetooth
After that, who knows? I have a million other things to spend money I don't have on.

Any way, thanks for reading! Here's some pictures of a stock 4Runner.