Is this a good first car 2004 sr5?

[Jack4WD]

Hey Lads,

I'm looking to get my first car and I've got my eye on this 2004 sr5 3.4L V6 petrol manual. I'm sharing this with all you guys to see if this looks like a good buy for the price or if I should keep looking around for a better deal, a turbo diesel or a post 2005 Hulix. So what are your opinions? I hope you guys can help me out

*Keeping in mind my main use for this vehicle will be my daily driver and to do some touring and try some more challenging stuff when I get more expirienced. For the mean time most of my off-road driving will be mainly the beach and and coastal tracks.*



The car is priced at $18,000 and looks to be in great condition and has only done 158,000k's

The cars features include:
-Great condition
-Lifted
-Front and rear ARB lockers
-ARB under bonnet compressor
-Xrox bar
-Brand new 33" Cooper ST Maxx tyres x5
-Recently replaced all wheel bearings and rear drums and shoes
-Timing belt replaced at 155,000k's
-Always serviced
-Alpine head unit, amp, focal splits and kicker slimline sub. All less than 6 months old
-Led light bars front and rear.
-Led spotlights
-UHF radio and long range antenna

Here are some pictures:







Hope you guys can help.
Thanks heaps and kind regards,
Jack

[john253a]

Add a snorkel, winch and recovery gear and you have perfect setup
Is it worth 18k only you can tell us, by what I pay

Looks very clean and a nice setup
I went from a 09sr5 to a 91sr5 live axel by choise
I'm rocking close to 9" total lift as of Christmas Day, 7" total before that, and have never been pulled over never even hassled in 3-4years I've had it, my 09 I was pulled over all the time

[Jack4WD]

Add a snorkel, winch and recovery gear and you have perfect setup
Is it worth 18k only you can tell us, by what I pay

Looks very clean and a nice setup
I went from a 09sr5 to a 91sr5 live axel by choise
I'm rocking close to 9" total lift as of Christmas Day, 7" total before that, and have never been pulled over never even hassled in 3-4years I've had it, my 09 I was pulled over all the time

Wow that's a massive lift mate! You must have some monster tires on her with a big lift!
Yeah it looks like a ripper of a car just have to add a few things and it would be a perfect setup for what I'm looking to do with it.

Thanks

[john253a]

It is but everything's adds up, fit 33's and you got 2" of lift,
I've got drop hangers extended shackles,and lifted springs with ifs steering box with histeer, will be fitting 12" front and 14" rear shocks when new mounts arrive from u.s
Then I'll get get final sign of from engineeres

[Jack4WD]

It is but everything's adds up, fit 33's and you got 2" of lift,
I've got drop hangers extended shackles,and lifted springs with ifs steering box with histeer, will be fitting 12" front and 14" rear shocks when new mounts arrive from u.s
Then I'll get get final sign of from engineeres

Nice mate! Must be an absolute monster off-road!!! The Lux I'm looking at has 33's so 2" lift from them then about another 2-3" suspension lift. So for what I want the car for that is about perfect

[Mrmal]

Nice and tidy SR5 - first car a v6 petrol, pay cash for the car and take a loan out for the fuel.

18k will buy you a lot of post 05 hilux in diesel which will (should) be cheaper to run as a daily, maybe not as mint as that one but definitely around the same k's. Buying the car is the cheap part, running it is an ongoing pain in the pocket.

Mal

[Jack4WD]

Nice and tidy SR5 - first car a v6 petrol, pay cash for the car and take a loan out for the fuel.

18k will buy you a lot of post 05 hilux in diesel which will (should) be cheaper to run as a daily, maybe not as mint as that one but definitely around the same k's. Buying the car is the cheap part, running it is an ongoing pain in the pocket.

Mal

Thanks mate,

That's the only downside and why I'm not going to go and buy it right now. I don't really know about the petrol Lux's because they use so much more fuel the the D4D's.

Also what is the differences between the pre and post 05 Lux's?

[bigfut]

Thats an awesome truck!

Different pre and post 05, the diesel becomes more temperamental (injector issues), and the petrol goes to a 4L V6.

The cabin gets a bit more room, same interior gadgets more or less, and suspension goes from torsion bar IFS, to Coil/Shock IFS. Totally new ute, so there are more differences, but those are some of the majors.

Pre 05 is also made in Japan, post 05 I believe is Thai built?

[Jack4WD]

Thats an awesome truck!

Different pre and post 05, the diesel becomes more temperamental (injector issues), and the petrol goes to a 4L V6.

The cabin gets a bit more room, same interior gadgets more or less, and suspension goes from torsion bar IFS, to Coil/Shock IFS. Totally new ute, so there are more differences, but those are some of the majors.

Pre 05 is also made in Japan, post 05 I believe is Thai built?

Thanks mate!

Also thanks for the reply on my other thread mate. I've heard about te 2004 is the last of the 'unbreakable' Lux's. I've heard about the diesel issues with the post 05 Lux's.

Is your Hilux a turbo-diesel or is yours a petrol?

[Mrmal]

I know someone who has an 2012 single cab Diesel with 60 odd kay on the clock was offered 16 grand trade. Sure he may be interested in your $18k........

Its his personal car and he has just had a baby so has to get a dual cab. He was telling me the other day how little he got offered. So may be worth a look?

[Jack4WD]

I know someone who has an 2012 single cab Diesel with 60 odd kay on the clock was offered 16 grand trade. Sure he may be interested in your $18k........

Its his personal car and he has just had a baby so has to get a dual cab. He was telling me the other day how little he got offered. So may be worth a look?

The one above is only an xtra cab unfortunately, so I don't think that would suit a baby, because the back seats aren't big enough :/

[bigfut]

Thanks mate!

Also thanks for the reply on my other thread mate. I've heard about te 2004 is the last of the 'unbreakable' Lux's. I've heard about the diesel issues with the post 05 Lux's.

Is your Hilux a turbo-diesel or is yours a petrol?

Mines a 99, so has the "5L" motor (3 litre n/a diesel), its the slow n steady wins the race kindof motor
Everything else on it, is how I want it, so the plan is to get a turbo put on it in the near future. Its fine most of the time, it can just be painful when your loaded up in hilly terrain. If I could go back and do it again I would have searched for a 1KZTE turbo, but now the rest of the ute is setup, its cheaper to turbo it than to sell and buy another, that has an unknown history.

[oldhilux]

I have a 99 2.7 litre petrol dual cab, 280000km. Nothings gone wrong only today first thing aircon pipe burst ( hopefully a small repair job) otherwise nothing wrong with it since I got it in 2002.

Looking at your photos, the damage around the rear window corners looks concerning(?) Also AFAIK I've not had wheel bearings replaced unless they were part of a standard service.

I am definitely no expert, I'd rather a vehicle that looks like it has had an easy life rather than looking toughened up, if you know what I mean.

Oh, also as has a tow bar, maybe has done a lot of towing?

[Jack4WD]

Thanks mate!

Also thanks for the reply on my other thread mate. I've heard about te 2004 is the last of the 'unbreakable' Lux's. I've heard about the diesel issues with the post 05 Lux's.

Is your Hilux a turbo-diesel or is yours a petrol?

Mines a 99, so has the "5L" motor (3 litre n/a diesel), its the slow n steady wins the race kindof motor
Everything else on it, is how I want it, so the plan is to get a turbo put on it in the near future. Its fine most of the time, it can just be painful when your loaded up in hilly terrain. If I could go back and do it again I would have searched for a 1KZTE turbo, but now the rest of the ute is setup, its cheaper to turbo it than to sell and buy another, that has an unknown history.

That sounds sweet mate. If you get a turbo in that you will be flying up the hills.

I sound really dumb but why do people call them 5L engines when they are only 3L?

[john253a]

The L series motors and built though, and if serviced every 7-10k will see some big km no issues, my 2.8 3L non turbo has 408k on it and just a 6k trip to Fraser and back from Victoria fully loaded + wife and 3 kids
Never missed a beat, all I've spent on motor was timing belt at 360k and new balancer as they like to spin them, $300 total outside of oil and filter cost
There is nothing wrong with getting a petrol model, and you get heaps of power upgrades for them (trd blower and headers will add close to 90hp at the fly) so the loss of the bigger tyres and load in the back won't be noticed to much,

[Jack4WD]

The L series motors and built though, and if serviced every 7-10k will see some big km no issues, my 2.8 3L non turbo has 408k on it and just a 6k trip to Fraser and back from Victoria fully loaded + wife and 3 kids
Never missed a beat, all I've spent on motor was timing belt at 360k and new balancer as they like to spin them, $300 total outside of oil and filter cost
There is nothing wrong with getting a petrol model, and you get heaps of power upgrades for them (trd blower and headers will add close to 90hp at the fly) so the loss of the bigger tyres and load in the back won't be noticed to much,

Who was this^ reply too? Haha I'm confused

[pipert]

I have a 2000 LN167 with the 5LE and it goes really well with an aftermarket turbo kit, chip, snorkel and 2.5" straight through exhaust. Before having a turbo and chip, it was such a slug on the road and especially up hills.

If you drive a lot and fuel economy is an issue, I'd stick with a diesel. For a pre-05 model, look at the 1KZ-TE's which are factory turbo diesels. You still should be able to pickup the 5L's or 5LE's with aftermarket turbos. I've had no issues after turbo'ing mine.

[Mrmal]

I know someone who has an 2012 single cab Diesel with 60 odd kay on the clock was offered 16 grand trade. Sure he may be interested in your $18k........

Its his personal car and he has just had a baby so has to get a dual cab. He was telling me the other day how little he got offered. So may be worth a look?

The one above is only an xtra cab unfortunately, so I don't think that would suit a baby, because the back seats aren't big enough :/

Jack4wd - I meant the guy with the baby might be interested in the 18k the OP was going to spend on the SR5

[Jack4WD]

I have a 2000 LN167 with the 5LE and it goes really well with an aftermarket turbo kit, chip, snorkel and 2.5" straight through exhaust. Before having a turbo and chip, it was such a slug on the road and especially up hills.

If you drive a lot and fuel economy is an issue, I'd stick with a diesel. For a pre-05 model, look at the 1KZ-TE's which are factory turbo diesels. You still should be able to pickup the 5L's or 5LE's with aftermarket turbos. I've had no issues after turbo'ing mine.

Yeah I'm not too keen on the petrol as it will be my first car and I don't want to go broke having to pay for petrol haha as much as I think the car looks great and looks in immaculate condition I think I will keep on looking around.

I wish the car was in diesel

[Jack4WD]

I know someone who has an 2012 single cab Diesel with 60 odd kay on the clock was offered 16 grand trade. Sure he may be interested in your $18k........

Its his personal car and he has just had a baby so has to get a dual cab. He was telling me the other day how little he got offered. So may be worth a look?

The one above is only an xtra cab unfortunately, so I don't think that would suit a baby, because the back seats aren't big enough :/

Jack4wd - I meant the guy with the baby might be interested in the 18k the OP was going to spend on the SR5

Oh yeah Get ya now mate. I'm not really looking for a single cab. An Xtra-Cab is as smaller cab I'm looking for. So unfortunately I want to buying his car. Just because of the fact I'm looking for something a bit bigger