Toyota 4Runner 3rd Gen

For its first twelve years the 4Runner was, essentially, a Hilux pickup wearing a hat. The third generation, launched in late 1995 as a 1996 model, was the moment Toyota stopped bolting a lid onto a truck bed and built the thing as an SUV from the frame up. It got coil springs at all four corners, rack-and-pinion steering, a chassis shared with the Land Cruiser Prado (J90) and, for the first time on a 4Runner, an optional electric rear locker. Nearly three decades later it is the generation trail people lower their voices about — and the one sellers have noticed.

THE BREAK FROM THE HILUX

The first 4Runner arrived in 1983 as a Hilux with a removable fibreglass top; the second generation swapped that for a one-piece steel body but still rode on the pickup's bones. The N180 cut the cord. Wikipedia records an all-new body and chassis shared with the J90 Prado, a wheelbase 2.3 inches longer than before, coils all round, rack-and-pinion steering and dual airbags. MotorWeek's 1996 test noted towing jumping from 3,500 to 5,000 lb, and the 3.4-litre V6 rising to 183 hp and 217 lb-ft from the old 3.0's 150 hp.

It was not expensive, either. MotorWeek priced a two-wheel-drive four-cylinder base model at $19,908 and the 4WD SR5 V6 most people actually wanted at $25,568. Under the hood sat two engines borrowed from the brand-new Tacoma: the 150 hp 2.7-litre 3RZ-FE four and the 5VZ-FE V6. Gearboxes were a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic, and two-wheel drive was standard — so plenty of the 3rd gens for sale are not the trail trucks they look like. Check the badge, then check underneath.

FACELIFT, MULTI-MODE AND THE LOST LOCKER

The 1999 refresh brought a new nose with revised bumper and headlights, a reorganised centre stack and — the bit that matters — an optional Multi-Mode transfer case that could run full-time 4WD on slippery roads. Wikipedia records the rest: a 'fat lip' bumper that lengthened the front crush zone, multi-parabola headlamps, a new instrument panel with a digital odometer, and colour-keyed bumpers, flares and running boards on the Limited and the Highlander, a trim later renamed Sport Edition. The rear E-locker stayed on the options list.

Then came 2001. The final two years made VSC stability control standard, fitted the Multi-Mode transfer case (with its lockable centre differential) to every 4WD truck and added brake-based traction control — but, as Wikipedia and HotCars both record, they lost the optional rear E-locker that had been available from 1996 to 2000. The manual had already gone for 2000 and the four-cylinder followed for 2001, leaving a V6-automatic-only line-up. For a lot of buyers that makes the 1999–2000 Limited or SR5 with a locker the sweet spot, while purists still argue for the simpler pre-facelift trucks.

WHY THE TRAIL CROWD WORSHIPS IT

The electric rear locker was the headline. Wikipedia notes Toyota had offered an electric rear locker on the US Land Cruiser since 1993 — the 80 Series was the big brother in showrooms at the time — and the 3rd gen was the first 4Runner to get one. Combine that with a compact footprint, decent ground clearance and a 105.3-inch wheelbase, and you have a truck that fits trails a full-size SUV has to winch around.

Then there is the 5VZ-FE. It is not fast — MotorWeek clocked 9.5 seconds to 60 — but it is the sort of engine owners talk about in hundreds of thousands of miles. 8020 Automotive calls it non-interference, so a snapped timing belt usually means a tow rather than a rebuild, and SlashGear notes the 3rd gen consistently ranked among the SUVs most likely to pass 250,000 miles. Because it shares so much with the first-generation Tacoma, the aftermarket for suspension, armour and parts is enormous.

THE AFTERMATH

Production ended in August 2002 and the fourth generation reached US showrooms that October as a 2003 model, built on the bigger Prado 120 platform that also underpins the Lexus GX 470. It brought a V8 and more comfort, and a lot more mass. The N180, meanwhile, slid into the used market and became the default answer to 'what cheap 4x4 should I build?' — right up until it stopped being cheap. Its shared DNA with the first-generation Tacoma kept parts plentiful long after the dealer stopped caring.

Today the clean ones are collector items in all but name: Yahoo Autos reports unmodified examples under 100,000 miles mostly trading in the mid-to-upper $20,000s. The rest are rolling restoration projects held together by forum knowledge — lower ball joints, rear axle seals, frame rust and timing belts are the usual list. None of it is exotic, all of it is documented, and that, more than any spec sheet, is why the 3rd gen refuses to die.