Are the days of cheap Toyota Campers officially gone?

[thewanderlustking]

Since getting rid of my Mini Cruiser, I have kept looking for another Toy RV...   I sometimes regret letting mine go, and have to remind myself it was too much of a project time wise.  The interior shell/ceiling repairs were way out of my comfort zone.  Ironically, I would happily trade a mint interior and shell for one needing an engine/head gaskets/transmission or some other serious mechanical problems.

 

Event two years or so ago it seemed you could still find nice ones at almost reasonable prices.  $10k could get you one with a mint shell/interior.  You could sometimes even find Sunraders for close to $20k.  Unusually not the more desirable shorty ones, but still a Sunrader.   There were still "needs work" Toy options available for under $5k.  

 

In all fairness, I usually just look for Sunraders...  If I get another Toy, I really want one of the fiberglass shell ones.  Ideally, a shorty Sunder that is 4x4.  If not one of the fiberglass Toys, it needs to be super clean with near zero water incursion issues.  Now oddly, Sunraders seem more plentiful these days.  But the ones I would consider are out of reach for now at $50-60k.

 

But my mentality has changed a bit too.  As a side note, I now have two 4Runners now I got for WELL UNDER market value.  Both had blown transmissions and various other smaller mechanical issues.  The first one I got a couple years ago when I sold the Mini Cruiser.  It is my main daily driver.  The second one I got about several months ago with an almost identical story, and also a blown transmission.  It sat about a month with no real progress, just me dreading doing that job in my driveway.  I could have taken it to work and done it in a few evenings or over a weekend....  But I got a very fair quote from Aamco to put it in, so I went that route.  I realized that just because I can do it, doesn't mean I have to.  Sometimes paying to have a big job like that sorted out, is well worth you not having to do it.  I have had more time to then do other more fun jobs I enjoy much more.