1995 4Runner Head Gasket

[Tremlett]

Greetings everyone. I'm brand new to the forum, and have reserved posting until I could no longer find answers on a 95 4Runner I would like to buy. Not my local dealer OR the "Toyota Customer Experience" 800 line could answer this, so I'm interested to see what we can come up with.

After sifting through many...MANY pages of head gasket recall predicaments on the 3.0 engine, it appears that while most of them were serviced and fitted with a redesigned head gasket, some do not qualify for the recall, nor are they covered by the service recall. I know already that the vehicle I'm questioning has NOT been serviced for the head gasket, and is NOT covered by the recall. My question is this: why the hell aren't they covered??? Did Toyota begin installing the corrected head gasket in the late 1995 2nd gen. 3.0 models? Or did they just get tired of spending money on the service recall?

I would much prefer to spring for a 96 or newer with the 3.4, but the deal I found on a 95 simply won't allow me to ignore it. Thanks for any input you have.

Cheers

[RobXS]

Aside from the head gasket issue, I would have to get the 3.0 for free before I would even consider taking that over a 3.4. I have had both and the 3.4 is night and day different over the 3.0. The 3.0 is way under powered and is a gas hog. You will easily spend more money in gas over time with the 3.0 than what you will save by getting a better price.