I'm looking at getting one of these. Test drove one, and it felt great. Can anyone point out some positive and (more importantly) negative aspects of the 2001 model?

I have seen some problematic convertible tops on two of these. Wonder if this is just a coincidence or if there is a design problem with the tops (problem going down).

 

Fantastic car! I have 40,000 miles--no problems.
The only major thing to watch out for is the instrument cluster. My center readouts are fading, so I next service I will have cluster replaced. This is a known issue. Otherwise, only a few small items. Probably the best car I have owned!

 

Get an extended warranty if you plan to keep it.

 

I'm just saying that 'cause I got one. But there were some slight changes - bascially the closer to "now" that you go, the less problems. Either way, get the extended warranty - I'm almost due for mine.

 

I picked one a 2001QR a couple of months ago. Had to have the cluster replaced (under warranty). Other than that, zero problems. I haven't seen too many posts complaining about the top, but you may want to do a search for that in the archives.

The car is an absolute blast to drive. Having driven a 4Runner for the past 6 years, I never knew that a vehicle could be so responsive and quick. It's really the only thing that keeps me driving in to work every morning... well, there is that pesky thing called a paycheck... but I digress. Zipping down the freeway with the top down every morning makes the drudgery disappear and leaves me feeling like I've got it SOO much better than all the other latte-toting commuters on the 405. Like I figured out one of the secrets of life and they're still blindly stumbling around for it.

It's going to be a used car, so take all the usual precautions, including:

- Have it checked out by a good mechanic that's familiar with these cars.
- Try to buy one that has some time left on the warranty if possible.
- Make sure you have some money set aside to spend on upgrades. It's really, really addictive.
- Replace the suspension (shocks & springs) as soon as you can. Mine was on the original setup, and the shocks were completely shot. It dramatically improved the ride.

Oh, almost forgot -- there's one major downside to my TT. I didn't find out about it until I had driven it for a while:

It turns heads ALL the time.

40(ish) year old male heads to be precise. The thing is a middle aged man MAGNET! I'm constantly catching guys checking it out; often with a bit of envy in their eyes. Don't be like one of them. Get the TT and enjoy the hell out of it.

 

1. Bad MAF
2. Bad fuel sending units
3. Battery replaced
4. Door/top adjustments (for creaking)
5. HID ballast
6. Driver's side seat frame (clicking noise)
7. DV (twice) finally installed Forge DV

Also had the following changed but was not required because the dealer swapped the units under warranty but they were not defective.

5. O2 sensor
6. Instrument cluster

Overall I consider it to be an average amount of problems but the car is beautiful, fun to drive and exclusive. Couldn't be happier.

 

people accidently leaving solid object on back shelf, putting the top down and breaking the rear glass necessitating replacment of the ENTIRE top! Nor have I personally experienced any convertible top problem. Typical problems you will read about for this model year are mostly failed clusters and bad DV valve (pre "N" desgination) but many of us have had almost no problems but a few though have had more than you would want to know. Just make sure you get one in great shape, low mileage and one that has not been abused by being moded and driven too hard.

 

Great car for the $$$ Good luck!

 

I'm closing in on 4yrs and would like to have peace of mind with a new cluster before I go off of warranty (not looking to get an extended one). I have seen no signs of mine going bad but I only have 10k miles on the car.

Thanks for any help on how to convince Service Mgr to replace!

 

which didn't help at all. They then had to go back and replace both FSU's. BTW, I told them the symptoms were FSU when I brought the car in. It's almost like they try and go out of their way to show the customer that they know better.