Bought my 4runner a year ago and it has been great. Like yourself I researched for a LONG time, and determined for ME, that I wanted a '99 or rare '00 with AWD/4WD and a locker..... my wife wanted leather and sunroof. Pre-99's have different interior plastic, which sounds pretty petty, but after dealing with the riduculous cupholders on my '96, I knew I wanted the updated plastic. Anything after Mid-00's loses the Rear Locker for the central diff lock. I also wanted a moderate lift, 32/33 tires, under 200k, and well maintained.
You aren't that terribly far from me, so I imagine our searches would be similar. I would hit up craigslist 3 times a week, in all of Washington and Oregon..... occasionally Idaho, and search for *runner (as people list them as 4runner, 4 runner, forerunner, fourRunner, etc...)
Bend actually seemed to have the highest amount of stuff for sale during the period I was looking.
I ended up with a 99 Limited like I wanted. 33's, Bumpers, sliders, winch, front AND rear ARB lockers, 3" lift, 185k. I openly admit that I overpaid at $8000, as it did need a bit of work (steering rack, mainly), but it suited my needs, and was at the upper limit of my budget. I had to pry the keys out of the previous owners hands.
While the limited, did not ALL have the locker, it was a pretty common package, and I would say more than half of the Limited editions came with the locker. To get a locker on a non-limited was typically customer request or special order.
The Holy grail or 4runners (so I have been told), is a '99 with a 5speed and a locker. Limiteds never came with a 5speed, and non-limiteds rarely came with a locker. Also the '99 is the tallest of all the stock 3rd gens.
In my case, I wanted the Auto transmission that came in the 99-early 00 limiteds, which had the central diff lock (AWD) in addition to 4x4. Pushbutton AWD for icy highways, with real 4x4 for goat trails.
