1989 BJ74 - Worth It?

[crushers]

nope, it seems the warm weather package dosn't include a rear heater... that is okay, the front is wickedly warm...

[mjohn7]

[quote=crushers]hummm, dealers make mistakes...
that is true but what is a lie and what is a mistake...

lets take a look, shall we compare the original post with what this truck really is?

To answer, the post was from onlytoyota I have not seen any post from the dealer (jaeve) and dont' expect to. Also your auction sheet shows a 3 grade exterior C interior. ISHOBIE in a post said it was a A grade exterior, is he also being misleading ?

We should be prudent not to jump to conclutions as to what is a lie and what is a mistake. As has been seen with licensing from AMVIC

I speak as a comnsumer as I have delt with jaeve in Japan as well as excced as local dealer in the past. I drive a JDM truck, as does my brother as well as some of my friends and co-workers I would hope your distast for me on a personal level would not overshadow your judgement as to the honesty of dealers and importers as this may put the whole indusrty in question.

[lshobie]

Different auction sheets - same truck, just means it was sent to auction - was either sold or unsold and either re-entered or sent off to another auction house. It isn't uncommon to see a grade 4 truck one week and a week later it is a 3.5 - or vise-versa. The sheet I saw was from last saturday - didn't make a copy of it though as I don't really care about it.

I wasn't misleading - no reason to, just telling you what I saw on the sheet.

I'd like to have that grill and those turn signals though - I like them.

M7john is probably right though - should probably hear both sides of the story - good point.

Regards

[crushers]

Originally Posted by mjohn7

I would hope your distast for me on a personal level would not overshadow your judgement as to the honesty of dealers and importers as this may put the whole indusrty in question.

the HONESTY and INTEGRITY of dealers, importers and curbers IS in question.

i have seen curbers sell some really nice rigs and dealers sell doctored units. i have seen dealers sell roll backs, accident units and just plain unfit units off their lots.

i have watch for the last 4 years as real crooks sell shit to customers as "excellent", "perfect", "hig end" ratings. you should know this quite well since you visit Mike's shop and can see this for yourself.

ANYONE that blindly follows ANY importer (including me) is a fool.

i HIGHLY recommend EVERY potential purchaser ask questions, test out their importer for honesty and integrity and knowledge of the product being sold. there are importers now that have ripped off their trusting buyers in Japan and are pocketing the money thus causing a riff between the Japanese traders and Canadian buyers. the Japanese sellers are fast loosing trust in the Canadians and this is unacceptable.

the auction sheets are a sure sign of the problems at hand. grade "4" with rust? grade "4" with "B3" dents? grade "4" with paint fade? "B" interiors with tears? "B" interiors with heavy smoked interiors?

BTW, one auction can rate a unit "A" and another auction a "C". this is common practice in the auctions.

[crushers]

just for the record,

i posted the original advertised description of the unit and the actual translation of the auction sheet and did a point by point comparision.

there are 2 sides to every story and this is why no mention was made of the individual company in my post. i did not go after the importer. i have never dealt with this guy nor plan to. same with te potential buyer, never met him.

the only negitive part of the posts towards anyone was in response to Mjohn7's posted info.

[tlcruiserman]

Originally Posted by lshobie

ya, i guess - i have owned those, nice trucks - but i'll never own another gasser 80 series, too hard on fuel, too expensive to fix up the bits and pieces that break on them.

Diesel rocks!

Regards

I have had 4 80 series cruisers one of which is diesel and I have to say I have yet to break anything gasser related on teh 80 or anything else on it. The only thing I have seen happen is the e-lockers get stock if they are not used at all. 80 series cruisers rock no matter what, but if you have means to have an 80 series and diesel I highly recomend it

Cheers,

Michael

[Martin White]

Onlytoyota, no one has yet said it in this thread, and Wayne and Louis won't, because they don't show off and are modest, so I will. My best advice is to buy from an importing specialist who sells premium units such as Luxury or Outback. I don't know Louis but I'm sure he is the same way. There might be others, but if you are on the West coast, I'd take a LONG, hard look at Wayne's stuff or Outback. I picked up an 80 from a Toyota dealer. It was an excellent truck and there was no misrepresentation, but when you deal with a specialist you know exactly what you're getting and there is HUGE value in buying from an outfit with a reputation such as these fellows have. I could EASILY have paid the 30K for one of Waynes 40-60,000 km HDJ81's, which at the time I thought was way overpriced (but now DO NOT). I don't regret my decision, because I've learned an incredible amount, and I love the truck, but these high end importers are offering huge added value to your purchase. You won't believe some of the costs to make things right on these rigs, if there is something wrong you don't know about. Anyhow, food for thought.

[Martin White]

I just reread my post and thought I'd offer a quick example. In my case, the original Japanese owner had removed and chucked the sway bars on both ends. I ended up replacing them (thanks to Sheldon) but it still cost $600 to take care of that little issue. It also changed the character of the whole truck. That's just one small example. As I said, I don't mean to deprecate Penticton Toyota because they have some beautiful trucks there, but don't underestimate the value of dealing with a high end importer. If and when I buy another truck, I will buy from Wayne next time.

[crushers]

Originally Posted by Martin White

If and when I buy another truck, I will buy from Wayne next time.

thank you for the vote of confidence...i apprecitate it.
cheers

[nickw]

I am with Martin.
If I ever have to buy again it will be from Wayne.
If anyone asks about my cruiser, I always send them to him.

As the old adage goes:
You get what you pay for.

I got a "good deal" on mine.
But since then my saving has been eaten up by starter, rear, brakes turbo and now suspension. I would not expect an importer to cover all this. But some would be nice. I am getting no help from my importer.

Wayne on the other hand has covered heads on 2LT's that was the clients fault.

Cheers,
Nick

[1990 LJ78]

I'm with Nick.
I also thought I got a good deal, But
since the purchase I've learned a lot more about these things than I thought I ever would and the savings have been eaten away. The spending continues to bring the truck into compliance with the powers that be..
Just found out my tires are not D O T... will it ever end.

Next time I or one of my family wants a JDM I'm going with Louis.

[codgerdave]

Just came across this old thread and thought, "hey, that truck looks familiar... hey! wait a minute!"

I bought this truck from Derik @ ddimports in Prince Albert SK in September. I gather he must have bought and imported it shortly after these posts were made. Interesting to read the debate. As it turned out, Derik replaced the shackles, rebuilt the front wheel bearings, added a bumper, and fixed the odd thing here and there, but it didn't need much else. I drove it from Saskatchewan to Montreal with no problems at all. It needed a bit of electrical work e.g. centre brake light, new headlights, to pass the Quebec safety, but other than that it's been pretty good to go. The interior does have a few small tears in the upholstery here and there, but is in pretty nice shape otherwise. The body is in good shape - there's only one spot that looks a teensy bit pushed in. There's a small amount of surface rust from its one winter spent in Saskatchewan, but it's very clean over all. All in all, I'm very pleased with it. Here's one thread that ends well, anyway... (knock on wood!)

Dave

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by codgerdave

Just came across this old thread and thought, "hey, that truck looks familiar... hey! wait a minute!"

I bought this truck from Derik @ ddimports in Prince Albert SK in September. I gather he must have bought and imported it shortly after these posts were made. Interesting to read the debate. As it turned out, Derik replaced the shackles, rebuilt the front wheel bearings, added a bumper, and fixed the odd thing here and there, but it didn't need much else. I drove it from Saskatchewan to Montreal with no problems at all. It needed a bit of electrical work e.g. centre brake light, new headlights, to pass the Quebec safety, but other than that it's been pretty good to go. The interior does have a few small tears in the upholstery here and there, but is in pretty nice shape otherwise. The body is in good shape - there's only one spot that looks a teensy bit pushed in. There's a small amount of surface rust from its one winter spent in Saskatchewan, but it's very clean over all. All in all, I'm very pleased with it. Here's one thread that ends well, anyway... (knock on wood!)

Dave

I thought the price not too bad.It would be hard to justify paying 2 1/2 times that for something with 100000klms.
Youve got something that will last 500000klms in the right hands without busting the bank account .

Above all keep the inside of the fenders clean especially the rear most part on the rear axle behind the mud flaps.
Poke and flush the drains in the bottom of the doors.

The aussies salute you