Looking to buy

[ozmanyyy]

Hi guys,

I've been looking for a bigger replacement to my Jeep wrangler for a while. At first, I've been looking at everything from 4Runners, to FJCruisers to Land Rovers. I came across a 2000 Land Cruiser the other day that looked pretty nice. I took it out for a short ride and it seemed to be real smooth considering it had 120K miles on it.

So I started doing some research and came across this forum. I've done a number of searches and looked at the Slee guide from the faq's. Here's a couple of things I'm still wondering about:

1. In an old thread here, there was debate about the tranny's being an issue on the 2000's. I saw a thread about shims and such. Is this something I should be concerned with and is there anything I can check on this particular car ? Is it something that would have already occurred by 120K, if it was going to ?

2. I have some service history on the car and the Timing belt was done at 85K. It was regularly dealer maintained so I think it should be ok as far as service.

3. What should I expect in real world mileage ? I'm not a lead foot and expect it to be low considering its a v8 but how low am I looking at realistically ?

4. The Slee guide said the rear diff lock was no longer an option on the 2000. Was it standard or replaced by something else ? Or was it just deemed unnecessary ? I don't wheel a lot but I do wheel so I'm curious.

5. The tires looked fairly worn. I'd want something a little more agressive anyway. Maybe not a MT but a decent AT. Just to confirm from the FAQ, I can get a 285/75-16 and not worry about clearance/rubbing, correct ? There's no lift on this truck.

That's all I can think of for now. I'd like to drive it again and bring my mechanic buddy along. I'd appreciate any tips.

Thanks
Oz

 

[stonepa]

I have a 98 that I've owned since new. I've put well over 300k miles on it so I may be able to provide some insight:

1. In an old thread here, there was debate about the tranny's being an issue on the 2000's. I saw a thread about shims and such. Is this something I should be concerned with and is there anything I can check on this particular car ? Is it something that would have already occurred by 120K, if it was going to ? IMO, the 4 speed transmission is bulletproof. It drives smooth and works well with the vehicle. Never understood the real world advantage of the later 5 speed except that everyone always wants 'more'. I want bulletproof.

2. I have some service history on the car and the Timing belt was done at 85K. It was regularly dealer maintained so I think it should be ok as far as service. Easy to check the maintenance records if they were done by Toyota and you have the VIN. Log into Toyota.com and go to the owner page.

3. What should I expect in real world mileage ? I'm not a lead foot and expect it to be low considering its a v8 but how low am I looking at realistically ?After 300k miles, my experience is 16mpg highway, 14 in town. It will drop 2 mpg in the winter or if you have a big head wind. I always run 87 octane unleaded and have a Thule rack with ski box on the top.

4. The Slee guide said the rear diff lock was no longer an option on the 2000. Was it standard or replaced by something else ? Or was it just deemed unnecessary ? I don't wheel a lot but I do wheel so I'm curious.Depends what you mean by 'necessary'. I have the stock rear locker. You either need it or you don't. If you do, and often, , the ARB units work great.

5. The tires looked fairly worn. I'd want something a little more agressive anyway. Maybe not a MT but a decent AT. Just to confirm from the FAQ, I can get a 285/75-16 and not worry about clearance/rubbing, correct ? There's no lift on this truck. I've run 275/70-16 and 265/75-16 BFG AT and MT with no issues. Plenty of clearance so a little larger shouldn't be a problem.

 

[jemsec]

The mileage is low by most comparisons.
The maintenance is above average.
The 2000 does have a history of transmission issues.
You would change the tires anyway and 285's are the popular choice without issues.
No diff lock on 2000. Later years have atrac, not sure about the 2000, which seems to be very desirable.
Getting another 100-200,000 miles is reasonable if you keep it maintained.
The asking and sales price should determine your decision.

 

[RobRed]

I have a 2000. The trans is still working at 169k

2000 has ATRAC no diff locker.

This might help you: 100 series Model Year Differences

 

[ozmanyyy]

Thanks for all the replies.

So the tranny is the only thing that has me thinking. RobRed hasn't had any issues but jemsec says there's a history of tranny issues.

Are these repairable issues ( without having to get a new tranny ) ? As in a few hundred dollars rather than a few thousand ? Or is it so rare, i shouldn't sweat it ?

Thanks
Oz

 

[marshotel]

Something like 5 % of the model year 2000 transmissions have failed after 14 years of being on the road. That failure rate is greater relative to other model year land cruisers, but less compared to the failure rate for transmissions in most non-Land Cruiser vehicles.

It is so rare that you should not sweat it.

But the reported failures have been catastrophic (i.e. - $4k to replace the tranny).

 

[RobRed]

Something like 5 % of the model year 2000 transmissions have failed after 14 years of being on the road. That failure rate is greater relative to other model year land cruisers, but less compared to the failure rate for transmissions in most non-Land Cruiser vehicles. It is so rare that you should not sweat it. But the reported failures have been catastrophic (i.e. - $4k to replace the tranny).

And the failure rate was reported on Mud where enthusiasts live or newbies come to yak about something broken... Not a general survey of MY 2000 owners. So within that population 5% fail. That population represents 1/30000 of MY2000 (USA) vehicles sold.

 

[phsycle]

So the tranny is the only thing that has me thinking. RobRed hasn't had any issues but jemsec says there's a history of tranny issues...

jemsec has no idea whether a MY 2000 has ATRAC or not--pretty basic info. RobRed has a website containing a ton of useful LC specific info. You can choose who to listen to.

 

[larryt]

When you buy a vehicle that old you might as well have a $3-5k repair fund on hand anyway. It's a flagship Toyota, but not a magic carpet. Something expensive is going to go sooner or later. Then do your own maintenance to keep the yearly operating costs down.

My MY2000 trans died at 126k miles and 10 years of life. It hurt, but I was financially prepared for it and now I have a reman trans that should last a lot of years. All part of the experience of buying (very) used, if you ask me.

 

[codertimt]

Thanks for all the replies.

So the tranny is the only thing that has me thinking. RobRed hasn't had any issues but jemsec says there's a history of tranny issues.

Are these repairable issues ( without having to get a new tranny ) ? As in a few hundred dollars rather than a few thousand ? Or is it so rare, i shouldn't sweat it ?

Thanks
Oz

As a 2001 owner with a 09/00 build date who just had a transmission failure at 147K a few months into ownership, I still fall into the don't sweat it camp, but do listen carefully to see if the transmission is trying to tell you anything.

Mine was trying to tell me something was wrong as it had a growling sound in OD at low speeds(under 45). Drop it out of OD and it went away....unfortunately with my infrequent driving habits and recent purchase, when I noticed it I wasn't sure if had just started or had always sounded like that since purchase...still not sure even in retrospect.

Anyway, I had a local shop do a rebuild instead of getting re-manufactured. Ended up paying $2100 out the door. That was with a couple hundred dollars in discounts because it ended up taking longer than expected to get parts...plus no tax... So pretty decent deal for basically everything replaced except for electronics...

Of course there are reports on here about noises in overdrive for many, many miles with no failure also, so it's not really anything you can bank on as definitive proof of impending failure...so $1500 for a "preventative" rebuild(that was the quote I got for rebuild without gearset replacement) doesn't really make sense...

You can do a search for transmission failure and scare yourself away from any '00-'02 4-speed, but as has been mentioned it's still a very low failure rate, that is very likely skewed anyway due to the nature of people reporting problems on the message board...

Okay, at this point I've kind of lost track of if there was a real point to the post... I guess if it sounds good, shift good, drives good, don't sweat the transmission.

3. I concur with earlier MPG estimate...as long as you're not prone to fits of speeding. With 33" tires and speed <65 I can pull 16-16.5. At 75+ that dips considerably... Also with the larger tires and lots of stop and go city driving I can pretty easily dip below 14 also... But on average 14/16 is probably where you will land...

5. I have an LX with AHC and am running a 295/75/16 with no on road rubbing issues. Haven't had a chance to run any trail with it yet, so can't comment on that, but you shouldn't have an issue with 285s...

 

[ozmanyyy]

Thanks for all the replies. That TLCfaq site is awesome too.

I'm going to go check it out again. I really liked it the first time I took it out, but wasn't too serious, when I heard what the trade in for my Jeep would be. I took a shot and threw my Jeep on craigslist and got 2 and half times a much in less than 24 hours so now I some more flexibility. I really do appreciate all the input and hopefully I'll have reason to come on here more.

Thanks
Oz

 

[SmoothLC]

FYI - 2000 Trans Status Update thread

Log of vehicles reported is in post #2

 

[ozmanyyy]

Hi guys,

A couple more questions. I did a vin check on the Toyota sight about one particular car to see if there was any (dealer) service history. When looking at the specs of this car, it's listed as 2WD. The car has the 4L/4H shifter and a CDL button. As far as I could tell there isn't a 2wd option ever offered.

But I also figure that it doesn't hurt to ask if that would signify something other than the website just being wacky ?

Thanks
Oz

 

[smileyboy]

This is a interesting post.. I was thinking of buy a high milage LC and keeping it... aka switch out motor and tranny when and if needed.

 

[SkiLyft]

SmoothLC that is a great post on 2000 tranny issues haha it sure looks to me like its a myth or at least the tranny on a 2000 is equally likely to go out as say a late model 100


Sent from my iPhone, please embrace the typos

 

[re_guderian]

SmoothLC that is a great post on 2000 tranny issues haha it sure looks to me like its a myth or at least the tranny on a 2000 is equally likely to go out as say a late model 100


Sent from my iPhone, please embrace the typos

Not true at all... Go to post 25 in that thread. Late model tranny failures are unheard of. 2000 MY risk is about 4-5%, with some spill over into '99 up to '02. That takes into account the MUD percentage of total sales (about 1%), discounts people who came here solely to report a failure, etc. There is no "safe" mileage, nor any PM that helps, just a catastrophic failure. Insifficient data to nail down any production date range. Having said that, I own and wheel a 2000, and will just deal with it if, and when, it happens. Look at it this way, 95%+ chance of it not happening. Those are betting odds, in my book. But is will set you back over $3K when it happens. The 5 speed is mucho better, though, if you're budget allows it. I have both.

My MPG is lower than here. 16 is the BEST I've ever gotten on the highway for any meaningful time. ~14 is more like it with 295's and a lift. 11-12 around town, 8-9 when wheeling in 4 low. They are pigs, make no mistake about it. ATRAC in 2000+, it's a decent, always-there, traction solution, though not an equivalent to lockers.

edit: -> if you still don't believe that there's a tranny issue in the later 4-speeds, see posts 50-55-ish of that same thread to see what Toyota keeps on hand for raman'd trannies, especially compared to the 5 speed...

 

[ozmanyyy]

Ok, I just went and drove it again. Still like the car. I looked underneath and there's just a tiny bit of surface rust here and there. No visible leaks. It needed a jump start ( again ) so it definitely needs a battery. Took it out on the hiway, it runs nice and smooth, no odd noises from the engine.

Here are 2 new things I saw this time.

1. The molding that runs from the bottom of the windshield up to the roof rack on both sides is coming out at the top ( roof rack side ). I tried to push it or squeeze it back in but it didn't stay. The guy said it could probably be glued down. Fact or fiction. I posted a picture below.

2. There's a distinct whistle coming from the sunroof. And when you push up and down on the sunroof, it definitely has a little movement and you can hear the whistle change. We tried sliding it back and forth, but the whistle didn't change. The "tilt" feature didn't work, but I could live with that. But as silly as it sounds, the whistle would really bug me. It goes away if you close the panel, but still. Is this common or easy to adjust ?

Thanks for any feedback.
Oz

Moldings that are popping out:

 

[SkiLyft]

Haha just went back on my lunch and read that entire thread haha!

I'm still a bit confused... Are they more likely to fail at the early 2000 mark say 10/99-4/00... And the later builds 5/00-8/00 are better off? And is this due to Toyota changing the transmission that they installed/fixing the failing portion of the tranny?

Thx


Sent from my iPhone, please embrace the typos

 

[Dwight S]

Part of the whistle could be coming from the popped up moulding and also the sunroof wind deflector. I will say that if that deflector isn't perfectly centered and secure, at about 70MPH with a slight cross wind, you'll get a heck of a scare with a loud vibration sound that sounds like the roof is coming off. I took mine off and found clearcoat failure under the rubber gasket.

 

[yotasavg]

I'd guess it's the sunroof visor too. I recently bought a window visor kit cause I like them on the windows. I ran the one on the roof for one day and took it off due to a nice whistle. I get more wind noise with the side ones too though, so if the truck has them and you like it quiet that could be your ticket to a bit more silence.