Look to buy an 80 tomorrow (1 Viewer)

[Cruzer_89]

Okay guys i need help please.

I'm flying out of town tomorrow at 7:00am to hopefully buy i mint condition lady driven FZJ-80 with 85,000 miles. I've owned a 60 and a 62 and am very good about picking those apart but the 80's i got no experience on. I've read all the stuff of Slee off road ,but i just need some last minute advise.

How can i get if the motor or the tranny have been abused or negleted?

 

[80jay]

good luck with the buy and hope to see it out on the trails on the next flca meet

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

Look at the obvious first. Oil color, smell, leaks, and consistency. Same with trans. I would take to a mechanic and have a compression test performed as well as check plugs, dist, wires, hoses etc. I'm not sure of your Mech. knowledge, so I'm giving some basics. Also make sure brakes aren't shot i.e.- no pads warped rotors. Front Knuckles don't need to be clicking or leaking. Blah, Blah--- my $.02

TK

 

[Romer]

Best way is to drive it. I would start and stop at least 3 trips (On/off) of 10 minutes or more to make sure any codes haven't been cleared.

There really is no way to check inside to see if it was abused. Low compression in #6 may mean a HG is in the future. Not to bad a thing.

A lot depends on the price and stats. Any more info?

 

[Cruzer_89]

82000 miles and $8500.00 does the price seem fare. KBB says it's worth at least 10K.
Like i said it's lady driven but that could mean neglect from a woman or nice easy stress free life for the truck from the woman. When i've talked to the folks they refer to the truck as their baby.

Is that good or bad?

 

[Buckru]

If everythign looks good, it would be a steal at that price for such low mileage.

Buck Buchanan

PS If it truly is their baby, they'll have service records. Best of luck

 

[mikeofnvfl]

what year is it?

 

[Cruzer_89]

1994 Green Mint Condition. So they say.

 

[corsair23]

Did you run a Carfax report? Not an end all, tell all deal but a little extra insurance and it will be eligible for Carfax certification (free) if clean to add even more 'insurance'. At only ~7K miles per year hopefully they changed the oil and fluids somewhat regularly. That is always my concern with a low mileage vehicle...The people that figure it is 3000 miles or however many months it takes to get there whether that be 1 or 12

 

[badlandsbrett]

a Green 94 with 89000 very clean with no rack, no diff switch, no bars, no tow set up just sold for 11,300.00 in CA shipped to ohio for another 1000.00 2 weeks ago on e-bay. seams like a great deal.

Whats there phone number? just kidding, good luck

 

[Ting]

check for freeze plug leak....

coolant reserve tank level.

 

[Cruzer_89]

Okay so he 80 was a hoax. Milage was low carfax report gave it a thumbs up. I was pumped. But it was trash, It had been repainted. Paint was cheap it was begining to flake. The owner said it was leak free. He lied. Said i was lady driven, he lied. It was teenager driven.

Tires were mismatched on all four corners and after drivng it for about twenty minutes stoped to checked the tranny fluid. I was empty.

I flew back home disappointed but determined to find a jem.

 

[Ting]

Sorry to hear it! You wasted your air plane ticket.

Post the car info here, so others here can be aware of it too.

 

[cmadness]

That sucks bro. Hopefully you'll find your "gem" locally.

 

[Tentsontop]

That sucks. The guy I bought my 94 from was a bit of an asshat like that. You'll find one down there. I've seen four locked rides for sale in Florida for $9500 or less with sub 125K miles in the last couple of months. Good luck.

 

[corsair23]

What a bummer! That is a lot of effort and $$ to go through to be hosed by the seller like that! I would definitely post up the info to help others steer clear if you can. If the seller is willing to scam you like that knowing it is costing you a flight etc. then I can only imagine what he'd be willing to try to pull on someone local

 

[reffug]

Okay so he 80 was a hoax.But it was trash, It had been repainted. Paint was cheap it was begining to flake. The owner said it was leak free. He lied. Said i was lady driven, he lied. It was teenager driven.

Tires were mismatched on all four corners and after drivng it for about twenty minutes stoped to checked the tranny fluid. I was empty.

I flew back home disappointed but determined to find a jem.

That truly sucks, sorry to hear it I'm sure your disappointed but at least you didn't commit to something only to find out it was a lemon. Dishonest people are the worst one reason I find its best to buy from a cruiserhead or at least someone who understands the obsession generated by these vehicles.

Post the car info here, so others here can be aware of it too.

It would be a good idea to post the info here so othere can be aware of this rig and that it is being misrepresented. Will save someone else the time, trouble, and money of going to see something that isn't what it appears to be.

 

[drsales]

Better to find this out early! Keep looking, you will find one when you least expect it. A few bucks for a plane ride is nothing vs the mental torture of a wrong purchase.

 

[zcruiser]

Sounds a lot like the "rust-free" FJ62 that I drove to Charlottesville, VA to pick up (4 hrs one way). What a beat up thing that turned out to be! On trip #2 I found one that was nearly flawless...

Really feel for your disappointment and cost of the trip, just write it up as tuition to the school of hard knocks...

Good luck on the next one, you'll find it.

 

[Romer]

Next time you find one, see if someone local from Mud would check it out. I did that when looking for mine and passed on the first one that looked great and then bought the sceonf and flew down to pick it up. Then you get someone who is objective and you don't have to get on a plane for at least a first look.