craigslist 1978 FJ40 Venezuela Import - Orlando (1 Viewer)

Year

1978

Vehicle Model

1. 40 Series

Location

United States

Mileage

23177

Color

rgb(255, 162, 0)

Outside Link

https://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/d/oviedo-toyota-fj-40/7158296651.html

Corresponded with this guy, got some additional pics. The ones in the ad are not high res so attached them here.
All is legit, from what I can gather remotely. A few notes:
> 3 Speed Trans
> Front drum brakes
> No heater

I got over the first, but couldn't get over the drum brakes. Yes, conversion kits, but for a 78 I wanted it disc from the factory. The heater, blah, gives me the room to put in a more modern unit with AC.

Otherwise the body and restoration work looks properly sorted.

 

[kwon-offroad]

More

 

[kwon-offroad]

More

 

[Sputnik40]

I'm not shopping so not really into giving the pics a detailed look, but it does seem like it might be nicer than most others from SA. Really tough to tell if the body is solid, or if repaired, done with quality panels or not. Am sure someone will find more to pick on besides that awful patched exhaust.... Tagging @cruisermatt since he's local and could probably sort out a disc conversion for a reasonable price, if the seller was willing to come down on price ( SA and CA 40's had drums way past the US models).

 

[kwon-offroad]

I'm not shopping so not really into giving the pics a detailed look, but it does seem like it might be nicer than most others from SA. Really tough to tell if the body is solid, or if repaired, done with quality panels or not. Am sure someone will find more to pick on besides that awful patched exhaust.... Tagging @cruisermatt since he's local and could probably sort out a disc conversion for a reasonable price, if the seller was willing to come down on price ( SA and CA 40's had drums way past the US models).

Can this @cruisermatt do a proper F/R conversion for $3k? Send him my way. No brackets crap.

 

[cruisermatt]

Can this @cruisermatt do a proper F/R conversion for $3k? Send him my way. No brackets crap.

Send me a private message and we can discuss your options. I can help with this, in fact my shop is only about 10 minutes from where this 40 is located. I frequently provide Cruiser inspections if you haven't seen it in person yet.

Matt

 

[FJnoob2]

Still for sale? Price?

 

[74bigred]

Cost? Was the restoration done in Venezuela or US? Looks like they did a good job on it

 

[kwon-offroad]

Link posted.
The truck was inspected by @cruisermatt. He can provide his take.

I walked away, mostly because the seller did not have a US POA to transfer title from the owner who is out of the country. We also were looking for a mint 100 and found one so our focus aligned to that instead. The POA may not be an issue for you depending on your state and situation.

 

[FJnoob2]

Link posted.
The truck was inspected by @cruisermatt. He can provide his take.

I walked away, mostly because the seller did not have a US POA to transfer title from the owner who is out of the country. We also were looking for a mint 100 and found one so our focus aligned to that instead. The POA may not be an issue for you depending on your state and situation.

Thank you

 

[Bear]

So some guy in Orlando, Florida is selling a car from another country that doesn't belong to him, and he doesn't have a legally signed Power of Attorney from some "guy' in Venezuela to do so. But he has the keys.

Well okay, sounds perfect, not a problem. No need for a title, and no need for some stupid import paperwork. Where do I Western Union my $24,000 ?

 

[FJnoob2]

So some guy in Orlando, Florida is selling a car from another country that doesn't belong to him, and he doesn't have a legally signed Power of Attorney from some "guy' in Venezuela to do so. But he has the keys.

Well okay, sounds perfect, not a problem. No need for a title, and no need for some stupid import paperwork. Where do I Western Union my $24,000 ?

Lol. Sure. You get the FJ home and the federales show up confiscate your vehicle extradite you to Venezuela and throw in prison!

 

[kwon-offroad]

So some guy in Orlando, Florida is selling a car from another country that doesn't belong to him, and he doesn't have a legally signed Power of Attorney from some "guy' in Venezuela to do so. But he has the keys.

Well okay, sounds perfect, not a problem. No need for a title, and no need for some stupid import paperwork. Where do I Western Union my $24,000 ?

The son is trying to sell the 40, the title is in his dad's name who is out of the country. They have documents that show notarized, title transfer, etc. but all of it is from offshore where his dad is. The title is also already signed over. BUT no US POA and that gave me pause. All the folks involved seem legit (at least to me), but there is still risk baked into this transaction IMO.

 

[FJnoob2]

The son is trying to sell the 40, the title is in his dad's name who is out of the country. They have documents that show notarized, title transfer, etc. but all of it is from offshore where his dad is. The title is also already signed over. BUT no US POA and that gave me pause. All the folks involved seem legit (at least to me), but there is still risk baked into this transaction IMO.

Agreed. Unless one is well versed in imports or consults with an attorney
I would be apprehensive as well.

 

[Bear]

There's already a glut of Central/South American 40-series sitting here in the US. Their issues are well-documented on Mud and elsewhere. This one adds the wrinkle of questionable importation and not being registered and titled here, along with the usual lack of documentation on who, where, and how well it was prettied-up for sale.

If in fact it is a father/son sales effort, you would think they could arrange to have things in order before hustling it off for sale to a Yanqui. Gambling that everything will fall into line AFTER the sale is a risk most would rather not take.

 

[FJnoob2]

There's already a glut of Central/South American 40-series sitting here in the US. Their issues are well-documented on Mud and elsewhere. This one adds the wrinkle of questionable importation and not being registered and titled here, along with the usual lack of documentation on who, where, and how well it was prettied-up for sale.

If in fact it is a father/son sales effort, you would think they could arrange to have things in order before hustling it off for sale to a Yanqui. Gambling that everything will fall into line AFTER the sale is a risk most would rather not take.

If you owned a ranch in Texas and just planned to drive it around on your ranch then no big deal. Other than that one must be very cautious. Sounds like a registering and ownership nightmare that could take years off your life!

 

[HelloKitty65]

If you owned a ranch in Texas and just planned to drive it around on your ranch then no big deal. Other than that one must be very cautious. Sounds like a registering and ownership nightmare that could take years off your life!

But it's so pretty!

 

[kwon-offroad]

Let me emphasize that all documents sent looked in order. It's titled in FL, confirmed with the appropriate state authorities in FL. The ONLY gap I found was in the title transfer documents. And that's me categorizing that as a 'gap' - it may be a non-issue altogether in some states. But after calling my state's departments, they wanted to see a POA signed and notarized in the US for the title transfer. Different states require different documents.

The two other areas that pushed me out of the lane was that after doing a front disc conversion and adding the 4 speed, the overall price was too high for what I wanted to bring home a '78 40 for. Well, then a sweet, couldn't-say-no 100 series popped up for purchase. And the rest is history.