Downtime in the winter, so I'm finally getting around to sorting through my pictures and progress on maintaining my 1992 HZJ73 I imported from Japan last summer (2021).
In summary:
Year: 1992
Model: HZJ73V-PEU
Grade: "ZX"
Origin: Japan ("Hey, you're driving on the wrong side!")
Engine: 1HZ
Transmission: "A440F" 4-speed Auto
KM/Miles: ~238,500 KM or ~148,000 miles
Diff-lock: ✓
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Some back story...
I was on the hunt for a new vehicle. Coming from an ownership history of 2 sedans, I wanted something I could take anywhere (4WD). I had been getting into camping, hiking, etc. and I'm a bit of an explorer at heart so I wanted something with 4WD that wasn't a Jeep. I didn't even know the 70 series Land Cruiser existed until researching my options a couple years ago, but decided it was the one. The 73 was what I wanted.
Now came the issue of finding one... US apparently was told to go bend itself over when it came to the 70 series, so I needed to either buy one which had already been imported, or do it myself.
Importing a vehicle? Sheesh, I had no idea where to even begin on that front. I did a little research, decided I'd look locally for now.
Found a white HZJ73 which was being sold by a local used car dealer a couple towns over from me. The dealer was trying to get over 30k USD, didn't want to offer any documentation or details on it (I realized they probably didn't really know what they were selling) and it was in mediocre shape. On the plus side, it had something like 40k miles on it.
Driving home, after seeing the coolest thing I'd ever seen, had me grinning from ear to ear, and solidified that I needed to get one for myself. F--- the scummy used car dealer, I'll look for my own.
I reached out to an exporter based in Japan - "JapanCarDirect", and worked with Mathew. Super helpful - I basically told him I had no idea what I was doing but I knew what I wanted. +1 to them.
Skipping the boring importing stuff and oh-so patiently waiting time for it to arrive...
-----
June 16th, 2021, I saw my cruiser in person for the first time!
Even with Long Beach bird droppings, it's still quite the looker!
Now, I just had to drive this across the country to my home in New England...
*spoiler* - it was worth the trip.
In summary:
Year: 1992
Model: HZJ73V-PEU
Grade: "ZX"
Origin: Japan ("Hey, you're driving on the wrong side!")
Engine: 1HZ
Transmission: "A440F" 4-speed Auto
KM/Miles: ~238,500 KM or ~148,000 miles
Diff-lock: ✓
-----
Some back story...
I was on the hunt for a new vehicle. Coming from an ownership history of 2 sedans, I wanted something I could take anywhere (4WD). I had been getting into camping, hiking, etc. and I'm a bit of an explorer at heart so I wanted something with 4WD that wasn't a Jeep. I didn't even know the 70 series Land Cruiser existed until researching my options a couple years ago, but decided it was the one. The 73 was what I wanted.
Now came the issue of finding one... US apparently was told to go bend itself over when it came to the 70 series, so I needed to either buy one which had already been imported, or do it myself.
Importing a vehicle? Sheesh, I had no idea where to even begin on that front. I did a little research, decided I'd look locally for now.
Found a white HZJ73 which was being sold by a local used car dealer a couple towns over from me. The dealer was trying to get over 30k USD, didn't want to offer any documentation or details on it (I realized they probably didn't really know what they were selling) and it was in mediocre shape. On the plus side, it had something like 40k miles on it.
Driving home, after seeing the coolest thing I'd ever seen, had me grinning from ear to ear, and solidified that I needed to get one for myself. F--- the scummy used car dealer, I'll look for my own.
I reached out to an exporter based in Japan - "JapanCarDirect", and worked with Mathew. Super helpful - I basically told him I had no idea what I was doing but I knew what I wanted. +1 to them.
Skipping the boring importing stuff and oh-so patiently waiting time for it to arrive...
-----
June 16th, 2021, I saw my cruiser in person for the first time!
Even with Long Beach bird droppings, it's still quite the looker!
Now, I just had to drive this across the country to my home in New England...
*spoiler* - it was worth the trip.
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