I met the owner last evening. Nice guy, he seems, and owns an advertising business...hence all of the high quality photos. His friend purchased the 98 from it's original owner in California with 170K miles. The current owner purchased it from his friend a few weeks later, and the title went straight form the 1st owner to the current owner...so, while there have been "3 owners", for all intents and purposes (and legally) there have only been 2.
In the 24K miles the seller has owned the truck, he has only ever had the oil changed. (non-OEM filter)
The truck has been thoroughly detailed, tires Armor-Alled etc. Radiator is full of Toyota pink, overflow is at full line with same, and engine oil is full and golden.
There is no evidence (sticker) to show a timing belt/water pump replacement (due every 90K miles). The bolts on the water pump do look to have been turned, so it has likely been done at some point, but I would figure $1200 parts/labor into the purchase price if I were buying. The owner did mention that he may go ahead and have it done so that it is documented as many interested parties have asked about it.
It is overall a very clean 1998. It has a few small scuffs, chips on the leading edge of the hood and a 2" scrape in the rear lift gate: all chips and the scrape have been touched-up with factory paint.
There is a hail dent in the roof and a ding in the center ribbed section of the roof that looks like a large hail dent but was likely caused by something else. No paint damage in either of these two dents.
The passenger front door handle paint is peeling.
The hood and all quarter panels have beautiful shiny paint with no clear coat issues that I could see. All Toyota emblems are present and chrome (not gold).
The passenger side front corner lens has condensation inside.
The leather is clean and has no rips/tears...but does have the cracks one would expect on 1998 leather. Carpets and floor mats are clean and stain free, but do not look new.
Tires are 275/70R18 BFG KO All Terrains (not KO2) with lots of tread left on aftermarket 18" wheels. Owner says the original wheels were long gone when he got it. While I don't care for the current wheels, OEM 18" Land Cruiser or Tundra wheels can be had for $300-$500.
All electrical worked as it should, to include lights, signals, seats, horn. I looked under the dash and was not impressed with the wiring for the Alpine stereo. It didn't look like the time was taken to tidy-up the install, though the system worked and it did not seem to cause issues with other systems.
AC blew cold. Being a 1998, it does not have rear AC.
It drove great. It felt tight and the throttle had more pep than my 1999 with less miles and fresh timing belt, water pump etc. It braked well with no shimmy, steered straight etc. The tires did rub when the wheel was turned and I hit a bump...slightly on the front inner fender liner.
I could not get the rear locker to engage, but tried on asphalt and only in a straight line. It wouldn't bother me as I'm sure a few figure 8s in the dirt would get it to engage. The center diff engage properly but the rear locker indicator light stayed blinking...never going solid to indicate engagement. (I locked the rear in my 99 in a dirt lot on my way home, to make sure I had used the correct procedure: I had). Owner says he has locked it in the past without issue.
Things I apologize for forgetting/failing to specifically check:
Front CV boots
Operation of Seat Heaters
Operation of Sunroof
Presence and condition of spare tire
If serious, I'd ask for photos of CVs and at least ask if the sunroof/seat heaters is/are fully operational, if not for a video of the sunroof opening/closing.
Overall, this is a very nice, clean truck...especially for year and mileage. If it had the timing belt/wp done and 50K fewer miles I'd want it for myself.
If I were advising a friend, I'd tell them that this is a good candidate if 1) this is the color you HAVE to have, 2) you can live with the mileage. This would be a fine 3rd/fun car, as it is for the current owner. The miles are too high for me to rely on as a DD, without a complete service history. My 1999 has 180K but I've owned it since 105K and have detailed maintenance since 85K.
The owner did say that someone already ran the VIN at toyotaowners.com and could not find any service history.
This color is hard to find. As I said, if this color is a must, I'd seriously consider this truck...for the right price. The owner, who listed at $13.5K and then lowered to $12.5K did not seem too willing to come off of his price.
