2006 Land Cruiser 101,000 miles, one owner. Price? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Threads
4
Messages
76
Location
Calgary, Alberta
When I was looking for a Land Cruiser I left a note under the wiper of a really nice looking 2006 LX that was parked in front of a house close to where I live. After that I found my 1998 LX with 134,000 miles and bought it for a great price. Very happy with it BUT....
Now the owner of the 2006 LX has called me and she is planning on selling her truck. I did a quick walk around the day I left my note. Very good condition. No body damage, Michelin tires about 1/2 worn, grey on grey, completely stock, windshield OK, no surface rust.
The lady said she is the original owner and the reason for selling is she is moving. Wants to line up the buyer now and keep using the truck until the day she moves and then do the sale. Not a problem for me.
She has not even decided on an asking price yet.
I am going to meet her tomorrow to do a test drive and have a closer look. When I find out the maintenance status, under carriage rust, AHC, etc, I will make another posting. But let's assume all maintenance is up to date and everything is in working condition with typical dealer maintenance and minimal/no rust.
Assuming this is the case what is a fair price for a private sale?
 
Used vehicle prices vary quite a bit between the US and Canada. I think that the used LX's sell for less in Canada than in the US. High cost of fuel and the fact that most LX-i are very rusty here makes them less valuable. Parts are also very expensive here.

There might even be large differences between ON and AB. In ON, I would expect a private sale price ranging from C$14k to C$18k (US$11k to US$14k). In superb condition maybe $1000 to $2000 more.
 
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Test drove the LC tonight. Very clean, smooth and solid.
Timing belt, water pump and AC lines done 4000 miles ago. No other major repairs.
Sunroof does not work. Needs new drive.
Under cartridge has typical rust for a 12 year old vehicle in this area. Body has some scrapes from parking lot incidents but no rust.
Interior like new.
It has the navigation system with the AC integrated.
I asked for the owner to demonstrate the AHC. It did move but seemed funky. Owner thinks you need to be moving or at least in gear to make it move up and down. After moving forward back the height did change.
I'm not familiar with the AHC. How do I verify that it is working properly?
I am going to check the service records with Toyota and do aCarfax check.
The truck is very nice. Need to come up with a number to offer. Owner is not in a hurry and has not listed it for sale yet.
 
I asked for the owner to demonstrate the AHC. It did move but seemed funky. Owner thinks you need to be moving or at least in gear to make it move up and down. After moving forward back the height did change.
I'm not familiar with the AHC. How do I verify that it is working properly?
.

You don't need to be in gear or moving for the AHC to work. All doors need to be closed and your foot should be off the brake. If you have your foot on the brake for some period of time (over 5 seconds or something like that) it will not operate.
 
I asked for the owner to demonstrate the AHC. It did move but seemed funky. Owner thinks you need to be moving or at least in gear to make it move up and down. After moving forward back the height did change.
I'm not familiar with the AHC. How do I verify that it is working properly?
From some things I’ve posted previously.

Normal operation for active height control (AHC) and adaptive variable suspension (AVS) is: It will raise level until the height accumulator pressure is exhausted and then it will switch to rear lifting (to keep the headlights from blinding people) then the front will come up to complete the raising and leveling process. Opposite for lowering, kind of a shuffling motion before height levels are stabilized. It will do slight leveling adjustments when adding/removing weight or stopping at a traffic light whilst on an incline for example. The system will always want to return to N height, it raises from L to N above 3mph and lowers from H to N above 19mph. Turn it off in L or H and it will turn itself back on and change height as a function of speed. Turn it off in N and it will turn back on at 50mph. There are height override options but that’s for another day. Some might say “they don’t use the AHC so it won’t be worn out”. Well, the system is an adaptive variable suspension system with self leveling and height control, as such it’s always “on” adjusting damping and leveling due to speed, loading and driving conditions. That said, it’s prudent to raise or lower regularly via the switch to help shift fluid that can stagnant in the extremities of the system.

For a quick car lot check out: Engine running, doors shut and foot off brake. Does the vehicle raise and lower ok? this can take up to 15 seconds for L to N or N to H. Is the AHC fluid level in the ps firewall reservoir between max and min at N height? A Flashlight or phone light on top of reservoir shining straight down may help illuminate the fluid level if necessary. Put the vehicle in L and observe the fluid height in the reservoir, now raise the vehicle to H and observe fluid height noting the number of graduations difference on the reservoir’s side. Good/ok for a used vehicle is 9 to 11 grads, less than 7 means the damper globes are essentially worn out and damping can not be tuned satisfactorily (this test is most accurate when the neutral pressures are in spec but that needs test equipment to check). During road test does it respond to the damping control switch? Comfort setting should be soft and squishy up to sport 2 which should be quite firm. Ride quality is subjective but you should feel a significant difference between comfort and sport 2. So, if it raises and lowers (<15 sec per lift segment) with no constant flashing or solid AHC OFF light and responds to the damper settings and you have more then 7, ideally 9-12 grads (4x new damper globes gives you close to 14) on the tank you've done about as much as you can to verify operation without hooking up a tester to check pressures etc.
 
I was able to get the 2006 Land Cruiser for a couple of hours on the weekend. Checked everything out. Got 13 graduations on the tank for the AHC.
Thanks to Paddo for the posting describing how the sustem works. Owner said he used the AHC once when he originally bought the LX had hasn’t touched the button in 12 years.
Everything else on the vehicle checked out. Only thing that’s not working is the sunroof.
The only major items that the seller has done are the timing belt, water pump, AC lines, front brake pads and diff+transfer oil changed.
I assume I will need to do rotors, brake pads, front wheel bearings, fuel filter, air filter, PVC valve, spark plugs in the next year or so.
I plan to use the list of upcoming maintenance plus the sunroof repair to help negotiate price with the seller.
Dealer has quoted $2,400 to the owner to fix sunroof - they told him there are stripped gears? I can’t imagine that there are more than a few hundred dollars in parts. Must be alot of labor?
Are there any other items I should add to the list of immediate maintenance items for a 2006 Land Cruiser with 101,000 miles?
I have had “the talk” with my wife about buying a second Land Cruiser. Surprisingly she’s open to the idea. Her car is 10 years old and due to be replaced. After driving the 1998 Land Cruiser she thinks an updated 2006 Land Cruiser would be great. So looks like I might have two Land Cruiser in the garage. One his, the 98 with the future off road upgrades, and one hers, the 06 with the stock mall cruiser set up.
Thanks to everyone who has already replied. Great community I am very impressed with the knowledge that is available on this site.
 
From some things I’ve posted previously.

Normal operation for active height control (AHC) and adaptive variable suspension (AVS) is: It will raise level until the height accumulator pressure is exhausted and then it will switch to rear lifting (to keep the headlights from blinding people) then the front will come up to complete the raising and leveling process. Opposite for lowering, kind of a shuffling motion before height levels are stabilized. It will do slight leveling adjustments when adding/removing weight or stopping at a traffic light whilst on an incline for example. The system will always want to return to N height, it raises from L to N above 3mph and lowers from H to N above 19mph. Turn it off in L or H and it will turn itself back on and change height as a function of speed. Turn it off in N and it will turn back on at 50mph. There are height override options but that’s for another day. Some might say “they don’t use the AHC so it won’t be worn out”. Well, the system is an adaptive variable suspension system with self leveling and height control, as such it’s always “on” adjusting damping and leveling due to speed, loading and driving conditions. That said, it’s prudent to raise or lower regularly via the switch to help shift fluid that can stagnant in the extremities of the system.

For a quick car lot check out: Engine running, doors shut and foot off brake. Does the vehicle raise and lower ok? this can take up to 15 seconds for L to N or N to H. Is the AHC fluid level in the ps firewall reservoir between max and min at N height? A Flashlight or phone light on top of reservoir shining straight down may help illuminate the fluid level if necessary. Put the vehicle in L and observe the fluid height in the reservoir, now raise the vehicle to H and observe fluid height noting the number of graduations difference on the reservoir’s side. Good/ok for a used vehicle is 9 to 11 grads, less than 7 means the damper globes are essentially worn out and damping can not be tuned satisfactorily (this test is most accurate when the neutral pressures are in spec but that needs test equipment to check). During road test does it respond to the damping control switch? Comfort setting should be soft and squishy up to sport 2 which should be quite firm. Ride quality is subjective but you should feel a significant difference between comfort and sport 2. So, if it raises and lowers (<15 sec per lift segment) with no constant flashing or solid AHC OFF light and responds to the damper settings and you have more then 7, ideally 9-12 grads (4x new damper globes gives you close to 14) on the tank you've done about as much as you can to verify operation without hooking up a tester to check pressures etc.
Thanks for posting this info
 
I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but checking the heater hose Ts would be a good idea. They may have degraded over time and are a simple part worth changing out for peace of mind. Search on the forum for "heater hose t" and you'll find a lot of info.

$2400 sounds very expensive for a sunroof fix. Does anything move when you hit the switch? If it doesn't sound like stripped gears it may simply be a bad relay or switch.

Best of luck!
 
The only major items that the seller has done are the timing belt, water pump, AC lines, front brake pads and diff+transfer oil changed.

The fact that the timing belt / water pump were replaced in time as well as the A/C lines (!) shows that the current owner cares and that factory maintenance schedule was probably followed. That is very important.

Another data point, pretty sure you saw this. There is an '07 LX with 61k miles listed in Calgary right for CAN$35k right now. See how quickly it sells?

$2400 sounds very expensive for a sunroof fix. Does anything move when you hit the switch? If it doesn't sound like stripped gears it may simply be a bad relay or switch.

I'm assuming this is CAN$2400. The same repair in a US Lexus dealership would probably be US$1500 or less. I have heard of invoices around CAN$800 (US$620) here to clean/lube brakes (not replace any parts) and an oil change. I'll visit my dentist before I visit a dealership here.
 
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I bought a 2006 one owner LC with 196k miles on it and some mild rust (mostly skid plates) for $11.5k US six months ago. Needed timing belt replacement and had also been smoked in.

If it had no rust the truck you are looking at would be at least $18k down here in Texas.
 
I bought a 2006 one owner LC with 196k miles on it and some mild rust (mostly skid plates) for $11.5k US six months ago. Needed timing belt replacement and had also been smoked in.

If it had no rust the truck you are looking at would be at least $18k down here in Texas.

18k? Try 20k for a sorted no rust truck.
 

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