23 yo cruiser.. How soon will I need a rebuild? (1 Viewer)

[Killdozer1776]

I've searched extensively and ten years ago, an fzj with 245k miles like mine wasn't a worry.

What about in 2019? Is it a pending preventative measure at this point?

It runs very well but I need another ten years of reliability out of it.

At a quarter of a century old I'm starting to worry about seals, possible coolant corrosion internally etc. It doesn't leak or burn a drop of oil right now, but I can't have any surprises.

When the weather warms up I plan on doing a compression check and going through the cooling system.

But is it nearly time?

 

[Desert Dino]

Like now or yesterday

All rubber parts are long gone dead

 

[Killdozer1776]

That's my concern. At the moment Im not sure whether to keep or sell. I'm a broke student and for the next couple years I don't NEED a vehicle but it makes my life a lot easier.

When I eventually get to med school I will need something rock solid, but I'll likely have the same kind of budget as I do now.

The way I see it, I can either put some money into it over the course of a couple years.. A slow resto basically.

Or I can sell it and save for a couple years while walking/biking or using a bus if I have to go far, and then after university buying something newer, maybe an 04ish 4runner or similar. But at that time, it could be exactly the same situation I'm in now with a vehicle of same relative age, except more complicated and expensive to baseline.

I have the cruiser listed for sale and I could use the funds in cash now to pay some bills and put the rest away.. But the thought of selling it makes me sick. I will eventually need something to get me where Im going with utmost reliability.

I need to make the most wise decision, and after a couple months I'm torn and don't know the best route to go. So here I am, asking all of you.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Every used vehicle has it's own challenges. Do you own tools? Are you able to make repairs yourself with the help of this forum and YouTube? I'd say you have a lot of general life left. Especially considering you won't be driving a ton. I'd keep it. Fix and repair as needed...as long as you're inclined.

 

[BILT4ME]

You're in Wisconsin.

Rust will kill it before you need seals.

What is your intended use of the truck? Daily Driver? Toy? Only one vehicle or two? or three? or Seven?

There are not short-term cheap to own unless you got it with all maintenance up to date.

If it's up to date, then drive it.

The nice part about these, is they can run and operate OK with poor maintenance, as long as it's not a head gasket.

If the HG on yours has been done in its history, then I would say hold on to it and just keep up with general maintenance. Most of these are VERY reliable with general maintenance. It's still WAY less than a car payment. put away about $200/ month = $2400/ year I spend less than that annually for maintenance and my truck is up to date, as it's my DD.

You can pour in a lot of oil to avoid seals. Plus, the oil will help keep it from rusting to death.

 

[Killdozer1776]

Only vehicle. Not daily driven, but at least once or twice a week. More in winter.

I can do almost all of my own work except for machining, but I have no garage where I live now so major projects on any vehicle would have to be done each summer at a friend's house.

It does have body rust issues, but the frame is clean and any vehicle here has rust issues.. Even a couple years old..

My plan was to either swap the entire body or eventually find a clean non-runner and swap things over if I can't keep the rust at bay.

I do see and have had newer vehicles with way more issues and worse rust.

Torn.

 

[BILT4ME]

Only vehicle. Not daily driven, but at least once or twice a week. More in winter.

I can do almost all of my own work except for machining, but I have no garage where I live now so major projects on any vehicle would have to be done each summer at a friend's house.

It does have body rust issues, but the frame is clean and any vehicle here has rust issues.. Even a couple years old..

My plan was to either swap the entire body or eventually find a clean non-runner and swap things over if I can't keep the rust at bay.

I do see and have had newer vehicles with way more issues and worse rust.

Torn.

Use Fluid Film under it from a garden sprayer (can be done in a parking lot) to keep the rust at bay.

I drove my LC that was VERY POORLY maintained for 25K miles before doing ANYTHING to it other than the absolute essentials:
Engine Oil change
Fixed left mirror
Scraped bad window tint from two front windows
Replaced wiper motor
Replaced one hood strut
Cost of repairs: about $180

After that, I started making my list.
Tires
Rebuild front axle
Rebuild rear axle
Then the radiator exploded. Changed my list:
New radiator
All cooling hoses
Spark Plug tube seals
Valve cover gasket
Oil pump seal
Front Main seal
PS Hoses
Transmission cooler hoses
All vacuum hoses I could reach
Cost of repairs: About $6000

I always do it in this order:
Make it run.
Make it stop
Make it go
Make it safe
Make it reliable
Make it pretty
Add accessories

 

[ZackR]

Keep driving it and reach out to the forum as problems come up. In between classes spend some solid time reading through the forum since this same king of question comes up every week.

Get AAA if you haven't already. Enjoy the drive!

 

[1911garand]

Recently, I have realized and accepted that my newly acquired 1997 FZJ80 with 224K will ALWAYS have a LIST of things it needs to stay operational, safe, and reliable:

A never ending, fluid, changing list of things to do, things to repair, maintenance, and things it needs. A list that keeps growing and will never get shorter. A list that will scare the the juice out of any orange. A list that will always have "FIX RUST" as item #7. And just when I start making headway on that bastard list - the truck will need 37" tires, brakes, an oil change, and a head gasket.

Then there are the modifications, extras, and wants....

But, for me it is a hobby truck and a labor of love. I'd bet most 80s are in the exact same boat.

I like the AA(A) suggestion.

 

[baldilocks]

Why does a broke student have an old Landcruiser?

 

[1911garand]

Why does as broke student have an old Landcruiser?

Because it is the most reliable truck in the world?

(see my post #9 above)

 

[COYS]

Pretty much every common issue I've read about has become an issue I've had to address or will be addressing in the near future. Exempli gratia, I got rained on in my 80 for the first time this past week up in Seattle visiting family. Just randomly checked my carpets and they were soaked pretty good.

If it's not one thing, there's always another something to tackle. It's been non-stop since I bought this thing earlier this year. If I didn't love the jalopy, I would've dumped it many months and many ubers and many thousands of USD ago.

For any vehicle approaching a quarter century old, it's not so much a question of reliability, but fiscal responsibility. Now add time to it and it becomes a costly equation you need to balance out yourself based on your life variables.

The uber practical, reasonable decision would've been for me to pick up a Prius. Admittedly, I'm inherently irrational when it comes to my toys. A trait I seem to share with a great many of the 80 series brethren here.

 

[Heckraiser]

"Doesn't leak or burn a drop of oil"

Why fix what isn't broke? Just do the typical PM stuff (coolant system maintenance, rubber parts)--rebuild would be overboard for a 1fz with no real symptoms.

 

[scottryana]

Sell it. As a student the last thing you need is a 23 year old truck. I know this will come to a shock for most people but at certain times in our lives our needs change. You could probably make the LC work, but you will likely be living in apartments during school without access to a garage, you will be paying for someone to do any major work on your truck and anything major will be expensive and leave you stranded. Once you go to med school, your residency isn't guaranteed you have no idea where you will end up. So if you are using mom and dad's house to work on the truck now that might not be an option.

Go buy yourself the newest low mileage Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic you can afford. It is going to be boring as ****, but guess what, it is going to be cheap, leave you with less stress, and it is just a mean to an ends while you are in school.

 

[BILT4ME]

In my last 55K I have done nothing but oil changes that were necessary. I have taken the time to change some window belt mouldings, a few cosmetic things, but nothing that was NECESSARY.

As a college student, keep up with basics only and do the more important things later.

You have a bike, ride that as much as you feel comfortable, but living in WI, you will need a 4x4 at times. Let it sit to save on gas money, but it doesn't cost much while sitting, as long as you run it once a week to get it to full operating temp to burn off the moisture and charge the battery.

You could get by with $1200 per year of basic maintenance (I mentioned $2400 earlier, but that is to cover anything that comes up), so it should be relatively inexpensive.

Insurance costs could be high on these, as my LC is my most expensive from an insurance standpoint. I have a 1995 Jeep GC and the insurance on it is 1/3 of my LC.

If you can use it to become debt-free and have enough for a s***box of some sort, then maybe that's the best you can do right now. Wait until you have your residency and making the big $$$ to buy another LC.

Listen to @scottryana , as he has been there, done that.

 

[scottryana]

Yeah insurance is expensive (should have full coverage so you are not left vehicle less), gas is expensive, repairs are expensive, tires are expensive. Great vehicles obviously and I am not likely selling mine anytime soon, but if I was mid 20's didn't have a large income from previous life and was facing the 12+ years of school and residency ahead of me I wouldn't pick an 80 series unfortunately.

I would after I finished school though!

In my last 55K I have done nothing but oil changes that were necessary. I have taken the time to change some window belt mouldings, a few cosmetic things, but nothing that was NECESSARY.

As a college student, keep up with basics only and do the more important things later.

You have a bike, ride that as much as you feel comfortable, but living in WI, you will need a 4x4 at times. Let it sit to save on gas money, but it doesn't cost much while sitting, as long as you run it once a week to get it to full operating temp to burn off the moisture and charge the battery.

You could get by with $1200 per year of basic maintenance (I mentioned $2400 earlier, but that is to cover anything that comes up), so it should be relatively inexpensive.

Insurance costs could be high on these, as my LC is my most expensive from an insurance standpoint. I have a 1995 Jeep GC and the insurance on it is 1/3 of my LC.

If you can use it to become debt-free and have enough for a s***box of some sort, then maybe that's the best you can do right now. Wait until you have your residency and making the big $$$ to buy another LC.

Listen to @scottryana , as he has been there, done that.

 

[Heckraiser]

Sell it. As a student the last thing you need is a 23 year old truck. I know this will come to a shock for most people but at certain times in our lives our needs change. You could probably make the LC work, but you will likely be living in apartments during school without access to a garage, you will be paying for someone to do any major work on your truck and anything major will be expensive and leave you stranded. Once you go to med school, your residency isn't guaranteed you have no idea where you will end up. So if you are using mom and dad's house to work on the truck now that might not be an option.

Go buy yourself the newest low mileage Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic you can afford. It is going to be boring as f***, but guess what, it is going to be cheap, leave you with less stress, and it is just a mean to an ends while you are in school.

Or if you must have a 4x4, get a 3rd gen 4runner. They are a dime a dozen, reliable, cheap and easy to maintain.

 

[Killdozer1776]

Both sides of the fence have offered a lot of great advice. At first thought it seems most practical to sell it and tough out the winter and save for something lower mileage and newer.

I got mine for $1000 needing a lot of small things. I put a couple hundred into plugs, wires, cap, rotor and air filter. Then got several rust free body panels from an awesome member here.

I have about $1500 into it and I figured a low asking price would force a quick sale on me. After a couple weeks I've only gotten ridiculous lowballs and nobody has even come to look at it.

It almost seems like the universe is trying to make me keep it..

It has had a slight shudder and erratic rpm at idle. Today it suddenly got worse when somebody local messaged me about it. It actually stalled out on me turning slowly into my parking spot. Rpm too low. Runs great at any actual speed. I'm starting to think its the common wiring harness issue as mine was, in fact, resting on the EGR for years before I got it.

I thought about lowering the asking price.. Thought it was weird I can't sell it at this price. Maybe a sign to keep it. I'd probably have sellers remorse if I let somebody steal it from me.

In thinking of saving for something better or more practical..A car would be a good idea but up here our winters are 7 months long with massive snow and ice storms. Had 30" one weekend this past April and I was snowed in at home with a car with little food but luckily the power didn't go out for me.

Another consideration is that almost all the med schools I'll be applying to are all in the upper midwest.

The only 3rd gen 4runners within double what I could get for mine are as old and have as many miles as what I have. They're also not rust free. The nicer clean ones barely below 200k miles are at least 3500-4000. I figured.. Same exact situation I'm in now. Nearly the same model year and as many miles as what I have is just trading for the same problems (minus rust) for 2-3 thousand more bucks.

A 4th gen? 7k and up for model year 2004 or newer, which will be 20 years old in a handful of years too. Who knows how little the price might drop for 3rd/4th gens anyway.

As I was finishing looking at the market for these, my toaster fell off the cupboard and smashed a plate on the floor pretty dramatically. Thought that was pretty weird and unlikely. Maybe a sign.

I could try to pick up a beater suv like a crappy jeep (have owned a couple) or the infamous ultra crappy blazer/jimmy with probably worse problems than mine, for cheap. But that doesnt make any sense.

Knowing what we do now, is a part-time job and a little more hectic schedule (I do have some free time but I rest strategically) maybe the answer? My classes are tough and my grades are super important but maybe it can be done without sacrificing them slightly. If I were to keep it I'd do large projects each summer when I can work more and after summer course sections.

Am I trying to justify an irrational choice or is it in fact the rational choice?

 

[clx16]

You can't find a no leak no smoke car for that little. If you can put rust preventative on it and make sure you wash off the salt when you winter drive it then you will be not losing money. I would lower to liability myself but in college i had to run cheap. Bike and walk, as much as possible but i hated having a tiny hatchback in college and would have killed for the space you have in that thing. Also even 18 years go my cars ran great but all leaked oil and i paid way more than that back then.

The price you get for it won't change if it starts to leak oil. If the rust gets crazy then that is different.

Hard decision for sure. But at least you aren't being stupid and getting a car payment. Whatever you do. Keep or sell isn't a bad decision with the way you are looking at things.

Do you have family that can garage it for you until you need it. Talk to the insurance company and see what they can do for a very low usage policy.

 

[asuddendeath]

If you are going to med school sell it and walk away.

You have bigger fish to fry.

Find something u can drive and run the piss out of. Save your money and collect very min debt.