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Toyota: Land Cruiser HZJ77
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eBay 77 Series ... (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Gun Runner 5
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If you want more pics just check out the "FS in August" thread lower down on the For sale forum.
Let's see if I can summarize up the history of this vehicle:
Mud member LAVA listed it in 2015 as available in August, but it was not import able to the US due to the 25 yr rule. He sold it to a "fellow Canadian", his last listed price: $19,000 obo.
Just after its 25th birthday it then showed up on ebay in Montana with a $29,500 BIN, but the bidding didn't even make it to $10,000.
Now it's back on ebay, less than 6 months later, in Tennessee with a $29,900 BIN.
It seams like each time the price increase is justified by some black paint over the parts that were originally a little rusty.
To bad it wasn't sold to a fellow MUD member who would have appreciated it instead of being passed around the country by dealers trying to flip it
Let's see if I can summarize up the history of this vehicle:
Mud member LAVA listed it in 2015 as available in August, but it was not import able to the US due to the 25 yr rule. He sold it to a "fellow Canadian", his last listed price: $19,000 obo.
Just after its 25th birthday it then showed up on ebay in Montana with a $29,500 BIN, but the bidding didn't even make it to $10,000.
Now it's back on ebay, less than 6 months later, in Tennessee with a $29,900 BIN.
It seams like each time the price increase is justified by some black paint over the parts that were originally a little rusty.
To bad it wasn't sold to a fellow MUD member who would have appreciated it instead of being passed around the country by dealers trying to flip it
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So what is it worth?
I am a broker at the dealer, had many land cruisers including an 08 expo built 200 series that previously belonged to MUD member Archtaan (great guy BTW) We have the truck there on consignment and did not set the asking price. Is it ambitious? Maybe but I've yet to see one comparable. If you look at our website you can see that we are no strangers to toyota diesels. The 77 is a monster, not a show truck by any means but needs nothing mechanically and is 100% ready to go. I had the arb bumper painted for the owner and that's the only thing we have done to the truck. I have to say that it's pretty frustrating to see people say negative things about a truck and taint it when the owner has gone out of his way and invested thousands of dollars to make sure the next owner is getting a great rig. This forum and the negativity about this truck specifically has cost that owner, who I have personally purchased 5 diesel cruisers from, a lot of money. Everything that has ever come from him has been top notch. I would invite anyone in the Nashville area to come inspect and drive the vehicle before posting negative things about it on the Internet. The owner of the 77 is a stand up guy that will not let something go that isn't, at least, mechanically perfect. I assure all of you that this one wasn't when he aquired it. Sorry for such a long post but I think this deserved clarification.
Excuse me, but what's the issue with "this forum and the negativity about this truck", that's such a big deal, maybe while you're at it, you can explain the negativity that as you say "has cost this owner...a lot of money"
Also, it's listed as a 1900 Toyota, I'm sure it's a lot newer than that.
Also, nobody is arguing that it's not a nice truck.
Also, it's listed as a 1900 Toyota, I'm sure it's a lot newer than that.
Also, nobody is arguing that it's not a nice truck.
You are correct it's a 1991. When you input the vin in eBay it doesn't accept it. Grease monkey seems to know the entire history of the truck with and with statements like, "It seems like each time the price increases its justified by a little more black paint covering parts that were a little rusty." And "Too bad it wasn't sold to a fellow MUD member who would've appreciated it instead of being passed by dealers around the country trying to flip it." Are hardly positive or accurate statements. I simply posted to clarify the situation. We are not "dealers" trying to dress something up and "flip" it. We actually know these trucks, have worked on these trucks, built (not diesels) but quite a few cruisers. We love Toyotas and land cruisers in particular. I'm sure if someone was making inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims regarding you, we would see the same attempt to clarify.
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The negativity here comes from a group of enthusiasts disappointed that such a promising truck hasn't found a proper home, and that it's on the market in a way that doesn't appear to be honest or transparent. In the eBay ad the only mention of rust is "NO rust" (twice) which is, I'm sorry to say, just not true. We've all seen the photos of the truck before it left Canada and we all know where the rust is on this vehicle. From looking at the photos, it's obvious that the rust was not repaired, simply hidden.
There's nothing "dishonest" about the ad. As I've said numerous times I do not own the truck it's on consignment. The history of the truck is unknown to me. The easiest thing to do, if you or anyone else have questions, would be to ask rather than speculate and assume something is not above bound. I stand to gain nothing by selling this truck, I am charging the owner a penny to sell it. Where was the rust? What was hidden? These are broad, sweeping statements. I would think it would be just as easy to ask a question through eBay or the website instead of posting on a forum drawing your own conclusions. It's much easier to have a productive discussion when its based around facts.
I am sorry if my comments were seen as being negative.
They are actually the comments of someone who really likes this truck and is desperatly looking for a HZJ77 to buy. I know the history of this truck like I know the history of most HZJ77 that have been sold in the US, Canada, or Japan in the last year, as I have watched the market just waiting for my turn to buy one.
I think that this truck is great, and I would love to own it. The only thing that I don't like about this truck is the body lift, but that is just a personal preference item.
As for my comment about the price increase being justified by black paint as you said "I had the arb bumper painted" and this is the only change I can see from when it was listed on ebay in Montana just a few months ago, and if the seller is not trying to make money by buying and selling (aka flipping) cars then why is it up for sale again so soon?
They are actually the comments of someone who really likes this truck and is desperatly looking for a HZJ77 to buy. I know the history of this truck like I know the history of most HZJ77 that have been sold in the US, Canada, or Japan in the last year, as I have watched the market just waiting for my turn to buy one.
I think that this truck is great, and I would love to own it. The only thing that I don't like about this truck is the body lift, but that is just a personal preference item.
As for my comment about the price increase being justified by black paint as you said "I had the arb bumper painted" and this is the only change I can see from when it was listed on ebay in Montana just a few months ago, and if the seller is not trying to make money by buying and selling (aka flipping) cars then why is it up for sale again so soon?
My intention was not to damage the seller by lowering how much money they could make, but to help the other MUD members by sharing my knowledge of this vehicles history which I think is the purpose of these forums.
mudandrock
Back 40 Imports
I am the guy who owns it as well as the one who brought it in from Canada. I figured if someone really wanted to know about it they would call, email, text, etc.
I usually stay out of it, always have been a back of the bus kid and prefer to stay that way, but it appears there have now been several threads created regarding this high profile LC and although I appreciate all the publicity and creative input I guess I owe it to you all to set the record straight.
This is my HZJ77 and although I sent it to Charles to be sold on consignment in Tennessee, it still belongs to me and I’m actually quite proud of it! Been driving and working on diesel cruisers long before I ever joined the forum
So for those of you who are actually interested in its history since it was sold by “LAVA”, here is the actual truth…
I had originally contacted LAVA when he had it for sale and had planned to buy it, work on it and store it at my Canadian residence until it was legally importable to the U.S. but another Canadian scooped it up before me, oh well too bad for me.
This PO bought it, started working on it (all hired out BTW) bought a house, and then found out his wife was pregnant, which is why he decided to sell it and that’s where I came in and claimed it.
I paid a local shop to cut out the cancers and weld in new metal. They didn't repaint the whole truck, just blended the areas that had been repaired and nothing looks “rattle-canned” as some have so expertly surmised in related threads by simply examining photos. It still has all its original scratches and dings it had before its just cancer free now.
When I bought it the turbo had been removed and all gauges were deleted. There was an invoice from Hilltop Cruisers in Calgary in the glove box. I called Ryan and asked him about it, and he said he was impressed with how clean it was underneath, that it passed compression tests and that he had to change out a couple valves, fix the timing cover and set the timing on the fuel pump, all of which coincided with the invoice. As to where the turbo went, it was a mystery. The PO just told me he had a mechanic friend remove it, because from all the research he had done, turbos weren’t good for the 1HZ motor and he just didn’t trust it.
Driving it back from Calgary it was quite doggy on the hills with the big tires, so instead of putting smaller tires on it, I made the decision to re-install a turbo. I installed a factory setup from a 1HD-T with a Toyota CT26, put in new gauges, drilled and tapped manifold, etc. and tuned the fuel pump accordingly. Boost is set at 8psi and the EGTs never get over 900. Of course I had to do some exhaust work as well.
The CT26 I used had 60k kilometers on it, I built an adapter plate for the manifold, had high psi hoses built for the oil and coolant, and used all new factory parts for the air intake. I used glow shift gauges so if you don't like the color display you can easily set them to any color you like.
With this set up the truck pulls big hills and still maintains 110 km/hr, so with 35" tires that's a respectable highway speed.
There was some surface rust on the rear bumper, so I removed it, took it apart, wire wheeled it, primered it, rhino lined it and clear coated it. I didn’t do a build thread or take before and after pictures on any of the work I did, I don’t have time for all that. Charles had a body man do the front bumper and I still have to pay him back for the work.
I changed all fluids including clutch master and gave it a full inspection, I untangled the birds nest of winch line, cut off the bad stuff and made sure everything was in complete working order. There's not a full 100' but there's enough there to get the job done. The winch works great as do the diff locks, everything has been real life field tested and I enjoyed every minute of it! This truck is so bad ass!
My original plan was to sell my Daily Driver and keep this one for the family, but with 3 kids still in car seats, 35” tires, lifted and rock sliders, it was just unrealistic. So yes, it’s being "flipped" for more money than I have in it, because if I can’t make money, I’ll just keep it! It hasn't been passed around like some slut or pieced together, all the work done was planned out and done with the long term in mind.
If you’re actually interested in this truck then you can ask me or message Charles in Tennessee. All respectful offers will be considered. I'm not watching threads so you'll need to contact me directly
I usually stay out of it, always have been a back of the bus kid and prefer to stay that way, but it appears there have now been several threads created regarding this high profile LC and although I appreciate all the publicity and creative input I guess I owe it to you all to set the record straight.
This is my HZJ77 and although I sent it to Charles to be sold on consignment in Tennessee, it still belongs to me and I’m actually quite proud of it! Been driving and working on diesel cruisers long before I ever joined the forum
So for those of you who are actually interested in its history since it was sold by “LAVA”, here is the actual truth…
I had originally contacted LAVA when he had it for sale and had planned to buy it, work on it and store it at my Canadian residence until it was legally importable to the U.S. but another Canadian scooped it up before me, oh well too bad for me.
This PO bought it, started working on it (all hired out BTW) bought a house, and then found out his wife was pregnant, which is why he decided to sell it and that’s where I came in and claimed it.
I paid a local shop to cut out the cancers and weld in new metal. They didn't repaint the whole truck, just blended the areas that had been repaired and nothing looks “rattle-canned” as some have so expertly surmised in related threads by simply examining photos. It still has all its original scratches and dings it had before its just cancer free now.
When I bought it the turbo had been removed and all gauges were deleted. There was an invoice from Hilltop Cruisers in Calgary in the glove box. I called Ryan and asked him about it, and he said he was impressed with how clean it was underneath, that it passed compression tests and that he had to change out a couple valves, fix the timing cover and set the timing on the fuel pump, all of which coincided with the invoice. As to where the turbo went, it was a mystery. The PO just told me he had a mechanic friend remove it, because from all the research he had done, turbos weren’t good for the 1HZ motor and he just didn’t trust it.
Driving it back from Calgary it was quite doggy on the hills with the big tires, so instead of putting smaller tires on it, I made the decision to re-install a turbo. I installed a factory setup from a 1HD-T with a Toyota CT26, put in new gauges, drilled and tapped manifold, etc. and tuned the fuel pump accordingly. Boost is set at 8psi and the EGTs never get over 900. Of course I had to do some exhaust work as well.
The CT26 I used had 60k kilometers on it, I built an adapter plate for the manifold, had high psi hoses built for the oil and coolant, and used all new factory parts for the air intake. I used glow shift gauges so if you don't like the color display you can easily set them to any color you like.
With this set up the truck pulls big hills and still maintains 110 km/hr, so with 35" tires that's a respectable highway speed.
There was some surface rust on the rear bumper, so I removed it, took it apart, wire wheeled it, primered it, rhino lined it and clear coated it. I didn’t do a build thread or take before and after pictures on any of the work I did, I don’t have time for all that. Charles had a body man do the front bumper and I still have to pay him back for the work.
I changed all fluids including clutch master and gave it a full inspection, I untangled the birds nest of winch line, cut off the bad stuff and made sure everything was in complete working order. There's not a full 100' but there's enough there to get the job done. The winch works great as do the diff locks, everything has been real life field tested and I enjoyed every minute of it! This truck is so bad ass!
My original plan was to sell my Daily Driver and keep this one for the family, but with 3 kids still in car seats, 35” tires, lifted and rock sliders, it was just unrealistic. So yes, it’s being "flipped" for more money than I have in it, because if I can’t make money, I’ll just keep it! It hasn't been passed around like some slut or pieced together, all the work done was planned out and done with the long term in mind.
If you’re actually interested in this truck then you can ask me or message Charles in Tennessee. All respectful offers will be considered. I'm not watching threads so you'll need to contact me directly
mudandrock
Back 40 Imports
I too am not a fan of body lifts, but the time to buy a hzj77 is when you see one body lift or not. The truck still corners quite well and I never was able to get it to flip over, I suppose I could have tried a little harder
@mudandrock Thanks -- this is exactly the kind of info that we're all curious about. Explains a lot. When this info isn't volunteered, it only makes people suspicious (or it makes me suspicious, anyway). Sounds like everyone had really good intentions and life realities have just gotten in the way, which is a bummer.
@charles harris I don't want to tell anyone how to sell their trucks, but in my opinion, when you have a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering aloud about what's going on, then the ad clearly isn't doing the truck and the backstory justice. When you say "well, I don't know any of the history, come look and figure it out yourself" it doesn't sound great, and it certainly curbs my interest. Nobody's scared of working on a 25-year-old truck, but nobody likes random surprises either--and the eBay ad is pretty short on details. Even if nobody's trying to "flip" the truck, it LOOKS that way, and that's what matters. If everyone sees the ad and thinks the same thing--hmm, this doesn't seem right--then that's a problem with the ad, not the buyers.
@charles harris I don't want to tell anyone how to sell their trucks, but in my opinion, when you have a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering aloud about what's going on, then the ad clearly isn't doing the truck and the backstory justice. When you say "well, I don't know any of the history, come look and figure it out yourself" it doesn't sound great, and it certainly curbs my interest. Nobody's scared of working on a 25-year-old truck, but nobody likes random surprises either--and the eBay ad is pretty short on details. Even if nobody's trying to "flip" the truck, it LOOKS that way, and that's what matters. If everyone sees the ad and thinks the same thing--hmm, this doesn't seem right--then that's a problem with the ad, not the buyers.
well isn't this nice, we've cleaned the air a little bit here, good thing this forum exists.
with or without this forum's input PRIOR, now that mudandrock's input is out there with the story, it's worth a lot for this potential sale, good luck to all.
with or without this forum's input PRIOR, now that mudandrock's input is out there with the story, it's worth a lot for this potential sale, good luck to all.
mudandrock
Back 40 Imports
I get what your saying man, but there's a lot of cruiser-heads that just don't log in that often. I don't know maybe it's just my personality, but if I'm genuinely curious about a truck I pick up the phone, or better yet just go bang on the guy's door with a pocket full of cash and go check it out, and if its thousands of miles away I'll send a buddy over there to go bang on his door with a pocket full of cash and check it out. I tried selling this truck on eBay and the bidding only got up to $9000! Sure, I had some genuine offers that I turned down, but there's LJ78s on eBay going for $19k man! I think the American public is very novice on diesel cruisers and what a good one looks like or what they should be looking for. This forum can be very useful, but I've also seen it used to trash guys who are just doing what they love to do. Imagine if you were selling a holy grail land cruiser, you logged into a forum to see what else is out there and you realize there's been several negative threads created about it, full of negative speculation and dragging it through the MUD. Asking a direct question to a seller is always the best way to find out about a vehicle and the Seller, and you really can tell a lot about a vehicle by the character of the guy who owns it.
mudandrock
Back 40 Imports
Thank you. I hope this summer is a kick ass one for everybody!
@Collin80
I appreciate the nuggets of advice. I am not going to represent things or make specific claims when I'm not 100% sure. I would be more than happy to answer any questions that I have the answer to or direct to @mudandrock. I think something else to take away from this is that making assumptions and blind speculation isn't constructive. Every statement that's been said about the truck could have easily been verified with an email, text, or phone call. Please understand that the vast majority of people that buy these diesels are not nearly as educated about them as the people on this forum. They see round headlights and want it. I've put more than one person to sleep trying to educate them on how awesome these things really are. @mudandrock is solid, if he tells you something is right it is. All that said I'm happy the air is clear. When I have the time I am going to do a build thread on my 200.
Thanks
I appreciate the nuggets of advice. I am not going to represent things or make specific claims when I'm not 100% sure. I would be more than happy to answer any questions that I have the answer to or direct to @mudandrock. I think something else to take away from this is that making assumptions and blind speculation isn't constructive. Every statement that's been said about the truck could have easily been verified with an email, text, or phone call. Please understand that the vast majority of people that buy these diesels are not nearly as educated about them as the people on this forum. They see round headlights and want it. I've put more than one person to sleep trying to educate them on how awesome these things really are. @mudandrock is solid, if he tells you something is right it is. All that said I'm happy the air is clear. When I have the time I am going to do a build thread on my 200.
Thanks
