Hello,
I was directed to this forum as I have heard it was a great place to talk/ask about Land Cruisers. Let me start by saying I'm NOT a very experienced car guy and do not expect to drive a car more than 3,000 miles a year, so the language in this post is going to be pretty basic. I live in the city of Philadelphia and work as a plumber by trade so I do have no issues with getting dirty or doing work myself. I use a truck provided by the company for most of my transportation but I have realized that I would like to have my own personal vehicle.
I have a family friend who has been storing a 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser for several years for her friend who moved back overseas several years ago and is not coming back to the United States. The friend is getting tired of having the car taking up valuable garage space so the car has not been moved in that time. This is why she wanted to sell it to me since she heard that I was actually looking for a car to use.
Thanks to Slee's off road guide for newbies, I have noticed several items that I wanted to ask about and any answers would help me towards finally purchasing one (or not).
This is a 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser, which I believe is the FJ80/3FE. It has around 85,000 miles. Car still smells like new. I brought a new battery and it started up great. Air conditioning works great, radio works fine. Interior is clean and not damaged. Exterior is dusty but pretty presentable overall.
I noticed several things:
Thanks for bearing with me and I appreciate any insight.
I was directed to this forum as I have heard it was a great place to talk/ask about Land Cruisers. Let me start by saying I'm NOT a very experienced car guy and do not expect to drive a car more than 3,000 miles a year, so the language in this post is going to be pretty basic. I live in the city of Philadelphia and work as a plumber by trade so I do have no issues with getting dirty or doing work myself. I use a truck provided by the company for most of my transportation but I have realized that I would like to have my own personal vehicle.
I have a family friend who has been storing a 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser for several years for her friend who moved back overseas several years ago and is not coming back to the United States. The friend is getting tired of having the car taking up valuable garage space so the car has not been moved in that time. This is why she wanted to sell it to me since she heard that I was actually looking for a car to use.
Thanks to Slee's off road guide for newbies, I have noticed several items that I wanted to ask about and any answers would help me towards finally purchasing one (or not).
This is a 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser, which I believe is the FJ80/3FE. It has around 85,000 miles. Car still smells like new. I brought a new battery and it started up great. Air conditioning works great, radio works fine. Interior is clean and not damaged. Exterior is dusty but pretty presentable overall.
I noticed several things:
- The steering knuckles are super greasy and dirty. There's a lot of caked on stuff underneath the car. From what I've read, this is an issue with the seals and would require the knuckles to be cleaned and rebuilt with new seals/gaskets. How expensive/time consuming a process would this be? I've attached a picture of what they look like.
- It's been leaking oil or some sort of liquid. I noticed several spots on the ground in the garage and the cross beam that acts like a brace (again, not a car guy) under the car is caked with grime due to being dripped on from above. This beam is located in between the oil drip pan and another pan which I believe is transmission?
- Power windows are slow. Is this because the windows are dirty or is this normal?
- Tires are misshapen obviously due to sitting for so long.
- Side mirrors vibrate a LOT.
- Steering wheel turns fine when sitting idle. It is when driving that the steering becomes super difficult. I estimate I could only turn the wheel 20 degrees from side to side while driving. I believe this is an issue with the aforementioned steering knuckles and not the power steering because it turns fine when idle. Am I correct?
- Have not been able to take it to the highway because of the steering problem. Had to make a literal 20 point turn at the end of the street to come back.
- Some rust on the frame, I think I would rate the frame 7/10.
- The lever that opens the tailgate snapped when I used it.
Thanks for bearing with me and I appreciate any insight.