Advice please... time to decide on my first FJ 62! (2 Viewers)

[RodrigzCrzr]

Its a valid point here and without knowing more about the rest of the truck, maybe its premature to discount this deal outright. I have just seen too many examples of much better sorted trucks (as in no rust) for way less money to make this one an easy pass. The rust you can't see is most likely far worse than the rust you can. Just too many solid trucks out there to ever take that chance, especially at that pricing IMHO.

People treat them these days as if you will never find another one and set the price accordingly. "They are just so hard to find". "You'll never find one like this". Funny thing is I get alerts almost daily about another one for sale here on MUD, some rough, some well sorted. If you are doing it right, then the cost of buying one of these trucks, pales in comparison to the cost of owning one. As @89fjlandcruiser alluded to you'll spend plenty of cash owning one. No reason to get rooked from the start buying one.

Personally, if I were in the OP's shoes, I would be looking at a completely different vehicle if only going to have it for 2 years.

No i am not saying you have too pay the $15k for this. And for anyone too get rooked like you said. I am merely saying regardless of what your willing to pay on a cruiser your going to drop some money on it. No if ands or butts.
In your case you found a nice clean body and clean interior. And from reading your build it seems your dropping money on the mechanics. Something is not working or something is wrong.
At the end you may just as well spent $15k on it. And yes I get it it’s how you want it and you know what’s been done. But never the less it still needs to be worked on.
And he is looking, and what he is finding is good trucks with bad interiors good interiors with very high mileage. Then your get a low mileage truck with rust! But being low mileage doesn’t take away you still need to do the knuckles and so forth. And on a FJ62. And we know how fickle them trannies are. And if they go they are costly and almost to the half price of the car.

 

[LCnAZ]

Personally, if I were in the OP's shoes, I would be looking at a completely different vehicle if only going to have it for 2 years.

I had forgotten that bit of info. You might tackle this rig if you were in it for the long haul for special interest or sentiment (like most of the rest of we miserable pudknockers here). But you will take a terrible beating if just keeping for two years...even without the rust. You will spend a small fortune over the two years, only to not be able to sell it for anything close to $15K. Return on Investment (ROI) is the key here due to the short term ownership. This vehicle at that price will have significant negative ROI over two years.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

I had forgotten that bit of info. You might tackle this rig if you were in it for the long haul for special interest or sentiment (like most of the rest of we miserable pudknockers here). But you will take a terrible beating if just keeping for two years...even without the rust. You will spend a small fortune over the two years, only to not be able to sell it for anything close to $15K. Return on Investment (ROI) is the key here due to the short term ownership. This vehicle at that price will have significant negative ROI over two years.

Exactly !

 

[Gretsch]

Is this the same truck?

For Sale - 89 FJ62 (SoCal)

 

[Chester]

LAND CRUISER - drive for 2 years, then resell for what you have in it?

Gambling with it, so let's post some odds

10% this truck. 2 years, put nothing but fuel and fluids in it, you'd have it for sale for too long, take a lower offer, and loose money. And if you put tires on it or replace an alternator, the hole gets deeper.

50% 91-93 80 series 220k miles bought for 10k
60% 96 or 97 80 series 230k miles bought for 12k
75% 88-90 62 series 220 k miles bought for 10k
Assuming somehow all you put in is fuel and fluids.
Tires, or anything else, breaks the bank.

 

[samtoddlee]

I'll chime in too. I've watched this particular truck for sale here on Mud since last May as it's my favorite color combo. I was amazed too that it didn't sell. I can attest that trucks do sell to close for this around LA, even with 200K miles. I am always interested in what people in SOCAL will pay for something. The personal wealth there is amazing. I'm one of those guys alluded to above that loves driving these and work to get better skills mechanically but remain a novice. I'm continually amazed at some of the repairs / conversions / engine swaps etc that I see LC owners tackling themselves here on Mud.

But for perspective, I bought my first Cruiser, a white 1989 two owner, 210K truck in Tucson about 7 years ago for five grand. It wasn't rough or abused but it was very well used. Did about $1,000 to $1,500 work on it (front axle, tuneup, brakes, etc), and eventually got tired of attaining 70mph downhill and downwind of a hurricane. Motor just seemed really tired. Eventually, I sold it about 18 months later to an East Coast buyer for a nice profit as I wanted to get an 80 series instead. I still have the 80 series, for which I paid less than I'd gotten for the 62. It was a 1996 with exactly 150K miles, and one owner. And that was in Santa Barbara, CA!

About 3 years after I sold that first 62, I started looking again as I remained enamored of that 1980s body style, and couldn't believe how the prices had gone up in that seemingly short space of time. I found another 89 one owner turned ino a dealership here in Phoenix. I paid more than twice what I'd paid for my first 62 for this second FJ62, which of course seemed super high. But ... I did it because it was one owner, in Phoenix since 1989 (zero rust period), I had two notebooks full of service, parts and tire receipts and the original bill of sale and window sticker, oh, and it had 94,500 miles verified by both CarFax and Autocheck. I remember my only big worry was that it had not been driven ENOUGH. I dont' think it had ever been offroad. I still have it now. It has 115K miles on it now and runs like a top, and I paid a Colorado LC specialty shop to convert it to an H55f manual transmission. Trans was new in the crate from Toyota as I felt the truck deserved it. It's my winter-time daily driver.

A couple of months before this though, I missed out on another one-owner Phoenix 1990 FJ62 with 89K miles for six grand. I remember thinking afterwards that that was the last of the low-priced trucks of this type. Now all of us see Cruisers, especially 40 series and 60 series, all over television shows, commercials, and movies. I have two kids and they were thrilled to see a blue 60 in the last Transformers movie. Another 60 has been featured on The Walking Dead, which is believe it or not the most watched television drama in the western world. That tells you popular they've become.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

I was selling it for a friend.
I no longer have this truck in my possession. So I don’t know if it is still around. I will check with her to see if she still has his particular truck!
Otherwise it is a nice truck