Best State for finding cruisers

[Koz]

Hello all,

In the very near future I hope to buy a FJ or FZJ 80 series. Being from Canada, there is a very limited number of these cruisers up here. So I'm wondering where in the US would I find the greatest concentration of cruisers to choose from. Im looking for 1992-94 preferably from non rust belt states. My plans include turfing the original drivetrain in favor of a diesel one from Aus so the less electronics to fiddle with the better. I'm planning on taking about a month off too search/vacation in the US to find one.

TIA
Mark

 

[Junk]

If you want to search the "non rust belt states" then ozzy head south. Keep in mind, just cause it's there doesn't mean it spent it's life there.

 

[ginericLC]

Texas if you want them to speak English, even if they say Y'all they are understandable. Florida is good if you can decifer other languages mixed with English. Every Florida Cruiser I've called on I could not understand the seller. And I've never been able to tell what their native languages were.

 

[GXO]

Atlanta is a good market, just be wary of what they were used for.

I have seen some NICE cruisers coming out of Alpharetta, GA (North of Atlanta, wealthy suburban area).

 

[moralien]

I'll throw one more in for Texas. 80's are everywhere.

n

 

[ELLTEE]

North Texas, especially Dallas, is the world's largest market for new SUVs. I don't know the Toyota/Lexus sales figures, but since Suburbans are made over by Fort Worth GM has often said that half of all new Burbans are sold in Texas.
The only issue is that most of the Cruisers I saw in Dallas were 100-series. You'll have to ask a wholesaler where all of the older trade-ins go.

LT
8)

 

[thorvald]

Id say the western states probably have more per capita than other places (see just as many cruisers in the town of 14,000 people I live in as when I go visit my sister in st. paul/minneapolis). Montana and Colorado seem to have their fair share.

think theres a white 80 for sale here right now. only problem is the asking price on them here seems to be a bit high. was a 94 at a dealership recently was asking 11,900
wasnt there more than a month if that.

 

[ParadiseCruiser]

Mark -

Try doing a web search using the postal zip codes for major southern California cities - in particular, the $$$ beach cities in Orange County.

There are so many Cruisers down there, it is mind boggling. Whenever I am in the area visiting friends, they are lined up in the restaurants and shopping malls like auto dealerships. And the owners always seem to be upscale young women who do not have a clue what they are driving - and I questioned many of them myself.

Nice place for a vacation too...

Cheers, R -

 

[Landpimp]

I have done very well in WA State......actaully all mine are local Cruisers.......and I got all at good(some of em, GREAT) prices Heck most all were one owners bone stock Cruisers.......the only way to go IMOP

 

[G-Cat]

I've lived in Colorado and Texas. Texas has the better prices, by far, on 80 series Cruisers. If you want less electronics to deal with, stick with 91-92.

Dallas, Houston and Austin seem to have the most for sale.

 

[firetruck41]

I second John H. Plenty of Cruisers in Washington and Oregon, no salt used, so rust is not an issue (one of my biggest concerns)

 

[ginericLC]

The problem with Western States is that they are more expensive. Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have nice Cruisers but they seem to be a lot more expensive than other states. Phoenix area has some usually too. I've seen some WA and OR 80s with rust. I'm not sure if this is typical or not. I was warned by a Californian that I should not try buying one out of the LA area. He told me that a lot of the good deals that I was seeing on the web and in their newspaper online were stolen rigs. I only ever called on one and it was exactly as he described. When I did a VIN check it showed that it was registered in New Jersey. So be careful out there? I know these are sort of generalizations but that is what you were sort of looking for I thought.

 

[firetruck41]

[quote author=ginericfj80 link=board=2;threadid=15233;start=msg144098#msg144098 date=1082735685]
I've seen some WA and OR 80s with rust. I'm not sure if this is typical or not.[/quote]
Definitely NOT typical, I have yet to see a 80 series with rust (except roof rack), even along rear hatch window.

 

[Brentbba]

Lots and lots of them running around in SoCal. 99.9% you guys would consider mall cruisers and freeway miles only. Outside the typical rust under the roof rack mounts, they should all be rust free.

Buddy at work is looking at a '95 with 150K on it. Asking price is $10K. Told him I thought that may be a little high and to ask the owner if the birfs had ever been done as a negotiating item to get price down.

 

[landandsea]

Mark,

I just tried autotrader.com , searched for 92-94 landcruisers within 100 miles of zip code 90803 (Long Beach, CA, about 25 miles south of Los Angeles) and found 43 for sale.

Ed

 

[Landpimp]

yep, same here, not yet seen an WA 80 with rust, for that matter the 60/2's are rust free........heck even most the 40's are..............55's......well I think they all came with OEM rust

but I would agree posted prices seem to be higher in WA than some other markets.......but I prefer to buy local.

John

[quote author=firetruck41 link=board=2;threadid=15233;start=msg144101#msg144101 date=1082736004]
Definitely NOT typical, I have yet to see a 80 series with rust (except roof rack), even along rear hatch window.
[/quote]

 

[Eduardo96FZJ80]

Yeah but the ones from WA have moss growing on them

 

[e9999]

true, lots in So. Calif, but prices seem higher than everywhere else...
might be OK if in better shape etc though...
E

 

[semlin]

Mark,

You don't say where in Canada. I have imported 80s twice to Vancouver, once last year, and once this winter. There are a number of old threads discussing how to do this in detail if you search on "import" and "canada" in 80/100 going back 365 days. If you PM me your email I can send you a spreadsheet to calculate all the costs.

There are two things to consider, price and distance. I think it is way better to fly out one way and drive the truck home so you see it before you buy it.

My view is that from the west coast at least, Utah is the nearest place with good deals, followed by Colorado. There are loads of 80s in the mountains and I think prices are good because all vehciles seems to depreciate fast up there on the assumption they will rust. My 80 is from Salt Lake and has no rust issues. Wa, Oregon, and Ca are significantly more money unless you get lucky. I could never really find any deals in Nevada Az or NM although I would have liked to find one. Los Angeles has a lot of cheaper deals but there always seemed to be a reason and it seems like a scary place to buy a vehicle long distance with lots of sktechy sounding sellers with cellphones, out of state imports and other weirdness. What you want is a market with too much supply or not much demand and then the seller will take the time to talk to you long distance and put up with the associated "hassle" such as getting the clear title at the time of purchase.

If you are on the east coast then New Jersey and New York seem pretty reasonable.

My advice is to try autotrader.com searching the whole US using the nearest zip to where you live and sorting results by distance. People advertising there know it will go out accross the country. You can also try cars.com but most of their ads are picked up from local newspapers and you can also try recycler.com for LA and local newspaper classifieds online (som use the cars.com system but their ads don't appear on cars.com) but I found that people advertising locally were often dubious about dealing with a long distance buyer. You can also try eBay if you are brave and decisive.

 

[Landpimp]

[quote author=Eduardo96FZJ80 link=board=2;threadid=15233;start=msg144125#msg144125 date=1082738931]
Yeah but the ones from WA have moss growing on them
[/quote]