Dangerously Close to Buying a 2013 Land Cruiser - Need Advice (1 Viewer)

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L

Lroy

Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Threads
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Location
Auburn, CA
I currently own a 1999 Land Cruiser and I'm looking to upgrade to a 2013-2015. I have my eye on two for sale, one is a 2013 close to me (Sacramento, CA area) with roughly 76k miles but it came from Wisconsin and has some mild signs of rust under the truck (body is clean) and the brakes look/feel like they need to be replaced/bled. The other is a 2013 with roughly 64k miles and from the pictures has a 1" or 2" lift with custom wheels. It's being sold at a dealership in Durango, CO by was of an auto auction in Arizona, so I'll be engaging the dealer in a trust exercise hoping the truck is in good shape (side note: if anybody on the forum lives in the Durango area I would LOVE to contact you about looking at the truck....I live 1000 miles away).

My questions are this:
  1. Would you be comfortable buying a 200-series with 5 years of light Wisconsin rust on the frame?
  2. Would you be comfortable buying a lifted Land Cruiser bought from a dealer? If so what should I look for (see below).



1925312
 
Personally, I stay away from trucks that lived in rust belt areas and I almost always try to buy the lowest mileage truck possible after taking condition into consideration. I have been down the road of dealing with rust on used vehicles and I don't want that headache and constant fear and nagging in the back of my head ever again. The lift on the other one doesn't bother me. As always, check the car facts and ask as many questions as possible.
 
Being no expert, I personally would not be concerned about superficial frame rust unless it was invasive. On the other hand, body rust would be a turn off.

I’m liking the stock truck. It’s a clean palatte, with nothing to undo.

Good luck!
 
Lroy said:
Would you be comfortable buying a 200-series with 5 years of light Wisconsin rust on the frame?
Click to expand...

Absolutely not.

Most people saying they wouldn’t mind haven’t had a truly rust-free Texas, California, or Arizona truck for any length of time to compare to.

You can’t “undo” rustbelt years.
 
Thanks everybody! Yeah, Looking at the rust, it not heavy, and only on the frame rails, but 5 years of Wisconsin winters make me nervous. Other than needing brake work everything else looks super clean.
The lifted truck lived in Indiana and North Carolina before moving to Arizona where Carfax records go blank for 2.5 years. I’m a little concerned about the lack of records, but a big name dealer bought the truck at auction so I’m trusting/hoping they wouldn’t have bought it without some vetting.
Again, if anybody lives in the Durango I would love to connect with you to check out the truck.
 
Lroy said:
The other is a 2013 with roughly 64k miles and from the pictures has a 1" or 2" lift with custom wheels. It's being sold at a dealership in Durango, CO by was of an auto auction in Arizona, so I'll be engaging the dealer in a trust exercise hoping the truck is in good shape (side note: if anybody on the forum lives in the Durango area I would LOVE to contact you about looking at the truck....I live 1000 miles away).
Click to expand...


Exercise extreme skepticism about any auction Cruiser. I used to sell Lexus vehicles, we never wholesaled a LC or LX, and we had a fair amount come through. We would sell cheap, higher mileage 4-5,000 dollar cars that came in on trade that were in good condition. We only sent the junk to the wholesale auction. These aren't Mecum or Barrett Jackson auctions.
 
Last edited:
Lroy said:
Thanks everybody! Yeah, Looking at the rust, it not heavy, and only on the frame rails, but 5 years of Wisconsin winters make me nervous. Other than needing brake work everything else looks super clean.
Click to expand...

If you consider this LC, make sure the KDSS valves are free before purchase, search and see why.

Lroy said:
The lifted truck lived in Indiana and North Carolina before moving to Arizona where Carfax records go blank for 2.5 years. I’m a little concerned about the lack of records, but a big name dealer bought the truck at auction so I’m trusting/hoping they wouldn’t have bought it without some vetting.
Again, if anybody lives in the Durango I would love to connect with you to check out the truck.
Click to expand...

Any auction vehicle, either at a big dealer or not was passed over previously for some reason.
 
I’d keep looking.
 
Lroy said:
trusting/hoping
Click to expand...
Nope, not for me anyway! Trusting and hoping are not something to ever do with a dealer. I would consider a lifted/modified truck only from a MUD member and with solid info about its use. It’s possible to care well for a vehicle in salt areas (says a member from Michigan!), but it takes lots of time and attention. Just carefully evaluate the WI vehicle and if it’s been well cared for, go for it.
 
you sure there's nothing better and closer? try autotrader, car gurus, etc. and search all the toyota dealers within a certain radius of you. Maybe even engage one of them about your search. They might have a good network to pull from.
 
After learning about the lifted one being an auction truck I too would pass. I wouldn't touch a Wisconsin truck with your money, but hey, to each his own. IMHO, I'd keep looking and watch the classifieds here on this forum.
 
I gotta agree with others, neither of these sound worth it, both for their own set of reasons. Your gonna have this vehicle most likley for a long time, you gotta start with a right truck. The auction history vs the rust belt. I'd keep looking
 
Hey now - not all Wisco trucks are rust buckets. But most are. And if you are gonna winter drive them, they are gonna get salty.

I hope that Fluid Film will save my 200 from most of the ravages of rust but in reality, I know it will happen one day.
 
ArnieC said:
Hey now - not all Wisco trucks are rust buckets. But most are. And if you are gonna winter drive them, they are gonna get salty.

I hope that Fluid Film will save my 200 from most of the ravages of rust but in reality, I know it will happen one day.
Click to expand...
While I do agree "rust bucket" might be slightly harsh of a term, it's pretty accurate if they did any winter driving just because of the salt. Apologize if anybody has heard my story before but it applies to this situation. When i got my 2008 it as well was 5 years old. It had been in New York since new. It was a 1 owner truck, service records were immaculate, all scheduled service done at local Toyota. No accidents and had a clean Carfax. It was on a Toyota lot in NYC and was Toyota certified. It was priced lower than either of the trucks shown, and i was able to get it down quite a bit lower in the end mainly just due to the lack of demand for Land Cruiser in NYC. In the end, I'm happy i got it and love it. I moved to AZ a year later and had the truck thoroughly looked over for rust issues. None to be seen except light surface rust. Now the fun starts when you go to upgrade or change out anything. Install sliders.....50% of the bolts that need to come out are rusted solid and need to be cut off, and some holes re-tapped. Suspension lift?...same thing, seized rusted parts all over the place. Its the little things that have caused all the issues. I just think usually people think rust bucked is major structural issues with the frame and or body. For me it's been nothing at all big, but a whole lot of small and tiny rust issues that all in all add up to a lotta extra time and expense. For me I'm still happy with my decision, because everything else i mentioned above made it a great deal. The truck has been solid and reliable and was priced right to begin with with the backing of the Toyota certified. The rust issues for me have been worth it...........but I wouldn't recommend to anybody else unless everything else about the deal was beyond worth dealing with the rust headaches that will come. These 2 trucks you are looking at are both suspect multi owner history, suspect non-toyota dealers, about 20% more than i paid......not worth it in any way. There may not be a ton of 200's on the used market...but they do come along and its worth the wait.
 
Hard pass on both trucks.

Any rust belt life will come back to haunt you, and there's nothing you can do to undo that corrosion.

And if a vehicle has been through an auction, that means it wasn't desirable enough to be sold at the dealership who took it in on trade. For a Cruiser to not sell takes quite a bit being wrong IMO. The modifications could be a plus or minus, but I always prefer a stock vehicle and I'll add the parts that I want on it.
 
15LX didnt have adaptive cruise? My 15LC does. And it is great.
 
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