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Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Threads
9
Messages
115
Location
Ohio
Im not in the market necessarily but im always looking for a steal which pops up from time to time and i ran across this:

2000 Toyota Land Cruiser 119k miles,Texas Vehicle,1 owner,No rust

Thing looks clean with low miles. I have no doubt it exists and can go look at it if i want because i live in the area but the thing is a ghost as far as vehicle history. Weird right? Maybe it was shipped overseas or something?
 
My issue with vehicles with low miles is that people don't understand there is a miles AND time interval for maintenance. I would put money on that thing being 8 years overdue for a timing belt. Same thing goes for oil changes, etc.
 
Who cares about the timing belt? The issue is going to be rust and the interior being crap.
The only way to know anything is to go look at and drive it.
My wife only drives 5k/yr and all of her maintence is up to date and any repairs are done as needed, but it does not need any, so it takes forever for miles to rack up. And I change the oil every 5k no matter what using full synthetic.

If you're interested go look at it, test drive it, if it's all good buy it, if not keep scrolling.
 
Im talking about the vehicle history reports though. I can't find any of the normal data i would see on how many times it was registered, etc. Seems really strange.
 
I dont know why Im looking for a second one but i think I'm addicted... Any landcruiser anonymous groups out there anyone can point me to? Im going to look at another 2000 on friday and after talking to the guy it sounds like a pristine, no rust rig. It has 275k miles on it. Assuming it is in pristine shape, (impossible to find in ohio btw but its originally from North carolina) what would be a fair price on this thing. Looking for a baseline and i can deduct from there as im sure there are some issues.
 
This is a super broad question. But around be a 275k mile, rust free, 2000 is going to be $5500-7500 depending on a number of factors.
 
I'm a dealer. I pulled a carfax. One owner texas vehicle, has a steady stream of service records done at toyota. 90k mile service performed at Don McGill Toyota in 2010 at 92k miles (Timing belt, plugs, water pump, etc) It was back there in 2012 at 116k miles having the fuel system cleaned and the throttle cleaned (and the rearview mirror replaced).

Sold at auction 7/04/18 with 116k miles. If I had to take a wild guess I'd say it ended up being a new car trade or something at got sent to auction, brought a ton of money since it was so clean, someone bought it and drove it for themselves for a minute and then decided to sell it, and either wholesaled it off to this dealer or he was the original guy who bought it. I have no doubt this is a nice car, it's just expensive.

For reference: I paid $5500 for my 01 LX470 with 261k (which was a trade). It was immaculate and we more or less had it sold for $8900. I've since spent maybe 2k doing all the baselining and stuff I wanted to it (KO2s and such). I'm happy with mine.
 
ok, so $2500, assuming it is as clean as he says and the pictures look is a steal? Two known issues, needs a new filler neck i assume because he can't pump gas without going super slow or it will overflow. And leaky sunroof coming from the dome light, which i assume is a drain issue. Otherwise he said its clean, no oil leaks, no mechanical issues. Ill find out more on friday i guess.
 
ok, so $2500, assuming it is as clean as he says and the pictures look is a steal? Two known issues, needs a new filler neck i assume because he can't pump gas without going super slow or it will overflow. And leaky sunroof coming from the dome light, which i assume is a drain issue. Otherwise he said its clean, no oil leaks, no mechanical issues. Ill find out more on friday i guess.

Man you showed me one for $13k, I assume youre talking about the one with 275k? I know sunroof issues can be a pain in the ass on these things. And sunroof drains being clogged typically don't result in water leaking from around the dome light. I very well could be wrong on that.

I'd say be prepared to spend $800 on the timing belt water pump, and if it's not rusted then yeah its a steal.

But I'll also say as someone with a lot of experience buying cheap vehicles that I like, when you buy something thats rough as hell youre going to want it to be nice. You might spend a hell of a lot more making it nice than you would if you just bought a clean one.
 
i know what you mean, thats why im hoping its clean body and interior wise. I can fix the mechanical stuff, cant fix s*** rusted to hell and back. Mainly just wanted to see what people thought if i buy this itll be for my wife and if she ends up not liking it will I take a loss or sit on it forever trying to sell it, not that 2500 is a ton of money but its still 2500 and i work hard for it.
 
Just an FYI, if you have young kids they added the LATCH tethers in 2001. That was a major point for me, not sure if it is for you.
 
just checked it out. Given the mileage, the info that dr335i shared (;)) the way the interiors look, and the fact that the dealer actually shows multiple underbody pics, i would say its a good deal. I dont know about 13k but thats a good starting point. I would go check it out, let us know if you buy it! :hmm:
 
Hey guys.
I recently purchased a 100 series with around 140K on it. The carfax all checked out other than it appeared it had been sitting several years based on the report. Basically had about 5-10K put on the odometer over the last 6-7 years.

I bought it out of excitement based on price and the low mileage and of course the records!

Fast forward a few weeks later!
I started questioning some unusual wear and tear on the vehicle.

I decided to pull the records and go thru them ( they were all there and I had looked at them before)

After finding a name on the paperwork which the guy said was his fathers car that was old and no longer driving..... I decided to call the number on one of the service records that I found from a oil place.

Come to find out the truck had 335K on it and had been digitally changed ( simple to do! )

Just be aware that these digital odometers are easier to roll back with the proper knowledge and if the owner dies his own work or takes it to smaller independent shops carfax records don’t happen!

Take Care
Mike
 
I purchased my 2001 LX last year with 107,000 miles on it. In my opinion anytime anyone sells a car after 8 years, it normally has a problem.

The reason why I say this isn't anything to do with the mileage or years but, more with financing and peoples desire for something new. I for one love my vehicles, normally only purchase 3 years to new vehicles, I never finance buying and keep them forever as long as I don't have to work on them every month.

So anyway, my LX has in great interior and the smallest amount of rust. I think it was driven at least partial by an older woman based on the long gray hairs I found in the crooks & crannies. I wanted a 2001 or older LX because I wanted to install a custom sound system. So I couldn't figure out why they would be selling a 16 year old vehicle.

After owning it, I finally found out why I think they sold it. It had two problems that were intermittent. After they appeared and I re-read the history, I understand what the Toyota dealerships were trying to fix but, they never openly said it. They also never fixed it either.

1.) Was a stalling issue. It would stall sometimes as soon as you applied throttle from an idle. The idle could be a red light or coasting down a hill. My local Toyota dealership finally found the problem after I left it with them for over a month. They ran it everyday until it finally did it to them. My MAF sensor was slow to respond. $190.00 new MAF problem is solved!

2.) The alternator sometimes would run wide open 16v. When I purchased the LX it had a brand new Toyota factory refurbished alternator on it. Because I was doing a new stereo system, the first thing I did was replace the alternator with a 250a High Out alternator. After a few months, it developed the wide open problem. I thought it was my HO alternator going out, so I changed back to the OEM alternator and sent my HO alternator back for service.

About two months after putting my new warranty alternator back on the LX, it ran wide open again. So my guess was it couldn't be another alternator. So I started looking elsewhere. My problem ended up being the Alt-S fuse holder must have had the smallest bit of corrosion on it. I cleaned it with DeOxIt and haven't had the problem since. No money spent just a lot of labor to change the alternators in and out.


My point behind this long post is there is mostly likely something wrong with it. But if you are able and willing, you could very well end up with a vehicle that you will love for a long time! I would drive mine on a 3,000 mile road trip tomorrow and not worry about it!
 
@Cruiser Corps

That's a horror story man, I actually considered the possibility of this when I was looking at an LX that hadn't been used for years (that one sold before I could drive it). The LX I ended up buying also had a gap in the official service records, but the carfax thankfully appeared to be linear so I was a bit more reassured.

Worst one that ever happened to me was when the tire shop entered 2356517 as the mileage on my 70k-ish Volvo (it was the tire size). Idiots.
 
So I went and checked out the one with 275k on it today. As far as rust goes, this thing is clean. no rust whatsoever even starting to form on the body and some minor surface underneath. The motor also looked clean, no leaks, no check engine lights. That's about where the good stops. Pretty bad dent by the rear driver tail light, I can live with it. VCS light is on codes, C1207, C1223, and C1269. Im thinking the C1207 and C1269 are results from the leaky sunroof leaking down on the shifter, but not sure on the C1223. Alternator is ready to go out. And the a/c doesn't work. But NO RUST lol.

Oh and that last but definitely not least concern, is when I push the center dif lock the light on the dash doesn't light up, I hear a clunk like its engaging, definite much louder than the "click" I get on mine, and a lesser pronounced clunk when switching it off. The 4x4 lo light also does not come on but its definitely engaged and switches into 4lo smoothly.

I didn't make an offer, not even a "whats the least you would take" and he said he would take $1500. Can I go wrong with this even if I end up just parting it out? Again, NO RUST!! Opinions?
 
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