Finally Bought my 2000 Land Cruiser but... (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jul 30, 2020
Threads
6
Messages
45
Location
Bay, CA
This thread is just me sharing my experience and my thoughts on my purchase:

After searching for months, I finally found my one owner 2000 Land Cruiser with 170k miles.
I was only looking for one owner LXs or LCs. I like one owner cars because I know how it was taken care of OR in this case, how it wasn't taken care of.

This LC wasn't in the color I wanted [champagne]. I went to take a look anyways since the seller was close by. I met with the seller and he was a very nice and honest guy. He bought it brand new and raised 3 kids in it. It was filthy inside. Leather was in decent condition and definitely needed cleaning. The floor mats were done for in my opinion.

I finally asked him about maintenance. He said just oil changes, transmission rebuild at 160k miles (common issues with 2000s), tires and brake pads. I asked him about the timing belt. He said it was never changed. I was a little shocked. Shocked that it wasn't changed and it's still running good after 20 years w/ 170k miles, AND shocked at the fact he had no care for it. Some positive notes: He never ever off roaded. Driven on snow twice. He only put it in 4L one time to make sure it still worked.

At this point, I was not going to pay his full asking price and I was just going to walk away. I made a last second decision to try to talk him down in price. I paid him $7k and now I am the owner of this LC. Not sure if I got an OK deal considering the fact it needs the timing belt , 2 tires, all brake rotors/pads, all fluids, and maybe shocks replaced.

Right now I am debating if I really want to keep this specific LC long term... If I do, I plan to do the above maintenance, paint door trims since it's flaking, tint the windows, and hopefully drive it another 100-200k miles :D

LC 2.jpg


LC 1.jpg


LC 3.jpg
 
Last edited:
I think you paid a fair price for what you got. 170k miles is pretty low for a 2000, and let's say after your timing belt, tires, and brakes and other PM you're roughly $10k into it, well that's what a well maintained lower mile 2000 LC would go for anyways. Plus, you have the peace of mind of knowing that you're the one who did the work/brought it to a trusted mechanic instead of taking someones word or the work being questionable. How's the underside for rust? Pretty crazy that someone who paid close to $60k for this back in 2000 wouldn't be on timing belt changes though...
 
I can't help asking (myself) why you bought it?
 
No rust. It's a CA car all its life. He told me he never changed it because no one ever mentioned it to him lol. Everyone told him the thing will run forever until the transmission blew on him. Yet, he still didn't change the timing belt haha
 
I guess a part of me wants a project. As mentioned by mitchclem, after the maintenance, I know it's all done and it'll be a solid truck.
 
The last paragraph sounds like you're going to do the work yourself. The next to last paragraph sounds like you're going to take it to a shop. If you're doing the work yourself you should be able to resurrect the truck at a reasonable cost, and be reasonably happy with it.
 
oops. I am going to take it to the shop for timing belt/water pump and tires only. Everything else, I am doing myself.
 
Some mechanics don't know what they are doing. If you have time, keep an eye on the job to make sure they do it right. I did the timing belt for the first time on my LC. I took time and all in all I spent like $250 for the AISIN kit. Use OEM or AISIN kit and never any other brands,
 
Looks like a nice cruiser for the price. Get the timing belt done and keep it and enjoy it!
 
Assuming you are keeping long-term might as well add in a new fan bracket pulley, idler, tensioner, alternator, radiator...or not but keep an eye out as they’ll need addressing soon enough.
 
Fair price. Best year and color IMHO. send it!
 
Congrats. It does seem like a pretty fair price. Trusting someone else that maintenance was done and done correctly is a crap shoot. I just payed 10 for my 99 lx. Lxs tend to be less expensive for whatever reason. It does seem crazy that someone would spend that kind of money on a vehicle and not take care of it. Good thing she is in better hands now! I wonder if there is a maintenance thread here. I'm wondering when ahc fluids and other fluids should be done
 
Everyone is going to say take off the running boards, but if your wife is like mine, you better leave them on. Since the TB is done, do the T's, find a hub cap, and address the peeling paint. Also, if you aren't going to use the hitch, you might want to pull that off before you back into someone and really screw yourself.
 
Everyone is going to say take off the running boards, but if your wife is like mine, you better leave them on. Since the TB is done, do the T's, find a hub cap, and address the peeling paint. Also, if you aren't going to use the hitch, you might want to pull that off before you back into someone and really screw yourself.

Good eyes. I already got one put on. And we did the Ts. One of them fell apart on contact. Glad I did them.

Why would leaving the hitch on be bad when accidentally backing into something? Wouldn't the other car be more screwed?
 
This is what a 20 year old 170k mile timing belt looks like. I'm confident to go 15 years or 120k on my new one haha
That belt is in rough shape, good you replaced it. Interested in what condition the water pump was in as those generally go bad before the belt.

Chances are great you can. Although I may have four hundy belts and water pumps fail today but as of now....I have over 200k on TB and water pumps on two of my hundys ('99, '00 non-VVTI) and don't see a reason to change them until they do fail. Your situation is very common for those who don't replace TB and WP before they need replacing. And most all TBs I've seen on MUD looks just like yours no matter what mileage they have on them. Not sure what has to happen to loose a water pump. Only lost one in 24 years.
 
Chances are great you can. Although I may have four hundy belts and water pumps fail today but as of now....I have over 200k on TB and water pumps on two of my hundys ('99, '00 non-VVTI) and don't see a reason to change them until they do fail. Your situation is very common for those who don't replace TB and WP before they need replacing. And most all TBs I've seen on MUD looks just like yours no matter what mileage they have on them. Not sure what has to happen to loose a water pump. Only lost one in 24 years.

I'm pretty sure the principal cause of water pump failure is water pump replacement.
 
This is what a 20 year old 170k mile timing belt looks like. I'm confident to go 15 years or 120k on my new one hahaView attachment 2402967


That's bit in the better side when I did my corolla's T-belt at 175K miles. From my experience, that was OEM belt lasting 17 years!
You can do the miles you quoted as long as you install OEM TOYOTA BELT and components.

The Gates belt I installed into my corolla shows cracks like yours just at 50K miles and 7 years.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom