Finally had the time to post our new to us 200 Series. (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Aug 16, 2021
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Philippines
Our Land Cruiser 200 has been with us for almost 2 months now, but I was able to write about it when we first got it and posted it somewhere else. I'd like to share our story here.

Unexpectedly Ours

The past week for me has been absolutely astounding. We just picked up a 2011 Land Cruiser in Super White. This particular car was owned by the best friend of my best friend, who bought it brand new from Toyota and used it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Because of that, it accumulated a WHOPPING 162,000 kilometers, quite high where I'm from.

When we got wind of this sale, we weren’t looking for a new additional car since we were perfectly content with our stable. Although, for a few months, my best friend was telling me that it will only be a matter of time before his best friend sells the Land Cruiser. I knew of its existence but at the time I didn’t know what condition it was in, except for the fact it was fully dealer maintained and documented at a local Toyota dealership. Then, just last Wednesday, my best friend calls, saying that his best friend is ready to sell the car at price X. I won’t tell you price X, but to give you an idea, my jaw dropped and my eyes widened and I screamed expletives at him over the phone. However, we wouldn’t be able to view the car until Saturday afternoon due to previous commitments. Being the amazing best friend he is, he promised and assured me first dibs. Thus, were placed first in line, ahead of even the owner’s friends, which is a testament to how crazy close my friend was with the owner, and how my best friend was with me. I couldn’t sleep soundly the following nights, especially the day before viewing because this is one of our family’s attainable dream cars.

Come Saturday afternoon, we took a look at the vehicle, along with my uncle/trusted-mechanic of my dad. It was in okay shape. The once bright white paint was rubbing off, especially on the door handles and the driver’s side of the interior wasn’t in its best shape. When we test drove it however; there were no rattles and squeaks on the suspension. The diesel powered 4.5 V8 engine performed amazingly given the mileage, and the air conditioning was very cold. We knew that if we didn’t seal the deal that very day, we wouldn’t get a chance like this ever again, even with the mileage. We tried to negotiate a small discount but the owner wouldn’t budge from price X, with good reason of course. After some small talk, the deal was sealed. It was arranged that I would pick up the car Monday Afternoon.

Crazily enough, my dad was thinking about flipping this since we had a perfectly fine stable of cars for the whole family to use. I mean, it was his money no doubt, but then accounting for how amazing Land Cruisers retain their value as well as the price we got it, it was the closest thing a car can be to an investment. He needed some convincing from me, my mom, and even some of my friends who we knew to keep it. Fortunately, he agreed. He then said to me: “Congratulations to us on our first Land Cruiser, hopefully, it isn’t your last”

After picking it up today, I made a mental list of what we needed to do to the car to get it reconditioned for our use. Paint and some interior work for sure, but nothing mechanically serious. I noticed a crack at the tail light and on the windshield, but since no water was coming in anyway, will leave it be for now. Radio is almost going to give as well, but it’s not a priority anyway. I was surprised though that there was a busted headlight. I was equally surprised at how hard the air-conditoning vents were to adjust. Once all these are done and fixed, I knew that would be an amazing family car for years and years to come.

Modifications, well, we’re kinda past that stage already since we’ve been there and done that with my grandpa’s favorite car (a made in Japan Patrol GQ which we've had for 30 years and unfortunately sold due to COVID reasons huhu). We’ll definitely keep it stock for the foreseeable future, though maybe a trail trip or two wouldn’t hurt. We’re NEVER gonna facelift this into the new looks of the LC200 (facelift kits are quite common in our country) since we quite like how it looks right now with its macho elegance and clean lines.

When it’s finished and when safety permits, we will probably give grandpa a ride (of course!), so he can finally experience a Land Cruiser. Until then, wish us luck on our new to us unexpected project!

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Are you sure ODO is correct? Looking at this driver seat and door condition.

Yep! 100% sure the ODO is correct. It has the service records to match from the Toyota dealership up until 160,000 kms. In addition, we were lucky enough to purchase it directly from the first owner at an amazingly low price.
 

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