First Car (1 Viewer)

[lo0p5]

Hi Everyone!

I'm a teen looking at buying a Toyota Landcruiser hj60 series for my first car (quite soon) when I get my license and I was wondering if anyone has any info that they would be willing to share? By this time I should have a budget of around $15000 that I would be willing to spend but happy to go a little bit over.
If someone could let me know about what the expected costs/expenses would be to get one of these old girls on the road and on some terrain that would be very much appreciated.
I have also read some other threads about the 62 series although when I looked online I couldn't find any that were for sale..
I would like to get one with a reliable, diesel engine and a decent vehicle gvm as well as being able to perform well offroad and during long camping trips/touring. I personally like the hj60's because many sites believe that they are great to learn the ropes with mechanics and autorepairs.

Thanks everyone

 

[AussieHJCruza]

There's varying schools of thought here, my first car was an FJ45 so, probably a bit biased but...

It's not a modern vehicle and does not handle or stop like one, she needs to be driven accordingly

A 2H is a dog, you'll to sitting in the left lane, and they don't do well with a turbo from longevity perspective.

A cruiser is an expensive animal to keep and maintain, especially if you take to a mechanic and pay the $100 per hour for them to do substandard work. I say this carefully because many, especially on this site are not, but some modern mechanics are parts replacers not interested in diagnosis.

If your budget is 15k, I wouldn't spend more than 10k on the truck, that gives you 5k for maintenance to get it up to speed.

To give you a bit of an idea, I bought my HJ47 for 4.5 grand. It probably owes me about 13k now and I haven't bought paint or weatherstripping yet, plus any of the other odds and sods. If I'm driving it for less than 20 I'll be happy. The purchase price can easily be the cheap bit.

If you're able and willing to learn and work on the vehicle and understand what you're getting in to, I say go for it

 

[lo0p5]

There's varying schools of thought here, my first car was an FJ45 so, probably a bit biased but...

It's not a modern vehicle and does not handle or stop like one, she needs to be driven accordingly

A 2H is a dog, you'll to sitting in the left lane, and they don't do well with a turbo from longevity perspective.

A cruiser is an expensive animal to keep and maintain, especially if you take to a mechanic and pay the $100 per hour for them to do substandard work. I say this carefully because many, especially on this site are not, but some modern mechanics are parts replacers not interested in diagnosis.

If your budget is 15k, I wouldn't spend more than 10k on the truck, that gives you 5k for maintenance to get it up to speed.

To give you a bit of an idea, I bought my HJ47 for 4.5 grand. It probably owes me about 13k now and I haven't bought paint or weatherstripping yet, plus any of the other odds and sods. If I'm driving it for less than 20 I'll be happy. The purchase price can easily be the cheap bit.

If you're able and willing to learn and work on the vehicle and understand what you're getting in to, I say go for it

Thanks for the help, if I was to get an old cruiser I would definitely be doing a lot of the mechanic work myself which I expect would make things a lot cheaper.
I have always been a bit of tech/mechanical whizz and I can imagine myself working on the car all the time constantly learning new things. I planned to spend half on the car itself and half on the expected maintenance/repairs

 

[Miloslavich]

Do it.

Learn to work on them. Your knowledge gained will serve you well for years to come, and in the end you'll have a go anywhere - fun, quirky, cool, reliable rig you can take out with 4 friends, flip the seats down, camp in the back, and enjoy for many many years.

Do it.

 

[Advent]

As someone who, 20 years ago, bought an FJ40 for a first car - I would be very, very wary. My ‘40 was 25 years old when I bought it; the newest 60-series is now 5 years older than that. It caused me no end in grief trying to keep it running and attend school at the same time, especially since I needed it to get me there.

I don’t know what Aussie used vehicle prices are like, but it seems like you have a pretty good budget. I would try to get two vehicles - one cheap, reliable, and efficient daily driver and a nice ‘Cruiser. When you’re halfway through a project and need to run to the store, you’ll have something to get you there. When you’re waiting on a part to arrive, or even just for penetrating oil to take effect, you’ll be able to get to school/work. Wrenching is an entirely different activity when done for FUN versus NEED. I’m not scared to get in over my head now because I can walk away and spend a week researching what I need to do.

I’m not trying to discourage your dreams, only trying to suggest a way to both make it happen and be fun at the same time.

 

[OSS]

As a first car, I don't think a 30 year old Landcruiser is a good choice for a new driver. Also I don't think it's a good choice for anyone to be their only car they depend on as a daily driver. It's too old and things can and do break, crack, bend, leak, fall apart.

A 60 series land cruiser WAS an awesome vehicle for a first time driver maybe 15 or more years ago, but now? I personally don't think so

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, Two cruisers or a Honda Accord or Camry and a cruiser. Mike

 

[MarkBC]

You'll need a bike as a backup if you don't get another car. Maybe you'll get lucky and find one that runs reliably.

 

[mattressking]

Do it and if you realize you made a mistake, sell it.

Don't rely on others opinions, pull the trigger if its what you want. You'll make it work if you want it bad enough.

 

[lo0p5]

As someone who, 20 years ago, bought an FJ40 for a first car - I would be very, very wary. My ‘40 was 25 years old when I bought it; the newest 60-series is now 5 years older than that. It caused me no end in grief trying to keep it running and attend school at the same time, especially since I needed it to get me there.

I don’t know what Aussie used vehicle prices are like, but it seems like you have a pretty good budget. I would try to get two vehicles - one cheap, reliable, and efficient daily driver and a nice ‘Cruiser. When you’re halfway through a project and need to run to the store, you’ll have something to get you there. When you’re waiting on a part to arrive, or even just for penetrating oil to take effect, you’ll be able to get to school/work. Wrenching is an entirely different activity when done for FUN versus NEED. I’m not scared to get in over my head now because I can walk away and spend a week researching what I need to do.

I’m not trying to discourage your dreams, only trying to suggest a way to both make it happen and be fun at the same time.

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate any personal experience as it helps me to try not to make the same mistakes as others, don't worry about discouraging me as I'm open to any information.
Having a second car is a good idea however I only need the one car, I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of my local train station and other facilities including school.
The general 60 series in my area costs anything from $4500 to $12500.

 

[lo0p5]

As a first car, I don't think a 30 year old Landcruiser is a good choice for a new driver. Also I don't think it's a good choice for anyone to be their only car they depend on as a daily driver. It's too old and things can and do break, crack, bend, leak, fall apart.

A 60 series land cruiser WAS an awesome vehicle for a first time driver maybe 15 or more years ago, but now? I personally don't think so

A 60 series landcruiser for a first car is a very bold move however I wouldn't have to rely on it to get me places as (again), I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of my local train station and other facilities including school. Also, the car isn't supposed to be bought as a 'ready' vehicle I would have to do lots of repairs before having a safe and reliable vehicle but half the fun of a car like a 60 is setting it up - let me know if you guys agree

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Absolutely agree, that's why I sold a good condition VDJ79 to buy a tired old 47, part of the fun is in the build.
If you're prepared to get your hands dirty, spend 7 or 8k on a reasonable truck, couple of grand on decent hand tools and have the rest for maintanance.

She's an old truck now so expect to replace anything rubber, brake lines, fuel lines etc, and personally I like to replace coolant hoses and all belts etc. as well.

It's not always easy to do this on a new truck, but work on it in this order

1) Make it stop - brake lines, pads, rotors, drums etc, whatever it needs.
2) Make it steer - tie rod ends etc.
3) Make it not leak - probably have a few leaks at this stage of life, this might have to happen earlier if she needs a pink slip.
4) Make it run right, injectors, valve adjustment etc
4) Make it pretty, lift, tyres and all the fun stuff

 

[franklin40]

i’ve personally found that if you keep it stock and baseline it well from a maintenance point of view it can be very reliable. i found i had more issues when i’ve tried to modify things and customize it that i open bigger cans of worms that end up keeping it off the road longer than i’d like. now that i have it reliable i daily drive it for sure and even took my family on a 7600km road trip last fall hauling a military trailer. no hiccups at all. they aren’t cheap though and parts are getting harder to find. they get much more expensive once you head down the “accessory” rabbit hole. learn to drive it safely, know it’s limitations (brakes) and you should have one heck of a first vehicle to brag about for years to
come.

 

[lo0p5]

Absolutely agree, that's why I sold a good condition VDJ79 to buy a tired old 47, part of the fun is in the build.
If you're prepared to get your hands dirty, spend 7 or 8k on a reasonable truck, couple of grand on decent hand tools and have the rest for maintanance.

She's an old truck now so expect to replace anything rubber, brake lines, fuel lines etc, and personally I like to replace coolant hoses and all belts etc. as well.

It's not always easy to do this on a new truck, but work on it in this order

1) Make it stop - brake lines, pads, rotors, drums etc, whatever it needs.
2) Make it steer - tie rod ends etc.
3) Make it not leak - probably have a few leaks at this stage of life, this might have to happen earlier if she needs a pink slip.
4) Make it run right, injectors, valve adjustment etc
4) Make it pretty, lift, tyres and all the fun stuff

i’ve personally found that if you keep it stock and baseline it well from a maintenance point of view it can be very reliable. i found i had more issues when i’ve tried to modify things and customize it that i open bigger cans of worms that end up keeping it off the road longer than i’d like. now that i have it reliable i daily drive it for sure and even took my family on a 7600km road trip last fall hauling a military trailer. no hiccups at all. they aren’t cheap though and parts are getting harder to find. they get much more expensive once you head down the “accessory” rabbit hole. learn to drive it safely, know it’s limitations (brakes) and you should have one heck of a first vehicle to brag about for years to
come.

Thanks for all the info guys, it really helps

 

[Silveredition]

Gday mate,
5 years ago I bought my hj61 (12ht, 5 speed) for $3300 from Geraldton. Since then I have driven it every day (apart from when I am working on it...)
Essentials have been the brakes, swivel hubs, clutch and clutch booster. I have also had fun with plenty of improvements!
Parts are cheap (I just received a big Terrain Tamer order), they are easy to work / learn on, and they are so cool!!
In the 5 years I have gone from 470000km to 625000km. I am sure a lot of new cars wouldn’t be that reliable....
The gvm isnt great though - at all...

 

[FJACS]

Keep in mind lots of the opinions you’re getting are from folks picturing a long daily commute, or guys that wouldn’t walk 500m if their life depended on it.

If you’ve got access to public transit, trains and can walk to school and you don’t need to drive the thing every day, I think it’s a great choice. In my experience, older vehicles are a better choice for occasional drivers, they do better at sitting around than a newer car does.

my advice is don’t be in a rush to get one. I watched for long time until I found one I liked.

 

[lo0p5]

Gday mate,
5 years ago I bought my hj61 (12ht, 5 speed) for $3300 from Geraldton. Since then I have driven it every day (apart from when I am working on it...)
Essentials have been the brakes, swivel hubs, clutch and clutch booster. I have also had fun with plenty of improvements!
Parts are cheap (I just received a big Terrain Tamer order), they are easy to work / learn on, and they are so cool!!
In the 5 years I have gone from 470000km to 625000km. I am sure a lot of new cars wouldn’t be that reliable....
The gvm isnt great though - at all...

Thanks for the reply, I love the reliability of an old Toyota Landcruiser. Just one question regarding gvm... from what I've read the hj60 has a gvm of almost 3 tonnes, what kind of gvm issues have you been having?

 

[lo0p5]

Keep in mind lots of the opinions you’re getting are from folks picturing a long daily commute, or guys that wouldn’t walk 500m if their life depended on it.

If you’ve got access to public transit, trains and can walk to school and you don’t need to drive the thing every day, I think it’s a great choice. In my experience, older vehicles are a better choice for occasional drivers, they do better at sitting around than a newer car does.

my advice is don’t be in a rush to get one. I watched for long time until I found one I liked.

Thanks, you've touched on a couple of the points I was looking for - I've had my eye on a few hj60's cruising on the market for some time now, just waiting for an offer that wont break the bank!

 

[Indestructible 47]

I was in your exact situation 6 years ago now and brought a cruiser as my first car, a HJ47. You will, most likely, have the coolest vehicle of any of your school mates. I will say 2 things:

1.
My idea of the ultimate landcruiser for me and my needs changed after I left school, so don't waste your money on your first one like I did

2.
Don't stray too far from original with your build. You will kill the resale. Suspension and tires aside. As rust free and as low km as you can find under 7k for a hj60 imho.

Enjoy it and remember, nothing is ever perfect. The only other lesson that you should find out about early on, is the "that's cheap" or the "that's expensive" head will rear it's self. I'm now firmly mostly always buying less, buying better.

 

[mongoose2231]

Do it and if you realize you made a mistake, sell it.

Don't rely on others opinions, pull the trigger if its what you want. You'll make it work if you want it bad enough.

What he said ^^^