First foray into 80-series land - first time buyer (of any used car!) - help welcome

[scottryana]

Haha everyone has their own definition of forever. The 80's are pretty great trucks no doubt, I haven't always had an 80 but I have been around Land Cruisers since the FJ60's were new. (Yes I am old, 39 this year haha) But the 80's bring a very nice blend of comfort, capability, style and ruggedness. Hopefully I will always want those things, but s*** you see guys wearing matching pink t-shirts and driving minivans and I am sure they said the same thing.... So if it matches your lifestyle, and your wants, make it happen, just make sure you are smart about the purchase, that you do a good inspection and it really is hard to go wrong or lose huge amounts of money. Good luck!


And PS that looks like a very clean Northeastern US Land Cruiser to me!

You mean it's not a "forever" truck?

Thank you - super helpful. Realize this is basic stuff, so appreciate the knowledge.

 

[LS1FJ40]

My thoughts:

1) rust sucks. Lots of rust free rigs in California.
2) sell your stuff like @scottryana said and drive across country.
3) the trip across country will be worth whatever you lose selling the rusty 80.
4) when you head west along I-80 hit me up when you get to Iowa.
5) by a Land Cruiser instead of a Lexus, if at all possible. LX450s are lame-o
6) we need more female representation

Welcome!

 

[Bryanseye]

My thoughts:

1) rust sucks. Lots of rust free rigs in California.
2) sell your stuff like @scottryana said and drive across country.
3) the trip across country will be worth whatever you lose selling the rusty 80.
4) when you head west along I-80 hit me up when you get to Iowa.
5) by a Land Cruiser instead of a Lexus, if at all possible. LX450s are lame-o
6) we need more female representation

Welcome!

Yeah, that missing cubby on the LX in lieu of a speaker is totally weak. Either model requires cup holder additions, but you have to get the right size for champagne if you have the LX.

 

[LS1FJ40]

Yeah, that missing cubby on the LX in lieu of a speaker is totally weak. Either model requires cup holder additions, but you have to get the right size for champagne if you have the LX.

I was referring to the possible rust behind the plastic moulding. And the plastic moulding getting ripped off.

 

[Proven]

The picture of the undercarriage looks like someone has done a thorough job of hiding the rust. The rust converters turn rust black. The catch is that they usually only get visible rust and the crevices still have steel cancer.

A southern rig will do you better and particularly Texas or California. I got mine from Texas and I live in Georgia.

 

[NCFJ]

OK, I'll say it straight up, you are going about this bass ackwards. I work on LCs every day and my biggest foe is rust. Everything else is just mechanical and electrical stuff. Rust effects everything else. That simple 30 minute repair, becomes 2.5 hours because of rusted bolts.

Do yourself a favor, sell off all your stuff, because it is just stuff, rent a new car and take an adventure drive cross country. Settle in when you arrive, buy some new furniture, hang a few pictures.

Then........... seek out a local LC club (look here in the clubhouse) and start your search for a clean truck. Add $2K to the sale price for first year base lining and you should be good.

One man's opinion, your results may vary

 

[DSRTRDR]

I agree with the advice to buy a truck out west - particularly the idea to join a local club and pick their brains for advice

as far as the LX you asked about: the CL picture was taken in the parking lot of an apartment complex - that LX was not garaged

I also agree with scottryana to incorporate sightseeing into your cross-country move - I have done three such moves, and I regret not sightseeing even more

 

[Heckraiser]

This is going to be heresy in this forum, but if you consider yourself a 4 out of 10 wheeler and value range/economy, I think you'd be better off sticking to your original 3rd gen 4runner idea. They are much more economical to maintain and fuel, and peppier and more nimble handling, still pretty darn good off road with a basic lift and 33s. And they can still tow an occasional load.

As a westerner, would be very skeptical of any used vehicle coming from the NE, even if it didn't appear too rusty on the surface. Actually, I just straight up wouldn't buy it. I lost my beloved fj60 to rust and I'm just not playing that game again. Buy a CA or AZ truck after you get out west, do your road trip in a rental. That's my $.02

 

[LS1FJ40]

This is going to be heresy in this forum, but if you consider yourself a 4 out of 10 wheeler and value range/economy, I think you'd be better off sticking to your original 3rd gen 4runner idea. They are much more economical to maintain and fuel, and peppier and more nimble handling, still pretty darn good off road with a basic lift and 33s. And they can still tow an occasional load.

As a westerner, would be very skeptical of any used vehicle coming from the NE, even if it didn't appear too rusty on the surface. Actually, I just straight up wouldn't buy it. I lost my beloved fj60 to rust and I'm just not playing that game again. Buy a CA or AZ truck after you get out west, do your road trip in a rental. That's my $.02

Well, if we are bringing logic in to things than a Highlander or Subaru Outback makes more sense. But those are even more lame than an LX!

Better idea: sell your stuff. Fly to Denver. Rent a car from Denver to CA. There’s nothing to see between NY and Denver anyway. Spend more time bouncing around in the mountains!

 

[missbarilov]

Well, if we are bringing logic in to things than a Highlander or Subaru Outback makes more sense. But those are even more lame than an LX!

Better idea: sell your stuff. Fly to Denver. Rent a car from Denver to CA. There’s nothing to see between NY and Denver anyway. Spend more time bouncing around in the mountains!

That would be amazing but I do have a large dog, musical equipment and some very fragile clay pottery that I wouldn't be able to ship, so driving is unfortunately a must. Just a factor of driving what and how much stuff.

I'll be taking a look at this LX 450 tomorrow and will know more when I see it in person. If it looks good I"ll probably buy it with the intent to re-sell in Cali and buy a proper rig later on. I do need a car when I get there though so it would serve me well for a few months until I find "the one"

 

[Mandrake]

Fellow east coaster transplanted to UT 13 years ago here. I echo what others have said- don't do it. The trucks out here, even in the relatively salty area I live in, are orders of magnitude cleaner than anything you'll find back east. I recently picked up a near mint 40th Anniversary with zero rust for $3600, and a rust free '91 with minor mechanical issues and a munched drivers seat for a grand. With those comps, why would I even give your east coast rust bucket a second glance?

Additionally, you're going to load all your stuff up and drive 2500 miles in an unknown 20 year old rig...? That's like not doing a pre-flight because it was fine when you rented it two weeks ago, or trusting the fuel guy when he said he topped the tanks.

Spend the money on a moving truck, and buy a clean rig here once you're settled in. And if you're not going to wheel hard, stick with the 4Runner... they're cheaper, more common, more pleasant to live with on a daily basis, no mandatory front axle rebuild, and will do anything a cruiser will at the level you say you'll be at.

Even as bulletproof as the 80s are, they're not cheap to own. Unless you're just going to ignore everything and drive it into the ground, they'll nickle-dime you to death.

 

[psmbfuer]

I live back east near Philly, and it looks pretty clean for our area to me and I don't see any signs of a repaint (no tape lines, over spray that I can see, etc), although hard to be certain from pics. The one thing that I see is that the coolant hoses up on the firewall appear original, and if this is the case, the PHH might also be original, so hoses and belts would be my first concern. If the front axle isn't clicking when you turn it hard under a bit of power, I don't know that it would be high on my list unless it is heavily leaking.

It has been about two years since I have driven across, so I'm jealous.

 

[ZackR]

Do yourself a favor.... Sell your couch and table, ship your other stuff, fly out west and buy a cruiser when you arrive. Bringing a east coast truck to CA is the wrong approach since the resale value will be low and you'll either take a loss or be stuck with a rusty truck.

Even the most fragile stuff can be shipped if packed well enough. If you really have to drive rent a regular car or find someone who needs to relocate a car from east to west.

The last thing you want is to have something happen when you are halfway across the country and are burdened with all your stuff waiting for repairs in some random shop. If you owned the LX for a a year and had it dialed in it would be a whole different story.

 

[Heckraiser]

Well, if we are bringing logic in to things than a Highlander or Subaru Outback makes more sense. But those are even more lame than an LX!

Except that a 3rd gen 4runner is actually a truck and probably has 85% of the 80's offroad capability, factory diff locker, real 4x4, etc. More reliable, cheaper to run and way cheaper to fix. Only thing missing is the durability of a solid front axle, which if you're a 4 out of 10 wheeler, is totally not needed.

 

[1973Guppie]

step one: sell all your stuff, keep a few boxes of memories that will fit in an suv
step two: rent a car with unlimited miles and drive cross country
step three: find a peach of a car when you get settled out here.

best of luck, Noah

 

[Bill F]

step one: sell all your stuff, keep a few boxes of memories that will fit in an suv
step two: rent a car with unlimited miles and drive cross country
step three: find a peach of a car when you get settled out here.

best of luck, Noah

^^this^^

And does the OP know what kind of mileage an 80 gets??? I thought it would be a swingin' idea to drive mine from Reno to Longmont/Boulder to visit some friends. I calculated $900+/- in fuel costs, so took a $300 roundtrip plane ride instead.

 

[izzyandsue]

Sounds like a decent truck. Mine came from Lawnguyland, NY, and no more rusty than most in the Southeast, not everything in the NE is rusted through. I agree with Aloha Jen, sounds like a great adventure, go for it! When you look at it, see if you can see the brakes and look for rust on the calipers, brine does accumulate there.

 

[PDoyle]

Why are you leaving NY. GEEZ!

 

[OGBeno]

I'm not a female Pat, but I will take her place.

 

[LS1FJ40]

One note: make sure you buy the Gold Package AAA before you leave. Just in case...

When I bought my 93 I flew out to LA and drove it back. Freaking awesome trip. Sleeping in the desert. Sleeping in the mountains. Fun times. If you need some light reading it’s in my signature. You just have to sift through 40+ pages of BS to get to the occasional cool thing. But at least it’s not as bad as one of @NLXTACY’s threads...