- Year
- 1986
- Vehicle Model
- Other
- Color
- Silver
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SOLD FJ60
- Thread starter mudpaws
- Start date
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If you're thinking of buying this land cruiser FJ60 please private message me first. I flew down from Nova Scotia Canada to NYC after agreeing on a price and sending a deposit. With the idea to collect and drive back home. Trusting since it was stated in ad to be in "excellent condition" and "ready for any adventure". This truck is not represented in any factual basis of being in excellent condition mechanically or was/is able to drive safely anywhere. Looks good cosmetically but that's it. I got an hour down the road after purchasing till it was more than evident it was going to breakdown on the side of the highway. The engine had a misfire and would search for idle. The carburetor was also set super rich, you could smell the truck at idle. The smog pump was seizing up and screaming when accelerating or at highway speed. The clutch was damaged and rattled at idle until one stepped on the clutch pedal and the noise would stop. The steering wheel center alignment was out and had lots of play so truck tried jump lanes at speed when hit large bumps. The windshield washer fluid didn't work, clogged and the reservoir tank was full with sludge . The wiper blades drivers side too long and would bind when in use.
To top it off had a pre purchase inspection performed at a garage local to seller that he chose to take truck into. It all came back glowing that it was "overall this is a solid example of a vintage vehicle which could be safely driven where you want to" and "everything worked as it should". Report sent to me via a text message from seller claiming it was from the mechanic and he charged me $250 for this service. I phoned the mechanic when back home cause I couldn't believe how a truck in such bad mechanical shape could get such a glowing report! The report sent to me was completely made up from seller and seller was made aware of trucks real mechanical condition verbally by mechanic and not charged for the inspection by mechanic!
Long story but I turned around and returned truck back to seller, got my money back and parted ways!
Bought a very expensive return airline ticket for the next day and flew back home, broker but wiser.
Be careful !
To top it off had a pre purchase inspection performed at a garage local to seller that he chose to take truck into. It all came back glowing that it was "overall this is a solid example of a vintage vehicle which could be safely driven where you want to" and "everything worked as it should". Report sent to me via a text message from seller claiming it was from the mechanic and he charged me $250 for this service. I phoned the mechanic when back home cause I couldn't believe how a truck in such bad mechanical shape could get such a glowing report! The report sent to me was completely made up from seller and seller was made aware of trucks real mechanical condition verbally by mechanic and not charged for the inspection by mechanic!
Long story but I turned around and returned truck back to seller, got my money back and parted ways!
Bought a very expensive return airline ticket for the next day and flew back home, broker but wiser.
Be careful !
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Wow 
Yes the "Cruiser Karma" is not strong in this one!
This should be on the bad sellers sub forum…
Make people aware there as well!
WOW, WOW, WOW
So disheartening to hear . Kind of shocking since Ralph has been a mud member for 20 years .
At least he refunded your money and that "expensive " plane ticket costs a lot less then the mess you would be stuck fixing
So disheartening to hear . Kind of shocking since Ralph has been a mud member for 20 years .
At least he refunded your money and that "expensive " plane ticket costs a lot less then the mess you would be stuck fixing
Yes I did read his entire 20 year post history from this site looking for prior mechanical issues concerning the above FJ60 and found nothing that related to this truck that he posted in all those years. Turned out he recently "inherited it" from his stepfather and guess also "inherited" a bunch of maintenance issues along with it that he just wasn't prepared to deal with or disclose before selling. I did take his twenty years of being involved with land cruisers and this site as a positive towards a good person to buy a truck from. Sadly not the case in this case.
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Hello fellow mudders,
Yes, this sale became a cluster and I made some serious mistakes. I’ll start with that. Given that the buyer was coming from so far away, I definitely should have been more thorough and taken more time going through the truck.
My stepfather had this since 2011 and he would take it out occasionally. Since he’s older now, he decided to pay it forward to me and I took ownership of the 60 during 2023. I had wanted my wife to drive it, but she wasn’t keen on it being a manual.
Thusly, I decided to put it up for sale. I fixed several things including the horn contacts, front markers, brakes, and removed inactive electrical components/wires. I took off the carpet dash cover and tried to clean up the dashboard pad as best I could.
Overall, the truck looked great and ran well when I got it.
It has a rebuilt factory carburetor that is set pretty rich. I’m not an ace with carbs, but I tried to adjust the mixture some to no avail. This could be revisited with a vacuum gauge and more time invested. I’m going to try to do this, or have it done.
The truck didn’t run choppy at first when I got it. I had brought it into Queens (my job) so that the buyer (who already came so far) wouldn’t have to go even further out an hour plus to my home.
I was at fault for this too, because at the 11th hour I was handling the plug wires and likely caused them to break/become compromised. I was doing this because I changed the spark plugs for him. I only wish now that I had gotten a new set of wires as well! The ignition coil was good and delivered a strong spark. Coil wire was good.
The belt noise, it was there initially..including when I took it into work before I showed it to him. Only like a slightly loose belt- a low pitch rubbing sound. But it never squeaked/squealed like a dying animal. This was very odd. The smog pump TO THIS DAY will practically suck a latex glove off your hand through its hose, and is absolutely not seized. Operating as intended.
Lastly, the noise from the driveline.. before this and our meeting, aka when I took this truck up to the buyer, it was not doing that knocking sound. The T/O bearing wasn’t doing anything abnormal, while the pressure plate disengaged and engaged the clutch without excess noise. Call it very bad luck, timing, whatever.. but when he returned to me, this noise was evident and obnoxious. I haven’t taken it apart yet, but I think it MAY BE a fractured flywheel/broken pressure plate? You were able to hear it coming from right inside the lower bell housing cover (the night he came back after driving away from picking it up- 1 hour there, and 1 hour back to return it to me. NOT when he left me initially.
Regarding the steering, it drives to me like a lifted 60. It’s bouncy (lift is 3.5-4” Alcans and KYB shocks- wouldn’t be my shock choice, but it was done by the PO before my Stepfather) …and loose? I don’t know about that. The front end (tie rods, links, and sway bar) are all connected well and don’t have any play. I’m going to look into this further. Steering box adjustment? It definitely does not “jump lanes” like he claimed. I did 75 MPH home on December 6, 2024. I have it on video that anyone can see. Call me anytime, I’ll even FaceTime with you.
All this said, YES I should’ve gone through this 60 much better, much sooner, and much more thoroughly. I have let myself go in too many different directions as of late. I am really sorry that the buyer had come down and was greatly let down. I will definitely do better going forward. Have a great day everyone, and again- feel free to reach out to me anytime with any questions or concerns. PM for my number if you wish. In fact, I encourage it.
Yes, this sale became a cluster and I made some serious mistakes. I’ll start with that. Given that the buyer was coming from so far away, I definitely should have been more thorough and taken more time going through the truck.
My stepfather had this since 2011 and he would take it out occasionally. Since he’s older now, he decided to pay it forward to me and I took ownership of the 60 during 2023. I had wanted my wife to drive it, but she wasn’t keen on it being a manual.
Thusly, I decided to put it up for sale. I fixed several things including the horn contacts, front markers, brakes, and removed inactive electrical components/wires. I took off the carpet dash cover and tried to clean up the dashboard pad as best I could.
Overall, the truck looked great and ran well when I got it.
It has a rebuilt factory carburetor that is set pretty rich. I’m not an ace with carbs, but I tried to adjust the mixture some to no avail. This could be revisited with a vacuum gauge and more time invested. I’m going to try to do this, or have it done.
The truck didn’t run choppy at first when I got it. I had brought it into Queens (my job) so that the buyer (who already came so far) wouldn’t have to go even further out an hour plus to my home.
I was at fault for this too, because at the 11th hour I was handling the plug wires and likely caused them to break/become compromised. I was doing this because I changed the spark plugs for him. I only wish now that I had gotten a new set of wires as well! The ignition coil was good and delivered a strong spark. Coil wire was good.
The belt noise, it was there initially..including when I took it into work before I showed it to him. Only like a slightly loose belt- a low pitch rubbing sound. But it never squeaked/squealed like a dying animal. This was very odd. The smog pump TO THIS DAY will practically suck a latex glove off your hand through its hose, and is absolutely not seized. Operating as intended.
Lastly, the noise from the driveline.. before this and our meeting, aka when I took this truck up to the buyer, it was not doing that knocking sound. The T/O bearing wasn’t doing anything abnormal, while the pressure plate disengaged and engaged the clutch without excess noise. Call it very bad luck, timing, whatever.. but when he returned to me, this noise was evident and obnoxious. I haven’t taken it apart yet, but I think it MAY BE a fractured flywheel/broken pressure plate? You were able to hear it coming from right inside the lower bell housing cover (the night he came back after driving away from picking it up- 1 hour there, and 1 hour back to return it to me. NOT when he left me initially.
Regarding the steering, it drives to me like a lifted 60. It’s bouncy (lift is 3.5-4” Alcans and KYB shocks- wouldn’t be my shock choice, but it was done by the PO before my Stepfather) …and loose? I don’t know about that. The front end (tie rods, links, and sway bar) are all connected well and don’t have any play. I’m going to look into this further. Steering box adjustment? It definitely does not “jump lanes” like he claimed. I did 75 MPH home on December 6, 2024. I have it on video that anyone can see. Call me anytime, I’ll even FaceTime with you.
All this said, YES I should’ve gone through this 60 much better, much sooner, and much more thoroughly. I have let myself go in too many different directions as of late. I am really sorry that the buyer had come down and was greatly let down. I will definitely do better going forward. Have a great day everyone, and again- feel free to reach out to me anytime with any questions or concerns. PM for my number if you wish. In fact, I encourage it.
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- #13
Yes, of course. There was no way that I wouldn’t do that. I felt awful. I had done a bunch of things in the background for him.. gotten a DMV title abstract; OKed and accepted parts for it delivered to me, and taken it into that repair shop. If it was unsafe, they would have told me. I have used this repair shop for many years. I was jumping through some hoops and fielding any questions or requests from the prospective buyer. My time does account for something. Again, like I detailed below- I will do better.
Ralph - At least you came clean with your failure to provide accurate and fair assesment of the 60.
When someone travels that far and spends that much money on relocation of a vehicle that is a serious dispapointment. At least you had the integrity to refund his money.
Best Wishes - David
When someone travels that far and spends that much money on relocation of a vehicle that is a serious dispapointment. At least you had the integrity to refund his money.
Best Wishes - David
He not only fabricated/ forged the entire assessment shown above.
Claiming it was written by and sent from the mechanic. He also lied about paying the mechanic for the $250 claimed inspection service as well.
He was not charged anything for the inspection by mechanic and told only verbally about the trucks condition by the mechanic! Upon my speaking directly over the phone with the mechanic that did the inspection when back at home. The mechanic told me Ralph was made aware at that time of the misfire at idle, rich fuel condition, worn sway bar links etc. He also thought I should sue him for false misrepresentation of the vehicle as well as the false documentation of inspection Ralph fabricated in the mechanics business name! “Thank you for using our service! “ All fabricated and premeditated lies.
I wasted/ spent over $2000 dollars on flights, travel, bank currency exchange rates, money transfers and cruiser parts that I had purchased online and had shipped to his home address prior to me flying down.
All wasted because of the sellers blatant dishonesty in the accurate and fair assessment of above Land Cruiser 60.
Please be very careful in dealing with him in the future he’s remorseful only after the fact.
Claiming it was written by and sent from the mechanic. He also lied about paying the mechanic for the $250 claimed inspection service as well.
He was not charged anything for the inspection by mechanic and told only verbally about the trucks condition by the mechanic! Upon my speaking directly over the phone with the mechanic that did the inspection when back at home. The mechanic told me Ralph was made aware at that time of the misfire at idle, rich fuel condition, worn sway bar links etc. He also thought I should sue him for false misrepresentation of the vehicle as well as the false documentation of inspection Ralph fabricated in the mechanics business name! “Thank you for using our service! “ All fabricated and premeditated lies.
I wasted/ spent over $2000 dollars on flights, travel, bank currency exchange rates, money transfers and cruiser parts that I had purchased online and had shipped to his home address prior to me flying down.
All wasted because of the sellers blatant dishonesty in the accurate and fair assessment of above Land Cruiser 60.
Please be very careful in dealing with him in the future he’s remorseful only after the fact.
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- Thread starter
- #17
Thank you David. I did and do really feel terrible. I have since replaced the plug wires and drove it back to my home this past Friday evening. I took a bunch of driving videos. Interestingly enough, the truck didn’t make any noise from the clutch area. I captured it on video. This is really strange, because before he came down it wasn’t doing anything, but I DID hear it knocking away under there when he drove it back to me and I refunded his money. Like a cracked flywheel/loose pressure plate. Either way, I’ll be pulling the trans/xfer case and replacing the clutch/rear main seal (flywheel too, if it’s bad).
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