FJ62 Advice

[nmcbride89]

I am trying to get into the Land Cruiser world. I've never owned one before, but I've really liked FJ62s for a while now.

Long story short, my current truck (not a cruiser, thank God) is most likely totaled, so I'm going to be in the market for a new vehicle.

I'm wondering how feasible it would be to find a daily driver FJ62 for under $15k (would like to spend closer to $10k). This will be my primary vehicle for the time being, so I need it to be pretty reliable (I have no problem fixing things as they wear out, but I do not want to end up stranded places on a regular basis).

I have seen a few around, especially in Texas, that are around or just over my price range that look pretty nice and well maintained, but most are at the 200k mile mark. One may have been at 146k, and one of the 200k ones had a rebuilt engine and transmission (I haven't contacted them to see who did the work, yet). None of them were stated to have rust issues, but I have not gone to see them or requested additional pictures.

I'm just not too sure on the pricing of these things, as they seem to have jumped up in recent years. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nathan

 

[sitesbyjoe]

10k should be totally doable. I paid 3900 for my 84 60 with 187000 and it's been my daily driver for a year now.

It's got a little rust on bottom of body but the interior is perfect aside from the torn driver seat.

You gotta keep looking and find the seller who is reasonable.

 

[stridertexas]

As reliable as these rigs are they are over 20 years old so having a back up plan if you make it a DD would be a good idea. They're fairly easy and mostly cheap to fix, but they're still old. Just food for thought : )

 

[NCFJ]

As reliable as these rigs are they are over 20 years old so having a back up plan if you make it a DD would be a good idea. They're fairly easy and mostly cheap to fix, but they're still old. Just food for thought : )

X2!

The youngest 62 is 26 years old, that is old, even for a Land Cruiser. These trucks can be reliable transportation if well maintained. That said, odds are no matter what you find it is going to require some base lining. Axle, steering and brake rebuilds being the most common. Budget $2-3 K for the first year and you should be close. Well worth the effort because once they are base lined they are great fun to own and operate.

Happy Hunting

 

[Kaasdief]

DD, maybe consider a 80.

 

[nmcbride89]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I have my eye on one that is like an honest opinion on. I just requested a bunch of info from the seller, so hopefully I get all of it soon.

Here's what I know so far:

Single owner 1988 with 199xxx miles. Seller is saying transmission replaced at 175xxx and engine rebuilt at 163xxx (I asked for receipts to confirm). He also says no rust. The posted pictures look to be in good shape, but I asked for photos of the undercarriage, fenders, and drip rail to see if it truly has no rust.

If all of this checks out (I know that's a big if), and I get a satisfactory inspection from a shop, what are y'all's thoughts on price?

He's asking $14k, but $12k max seems more right in my head.

 

[stridertexas]

Way to high IMO.

The pros obviously are that the engine and transmission are good, but $14k for a purely functional stock vehicle seems about $4k too high...

I have a buddy who just got an 84 with 188, all original, no rebuilds, runs fine, no rust, for $5k. He got a steal, but that rig was worth at least $7 IMO.

Just my 2 cents, but any rig is what someone is willing to pay for it. If you like it and trust it, go with your gut, that's worth more than regretting it later.

 

[Bravefriend]

Nmcbride89,
This is a picture of the 88' fj62 I'm getting ready to list. Let me know if you would like to see more.

 

[nmcbride89]

Nmcbride89,
This is a picture of the 88' fj62 I'm getting ready to list. Let me know if you would like to see more.

View attachment 1290503

Definitely. I'll PM you my email address.

 

[87CRUSR]

$14 k too much IMHO.

 

[nmcbride89]

I found another close by that the guy is asking $10k for, which is definitely high for the condition it's in.

I'm kicking myself for not taking photos when I went to drive it, but I'll briefly describe what I saw.

It has 174xxx miles and appears to be well maintained (I found a few receipts in the glove box over the past 5-10 years for various things).

The majority of the body has no rust. There was some on the lower QPs and one spot on the bottom of the tailgate, but the owner had these repaired. The rest of the paint looks to be in decent shape.

It ran smooth and drive really well. No strange noises or unusual squeaks. 4wd works fine too.

He added an ARB bumper, winch, and off-road lights.

The truck looks pretty nice and is actually in better shape than I thought it would be.

Here's the not so good part:
While addressing the rust, the owner had the lower part of the sides and the hood painted with that rock chip guard paint. It looks to be a halfway decent paint job, and is done in a way that gives the truck a two-tone paint job. It's NOT bedliner; I've seen the stuff used on new tricks behind wheels and on rocker panels to prevent rock chips -really tough stuff. I'm afraid it won't come off, however, which in my mind would affect the value.

There's a small amount of surface rust and rust staining on the insides of the door openings (a couple of spots on the a-pillars where it looks like there is some minor rust happening in the welds-nothing major).

The undercarriage looked to be in pretty good shape, other than the C-channels on the rear. Those were showing signs of lamination, but no holes. Looked like the outer horizontal parts of the channel was in decent shape with no severe corrosion. Looks fixable in my opinion, with a little work.

The AC was blowing but not cold. He said he'd recharge it on his dime and that's all it probably needed (yeah right)...

The guy immediately dropped his price to $10k without me asking (from $11500). I don't want to insult the guy, but 10k seems way to high for this one. I'm thinking more like $7-8, pending satisfactory inspection by a local shop.

I figured I'd consult with the experts while I let him wait before making a counter offer, so what do y'all think?

I'll post a photo to give an idea of what it looks like. Again, I apologize for spacing out when looking at it and not taking any...

Thanks again for all of the advice. I really appreciate it! Sorry for the novel...