BaT FJ62 on BaT (1 Viewer)

Year

1989

Vehicle Model

1. 60 Series

Location

United States

Outside Link

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-toyota-land-cruiser-fj62-40/

No Affiliation

This one's already been bid way up, but I wanted to post a friendly suggestion to do some serious due diligence on this 62.

I came very close to buying this one back when it first went through BaT three years ago. After it went RNM, I went back and forth with the seller while doing more research. What I was hearing wasn't encouraging, so I walked.

Not saying there's anything underhanded or deceptive going on with the current listing, but before you go dropping the better part of 100 grand, be sure to know the history.


Regarding the vehicle as it stands today:
The current owner replaced the rear headrests that were previously MIA, and has some new (minor) service receipts which is good. Also managed to put 4K miles on the Odo, which is absolutely incredible (to me).

32k-Mile 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ62

Bid for the chance to own a 32k-Mile 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ62 at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #31,962.

bringatrailer.com

JT3FJ62G6K1104403

 

[Fzj80 1997]

Why did you pass on the truck? Was it too expensive or was there actually something wrong with it?

 

[onemanarmy]

The previous threads on the truck and all the BaT comments seem to point to a legit Cruiser.

Or do you know something?

 

[ace10]

Expanding on my first post:
I did my research in 2017 and didn't find the story compelling. The seller was not very forthcoming, as he was a Land Rover flipper down in Birmingham and apparently had better things to do than sell a lowly Toyota. I spoke with people who knew this cruiser and knew its story. Nothing has really changed since then, except that maybe there's a bit more enthusiasm for the truck now.
I spoke with TLC, as well.

In the end, I couldn't convince myself that this truck was worth low $60s. One of the small things that I really got hung up on was the hole in the driver's floormat. Difficult to reconcile that with the 28K odo, and it's hard to unsee or forget something like that.

The current BaT seller is being incredibly transparent. He's showing the paint readings which clearly indicate paint work. He's taken hundred of photos. I think that there isn't much more discovery to be made. Assuming that the Reserve has been met, the next owner will have paid no less than $84K for this truck.

Would I trade my fully-restored, fully-sorted 62 for this one? Probably.
Would I trade my all-original, fully-sorted 115K mile 60 that came with stacks of documentation for this one? Maybe.
Are there better ones out there than this one? I think there's close to a 100% chance, yes.

Has the underside been coated/rattle canned at some point? You be the judge.

If anyone would like to further discuss, simply PM me.

Bottom line: If you own a very nice 60/62 it's time for you to revisit your insurance situation. Sales like this one can drive stupid people to do really stupid things to other peoples' belongings.

 

[BJNOLA FJ62]

Great point Ace.. calling State Farm tomorrow.

 

[White Stripe]

I see a rusty rear axle that has spray paint over the rust. I see rusty components under the hood some of which have been rattle canned over real quick. The lspv does not look installed correctly. Looks like the brake reservoir is leaking. Supposedly it was in Boston for a while. If you even show a picture of Boston to a fj62 it's quarter panels will rust. 80k is crazy. People go crazy over low mileage though.

 

[DougRFJ62]

Early days of BAT were great when the auction prices where reasonable and normal working person could find a descent deal. I do not know for sure but BAT seems to have become an auction site for flippers and con artists trying to make a lot of money. Not a fan anymore. As for this rig, would never pay this much for a basically a stock 60 series with low miles. The last upgrade to my land cruiser is going to be an engine swap to a cummins turbo diesel and that is a lot less than $80K.

 

[Warde]

this is priced higher than ferraris on there. there is no way its an 80k vehicle just because of miles, when land cruisers are lauded for being high mileage in the first place....

 

[Evan Kapel]

Painted over rust on the undercarriage, certain fasteners under the hood with severe rust, along with a look of being
quickly glossed over for the photos is a major negative. This is being priced as if it is a time capsule which it is obviously not.

 

[cruisermatt]

it's so incredibly easy to turn about a odometer on these. Imagine if the odometer said 132k instead of 32k...It could be a really nice 132k miles truck.
Furthermore I am very confident that the 80k bid is a sham. look at the bid history. it was bid to 70k from out of nowhere from 55k by a bidder with no history other then doing the exact same thing on the red FJ62 that sold for too much a few weeks ago. I think it's a gamble attempt to make someone snipe it just over at the very end. Look, he made that 80k bid before there were undercarriage pictures posted.

 

[Fzj80 1997]

it's so incredibly easy to turn about a odometer on these. Imagine if the odometer said 132k instead of 32k...It could be a really nice 132k miles truck.
Furthermore I am very confident that the 80k bid is a sham. look at the bid history. it was bid to 70k from out of nowhere from 55k by a bidder with no history other then doing the exact same thing on the red FJ62 that sold for too much a few weeks ago. I think it's a gamble attempt to make someone snipe it just over at the very end. Look, he made that 80k bid before there were undercarriage pictures posted.

I’ve sold a few cars on BAT and most If not all of the buyers have had little to no bid or comment history. Many people make accounts simply to buy a car that they like in particular and this seems like one of those cases. Just because you wouldn’t pay that price/you can’t afford that price (there’s nothing wrong with that), doesn’t mean it’s a conspiracy for the seller to inflate the selling price. Also, the truck sold for a ridiculous amount of money (more than the current bid if I’m not mistaken) in the past. I think that your criticism is unwarranted

 

[Fzj80 1997]

Early days of BAT were great when the auction prices where reasonable and normal working person could find a descent deal. I do not know for sure but BAT seems to have become an auction site for flippers and con artists trying to make a lot of money. Not a fan anymore. As for this rig, would never pay this much for a basically a stock 60 series with low miles. The last upgrade to my land cruiser is going to be an engine swap to a cummins turbo diesel and that is a lot less than $80K.

I think that you have a serious misconception of the site if you think that BAT is a place specifically for con artists and flippers...The reason why prices are higher is because MOST of the time, cars and trucks listed on BAT have much of the ambiguity of buying a car over the internet taken away. On BAT sellers will more often than not post much more information and pictures than on the usual eBay and Autotrader ad. When was the last time you saw over 200 pictures in the for sale ad for a car you bought? On top of that, you have sellers being put on the spot with a public comments section. These are things that you will find pretty much nowhere else, that go in favor of the buyer. Please explain to me how people are being conned out of their money?

 

[Mohaned]

It might be a stupid question but just wondering what's so amazing about the FJ62 (60 series)?..I mean I see them abundantly..and I can easy import them from saudi Arabia. But I decided to import two FJ45..

 

[Fzj80 1997]

It might be a stupid question but just wondering what's so amazing about the FJ62 (60 series)?..I mean I see them abundantly..and I can easy import them from saudi Arabia. But I decided to import two FJ45..

Most of the ones in the US are rotted to s*** and are driven hundreds of thousands of miles. It is very rare to find ones that are rust free (A pillars included), with this low of mileage and good paint. The mileage on this truck is pretty much unheard of. Also, to many (myself included), the FJ62 is the prettiest looking Land Cruiser

 

[DougRFJ62]

I think that you have a serious misconception of the site if you think that BAT is a place specifically for con artists and flippers...The reason why prices are higher is because MOST of the time, cars and trucks listed on BAT have much of the ambiguity of buying a car over the internet taken away. On BAT sellers will more often than not post much more information and pictures than on the usual eBay and Autotrader ad. When was the last time you saw over 200 pictures in the for sale ad for a car you bought? On top of that, you have sellers being put on the spot with a public comments section. These are things that you will find pretty much nowhere else, that go in favor of the buyer. Please explain to me how people are being conned out of their money?

There is no misconception. It is my opinion. Most of the auctions do not even meet the reserve price , which in most cases (not all) the price is way over the true value of the car. BAT favors sellers not buyers. Presently, Dealers represent most of the cars on BAT. Look for yourself. Sellers (Dealers) can hide behind a computer to answer questions and without engagement with the seller you can't tell if they are being truthful or not. I would never buy an auto online or without test driving or inspecting. This Land Cruiser is way over priced and has more surface rust underneath than my FJ62 with 190K that I have owned for 20 years and not stored in the garage. Also the undercoating looks like it was just painting over recently and done sloppy. If you like BAT and would buy autos through pictures and youtube videos, then good for you.

 

[ace10]

There has been a dramatic shift in BaT offering over the past several months. Dealers are running 75-80% of the auctions these days. Practically new cars are even being auctioned.

BaT doesn't even pretend to be a car "enthusiast" site any longer. Shill bidding is well documented, and BaT will break their own rules when it comes to their largest dealer sellers. Site, seller and marque fanbois rule the comment section. And BaT has no problem with heavy-handed comment moderation if it will protect their or their sellers' image.

That's how it is.

 

[Fzj80 1997]

There has been a dramatic shift in BaT offering over the past several months. Dealers are running 75-80% of the auctions these days. Practically new cars are even being auctioned.

BaT doesn't even pretend to be a car "enthusiast" site any longer. Shill bidding is well documented, and BaT will break their own rules when it comes to their largest dealer sellers. Site, seller and marque fanbois rule the comment section. And BaT has no problem with heavy-handed comment moderation if it will protect their or their sellers' image.

That's how it is.

There has been a dramatic shift in BaT offering over the past several months. Dealers are running 75-80% of the auctions these days. Practically new cars are even being auctioned.

BaT doesn't even pretend to be a car "enthusiast" site any longer. Shill bidding is well documented, and BaT will break their own rules when it comes to their largest dealer sellers. Site, seller and marque fanbois rule the comment section. And BaT has no problem with heavy-handed comment moderation if it will protect their or their sellers' image.

That's how it is.

Man, again with all this hate for dealers. I’ve said this in the past; you have people lying to your face when buying a car from private party sellers and dealers. The fact of the matter is that it’s up to the buyer to decide what is and isn’t BS. They can do that with the help of us, but making blanket statements like saying, “dealers are bad! They rip people off!”, gets you nowhere. People need to make a living and people also can and should make money off of cars they purchase. Did you pay $29,000 for the 80 series you’re selling on eBay? What makes you any different than an honest dealer in this case? You would think with all this talk, you guys would be standing outside carmax with pickets. I can assure you the dealers selling cars on BAT aren’t the ones charging people 24% interest for 84 months.

Regarding the shill bidding, it is a shame and it does happen quite often. However, if you think that BAT is bad, why don’t you go and take a look at your other options. That’s right. Everything else is 10x worse. ebay being the absolute worst.

 

[ace10]

Man, again with all this hate for dealers. I’ve said this in the past; you have people lying to your face when buying a car from private party sellers and dealers. The fact of the matter is that it’s up to the buyer to decide what is and isn’t BS. They can do that with the help of us, but making blanket statements like saying, “dealers are bad! They rip people off!”, gets you nowhere. People need to make a living and people also can and should make money off of cars they purchase. Did you pay $29,000 for the 80 series you’re selling on eBay? What makes you any different than an honest dealer in this case? You would think with all this talk, you guys would be standing outside carmax with pickets. I can assure you the dealers selling cars on BAT aren’t the ones charging people 24% interest for 84 months.

Regarding the shill bidding, it is a shame and it does happen quite often. However, if you think that BAT is bad, why don’t you go and take a look at your other options. That’s right. Everything else is 10x worse. ebay being the absolute worst.

You're obviously REALLY into BaT. And arguing.

--------------------------------

I don't know where you're reading "all this hate" for dealers in my post. Sounds like a strawman to me. I stated a statistical fact about who is selling on BaT. I also went on to make a factual statement that BaT breaks its own rules for dealers all the time.

Further, I actually praised the selling dealer of the subject 62 in a previous post. Referred to them as "incredibly transpent."

If you're interested in my 80, then I will be happy to open my books. I keep every receipt for every vehicle I own. Transparency is not my enemy. Unfortunately, I am in it for more than what I'm wanting to get out of it. But then, I'm not a sleazy flipper operating in the shadows, pretending to be an "enthusiast." So profit isn't really a concern. But thanks for asking.

--------------------------------

Regarding your previous comment to another Mudder:
When you make assumptions about what other people can and cannot afford, it's one of the biggest dick moves there is in my books. You don't know shyte about them. And who cares?

I sincerely hope that the 60/62 run-up doesn't attract more douchebags. That'd be a shame.


Please be advised: I won't be going back and forth with you on this.

 

[fro20fow]

I know there is the 5% winning bid fee that is taken at close of auction however can’t the shame bidder simply cancel their credit card?

 

[BJNOLA FJ62]

As an owner of what I consider a pretty good rig: 113K original documented miles, 99% original- excluding lift, bumpers, rack...- which can all easily be converted back to bone stock (I have the original wheels and bumpers), extensive service documentation throughout it's life through Toyota that confirms the most miles ever driven in a calendar year was roughly 9K, knowledge of the 2 prior owners meticulous ownership- being able to connect with each given how close/accessible this world we live in is...and the old fashion way of flying to, seeing it, driving and haggling led me to my first FJ62 ownership. Now, that being said I am a car enthusiast and have been fortunate (within reason) to acquire many of my dream rides..but I always know that this is not my forever, it is just not who I am. With that said, I appreciate so much others that are of different thought, including the original owner of my FJ62 that owned her for 27 of her 31 yrs. So, I thoroughly appreciate seeing the market conditions and value of this and other classic vehicles I have owned. I regularly join Forums, watch ebay, watch autotrader, hemmings and BaT to be InTouch, connected to and of course understand current market values/conditions. I have made a little $$ at times, lost a little $$ at times, but for the most part I scratched my itch and was an owner! That in itself was/is my reward..been there and done that. Some positive some negative- but not one regret as of now.
I appreciate BaT- and certainly as an owner love seeing the market value of these rigs go up and up as we have experienced over the last 5+ years. Gives me hope that when the itch is satisfied for me personally, I will be able to scratch the next one. None the less, we all are entitled to our view points, opinions and free market capitalization... rock on! by the way, as a owner/fanboy this has been extremely entertaining! I think this unit will close out at $88K..