Got a repair quote....and fell over backwards.

[PHAEDRUS]

chiming in from the dark side here......
for mechanical dmg on a car there is no point at wich they will say its a total. ony $$$$$$
once the cost of rprs less what the salvage is worth its a goner. the only caveat to this is the flood vehicles and that is mainly because of wiring and cpu issues.

now in body and unibody damage there are all kinds of different insurance companies out there that all have there own guidelines regarding this. USUALLY if there is severe damage to teh firewall on the vehicle then it will be construed as a structural total loss. the same can be said of the front part of the floor compartment on unibody structure vehicles. Its not that it can not be repaired but most car manufacturers do not sell these parts as crash parts because there is a lot of the occupant safety riding in them and the liability is too great.
as to thequestion of what you should do again I will state what others have said. if you want to learn its not that bad. if you don't hell maybe you should sell it. It is not for me to say.
Dave

 

[Biff]

I was just like you, when I got my 94 after spending so much $$ w/ my mechanic I started doing stuff myself. You'd be surprise how satisfactory doing stuff your self will be.

 

[nyk438]

I had my inner axle seals and everything replaced at LCS in Austin, TX for $400. They did everything repacked the birfs, since they knew exactly what they were doing they didn't take that much for labor and they had a full shop which helped, takes longer when I had to help a friend do it with hand tools

 

[e9999]

I had my inner axle seals and everything replaced at LCS in Austin, TX for $400. They did everything repacked the birfs, since they knew exactly what they were doing they didn't take that much for labor and they had a full shop which helped, takes longer when I had to help a friend do it with hand tools

that's impressive considering there is already at least $300 in OEM parts when doing a full Birf job!

 

[Skim]

I live in Redondo Beach. I am scheduling time to help Biff with his diff swap. If you would like I'll check out your 80, maybe we can work out a much much much cheaper deal. PM me the list of things they want to replace. We can talk about it.

If not I'll buy the 80 from you !!!

 

[stuck in GA]

8 G's????!!!!!! That is a damn crime. Those guys are freaking nut cases. Take it somewhere else and don't sell the beast. It should be fine after you get the job done. I can't see it costing more than 1,500 dollars.

 

[Biff]

I live in Redondo Beach. I am scheduling time to help Biff with his diff swap. If you would like I'll check out your 80, maybe we can work out a much much much cheaper deal. PM me the list of things they want to replace. We can talk about it.

If not I'll buy the 80 from you !!!

Count me in for some help as well, considering how much help Skim is giving me, Karma requires that I return the favor. PM me if you decided to do the work.

 

[OZCAL]

Count me in for some help as well, considering how much help Skim is giving me, Karma requires that I return the favor. PM me if you decided to do the work.

I wish I was in L.A. (Can't believe I said that!) I'd beg an invitation to come help (fetch tools, that is ).

 

[Romer]

Thats one great thing about Cruiser Heads. Always helping out each other. I was floored when I siezed the engine in my 40 and Ige, Shawn and Treeroot came out and helped me for just beer and Pizza.

 

[ridgerunner]

i'd ask my mechanic to do all this...but he hates 4WD cars, especially the Land Cruiser...

If he hates working on a Cruiser, I wonder what he prefers to wrench on!

 

[the_whoster]

heaps of thanks for all your replies and encouraging/discouraging/helpful words. I'm really thankful that other Toyota owners are out there and willing to help out another owner in distress.

i'm 18, living at home and attending a local community college right now. I attended UC Riverside for one quarter, and that was the reason why my Cruiser arrived on my 18th birthday--it was a safety precaution in the horrific case i got into an accident driving at 80+ mph. Now that i no longer attend that school ( was 70 miles away), i don't drive on the freeways that much anymore, and the reasoning behind keeping the Cruiser has been seriously questioned. As much as I love this car, i'm only getting about 10-12MPG due to the roads i travel on around here on a daily basis. I do love the ride height, the feeling of invincibility when i'm in the car, but if the car is going to require time-consuming maintenance...i'm not sure this is the right car for me. I'll probably do the best i can with the help from Biff and Skim to save the car, but if it doesn't work out, Skim might have a FZJ80 in his driveway before 2005 is gone.




the dealer quote i got was from Torrance Toyota (local dealership) and it was on the basis that I REPLACE the front axle, and everything around it, (joints, shafts, bearings, etc.) and replace the transfer case as well as the rear differential. The labor on this project alone would have cost more than a $1000, and considering the magnitude of the work being done...it's not entirely the world's stingiest dealership in the world.


my mechanic....likes American cars that don't involve 4WD or AWD systems. he's also a fan of FF cars made by Toyota and Honda. (SIGH)

thanks again,
whoster.

 

[e9999]

snip

the dealer quote i got was from Torrance Toyota (local dealership) and it was on the basis that I REPLACE the front axle, and everything around it, (joints, shafts, bearings, etc.) and replace the transfer case as well as the rear differential. The labor on this project alone would have cost more than a $1000, and considering the magnitude of the work being done...it's not entirely the world's stingiest dealership in the world.

snip

thanks again,
whoster.

yup, sounds like the typical dealer solution: a drop of oil underneath or a noise, change the whole drivetrain...!

 

[Riley]

Ya know whoster - as much as i like Cruisers, I'm thinking your probably smart to not use 80 for a DD while at school and living on a tight budget. They are expensive vechicles to own and operate (just consider the gas alone like you said).

When I was in school a lot of my buddies got jobs and all drove gas loving pickups ect...I kinda envyed them having money & nice wheels while I drove a econo box and went on to get a degree.

Once out of shool and landed a good job, I could afford something nice. You can always buy another cruiser one day but it is hard to say good bye however.

Whatever you do, stay in school and get a good job. Then you can drive whatever suits your fancy.

BTW - does it have lockers?

 

[Rookie2]

If he hates working on a Cruiser, I wonder what he prefers to wrench on!

Kind of what I was thinking. This is by far the easiest post 1980's vehicle that I've worked on.

 

[Biff]

Don't think I could have afforded a cruiser at 18, way to expensive to maitain. With gas, parts, mods, and misc. would have been to much for me.