Hard to find a clean 80 (1 Viewer)

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patrickfinley

patrickfinley

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I've been toying with the idea of a stock 80 series as a DD. Mostly I've been looking at 96-97's. I had a 2000 4Runner that I sold about a year ago and it was completely clean. I figure a 97 is 3 years older and that perhaps I could find one that is just a little bit worse for wear than my 00 4runner.

Not the case. I've probably looked at 6 different 96-97's in the in the 8k range and they have all been absolute POS!! Have other people noticed when LC80 shopping that they have found a real hard time getting a clean one? The rigs I have been looking at have been female owned mall cruisers and they are beat to hell, it doesn't make sense. BTW, photos are deceiving, I've looked at high res pictures and the rig seems super clean, in person it's all jacked up.

8k seems like more than a reasonable budget for a clean 150k-ish miles stock LC80 doesn't it?
 
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I feel your pain .. when I was looking I had to go at least 2 hrs out to get to the nearest one from me and got lucky.. mostly.

Got a 94 with lockers and 100k miles for $7300. In great condition except some "hail" damage on the hood (the little dents that you can see in the sunlight I guess)

a 96-97 with gas prices the way they are and 150k or less miles I would say a fair price in good shape is $7000-8000 depending on the local market.
 
Did you look in the classifieds? Nice 80s are available.
 
I use the Craigslist search tool, Cars.com, Ebay and Autotrader, IH8MUD in about a 300 mile radius. Craigslist seems to have the most private owner sales. That region includes Southern Denver, half of Texas, New Mexico. I suppose if I really get serious I'll have to increase that diameter and be willing to fly to go see a rig. That just gets risky with money on plane tickets if it's not as advertised.

Here's an example of a dealership rig I went to go see. I prefer private sale but thought I'd check it out. Looks clean right, this was a mess in person. It needs a whole new paint job, the roof and hood have peeling paint. The body needed all sorts of work and it drove horribly. The interior was also in very bad shape.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...kId=20070&rpp=50&feedSegId=28705&aff=national
 
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Autotempest.com pretty much covers it for auto searches. 'Mud classifieds look pretty good, maybe better.

I had the same experience with pics myself. Some rinky dink used lot 3+ hours from home put up 50+ gorgeous pics and it was like a different vehicle in person. I drove 200 miles, was there 5 minutes and didn't even do a test drive, then turned around and drove 200 miles back home. I think at best the photos had been taken a long time before it went for sale in that case.

Another time I drove across a state to see one on a dealer's lot which turned out to have rust around the windshield among other issues. I had been told on the phone it was in great shape. I didn't even talk to a salesman when I got there and looked it over, I just headed back to where I came from. That was on a trip from Lansing, MI to Indianapolis, IN, to Cincinnati, OH, to Columbus, OH and back through Indianapolis again before heading home. 1000 mile round trip over a weekend to see several vehicles. Ended up going back to Indy a week or two later to buy the one there. Granted, this is not NM, TX, CO, so it should be easier for you to find a good one where you are.

I spent many weeks looking, took trips, paid for hotel stays, and bought one hastily before I found a good one. I think it was around $1k in the search. We paid $8k for a stock 97 with lockers and 130k and then ended up putting over $3k into all new brakes, all fluids, belts, tires, and some body work, plus the little things which I discover and am still repairing or replacing. All that and I paid a mechanic to give it a once over. So, then you have a $12k+ stock LC with basic baselining, nothing advanced like axles, or real engine work.

Patience would have saved us some of that money in baselining and repairs. So, from that perspective, spending the money to FIND the good one can EASILY save spending that money on repairs. Then there's mods. Buying a vehicle which doesn't need work and also has mods you want could be the best bet in the long run unless you're looking for a major project.

Up here in Missoula there are LCs everywhere but few appear to be particularly well taken care of. The problem with these vehicles in general is they will run and run and run while neglected by normal people and then fixing them back up is really really expensive. That's why folks drive these into the ground and don't maintain them. Relatively expensive to maintain but will keep working for a long time while neglected. Got to be very careful when buying a Land Cruiser from a "civilian".

Having said all that, we love our Cruiser. It's just been more expensive and involved than we'd hoped.
 
Black Rhino, thank you for sharing this, excellent points. I have 2 good running cars so I should just take it easy until the perfect truck comes along. Then I'll still spend lots of money:bang:

LCHardriver_02, I want my garage to look like yours! You can't beat a 180!!
 
Heard that! We love both, but boy does it get $$$$$ when you want to mod both!:D Oh, and look at that first post I had... lift, ARB, and HIDs... nice! Oh, and I like the red too. We were looking at a 200 series today and my wife's comment was NO WHITE! LOL!
 
LCHardriver_02 said:
Heard that! We love both, but boy does it get $$$$$ when you want to mod both!:D Oh, and look at that first post I had... lift, ARB, and HIDs... nice! Oh, and I like the red too. We were looking at a 200 series today and my wife's comment was NO WHITE! LOL!
Click to expand...

Don't you get the bulk discount on tires and the commercial price on gas, though? :hmm:
 
Black Rhino - I WISH!!! I need that with 4 cars in the garage! Family fill up time means I end up talking directly with the person at the gas station, since they limit the card direct access to a single fill up per day!
 
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LCHardriver_02 said:
Heard that! We love both, but boy does it get $$$$$ when you want to mod both!:D Oh, and look at that first post I had... lift, ARB, and HIDs... nice! Oh, and I like the red too. We were looking at a 200 series today and my wife's comment was NO WHITE! LOL!
Click to expand...

Now that would be cool, a 200, 100 and 80 in your driveway then a 40 at your ski cabin.
 
LCHardriver_02 said:
Black Rhino - I WISH!!! I need that with 4 cars in the garage! Family fill up time means I end up talking directly with the person at the gas station, since they limit the card direct access to a single fill up per day!
Click to expand...

:bang:
 
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Patrick - Dude! You read my mind!

BR - Can you say OUCH! She asked why I didn't just fill all of them up at the same time... my comment was..."there is one of me!"
 
I looked for weeks before I found mine.
Like you, I looked at many that were beat up but looked good in pictures.
I finally found a 91 FJ80 in pristine condition. The original owner always garaged it and whenever it needed anything he took it to the dealer and told them to fix it. Not one leak on this thing...HONEST !!, new tires, not a scratch outside or inside and all for $4500 !! :D
 
SPECTRE said:
I looked for weeks before I found mine.
Like you, I looked at many that were beat up but looked good in pictures.
I finally found a 91 FJ80 in pristine condition. The original owner always garaged it and whenever it needed anything he took it to the dealer and told them to fix it. Not one leak on this thing...HONEST !!, new tires, not a scratch outside or inside and all for $4500 !! :D
Click to expand...

Yea, but you have a 3fe :lol: :p
 
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