Help -1997 FJ80, possible purchase

[chichiflys]

My wife and I are thinkning about purchasing this truck:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/car/420541125.html

We drove it tonight - very clean, no apparant leaks underneath. Very smooth transmission and the engine seems to drive well. Appears to have been a grocery getter for all its life (no trailer package, etc).

I am familiar with the 40's and 60's. Not so much with the 80's. I heard the head gaskets were prone to failure (no apparant coolant leaks that I could see). The birfileds seemed OK - little bit of grease buildup - but no oil from a bad inner seal.

Other than that it seems to be a nice 40th anniversay edition. Only 91k miles. I think the guy may take 14k for it instead of his 15k "firm" price. 14k is the upper part of the Blue book and Edmunds...My wife will DD it and we might use it occaisionally for camping (towing a pop-up). I have an '85 FJ60 that we normally use for camping, but it struggles with the trailer....

Thoughts?

 

[CappyKD]

Price seems a little high. If it has lockers it may be worth it.

 

[elmariachi]

There is alot to be said for only 91k miles. I think 15k is high, but my guess it would bring that on eBay. If it has lockers, ultra-clean, dealer serviced and documented, maybe.

 

[jruz]

Looks like it may be a great rig. I agree that $15k is a little high. I've had been religiously keeping an eye on Craigslist since the spring and I wouldn't call it a "deal", but I wouldn't call it "outrageously overpriced" either.

I would say for $15k it should be spotless with new(ish) tires and a good bit of maintenance records.

FWIW, I just got our LX450 (same thing here, wife's rig ) a few weeks ago and paid $12k. I still think I paid a little much, I probably should have offered the dealer $1000 lower than what I started at. They started at $17k and I laughed out loud. I figured they got it for $8-9k (my wild guess).

Here's my thread with the details. I hope you find a Cruiser soon so you can sleep at night.

 

[chichiflys]

Thanks everyone. Update - he found a similar rig on CCOT for 25k so now he thinks he can sell his for 19k. He turned down our offer at 14k and is holding out for more cash based on the CCOT rig that sold for 25k. Oh well. There may be some dork in this area that would pay that much for this rig. It has no lockers and is bone stock. Again, very clean and yes 91k miles is pretty low. But now he is holding out for the richy rich crowd. Can't blame him completely for wanting to get the most out of his truck - but a re-furbsihed CCOT rig this is not. Of course - I always assumed CCOT catered to the spoiled types and way over-hyped their rigs - but that is just a guess, I have no experience with their stuff at all.

Anyway, if he gets to the point where 14k will take it away, we'll probably buy it.
Thanks again,
Marc

 

[cmadness]

That's looks exactly like mine. I bought it last year with 87k and got it for $13.5 from a Toyota DEALER. Even I thought is was a bit high but it was flawless and I'm grad I went for it.

Hope you get what you're looking for.

 

[Rivera5]

I have the same rig, #915. I bought in 2002 for 15,300k from a dealer. Asking price was 17k. Mine was super clean, stock, no lockers w/ 82k on it. 15k is too high IMHO. It sounds like a great vehicle but if you are patient you will find another similar, if you are hung up on the 40th anniv model....don't.
They are nice to say you have but really not much different, especially if you plan on future mods.

Call the guy back & offer him 13k when he still has it one month from now!

 

[All Four]

Too high

I too have been shopping religiously and it seems too high to me. Most likely he is selling it due to gas prices anyhow. I would wait it out... but keep looking.

 

[PACNW96]

That is really not a terrible price considering it is in the Pacific NW where 80's seem to go for a premium. I paid $17.5 in 04' for my 96' with 77k. If it is truly as clean as the seller says then I would go for it. Lockers would solidfy my decision even more.

Best of Luck,

Russell

 

[jruz]

Thanks everyone. Update - he found a similar rig on CCOT for 25k so now he thinks he can sell his for 19k. He turned down our offer at 14k and is holding out for more cash based on the CCOT rig that sold for 25k.

What a tool...I hope he realizes that as time goes by the price goes down. He's going to sit on that one a looooong time if he thinks he'll get 19k.

There was a guy not too long ago that had a Collector's Ed. with around 86k on the odometer. He had it listed at $17.5k "firm". Even that is extremely high.