I noticed that this was your first post to the forum, if I had before I might not have been so brief.
South American imports have developed a pretty poor reputation among Cruiser owners here in the States. There are one or two companies down there who are doing first rate restorations and finding a good market here in the US. The prices they command are on par with what you’d expect for the work involved, regardless of country of origin. Six figures and up is not uncommon, and for those who have the means I dare say it’s not a bad deal.
Beyond those one or two super high end restoration companies, however, much of what comes from Columbia and other SA countries is not much more than lipstick on a pig, often at hyper-inflated prices. These trucks in the third world countries are used the way in which they were intended by Toyota. The joke on this site is that every SA truck for sale had “a gentle life, used sparingly by a coffee plantation owner for trips to church on Sunday.” The reality is more like “rode hard and put away wet.”
The truth is that many SA vehicles are available at this point in time because after 40 years of hard service they have finally reached their useful life as work vehicles, having been passed on from owner to owner over the past 40 years. And the timing is such that there is a market in the US for these old vehicles, and some people have shown themselves willing to pay $100K or more for a prime specimen. There’s a lot of opportunity for someone to make money if they can buy locally for $5K and sell overseas for $40K+ to someone who can’t inspect the truck. A lot of opportunity for con artists, too.
In contrast, the Canadian truck was likely purchased to deal with the snow and harsh winter conditions. In addition, by 1984 Canada, like the US, had stricter laws regarding safety and emissions. A North American-spec truck has niceties like a heater (yes, the SA trucks typically do not have heaters), three point seatbelts, disc brakes from the factory, and luxury options such as power steering and a 5-speed transmission.
But the later trucks had slightly thinner sheet metal and were prone to rust. In the salt-filled streets of Canada, some of these trucks turned to Swiss cheese, body and frame alike.
Post up some pictures. We love pictures, even of trucks in rough condition. Post’em up, give us more details about location, price, etc, and we’ll offer all the advice you can handle.
