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- #81
Come on, man! These other guys had me talked into getting Platinum AAA and heading to Tennessee.
Help Needed: What would you use $3K to do to your 80?
- Thread starter Nathan King
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Come on, man! These other guys had me talked into getting Platinum AAA and heading to Tennessee.
Yes. Platinum AAA where they pay for your really long tow. Once the vehicle starts nickel and dimeing you with repairs here and there frequently, its usually better to get into something else, or spend the time and money to frame-off rebuild what you have, which doesn't make much sense to me, given the availability of another 80 series less miled out.
I would hope most of these miles on it aren't from you, and are likely highway. That said, I don't see much advantage on highway for an 80 series over something like a disposable Toyota Yaris, and hope you have something to run for groceries or highway trips like that in order to take that mileage and dump the car later.
An 80 series is for offroad fun and getting there.
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I don't agree with this logic. Sure, it may be time to do some PM but if you know what to look for and can review and update the truck methodically it can be made comparably reliable with an effort far short of a frame-off rebuild. Maintaining an old car isn't rocket science, you just replace any worn out components and possibly any that you can anticipate failing in the foreseeable future depending on how far you want to take it. Also, no vehicle is ever further than one of many single components failing away from being disabled, even new ones.
In some ways I think that older cars can be made more reliable than newer ones largely because their flaws are more easily known via the shared experience of operators/owners and the fixes are typically well documented too. Newer and new cars may have big flaws in engineering/design that aren't widely known yet and that may not show up until year/mile x...
To some extent with the 80 series (or any car) total miles don't really matter and current condition is what you should assess independent of miles. I'd also say that miles you've driven are better than miles someone else drove, but whatever. Drivetrain components can be replaced or serviced. Frame fatigue should be minimal and likely failure points pretty easy to repair. Quality parts are still easily available in my opinion, esp. when you factor in used sources, and these are pretty easy to work on. 80s aren't the most efficient and they are a lot more complicated than say a lightweight 2wd rig but 80s are great for what they are and can certainly be reliable, even with 400k+ miles on them. If an 80 is what you want and can afford then keep it, maintain it and enjoy it.
There are people keeping less well made, less well supported, older, etc. vehicles on the road for far longer than 400k miles and driving them all over the place, it's not that big of a deal. There are situations where achieving reliability is more important like when you are in the backcountry or even foreign countries where support and safety net availability may vary but that's to be assessed by the user and what they are up to. I personally have driven old, air-cooled VW Westfalias all over the US, Mexico and Canada for decades and have never been stranded, etc. and those are on the other end of the spectrum from an 80 series LC in terms of build quality/reliability/etc. The main, perhaps only, thing that an 80 has working against it is it's complexity relative to 2wd rigs but it's still simple compared to most if not all newer 4wd rigs.
100% agree with this. At this point the 80 series has been tested thoroughly and problem areas (and remedies) are known and well documented. This is why I wish we could still walk into a dealer and buy a brand new one. I've always been envious of the folks that bought these new in the 90's, in the modern era there isn't anything like it.
I agree. My DD is a FJ60 and I completed a three state 2000 mile trip in it this week. I know this Cruiser and have confidence in its reliability, know its abilities and limits. Plus it is simpler than a 80 series
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- #86
Thanks for the input.
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- #87
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- #88
Most of the miles are from the PO. It was their family vehicle for about 15 years and then he gave it to his daughter to drive back and forth to college. When I bought it, it was completely stock. They had never been off-road with it, according to the PO and frankly I believe him.
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- #89
I agree. My DD is a FJ60 and I completed a three state 2000 mile trip in it this week. I know this Cruiser and have confidence in its reliability, know its abilities and limits. Plus it is simpler than a 80 series
That's what I am talking about!
No what.
I got my 80 with 300k miles on it. Addressing all the issues from the high miles has been an expensive and time consuming task. Let's just take the driver front door for example-replace master window switch, replace master switch bezel, paint bezel because my color is a rare color, repair the interior door panel material because it's damaged, rebuild window regulator and motor, repair window channel, replace outer trim seal thing, replace power mirror, replace plastic dust barrier, replace door speaker, install new window tint. A shop would probably have to charge near 1000 bucks to revamp 1 door.
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- #92
Yeah i hear that, all Kidding aside should get spare motor tranny to rebuild for later?
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- #95
That's a good idea.
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- #96
I am holding out for when I can import a dual cab 79 Series with a turbo-diesel V8. I think about 2033, unless someone knows how to do it now.
Man, don't be throwing out import dates like 2033. That's depressing
Everybody is all worried about COVID, what we REALLY ought to be doing is reforming these bogus import laws. Am I right? 
Good luck, we can’t even fart in CA.
Everybody is all worried about COVID, what we REALLY ought to be doing is reforming these bogus import laws. Am I right?
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- #100
I have often wondered what the motivation is on those import laws. I mean if someone wants a foreign vehicle and it is road-worthy up to U.S. standards, why not let them. Charge the tariffs or whatever. People would do it. I would.Everybody is all worried about COVID, what we REALLY ought to be doing is reforming these bogus import laws. Am I right?
I do think Toyota would be opposed to the 79 Series being readily available here. It would hurt Tacoma and Tundra sales.