Hey everybody, newb needs a little advice... (1 Viewer)

[Shahram]

Sorry, this might be a touch long-winded, but...

I've been lurking here for a little while, I just got rid of my Nissan Xterra. It would have been a good entry-level four-wheeler, but it was a total lemon, and Nissan bought it back. I've always been a Toyota owner, I should have known better than to leave my camp...

I have always wanted an FJ80 or FZJ80, I have about $11k, and a few choices to make.

I have the option of buying a '94 80, factory locked, with 156k miles. The person selling it wants $8k for it.

I also have the option of buying a '96 80, factory locked, with 94k miles, and the person selling it wants $11.5k for it.

Both appear to be in reasonably good condition.

If I buy the latter Cruiser ($11.5k), I'll have to borrow a little cash to buy some basic mods (BFG KO's, mild lift, snorkel), and incur a tiny debt (about $2k, boss is willing to lend money interest-free and take it out of salary). But, I'll have a newer truck and it may possibly be more reliable. If I buy the former Cruiser ($8k), I can build it out satisfactorily almost immediately, and have the off-road beast I've always dreamed about right now. But, with all those miles, it may need work sooner.

To further complicate things, my wife has just informed me that we're going to have a baby (Yay! I'm scared sh!tless!), and I figure that in about eight and a half months, the last thing I'll be thinking about is truck mods, so I want to be able to have my dream Cruiser before the rugmonkey pops out.

As to the type of driving I am going to be doing, most of my driving will be highway commuting (60+ miles per day) with weekends in the desert, Baja, etc. I four-wheel about two weekends a month. I generally put on about 35k miles per year.

So, taking all this into consideration, what would you do? Buy the cheaper, older Cruiser, or the younger, more expensive Cruiser?

Thanks for any and all advice, time, and consideration. And thanks again to Bailey Quintrell (whoever you are) for your help.

 

[e9999]

96!
at the rate you are piling on miles, it'll give you another 2 or 3 years extra before serious work will be needed
60K miles is a big difference, that would normally be 5 years of driving, easily worth 3.5K IMO.
And with a family, the airbags are a major plus IMO

 

[nakman]

air bags, better dash, power seats.. 96.

 

[KliersLC]

What E said, except in all caps
BTW congrats on the kid

 

[Lars]

I think you should drive both before you make up your mind. I'm sure most of us here would go for the 96 assuming the lower miles and newer age means better condition. Might not be the case.

I bet there is room to get that $11.5k price down a bit.... as would be the case for the 94 as well.

 

[perk]

If the 96 has been well taken care of, I think it is a much better deal. I recently purchased an unlocked 95 with 87K, in EXCELLENT condition, for $12500, down from $15000. I've read multiple recent posts describing how hard it is to find a low mileage FZJ80, and some going in the $16-18K range. I think $11.5, if it is in very good condition, would be a steal, ESPECIALLY, considering the lockers. This is coming from someone who really wishes he had lockers...just couldn't pass up the great condition.
Also considering the life change your soon to undergo (CONGRATS, by the way), I think it would be very wise to get the one in better condition and hold off on those mods you've got in mind. I've offroaded a rental XTerra, and if that is what you will be comparing the 80 to, you will be absolutely blown away, as is.

Whatever you decide, good luck.
Perk

 

[mot]

... better dash, power seats.. 96.

I think there might be a few here that would disagree about the dash and the seats (less room), unless the '94 has power seats, too.

Do you have something else you can drive to work? You would be consuming 4+ gallons of gas everyday by commuting or if you drive something more economical you would be spending less than 2 gallons.

Well... I guess someone (Cdan?)'s said it before that if you are concerned about fuel economy you should not be driving LC's.

I would personaly take the '96 for the bags, OBDII, etc...
But it would be nice to have the older one and owe nothing.

Either way, you will want to spend a few $$$ to get caught up on the maintenance stuff before indulging in the fun mods. I know that doesn't sound fun, but...

My $0.02.

Keep us posted on your decision though.

BTW, congrats on the latest (first?) addition to your family!

And you are right, spend all the money you possibly can now on the Cruiser before the baby arrives!

Mot

 

[V-DAWG]

I have a 1974 FJ40- no airbags obviously, and unfortunately a 1997 Discovery. The Discovery does have airbags, and it states to have them rebuilt after 9 years. There is no way in he!! I would pay to rebuild an airbag, they are not cheap at all. If this is the case with all airbags, and not just British crap, I would buy the 94 and skip the airbags entirely, since the 96 may not even work properly in a crash. I hate extras that will cost $ to fix, including the electric seats. That is just my opinion though, so take it for what it is worth.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Latest model truck with least amount of miles for $'s you can afford assuming similar condition. Rear IdahoDoug's post elsewhere on owning both models.

Personally I would not borrow money to install a snorkel. However if you need tires, you need tires. Check the boards for used tires. Lots of people upgrade and sometimes 33's are cheap.

Also, no matter what, you have maintenance costs in the future. I always tell people, that if (in this case) $11.5 is a lot of money for you and you are stretching yourself to buy it, then the 80 might not be the right truck for you right now. Miantenance and fuel is not cheap on these, unless you are pretty competent and willing to learn in the wrenching dept.

 

[Kalawang]

They both have so much mileage that the nature of the owner becomes more important. I think you have to look at their owners and see which one is more methodical in taking care of his car as well as the kind of use he probably put it to. You can get a lot of information by simple conversation. Most topics will tell you about him, but if you get him to talking about trips and the car without being too direct, you can pull some kind of image out. Much about the way we run our lives speaks of the way we use our things. Open your eyes and try not to let personal prejudice fool you. In the end some luck is still involved.


Kalawang

 

[elmariachi]

Also, no matter what, you have maintenance costs in the future. I always tell people, that if (in this case) $11.5 is a lot of money for you and you are stretching yourself to buy it, then the 80 might not be the right truck for you right now. Miantenance and fuel is not cheap on these, unless you are pretty competent and willing to learn in the wrenching dept.

That's excellent advice to a newbie. FJ-80s can be costly to repair if you have to pay a dealer or shop. You'll go in the hole paying someone else to work on it. If your budget is that stretched, wait a little and save a little. But if you jump now, do your homework and buy a solid service history. The 40th Ann I just bought is one-owner, never wrecked or taken offroad, 124K miles, dealer serviced every 5000 miles. $12K. A few more miles than I would have liked, but you should see the birfields....brand new. But I have already spent $750 (would have cost $2500 at a dealer) just going through everything and making it reliable for offroad use, not including tires and lift.

Jim

 

[Kaderabek]

Jim may be a bit obsessive though....

TJK

(Which is good, for me.)

 

[fzj80kidpen]

Congrat on the new little one. Cruisers make great playpins for little ones. My 2 year old loves playing in the back and can say "Cruiser".
I also have another one on the way in May, wife stays at home so money is tight.
This is what I have done.
Bought a 96' 80 with to many mile for too much $.
We have put 27k miles on it since with no problems other than EGR code. I fixed it. now at 158k
I also bought a 87 toyota cressida as a commuter car. It also has a inline 6 but it gets 25 mpg. I bought it for $1000 it now has 198,000 miles on it. Runs great.
If I were you I would not want to commute in an 80. 60miles at 15mpg that adds up quick. Use an old beater for that.

 

[reffug]

Welcome

Newer, less miles.

Oh and prepare to be poor.

Kids have a way of doing that to you.

 

[cruiserdan]

Christo is spot-on.

I have said this before, these vehicles sold new for between 40 and 50 thousand dollars so replacement parts and professional services will be priced accordingly. Just because a 45 thousand dollar truck can be purchased for 1/4 it's original cost does not mean you get the same "discount" on parts and service. In addidtion, 15MPG is optimistic. More like 11-12 most of the time.


D-

 

[Shahram]

Thanks!!!

Thanks all for the good advice. I really appreciate it.

I am probably going to go with the '96, as it better suits my needs, in terms of reliability and use as my daily driver. Fuel economy in the Xterra was not much better, I can assure you. I was lucky to get 14.5 mpg in my manual 4x4. It's actually a lot more economical for me to buy this Cruiser, because I won't have a $275 per month car payment. Even if I spend $1k per year in maintenance, I'm still money ahead. Hell, I was paying more than that in maintenance for the Xterra, and it was still under warranty!

As far as mods go, I will probably just start with some KO's, then decide what I'm going to do from there. A friend and I do some light fabrication, so we'll probably weld up some sliders and a basic roof rack in the next few months. I have yet to re-train my brain into thinking Toyota again, especially solid axle Toyota, and flush out the IFS train of thought I've been in. I may do a 2" or 3" lift, not sure yet. Most of my off-road driving is desert, and I'm usually 3rd or 4th in a convoy, so the snorkel is definitely on the menu. I don't want to overdo the mods, I'm sure the Cruiser is more four wheeler than I could ever need right out of the box. Clearance and traction first, right?

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[Shahram]

Sold!!!!!

Well, I went to check out the '96, and it was everything the owner said it was: a Cruiser in great condition with factory lockers and low miles. The lady is a typical nice Mom who just wanted a safe vehicle to transport her children in. She was absolutely one of the nicest, most honest people I've ever met. She gave me the name of her mechanic, and instructed him to give all service records to the buyer. I spoke with the mechanic and almost all the trouble areas (head gaskets, knuckles) have been either replaced or serviced within the last 20k miles.
This lady was so nice, in fact, that she invited two total strangers into her home, and told us about her family, and I just got a really good vibe from her. When it came time to talk numbers, she just said "Look, I'm not a salesperson, and I'm not a good haggler. I don't want to deal with showing the car to a lot of people. I'm asking $11,500--but I'll give it to you for $10,500." I about peed myself.

So now I've got a Cruiser.

Hell yeah I'm stoked. '96 FZJ80, factory lockers, white/tan leather int., 96k miles, regularly and well maintained, bone stock, never off the pavement.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Congrats on your purchase of 96 Land Cruiser with lockers and low 96K miles. I'm pretty sure you will enjoy it a lot since it never been off roaded. Now, time for a little bit of modification and if you hang around here, hold on to your wallet real tight, because it will get thinner .

 

[reffug]

Since its never been off pavement your gonna wanna excercise those lockers ASAP.

Congrats though sounds like you got a great deal.

Lucky ______(fill in expletive of choice her)