Hi All! New to the Land Cruiser family and very excited about it! I worked in the service department in Upstate/Western NY for many years before moving to NC but have mostly driven Euro cars previously. After much research on this forum and others I recently purchased my first LC, a high mileage 2007 Land Cruiser out of South Carolina. It was posted for $14k and looked ok in the photos minus torn up seats, steering wheel and missing the rear jump seats. After speaking with the owner and tentatively offering $10k I made the drive and was disappointed to find that he overstated the exterior condition, interior condition, underside (not that it was rotten, but he stated NO rust and there was certainly more surface rust than expected) and drive ability...well I suppose he overstated the overall condition of the truck. Regardless, because I was intrigued by it being a final year 100 series and for the fact that apparently I'm a self loathing masochist who has an unexplained affinity for high mileage, neglected, intensive maintenance type vehicles; I re-negotiated to $9.2k and drove it 3+ hours back home.
During the drive and upon further inspection I found the following issues which I am excited to dig into:
CEL on for P0420 and P0430 (Recently had aftermarket Cats installed with all new sensors)
Blown out Muffler and possible flex pipe
AHC only works going from Low - N when it wants to, otherwise the light flashes "off" most days
Rides like a brick, sounds like its going to rattle apart over every bump
Front wheels shake above 50mph (Persisted even after wheel balance and rotate)
Front brakes pulsate severely
Rear brakes pulsate
Clunk when putting into drive
Belt squeal on cold start
Timing belt due after last replacement 85k miles previously
Paint is in mediocre shape at best and looks dull/faded despite his claim it was previously "paint corrected"
It was apparent to me that the previous owner only replaced things when they broke and must have not been interested in preventative maintenance. The week I brought it home I spent $3k+ to order all new brakes, front wheel bearings/hubs, exhaust parts, ball joints, CV axles, AHC globes (appeared original), timing belt/water pump/pulley/serp belt and some other odds and ends. I also picked up a cool set of 5 old school 3 piece 16" Rays P-Volk wheels for $450 while I was driving home with it because I couldn't help myself.
All in all I love a good project and am excited to hopefully bring this truck back to it's former glory and get into some general off roading with it. I tend to be obsessive over whatever vehicle I'm driving at the time and this forum is quickly proving to be the perfect companion to encourage my addiction!
During the drive and upon further inspection I found the following issues which I am excited to dig into:
CEL on for P0420 and P0430 (Recently had aftermarket Cats installed with all new sensors)
Blown out Muffler and possible flex pipe
AHC only works going from Low - N when it wants to, otherwise the light flashes "off" most days
Rides like a brick, sounds like its going to rattle apart over every bump
Front wheels shake above 50mph (Persisted even after wheel balance and rotate)
Front brakes pulsate severely
Rear brakes pulsate
Clunk when putting into drive
Belt squeal on cold start
Timing belt due after last replacement 85k miles previously
Paint is in mediocre shape at best and looks dull/faded despite his claim it was previously "paint corrected"
It was apparent to me that the previous owner only replaced things when they broke and must have not been interested in preventative maintenance. The week I brought it home I spent $3k+ to order all new brakes, front wheel bearings/hubs, exhaust parts, ball joints, CV axles, AHC globes (appeared original), timing belt/water pump/pulley/serp belt and some other odds and ends. I also picked up a cool set of 5 old school 3 piece 16" Rays P-Volk wheels for $450 while I was driving home with it because I couldn't help myself.
All in all I love a good project and am excited to hopefully bring this truck back to it's former glory and get into some general off roading with it. I tend to be obsessive over whatever vehicle I'm driving at the time and this forum is quickly proving to be the perfect companion to encourage my addiction!
