I just bought a 2000 Land Cruiser and I need your advice

[Kalen]

I just bought a 2000 Land Cruiser.

The great part is, I got it for $16,000.

I ran a Carfax report on it and it was clean. It had just one owner who defaulted on his car loan. He gave it back to the bank. I bought it from the bank that held the lien. They let me talk them down from $17,500. It’s the River Rock Grey color and over all it’s in great shape.

The bad part is, it’s got 111,000 miles on it and has never had any major service in its lifetime other than the routine oil and brake pad change.

The original owner just put new tires on it and had it aligned. The receipt was still in the glove box for $848.

From the other bank receipts that I saw, the check engine light had come on and it sometimes had trouble starting, so the bank put in a new starter, and had the oxygen sensors replaced, before selling it to me, but that was it.

When I had it checked out by a mechanic, it ran strong, and he said everything was great. It just has the pulsating brakes issue.

I’ll need to do the major service and replace the timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, and have the brakes and rotors serviced or replaced. I called some of the dealers, and after they told me how much it costs, I felt like I just got hit by a truck.

I’m new to the Land Cruiser and I’m looking for advice from you guys to see if there is anything else that I should look at or have done, and ways to get the job done right and but still save money where ever I can.

I was saving up for a Toyota 4Runner for a very long time and when I was finally ready to buy, I came across this deal by accident. I never thought I would ever be able to afford a Land Cruiser (and for what it costs to maintain this car, I still might not be able to afford it. Just the timing belt, water pump, brake and rotor service on this truck is going to cost more than what my previous car is worth). This is a beautiful ride with a great tradition and I find that I’m becoming rather attached to it very quickly.

I’ve read through this forum and picked up a lot of tips. It seems you guys all really love this truck.

Toyota has a really cool interactive presentation of the Land Cruiser’s 50 year heritage, and I was amazed at the stories and legends that the Land Cruiser has made. In one story (under “Legends” and “Not Dead Yet”, there is a real account of on old Land Cruiser that was blown straight up into the air by explosives for a movie. It did a full back flip and landed squarely on its tires that exploded. Because it was a Land Cruiser and known for reliability, they joked about if it would still start up. Then someone got into the truck to check it out. Not only did he start it up, but he drove it away, on its rims, off the set. It made me laugh and I was proud to own one.

http://www.toyota.com/landcruiser/minisite/index.html

Thanks for any advice you guys can give.

- Kalen

 

[e9999]

welcome, Dude!

Well, that was a low price indeed. With the tires, starter etc, that was a killer deal. Naturally, it'll cost you a bit to bring it up to par. When you say that there was no major service done, that could mean a lot of different stuff. Things like the timing belt are no big uncertainty. Either it's broken or not. So no problem there. But do it right away. I would also check and change all the fluids since that could be an issue if they have not been done in 110K.
Basically, all the stuff you need/want to do is normal maintenance. If there is nothing wrong or that got severely abused by lack of maintenance, you got a great deal. Just bite the bullet, do the stuff, and you're good to go for another 200K miles.

Congrats!

E

 

[Kalen]

Thanks e9999 and Lizard King.

e9999, there was only the basic routine maintence done on it.

The brake receipt had the owner's phone number on it. I knew he was probably really sore from having to let the truck go, and thought it may be a tender issue to bother him, but I couldn't find any service record on the car, so I gathered the nerve to call him two days ago to ask about the truck. I was surprise. He was a really friendly nice guy and told me about the truck's history. In all the time that he had it, he only had to replace 1 signal light. The only things he ever did was light regular maintainance, change the oil and brake pads and a set of tires. Everything else worked great for 110K miles until the time he turned it over to the bank. How's that for LC dependability?

I was talking to a Toyota mechanic who is a friend of my cousin who said he could do the work (change belts and brake work) on his off time for a discount, but I think I may have been getting scammed. The prices for the time and labor he was telling me seems really high compared to what you guys are saying.

Maybe I should look for a non Toyota shop instead like lizard king?

Thanks to your input, I have a better idea of cost and labor.

I called up two dealerships yesterday to get price quotes for parts and was told:

Front Right Rotor 109.89
Front Left Rotor 109.89
Rear Right Rotor 143.1
Rear Left Rotor 143.1
Front Brake Pads 60.98
Rear Brake Pads 60.98
(Looks like I should see if they can be turned first?)

Timing Belt 60.36
Water Pump 137.12
Pulleys 55.00
Pulleys 70.00
Pulleys 230.00

Spark Plugs 8 X $15 120

Radiator Hose 18
Radiator Hose 25
Serpentine Drive Belt 90.57
Air Filter 35
Fuel Filter 40

Windshield 900 - (My windshield has two small rock chips in it and I thought about getting them filled, but it would cost $50 for each chip. Looking closer, I was surprised that the windshield was widely speckled with minute pin head chips in the actual glass. They are like permanent dust specs when driving into the sunlight at dawn and dusk, so maybe I should just save the money toward replacing the windshield altogether. I may not be able to afford the $900 OEM windshield on this one. I've found places that can do it for $300 parts and labor but don't know what the quality would be.

Taking advice from the forum, I emailed my parts wishlist off to C-Dan to see how much he could sell me the parts for. Any recomendations for an internet OEM parts site?

To share some information, I used this stuff called "Leatherique" to clean and replenish the leather seats so it looks and feels like new. Though expensive, it works awesome, and is really worth the money. I once worked on 10 year old leather Lexus seats that were old, dirty, hard and wrinkled. The Lexus forums suggested this stuff. I let the stuff set in overnight and this stuff actually nurished out the wrinkles, cleaned off all the embedded crud, and made the leather soft and smooth to the touch. I was amazed.

Alright. Fluids, the belts and engine components next. Thanks guys.

 

[BillWms01]

Based on my experience, the serpentine belt and timing belt prices (parts only) look inline wiith my dealer's. However, I think anytime you go into the Parts Counter and ask for a "Land Cruiser ______", you should expect a higher price than a 4Runner or Taco equivalent. That said, the LC parts are usually heavier, beefier, better quality, etc.

 

[NMuzj100]

I just changed the Serpentine belt on my 100. No big job and I got the belt from NAPA for $40 (top of the line Gates Made in USA). The problem with dealer parts is .... you have to go to the dealership to buy them and Toyota dealers are the worst. They must figure that since the cars sell themselves on quality they can be as incompetent or expensive as they want.

Get one of these too... Max Ellery Cruiser Manual

 

[Kalen]

LizardKing, I live in San Jose, CA. It's a pretty big spread out town, but I think you're right. The dealership that I went to don't have any LCs in stock, not even a showroom model. The mechanic said one came in a couple of weeks ago, but it was only to get something installed or modified with the stereo. Other than that, I don't think he's ever worked on one.

I thought it would be another Toyota and they wouldn't have any problems with it, but maybe NMuzj100 is right. They just demand more for LC stuff. Thier parts guy said that the new LCs go out the door for nearly $60K after tax and fees, so maybe they figure that if you drive one, money isn't an issue to you. Most people have been telling me to only use OEM stuff, so now I almost feel guilty if I put anything else on it.

I remembered reading a couple of other threads in this forum about some other owners looking into doing the timing belt themselves and said that they needed special tools. Renting them would be about $300 if he could get them, so he just let the dealers do it. The serpentine belt looks like it's easier to access cause it's just right there. I'll have to look at the manual.

I remebered my first car I ever owned was a 1980 something AMC eagle that a girl from Montana sold to me for a $100. It was a POS rust bucket, but was fun 4X4 type car top drive. I had my head under the hood of that thing every week trying to figure out what wasn't working right. Anyway, since then, I learned that spending more on money on better condition cars is a better value and haven't done much mechanical stuff in years.

The Cruiser owners seem like they would like to work on thier cars more for endearment than neccessity though, so thanks for the recommendation to get the manual I think I'll pick that up as well.

I sent an email to C-Dan through the members section of the forum for parts but he hasn't replied. Not sure if I sent it to the right address.

Does anyone know the best way to contact him?

Thanks.

 

[Brentbba]

Kalen - Congrats on your purchase!

Dan is good about answering pm's. You can also call him. He's one of our board sponsors - American Toyota (top right banner ad). Extension 8. If he's not available, mention this board and his minions are supposed to offer the same prices if you are going to do any of this yourself.

Good luck and a Mud welcome.

 

[Kalen]

LOL

Thanks Brent.

I'll try to PM him.

 

[reffug]

Yaa welcome Man I wish I could find a price like that on a 100. Then maybe I could get the wife to stop driving the 80.

 

[Kalen]

Alright, another update. I finally had the major engine service done yesterday.

C-Dan gave me a great price on OEM parts so I bought everything I needed from him. My cousin has a Toyota mechanic friend who did the labor for $300. He replaced the serpentine drive belt, timing belt, water pump, thermostat, tensioner and idler pulleys, upper and lower radiator hoses, oil seals, changed the transmission fluid, coolant flush with Toyota’s red coolant, oil and filter change to Mobile 1. He said he also cleaned the throttle, or something to do with the fuel system.

The truck has 115,000 miles on it, and up until now had never had the timing belt or anything replaced. The belts were worn but I was amazed that it ran for so many miles on the original belts and parts. The old water pump showed slight signs of a small leak, and the tensioner and idler pulleys were still working fine but he showed me how they had some small friction when turned. The old radiator hoses were still good, but I had them replaced since they’re not expensive and I was getting all the stuff done anyway.

After the service, I didn’t notice much of a difference in the drive, but it felt good that the belts weren’t going to break down on me somewhere.

Today, I replace all the spark plugs. I was amazed at the original iridium plugs that I pulled out. I held them up to the new ones, and other than the black and brown ignition marks from usage, they showed very little signs of wear.

I replaced the PCV valve and grommet. The old grommet had hardened a little, but not bad at all, and the PCV valve only had a little oil sludge on the bottom that would have looked like new if I just cleaned it out with engine or carburetor cleaner.

I’ve read somewhere that says the LC fuel filter never needs replacing, but the replacement OEM filter was only $25. My truck has 115K miles, so I replaced that today as well. I also put in a new air filter.

Wow. After I did those simple things, the engine ran even smoother. I took it out for a test drive. I wanted to test out acceleration so I floored the gas peddle. It knocked my head back against the head rest from the acceleration. I felt an excitement in my belly and a smile grew on my face. The engine felt smoother and stronger.

So all those parts came out to $462.70, and labor cost $300, totaling $762.70 for everything. It seems pricey, but I’m hoping that will keep the engine running for a long time.

Next thing is the brakes. I still have a pulsing action going on, but it doesn’t seem as bad as before (or maybe I’ve gotten used to it?). The mechanic says it’ll be another $300 for the labor to replace the brakes and rotors on all four tires. Is that expensive? He’ll repack the bearings as well as lube and change out the other fluids that he didn’t get to on this service. C-Dan has already sent me the brake parts.

 

[98LXand99LC]

".....So all those parts came out to $462.70, and labor cost $300, totaling $762.70 for everything. It seems pricey, but I’m hoping that will keep the engine running for a long time....."

Not at all, for all that work you got a deal all the way around!

 

[ryanjl]

If the plugs haven't been replaced for 115K miles, you will definitely get a performance gain by changing them. Even if they still looked good, plugs are really only supposed to last 50K max. I normally change mine every 30K or so; inspect them every 15K or so.

If you have any moderate mechanical ability, the brakes aren't that difficult a job. If nothing else, see if your mechanic friend will let you watch him do the job so you know what's going on in the area.

For a guide on how to do the job, you can look in the tech section here, and specifically the accompanying links on the page. Although this is for a birfield repack on an 80 series Land Cruiser, the brake discs and wheel bearings use the same procedure; just ignore everything else.

Given the proper tools, you could probably do this yourself in an afternoon. The worst part about it is cleaning out the old grease from the hub and bearings. The only 'special' tools you'll need are a brass drift, hub socket, and torque wrench. Everything else is basic metric sockets and such.


The best manual you can get is the official Toyota Factory Shop Manual. If your dealership worked on Land Cruisers regularly, it's what they would use. You can get one from C-Dan.

 

[Pitbull]

Plugs in the new Toyota V8's are good for 120K miles per Toyota.

 

[ryanjl]

Well, even if the plugs are good for that long, I'm sure you'd have to inspect and re-gap them somewhere along those 120,000 miles, wouldn't you?

 

[Pitbull]

Ryan, that sounds reasonable. I don't really know? It is interesting what they are doing with extended intervals (improved products) for the new vehicles. Us old car guys have a hard time adapting to these new products and intervals. So like you I try to compromise and split the difference.

PS Kalen great deal on your LC and sounds like you did all of the right things getting it in top shape, welcome to the site.

 

[ryanjl]

I'm not even an old car guy, and that sounds a little too good to be true. Much like my first car, a 74 Scout I got in 1990, that had a sticker on the radiator saying the coolant fluid was permanent and not to change it. Whatever....

But, I'd like to think that Toyota knows what they are doing........

 

[Kalen]

Pitbull, I just looked up Iridium spark plugs and you're right. Amazing that Iridium plugs lasts so long. I think I remember hearing a Toyota parts guy saying they last 90K miles or more.

http://www.spark-plugs.co.uk/pages/technical/iridium_spark_plugs.htm

"Service life of some OEM Iridium spark plugs can be as much as 120000 miles with very little degrading of performance in that lifespan."

Shocker, thanks for the information and link on the Brakes and Rotors. I thought that I could do them myself, but thought that I would need special tools.

I wanted to watch the mechanic work on the timing belt and water pump on my truck, but he did it at the Toyota shop during the day in between his workload, and so I wasn't allowed there.

I really like how these vehicles are crafted and put together and so far have not been difficult to take apart.

I had some subwoofer questions, but I decided to put it in its own thread.

 

[Kalen]

Oh, several folks have emailed me about how to go about finding bank repo cars.

I'm sorry, but I don't know. I honestly I found this LC by accident.

I was shopping for a Toyota 4Runner, and saw a Toyota Land Cruiser listed for $17,500 in my local paper. The price was lower than the 4Runners I had been saving up for, so I called them. I thought that it was a salvage vehicle or a misprint at first, but I didn't think it would hurt to call them and ask.

They said that it was a bank repo. I got the VIN number and looked it up on Carfax and it came out squeaky clean. I researched the reviews on auto.consumerguide.com and read about what Land Cruisers are and how much they're worth.

Excitedly, I went to see it ASAP and negociated for $1,500 less than their asking price. (They could always say no, right?). It took them about 2 seconds to say yes and they seemed very pleased to have a $16,000 cashier's check in their hands. They also replaced the starter and oxygen sensors before letting me have it cause they said that they didn't want me to get stranded anywhere after driving it off.

I thought I was on a different planet, but have learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and to just appreciate people when they are being nice. I just smiled like an idiot and shook alot of hands. After some hardships for awhile, it felt good that something had worked out well for a change.

Best wishes to you guys still looking, and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Pitbull]

Kalen, what a great deal. What do you have in your new LC now with all of the service and upgraded stereo? From what you have done you should be good for another 100K miles.

 

[Kalen]

Hi Pitbull,

$16,000 2000 Land Cruiser
$ 463 OEM Engine Maintenance Replacement Parts
$ 300 Maintenance Engine Labor
$ 314 Pioneer CD/MP3 Deck and 4 Speakers

$17,077 Total

My brother in law had purchased a 2004 GMC Yukon XL earlier this year for about $40K. They drove up from San Diego for Thanksgiving and I got to drive it a couple of times. He was telling me about all the cool features built into it. It was huge and I liked the roominess of it, but I thought the Land Cruiser had a more solid feel, defined steering, as well as a smoother and quieter ride. The LC's interior also had a cleaner and aesthetically pleasing look and feel.

Thanks for the commnet Pitbull. It's such a joy to drive now that I'm looking forward to the next 100K+ miles

I'm still hoping that someone may have some advice regarding the subwoofer upgrade or modification.

Maybe I should place the question in it's own thread topic?