I just put a deposit on an LX450 sight unseen someone please tell me I have done thei (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter rocktoy74
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Another satisfied ebay customer -- the buy-it-now price included delivery from TX to FL. I had never driven a Land Cruiser, but this one had lockers and I had been watching the local ads for about a year with no luck. 
wanted me to get rid of my IH Scout beater so she could ride with me in airconditioned comfort. Dealer promised me NO leaks, good A/C and cooling system. Turned out GREAT! Talk about a win-win deal!
edit: Oh yeah -- it did have a problem. The "D" light was/is out.
wanted me to get rid of my IH Scout beater so she could ride with me in airconditioned comfort. Dealer promised me NO leaks, good A/C and cooling system. Turned out GREAT! Talk about a win-win deal!edit: Oh yeah -- it did have a problem. The "D" light was/is out.
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Definitely depends on if you asked all the right questions. I bought mine sight unseen, though it was from someone my parents were affiliated with, and I couldnt be happier. Mine, as yours, came without a roof rack, which in my opinion is a plus because you dont have to worry about plugging the holes when you get anther rack. Also is has the e-lockers. Hopefully you ended up with a keeper. If you did, ENJOY.
Give us a link. It might be real close to one of us locals.
Nevermind. Found the link. This place is a 1/2 mile from my house. They don't have a great rep for clean vehicles, at least in my personal experience. I don't know if you noticed from the pics, but it's got some moderate tweaking of the front bumper, and a nice rust spot on the hood lip. It also looks a little beat up bumper-wise. If you want to PM me with your intentions on this truck, I could swing by and see if I can find you some misrepresentation or other "out" so you can get your money back. You can definitely find something equal or better in a drier climate area for less money.
AlaskanWheeler
SILVER Star
Bought mine sight unseen; flew down to Spokane picked it up at the airport and made the trip back to Alaska with no problems.
Rocktoy76, buy Chitown40 a few beers some day, but in the mean time let him look for that 'out'. Sounds like you can do better..and there are piles of resources here, both in technical writeups, as well as guys on the ground that can check things out on your behalf. This is a very generous community!
Slow things down, and wait for that 'perfect' find. Hard, we know, but well worth it years from now.
Good luck!
TY
PS: I bought mine on EBay .. only saw photos. Flew 3000 miles to Houston, where things got a little strange. Stalled out for 2-3 days while they repaired damages incurred as I flew in .. haha
The seller is currently serving time. And believe me I did a lot of background on the vehicle, etc and still things got pretty wierd. Buyer beware dude...
Mind you this 80 ended up a creampuff .... sheer perfection, so far. Phew *wiping brow*
Slow things down, and wait for that 'perfect' find. Hard, we know, but well worth it years from now.
Good luck!
TY
PS: I bought mine on EBay .. only saw photos. Flew 3000 miles to Houston, where things got a little strange. Stalled out for 2-3 days while they repaired damages incurred as I flew in .. haha
The seller is currently serving time. And believe me I did a lot of background on the vehicle, etc and still things got pretty wierd. Buyer beware dude...Mind you this 80 ended up a creampuff .... sheer perfection, so far. Phew *wiping brow*
If you already live in the rust belt, you might not be disappointed. If I were ever going to buy a vehicle unseen, it would never be from a area known for rust. If you are traveling to buy a vehicle, why not travel somewhere where you can get a rust free vehicle.
Bought mine sight unseen off of Ebay as well. Drove from PHX to LAX with a trailer and a check. Got a great deal on it, but there was plenty wrong with it once I got it home. But....after countless hours (and dollars) I have finally found a vehicle that suits me quite well. All the time and money invested has made me enjoy owning it even more.
I bought my first 80 sight unseen off a member here on mud... he drove it all the way up to Canada for me and dropped it off on my driveway (I paid for his plane ticket home). Great guy, great price, great 80!
If it requires a plane ticket or shipping you should hold out to buy a super clean truck from the south or the pacific NW. You aren't going to get anything good in Chicago unless someone just brought it there from elsewhere.
The little bit of info. in this thread from the person that looked at it isn't encouraging. I would get my money back and look for a different one.
The little bit of info. in this thread from the person that looked at it isn't encouraging. I would get my money back and look for a different one.
If it helps. I bought my, (her) lx450 as a "suprise" for my wife's birthday. I bought it at night and checked it out for about 15 minutes. Not sight unseen by any means but a long awaited impulse purchase. Perhaps I got dizzy from the arb bumper, emu lift, and arb lockers, and navigation/dvd/stereo system, and the leather. I'm now trying to determine why there is oil in my coolant and the compressions test was pretty ugly although it would still beat my 60. It happens. Anyway, I'm in love and it came with a ton of russian wrap music already downloaded on the dvd/stereo. Good luck.
Grench
SILVER Star
Bought both of mine sight unseen. Of course, there are not many of them around here.
My gray one was 200 miles away near Kansas City and I went and picked it up. It had minor front end damage from a deer strike to a damage multiplier. It was missing the spare tire and had a cut rear seat belt. Underbody rust was pretty bad too. The PO had put chrome custom rims on it with spacers in front to clear the calipers. The resulting offset of spacers and no spacers made it follow cracks in concrete in a very bad and disconcerting way.
The wife's red one was purchased in New York and transported via DAS to Omaha. It had a delaminated spot the size of a soft ball in the front center of the hood (known). Otherwise it was pretty much perfect until DAS had run it backwards on the top of the carrier and through a tree. The $1400 repair bill and 6 months of headache with the shipper to get the insurance claim adjusted were not fun.
When I was buying the red one, I asked about lockers. The sellers had no clue what they were. So I asked for a picture of the switch. It had the switch (and the lockers) but what really sold me was the Winnie the Pooh key chain clip hanging from the turn signal. It had only soccer mom duties. The underside was pristine.
After purchase I put ~$2500 into each of them for new fluids, bearings, brakes, rotors, rebuilt both axles, new shocks and springs. The gray one got another $600 to get a set of 5 used stock rims, another $1200 in tires and then many more $$$$s in armor, a Super Charger, aux gas tank, dual batteries, etc...
So, buying one of these is like buying a hobby. Count on the costs of baseline repairs and maintenance (fluids, bearings, brakes). Then consider what your plans are for add-ons and how long you plan to own it.
Current project on her's is to replace a couple of trim bits that are worn or ended up missing after last winter and new tie rod ends then new tires. She'll probably opt for stock height tires since 255/85R16 are a pain to get and 285s are too wide/aggressive for her taste.
Current project on mine is a full height Milford barrier, new O2 sensors to go with my new 3" exhaust, putting in a trailer brake system and a 7 pin connector and wiring the rear end for 12 volts at 60 amps for my compressor and maybe a future fridge.
My plan is to keep ours forever, so resale value isn't an issue to me.
IMHO YMMV.
My gray one was 200 miles away near Kansas City and I went and picked it up. It had minor front end damage from a deer strike to a damage multiplier. It was missing the spare tire and had a cut rear seat belt. Underbody rust was pretty bad too. The PO had put chrome custom rims on it with spacers in front to clear the calipers. The resulting offset of spacers and no spacers made it follow cracks in concrete in a very bad and disconcerting way.
The wife's red one was purchased in New York and transported via DAS to Omaha. It had a delaminated spot the size of a soft ball in the front center of the hood (known). Otherwise it was pretty much perfect until DAS had run it backwards on the top of the carrier and through a tree. The $1400 repair bill and 6 months of headache with the shipper to get the insurance claim adjusted were not fun.
When I was buying the red one, I asked about lockers. The sellers had no clue what they were. So I asked for a picture of the switch. It had the switch (and the lockers) but what really sold me was the Winnie the Pooh key chain clip hanging from the turn signal. It had only soccer mom duties. The underside was pristine.
After purchase I put ~$2500 into each of them for new fluids, bearings, brakes, rotors, rebuilt both axles, new shocks and springs. The gray one got another $600 to get a set of 5 used stock rims, another $1200 in tires and then many more $$$$s in armor, a Super Charger, aux gas tank, dual batteries, etc...
So, buying one of these is like buying a hobby. Count on the costs of baseline repairs and maintenance (fluids, bearings, brakes). Then consider what your plans are for add-ons and how long you plan to own it.
Current project on her's is to replace a couple of trim bits that are worn or ended up missing after last winter and new tie rod ends then new tires. She'll probably opt for stock height tires since 255/85R16 are a pain to get and 285s are too wide/aggressive for her taste.
Current project on mine is a full height Milford barrier, new O2 sensors to go with my new 3" exhaust, putting in a trailer brake system and a 7 pin connector and wiring the rear end for 12 volts at 60 amps for my compressor and maybe a future fridge.
My plan is to keep ours forever, so resale value isn't an issue to me.
IMHO YMMV.
Another Ebay 80 here. Bought mine sight unseen in San Antonio. The truck was better than advertised. If not, they're always fixable. Good luck.
Hope the deposit is minimal...and yes you should contact one of us (Chicago people) and have us look at it. I have bought trucks/cars that I've not seen physically but I'm pretty confident I know what to ask and also have been very lucky in my judgement of people's character.
Good luck man...hope you're getting it for a song (a song being anything < $6,000) as you should be all things considered.
Good luck man...hope you're getting it for a song (a song being anything < $6,000) as you should be all things considered.
Found the link too...shady little place...very close to where my mom lives. Don't think I'd have time to look at it this week but I will pass within 3 miles of it twice b-4 Friday. And the asking price is way too much IMO, considering what it is. Moreover, I guarantee if I spent a few minutes looking at it I could create a list of needed work that would cost at least $1,000 if you had to pay someone to do it.
If you made a deposit sight-unseen, you did it via credit card, so if it's not what you wanted or you can enlist one of us to check it out just dispute the charges and keep a lookin.
And yes, if you're not a midwesterner or car savvy guy, many will say rust-free but wait until to go to wrench on it...all kinda rust on that thing!
If you made a deposit sight-unseen, you did it via credit card, so if it's not what you wanted or you can enlist one of us to check it out just dispute the charges and keep a lookin.
And yes, if you're not a midwesterner or car savvy guy, many will say rust-free but wait until to go to wrench on it...all kinda rust on that thing!
where is this link to this vehicle?
- Thread starter
- #39
Big props to Chitown40 as he went to check It out In person once on Sunday and once today to see the Inside and I am very grateful to him cuz I would have definitely been disappoited with that vehicle! It had a slew of problems and he Informed before It was too late! 
I guess I will have to get you a Lou Malnatti's gift certificate as I do not think I will be coming to Chicago as planned tomorrow, I called the salesman today after talking with Rob (Chitown40) and got my deposit back! So I guess back to the drawing board anyone know where to find a good one at the $7000.00 price range that has lockers and preferably no roof rack? Thanks In advance I owe Rob big time and thank all of you for just some good advice! Worley
I guess I will have to get you a Lou Malnatti's gift certificate as I do not think I will be coming to Chicago as planned tomorrow, I called the salesman today after talking with Rob (Chitown40) and got my deposit back! So I guess back to the drawing board anyone know where to find a good one at the $7000.00 price range that has lockers and preferably no roof rack? Thanks In advance I owe Rob big time and thank all of you for just some good advice! Worley
Big props to Chitown40 as he went to check It out In person once on Sunday and once today to see the Inside and I am very grateful to him cuz I would have definitely been disappoited with that vehicle! It had a slew of problems and he Informed before It was too late!
Great outcome and
to mudder's.7k you should be able to find the cruiser of your dreams pretty easy
