Introduction and NOOB needing your honest opinion for a fj60 (1 Viewer)

[ravenplague]

Hey guys,
I have been lurking on this site for hours in search of information but now need to decide whether or not to buy this 1984 toyota land cruiser!
I live in a small town and the owner let me take it home for a few days to try it out. It has 163K and runs freaking perfect. She has all the documentation and wrote down every thing done to the thing including time and date when she replaced the rear wiper arm! Recently , she had a mechanic install a new alternator, water pump, thermo, etc. She is asking 2500 dollars.

The bad side is the rust on the roof... I have read so much about it and just thinking of what people on this site had gone through makes me think that this is a bad purchase. I do not have a welder or anything and am on a budget (social worker and plus my wife would kill me if i spent too much on it )

If I bought it I was going to clean it up to bare metal , treat it and primer the spots white. And yes i know , its worse on the inside etc but my resources are limited at the moment

Anyways, Keep it or wait for something better?

I really appreciate your input and honesty.
steve

 

[boots4]

Sure looks tempting but I would pass. Rust is no fun to deal with even when you have the equipment to deal with it.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

X2 ^^ I little too much future/immediate work for that kind of $$.. that's a 1000.00 rig at best, if its a good runner IMO.

J

 

[FJ60Seth]

It's sad to hear about a cruise that runs great and looks good except for the roof. I'd personally pass on it.

 

[Chris Cahill]

You will be fighting that roof rust as long as you own it - I would pass. If you are in California you should be able to find a beater to fix up with very little rust.

 

[SteveH]

I would only take on that project if you have a welder and expertise. There is no economical way to pay someone to fix it. If the truck is rock solid otherwise, it could make a great donor for another truck with a solid body and 300K miles (or some such condition)

 

[Output Shaft]

You know the answer.

 

[arcteryx]

So not a fan of rust. if you do get it, you shouldn't pay more than 1500, knowing that you will spend twice that in repairs (at least). To fix it properly, you would need a donor roof to weld back on, which is no small feat.

 

[ravenplague]

I'm sad to say but you guys are totally right.... I appreciate your feedback, definitely helps

 

[gregnash]

Keep your eyes peeled and you will find one. Where are you located? Are you willing to have one shipped or fly to somewhere to grab one? These are all things that you have to thing about for the "Right" cruiser.

Just for reference, I had been looking for close to 2yrs for my cruiser. Kicked the tires of multiple ones, even gave a guy a down payment on one, pending that leakdown and compression tests came back ok, and still never got the "right" one. I think in that 2yrs I probably took maybe a dozen for test drives and what not. Eventually I found mine through Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters in Utah as a post on their Facebook page. Some quick negotiations with the owner (no thanks to @reevesci ) and I had the cruiser locked down. The wife and I took the hour long flight from Reno to SLC and met the owner, kicked the truck a bit and took her for a test drive and no more than 2hrs later we were on our way home. I have not looked back since and still think that the cost of the flights and taking an extra day to drive home was probably one of the best investments we did. The truck has been stellar ever since and has not let me down once, yeah there are inherent maintenance issues (or lack of maintenance) but those are part of the costs that you should realized before you purchase.

Regardless, keep an eye on the classifieds here. Expand your search a bit and you will find one soon enough. Whatever you do, if something doesn't feel right, walk away.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Keep your eyes peeled and you will find one. Where are you located? Are you willing to have one shipped or fly to somewhere to grab one? These are all things that you have to thing about for the "Right" cruiser.

Just for reference, I had been looking for close to 2yrs for my cruiser. Kicked the tires of multiple ones, even gave a guy a down payment on one, pending that leakdown and compression tests came back ok, and still never got the "right" one. I think in that 2yrs I probably took maybe a dozen for test drives and what not. Eventually I found mine through Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters in Utah as a post on their Facebook page. Some quick negotiations with the owner (no thanks to @reevesci ) and I had the cruiser locked down. The wife and I took the hour long flight from Reno to SLC and met the owner, kicked the truck a bit and took her for a test drive and no more than 2hrs later we were on our way home. I have not looked back since and still think that the cost of the flights and taking an extra day to drive home was probably one of the best investments we did. The truck has been stellar ever since and has not let me down once, yeah there are inherent maintenance issues (or lack of maintenance) but those are part of the costs that you should realized before you purchase.

Regardless, keep an eye on the classifieds here. Expand your search a bit and you will find one soon enough. Whatever you do, if something doesn't feel right, walk away.

Yeah G, you were about 15 minutes away from STILL LOOKING... BUT, I was nice and let you have it HA!

J

 

[Flipper1938]

How does rust like that happen?