Is it worth it...to sell or to spend more to fix (1 Viewer)

[Gesekee19]

I have an 04 LC in stone gray. My dad was the original Southern Californian owner and decided to get rid of it. I decided to take it from him with 300k miles. Since taking it over, I took it to a Toyota dealer to do the timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, and Heater T’s. I also had a Denso radiator put in with new oem hoses After noticing the radiator was starting to turn brown. had the brakes flushed. I then changed the oil, rear diff, center transfer case, and front diff all to Motor 1. I plan on draining and dumping the transmission fluid this next week. I also changed out both headlamps since they were both cracked and collected water in them.

Shocks needed to be replaced so the Next thing I did was the Ironman foam cell pro lift on the cruiser along with the trail tailor diff drop...then changed out the tires to 33 KO2s and added spidertrax.

After doing all that, I recently crawled under my car and noticed my inner CV boot is spitting grease in my wheel well. There aren’t any tears...just seem like the clamps aren’t applying enough pressure...I may have to have my cv’s rebooted because after the lift, some grease started to seep out or reboot

seems like a never ending list of repairs...

 

[RyanStl]

You were given a vehicle, so all the deferred maintenance is your only cost to own. Sure you can flip, but how much will that buy you for your next vehicle? Your TLC looks great from the one pic you posted.

 

[Hokie99]

These rigs are worth saving. All your doing right now is brining your LC up to date with maintenance that needed to be done already. I’ve bought 2 of these in the last 2 years for my kids and have spent 3k on each of them getting them up to snuff in maintenance. They are safe, reliable, durable, and just cool. What else are you going to buy that come in the ball park of these vehicles.

Once they are dialed in you can expect many more great miles out of them.

If you want to sell a rust free Southern California LC, please call me first as I’d love to take that problem off your hands...lol

 

[Gesekee19]

How much does a oem reboot cost for cv? And a new boot for the steering rack on drivers side? I won’t do it alone and will probably take it to a shop to do it

 

[Hokie99]

How much does a oem reboot cost for cv? And a new boot for the steering rack on drivers side? I won’t do it alone and will probably take it to a shop to do it

Not sure on the labor but you can get the entire axle assembly for around 400 bucks from Toyota if I’m not mistaken. Try McGeorge Toyota or Toyota of CoolSprings for good deals on OEM parts

 

[JunkCrzr89]

All your doing right now is brining your LC up to date with maintenance that needed to be done already.

Yup. You’re just doing backlogged maintenance at this point. Would be crazy to sell it after all this stuff...

 

[Brandon Ryder]

try tightening the clamps on the cvs. it might seal it up enough until you can do a proper reboot. you need a special tool. you can get it on Amazon. at 300k it's about the service life of most of these components that have seals or rubber of any kind. it takes a few bucks but once compete, you're good for another 300k possibly. be prepared for the steering rack, brake booster, starter and alternator in the coming next couple of years. i agree with what the others said, these Toyota's, especially land cruisers are worth fixing. the only vehicle that requires less maintenance is a brand new one but that comes with a monthly payment too and more expensive insurance as well.

you're on the right track with maintenance already. if you like the vehicle, turn the wrenches yourself, learn some things, and enjoy it. selling it you will only lose money.

 

[abuck99]

Sounds like you spent a considerable amount of money with the dealer to baseline all the fluids, replace the radiator and do the TB job which should last you several more years. You got a Cruiser handed down to you that's been in your family from day 1 right? Keep it and drive it for another couple of years (or forever). If you dont beat on it too hard, it'll go 500k +.

FWIW Lifting a 300k mile rig (let alone 150k mile rig) on original CV axles will usually introduce leaking boots, which can be simply remedied- do a quick search on how to do that in the FAQ.

Taking a 16yr old cruiser to the dealer for service is an expensive proposition- so set money aside $$ for that, or consider DIY your own general services and leave the especially technical stuff for the mechanic. On a 300k mile rig, you'll save a ton by DIY, which also betters your skill to deal with any trailside repairs. Los of resources on this forum to help you with that. Maybe you and your dad can get your hands dirty working on it together and have some fun.

 

[NoVaGator]

if you can't wrench, you probably don't want to own a 300,000 mile vehicle

 

[97 AZ LC]

if you can't wrench, you probably don't want to own a 300,000 mile vehicle

Agree, you've already thrown away a lot of money and you're on a track to throw away a lot more.

 

[Hokie99]

Or you need to find a good independent shop that charges reasonable labor rates, or better yet an ex Toyota tech who operates a small shop with low over head. I do most of my maintenance except timing belts, I found an ex tech who does timing belt water pump jobs for 600 including parts, he gets wholesale pricing from his friends at the local Toyota parts dept. He has done a lot of them so he can do them in 3 hours.

 

[Gesekee19]

thanks for the input... I just ordered the pfran clamps so we’ll see how those work out for now on the cv’s.

Agree, you've already thrown away a lot of money and you're on a track to throw away a lot more.

Outside of Timing belt, water pump, radiator, brake flush (all done at same time), I did everything else ... but I guess I would’ve saved more coin had I tried it myself.

 

[stevenjj71]

I don't think the cost of hiring a reasonable mechanic to take care of repairs is that much compared to the ongoing cost of new car payments. Sure there can be a fair bit of work to get an old vehicle up to speed, but once that is done the $$$ expenditure will drop - these are fantastic vehicles, worth the cost of keeping them running I reckon.

 

[Eighteen11R]

Agree, you've already thrown away a lot of money and you're on a track to throw away a lot more.

I don't believe he's thrown away a lot of money, he's just been very fortunate to have come to the right place for insight. If he continues to go to the dealer, he's on track to throw away money. If he hears from those who have gone before him, he's in the cat bird seat. Nothing worth doing is going to be cheap. You will want to upgrade/update with OEM or highly praised aftermarket performers.

You all have given @Gesekee19 some excellent take-aways. Where is OC? Please put me on your list if you decide to sell.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Very smart to stop and ask now before sinking anymore money in it. As usual there are pros and cons to keeping it:
Pros:
- It's essentially one owner vehicle which are desirable
- It's rust free which makes it more desirable than a lot of lower mileage rust piles
- It's your dad's truck so there might be some sentimental value
- You didn't have to pay for it so it should put you ahead of the game money-wise

Cons:
- Regular maintenance wasn't kept up for a long time - it will need quite a bit to be done to be reliable
- It is a 16 year old 300k miles truck so a lot of components are at the end of their life - a lot of these parts are expensive to replace
- I'd say you will easily need any where from $3k to $7k in the repairs, baselining and preventative maintenance alone.
- All said and done it would still be an old truck with an incredible thirst for fuel.

Now, most of us here on the forum suffer from at least a mild case of masochism. Most will tell you it is the best platform in the world and any pain and expense it takes to keep it running is worth it. And if you like Land Cruisers and use them for anything more than what a minivan can do easily then there is some value in restoring a Land Cruiser of this vintage. Most well sorted out trucks here cost in excess of $20k (including purchase price!) but are worth nowhere near the investment.

In your case the purchase price of $0 puts you ahead of a lot of builds here. If your heart is in this truck - you will find it rewarding once it is taken care of. Otherwise, you should be able to easily recoup your money by selling it now.

 

[97 AZ LC]

Outside of Timing belt, water pump, radiator, brake flush (all done at same time), I did everything else ... but I guess I would’ve saved more coin had I tried it myself.

That changes everything if you're willing to dig it. You could have done the timing belt with a little research here and youtube.