Joining the ranks - BJ70 LX

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SteveJackson said:
Some good cautions brought up in this thread. I'll take the opportunity to point out how Land Cruisers Direct solves these problems. First, we work with one of the largest exporters in Japan. We have guys at each of the auction sites who are familiar with our criteria and a quick 20-point checklist for deciding which vehicles to buy. However, things still slip through the cracks. The real way we've taken the risk out of the game is by purchasing the inventory, bringing it over, doing a complete inspection and baseline maintenance procedure, and then completely documenting the vehicle with over 200 photos before offering for sale. This gives any stateside buyer the chance to show up, inspect the vehicle and say yes or no. We don't take deposits, and we don't sell anything "on the water" or before it's gone through our complete process. Our method and efforts are intended to provide a good buying/owning experience to people interested in an imported Land Cruiser.
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broth9640 said:
Ultimately it boils down to this. No one should ever buy their dream land cruiser sight unseen even if it's from an established importer! Go kick the tires, crawl under it, test drive etc at the very least. Having a good Diesel mechanic give it a once over is money well spent. If you just gotta have it, well .....you better have the checkbook to back up your impulsive decision.
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I have purchased / imported three Land Cruisers for personal use - basically D. I. Y. with good results - but I am incredibly lucky and "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Next time, not so much.

Good comments from both of the posters above. No matter how good the dealer's process, staff or reputation, I would "trust but verify" through an on-site, third-party inspection of the candidate vehicle before closing the deal.

Good luck with purchase and welcome to the circus!
 
wardharris said:
I have purchased / imported three Land Cruisers for personal use - basically D. I. Y. with good results - but I am incredibly lucky and "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Next time, not so much.

Good comments from both of the posters above. No matter how good the dealer's process, staff or reputation, I would "trust but verify" through an on-site, third-party inspection of the candidate vehicle before closing the deal.

Good luck with purchase and welcome to the circus!
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Yeah, I think there are a lot of good comments here. I'm pretty good with cars, I've got a nose for old VWs and Chevys. Owned quite a few, I know what to look for and what's acceptable. But having lived in Seattle for a few years, and being an avid snowboarder, I wanted to step up my accessibility when getting to the mountain. I had a Subaru Impreza for a while, but that car just didn't cut it - ground clearance was a bitch and I had to shovel myself out on several occasions. That car got stolen, so, here I am.

That being said - I'm not worried about this buy. I can still back out. If the damage shown in the inspection sheet is too much, then so be it. There will be other Land Cruisers.

Here's my other car, incidentally.

2013-03-30_17-27-14_326.jpg
 
Perhaps a 70 Series that is already in the U.S. :)
There are some notable U.S. based importers (some of which have posted on this thread) that can take a lot of stress out of the process.
 
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Picked up the truck this morning. Everything looked better than I could have expected. Thanks to the inspection sheet, I knew what sort of quirks to expect. The engine is strong, it drives well. I'll need to replace the rubber and do an alignment, but otherwise, it's exactly what I'd expect from a 49,000 mile car.

I'll post good photos soon.
 
LeftHandRev said:
Picked up the truck this morning. Everything looked better than I could have expected. Thanks to the inspection sheet, I knew what sort of quirks to expect. The engine is strong, it drives well. I'll need to replace the rubber and do an alignment, but otherwise, it's exactly what I'd expect from a 49,000 mile car.

I'll post good photos soon.
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Congratulations!:cheers:
 
Looks nice and welcome to the club!

Might want to change the thread title now....that ain't no BJ74!
 
fireball said:
Looks nice and welcome to the club!

Might want to change the thread title now....that ain't no BJ74!
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Thanks! Now I'm trying to figure out how to change the thread title. I checked the obvious places... I really like the software for this forum, I'm just not familiar with it.
 
Lucked out bigtime today. I went tire shopping to do some price comparison. Two places had low-end s*** starting at just under $1000 for the rubber installed, balanced, etc. Tire Rack was offering the same for half, but I'd still need them shipped and installed. Third place I went I told them I wanted 265/75/15's... The guy said, "Hold on." Got another one of the guys in the shop and said, "Talk to Tony."

Tony brought me into the warehouse and said, "check these out." He had a set of barely used BF Goodrich 265/75/15's with only about 0.5 mm wear on them, only a year and a half old. Got the set for $350.

Moved up from the smaller tires already on it, and they match the spare in size.

The truck stance is nice, fills in the wheel wells better, and just looks tough.
 
fossilcruiser said:
Time for a Seattle BJ70 club meeting
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Dig! I found the South Sound club in the forum and posted there. There's a guy in my hood with a 40. I wonder if he's on the forum as well.

I like the white rims too. I am pretty certain that the first owner, or perhaps some handler between him and the auction house, swapped them out, as the rear spare is a different rim and had a different sized tire than what I got it with. I'm going to try and get another white to match.
 
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