Land Cruiser Valuation

[Muddy Bean]

After a nearly 5 year love affair, we are starting to prepare ourselves to sell our 1998 Land Cruiser. Needs are changing, growing family etc. This won't likely happen for several months but I'm at a loss as to how to price/value our truck. I understand KBB and its all about what the market will pay, but mine is triple locked with a front ARB airlocker and pump and factor center and rear electric lockers. I also have 33" tires and a front ARB bumper. Obviously I can't ask for the cost of the add-ons but can anyone viably say what percentage of armor/locking diff values I can add to the KBB value?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Maybe look in the classifieds here at similar trucks and see what they're priced and selling at?

 

[r2m]

This is the way I'd suggest pricing it:
Selling it to me: $1,000
Selling to an off-road enthusiast: KBB and then everything you've done to it, divide that by half and add that value to the KBB. That may get you close to a fair price.
Selling to a soccer mom or someone with no appreciation of what can be seen when one steers off the pavement and into adventure: $100,000

I too have have a 1998 LC, in fact my wife and I both have 1998 LC's. Mine is the only one that's being expo'ed. But similar to your setup. 2.5" suspension lift (with diff drop and aftermarket control arms) and 1.75" body lift with BFG 35" MT's. Front/rear lockers, re-geared including the transfer case (Marlin Crawler), ARB's largest compressor (CKMTA12) under the hood, dual batteries, 220 amp alternator, but no armor yet (read: no bumpers, sliders or skid plates).

So I'm curious what you may get for yours?

Also, are you getting out of the whole off-roading thing? Or doing a different rig, style, e.g. boldering, rock crawling, mudding?

 

[BillZ260]

Seems like most built rigs go for, and presumably sell for, book plug parts cost, not including install costs. That's probably where I would start.

 

[Muddy Bean]

Good info. Ok. It's not modded much. Basically what I listed. Classifieds have helped for sure. I've never modded any of my past vehicles so they sold for KBB value end of story. This is a little unique for me. Thanks for the tips. I like the "add parts cost but not installation costs". That's actually helpful too.

 

[r2m]

Sooo... Are you done with off road adventures?
I mean, from your profile, you've been on here for about 4.5 years now with a lot of contributions in the forum.

What's up? If it's personal, I don't mean to pry...

 

[Muddy Bean]

Richard, no worries... our life is a little unique and complicated so, let me try to outline it: our entire 8 year marriage my wife and I have lived in a private tour bus because I'm a career singer. I get contracts to sing for christian events all over the country. We have always flat towed the LC and have enjoyed it immensely though we've only taken it off road twice the entire time we've owned it. We had a baby girl two years ago and that started to cramp things in the cruiser a little. I have to carry my audio gear and full 70 lb, 88 key keyboard and guitar in the back and used the cargo area and second row seats to do this. We are now due with our second little one in February so with two car seats and all the gear I need a more massive SUV that I can flat tow behind the coach that has some level of AWD/4WD capabilty, so it's coming down to a 2015 Ford Expedition EL. 21mpg on the Hwy and we've measured it and it will actually hold everything behind the third row mainly because it's wide enough to contain my keyboard and guitar width wise instead of hovering over the second row seats which is unsafe. Cruiser has to go, I don't own a home and have nowhere to put it sadly. I've Krown Rustproofed it twice and it kills me to sell it but life changes and for now I'm having to be practical until the kids are older or my life career adjusts.

 

[Spike555]

Be careful using measurments only as your guide to see if your gear will fit. We tried that when looking at cars for my wife a few years ago.
Needed to fit two cars seats and have room for a pre-teen. We quickly found out that we needed to actually install the car seats to see if it'd all fit.
Tape measure said yes, doors closed and no go. We also brought the Pack-N-Play as well as suitcases and diaper bags to throw in the trunk, we wound up with a Volvo turbo wagon that would smoke a new GTO and cruise to Traverse City in a blizzard with Blizzaks at 90mph AND still get 35mpg.

 

[slowmo]

I don’t recall if you mentioned mileage, but assuming that it exceeds 200k, the population of potential buyers is quite narrow. At that point, you have relatively few casual buyers motivated only by reputation of reliability (ie they have too many alternatives with lower mileage, etc). Also, the non-enthusiast is not willing to pay much for the addons, and might actually further discount the vehicle due to its “non-factory” nature. Your modification work / parts might be first rate, but the non-enthusiast won’t bother to investigate and might instead assume that it was all performed by cousin Billie Rae when he was occasionally out of the pen. Thus, your best buyer would be a user of this site.

All that said, the values are quite volatile and comps are hard to reconcile. Different pricing sources yield quite different estimates and few consider attributes like “1-owner”, etc. I have a stock, 1-owner ‘02 with 242k. You would think that simple scenario would be easy to price but I’ve seen estimates and comparable listings that varied dramatically.

Good luck. I know it’s not easy to decide to sell, much less act on it.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Start it priced around book plus full retail value of the add-ons and see where it goes. Once you're a little over book value I think you face a split in potential buyers. You'll have enthusiasts willing to pay a good fraction of the add-on costs and then average joe's who'll want to discount the price because they don't want it "modded". They will diverge quickly as the number of visual addons (bumper, snorkel, lift/tires) increases. With a snorkel, big tires and front bumper I think you're going to be already in the "enthusiast" pool of potential buyers.

 

[geanes]

Be careful using measurments only as your guide to see if your gear will fit. We tried that when looking at cars for my wife a few years ago.
Needed to fit two cars seats and have room for a pre-teen. We quickly found out that we needed to actually install the car seats to see if it'd all fit.
Tape measure said yes, doors closed and no go. We also brought the Pack-N-Play as well as suitcases and diaper bags to throw in the trunk, we wound up with a Volvo turbo wagon that would smoke a new GTO and cruise to Traverse City in a blizzard with Blizzaks at 90mph AND still get 35mpg.

Yup! 100% agree with this. I traded my 12 Outback for a 16 Outback and, based on the online measurements and tape measure, my wife's 4 ft canvases (she's an artist) would fit. When we got the car home, they didn't. The hatch was narrow diagonally by a fraction of an inch internally due to the electric closing hatch. This actually was a benefit for us though. Because of that, we had to get another vehicle with greater capacity to supplement the Outback. That led us to purchasing the 98 LX.

@Muddy Bean Anyway, sorry to hear you have to sell the LC, it's a nice looking rig for sure. Congrats though on the imminent arrival of the addition to the family. Also, that's one HECK of a nice RV you got there.

 

[Muddy Bean]

Thanks for the tips. I love my truck...I get shout outs from strangers all the time that are driving toyotas, this forum contains a brilliant group of people and an enormous knowledge base, it's well moderated and I'm seeing a lot more polite convos now than when I first joined. But at the end of day, I am driving a 20 year old truck that is too small for my needs right now. So I can't be sentimental, I have to be practical. Living on the road keeps me from gathering and hoarding so we literally own one vehicle and one vehicle only. Trust me, my wife wants me to keep the cruiser and store it somewhere, but when we sit down and actually talk seriously about it, it doesn't make sense. Who knows, in a few months she may convince me to do that. If it doesn't sell for something reasonable I may keep it stored at a family's house. Thanks for the help guys. Always a helpful and classy group.

 

[geanes]

When my Outback got rear-ended earlier in the summer, we were provided an Expedition EL as a loaner. I must say, it was a very nice truck. Roomy as heck and well appointed. I love cruisers, but the EL was an awfully nice truck.

 

[tacoduck]

My vote is 9-10k. You have 1200 in rubber, 1k in armor, and lockers... If no rust and open checkbook... 10k.

 

[Muddy Bean]

Weirdly, we saw an EL the year and color we want in a chevy dealership. We pulled in and just test drove. Crazy, it's already had a front tow system installed to be towed behind a coach, and it has KO2's installed. Might be the one but I'm not sure I want to pay what they want. But they love my cruiser and a guy here is drooling over it lol.

 

[tacoduck]

Unfortunately, Im in the market as well. We have a 4th on the way and need the space. Expedition truck values sink like a stone. 60k brand new is 35k 3 years later. BARF.

 

[Couvi]

We have 4 kids and the cruiser suits us just fine. 1 car seat, 1 booster and the other 2 are in the regular seats. I have a rooftop cargo box for long trips, but otherwise, we’re cool. We seriously thought about a minivan, but my wife didn’t want one! Best of luck to you and whatever decision you make.

 

[tacoduck]

I came from a van to the lx470. I have a roofbox. Wife wants captains chairs for the second row.

 

[Couvi]

I came from a van to the lx470. I have a roofbox. Wife wants captains chairs for the second row.

Our other vehicle is a ford freestyle, it has second row captains which is a great feature (and easier to get to 3rd row). But, we haven’t traveled in it since we got the cruiser.

 

[sean2202]

I think posting it for sale on here is your best bet. This is a great community and I think you will have good succes. Since I bought mine, 100 prices seem to be falling quite a bit on craigslist and dealers, tough for people to sell on the open market IMO.

For what its worth your undercarriage is in great condition for Michigan. That alone is a selling point for northern trucks.

Good luck to you and your family.