LC had an unexpected Viking Funeral (1 Viewer)

[Nature Calls]

My beloved 2000 LC died last week. It seems to have been an electrical fire is my best guess. Was at a red light, it started smoking pretty bad, jumped out of the car and saw a flame hit the pavement, it escalated rather quickly after that. Was running perfect at 206K miles...just gutted as I wanted to get another 200K out of her and did not want another car payment. I am still a die hard cruiser fan (that was my 3rd), but this did shake me a little regarding the vehicles...still debating next steps, especially considering the used LC market is insane right now. I also will have a hard time scoring the 200 series wheels again that I had on it

 

[Red Beard]

Oh my.. I am so sorry that happened. I hope you get full value of it and get into another cruiser asap. Good that no one got hurt!

Keep us posted if they find a reason behind the fire. Not sure if that's possible but might be good to know for the future.

 

[Kabanstva]

Was it stock or were any of the electronics modified?

 

[unleashd]

Sorry to hear of this mishap. But, really glad that you are around telling us about this. Cars can be replaced, lives cannot. Good luck with your search for a replaement.

 

[nukegoat]

Wow wtf. Good pics though

 

[flintknapper]

Wow....I was expecting to see just an under the hood engine fire.

That is crazy. I hope the cause of it can be determined and shared here, that is scary.

 

[awesomeissquid]

Glad you are okay. Really scary experience I am sure.
Any insight on work you have done recently or upgrades that lead you to believe it was electrical?

Best of luck with the insurance and finding a new ride. We will pour one out for your loss.

 

[kwon-offroad]

Wow, glad you're ok.

For future consideration:

Element - Fire Extinguishers

80% smaller & has 5x the discharge time of a traditional fire extinguisher. Makes no mess, requires no service and will not cause additional damage to any of your possessions.

elementfire.com

I have one in every car in our family's fleet. A no brainer after watching my friend's 67 Impala suffering the same fate, just after we jumped out and the traditional extinguisher he had ran out just as he had it under control.

 

[xplore]

Hopefully you're not in an immediate rush to get a new land cruiser. Don't sign off on anything with insurance until you agree on the value. Start gathering data on the LC market to help prove its actual value. The longer you can hold out, the better.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Whoa, that's terrifying.

You're not the first I've heard this happen to believe it or not. I remember a guy with a white 100 Series, an early year, catching fire in the middle of the night in one of the rear corners. Luckily his didn't have nearly as catastrophic damage as yours.

Sucks to see that happen, man. I'm sorry you lost what was obviously a vehicle you cared for a great deal. I know it can be replaced, but it still stings. But the best news is you are okay and can carry forward. Hopefully you can get a good payout from your insurance and be on to the next Cruiser.

 

[yngmrostrvile]

Those are nice wheels

 

[kgrove]

Hopefully you're not in an immediate rush to get a new land cruiser. Don't sign off on anything with insurance until you agree on the value. Start gathering data on the LC market to help prove its actual value. The longer you can hold out, the better.

I second this. Aside from their obvious bias towards giving you less for your settlement, LCs are also very difficult for them to value correctly. I think it's because there are HUGE value differences between seemingly similar cars. You indicated a sizable maintenance investment in yours... that's the kind of thing that wouldn't be apparent from photos, CarFax, or mileage adjustments, so when your insurance company pulls comparable values, they will arrive at too low a number.

When my 2007 was totaled about 18 months ago, of the 6 LCs they used for comparable values, 4 had accidents in the history (mine did not), another had obvious signs of significant rust on the undercarriage (mine was a clean as a whistle AZ car), and the last one had no CarFax history at all and was also a different color than Toyota's database thought when looking up the serial number so seemed highly suspicious.

Take your time, maybe invest a few bucks in CarFax reports on the cars your insurance company uses for comparisons, do your own analysis, and fight for what you think is right. I was able to get my insurance company to increase their payout by about $8K over where they started.

 

[Nature Calls]

I second this. Aside from their obvious bias towards giving you less for your settlement, LCs are also very difficult for them to value correctly. I think it's because there are HUGE value differences between seemingly similar cars. You indicated a sizable maintenance investment in yours... that's the kind of thing that wouldn't be apparent from photos, CarFax, or mileage adjustments, so when your insurance company pulls comparable values, they will arrive at too low a number.

When my 2007 was totaled about 18 months ago, of the 6 LCs they used for comparable values, 4 had accidents in the history (mine did not), another had obvious signs of significant rust on the undercarriage (mine was a clean as a whistle AZ car), and the last one had no CarFax history at all and was also a different color than Toyota's database thought when looking up the serial number so seemed highly suspicious.

Take your time, maybe invest a few bucks in CarFax reports on the cars your insurance company uses for comparisons, do your own analysis, and fight for what you think is right. I was able to get my insurance company to increase their payout by about $8K over where they started.

Good tips on the insurance gents - thanks. So in your experience, did you use data from sources like cars.com/auto trader.com to push back on the settlement quote?

I had a muffler job done about 3 weeks prior....maybe a wire was compromised?

Yeah, big picture, things could have been way worse...I am typing this without a hair harmed and in good health. Only other issue relates to family stress as the wife knows I will be on another cruiser hunt vs. just buying a car like normal people and I think she is over the edge with it at this point.

 

[xplore]

Good tips on the insurance gents - thanks. So in your experience, did you use data from sources like cars.com/auto trader.com to push back on the settlement quote?

I had a muffler job done about 3 weeks prior....maybe a wire was compromised?

Yeah, big picture, things could have been way worse...I am typing this without a hair harmed and in good health. Only other issue relates to family stress as the wife knows I will be on another cruiser hunt vs. just buying a car like normal people and I think she is over the edge with it at this point.

The tough part about using cars.com and auto trader is that the asking price and sale price are two very different things. They'll probably start negotiating from KBB value which is probably in the $7-9K range. Personally, I'd start pulling my reference date from BAT. Check out the past auction results in the chart at the bottom, and see if you can find some similar to yours in age, condition, and mileage that have sold in the past 6 months.

Land Cruiser 100-Series

Browse and bid online for the chance to own a Toyota Land Cruiser 100-Series at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online.

bringatrailer.com

 

[2020 Rocks]

Good tips on the insurance gents - thanks. So in your experience, did you use data from sources like cars.com/auto trader.com to push back on the settlement quote?

I had a muffler job done about 3 weeks prior....maybe a wire was compromised?

Yeah, big picture, things could have been way worse...I am typing this without a hair harmed and in good health. Only other issue relates to family stress as the wife knows I will be on another cruiser hunt vs. just buying a car like normal people and I think she is over the edge with it at this point.

You should buy two so she won't be jealous....problem solved.

 

[Greenbean]

I am so sorry to see this.

Seeing first hand a vehicle fire is just an overwhelming experience! I can't even imagine it happening to one of mine.

I am very very interested in what the ultimate cause was determined to be.

 

[rrc swb]

Glad to see you are fine and sorry to see this happened to you.