Looking for opinions on a possible purchase

Location

United States

Yes, I know I’m new and deserving of hate but I do have a question for anyone who’s willing to give their knowledgeable two cents. I love my Toyotas, I have a 2nd gen tundra and 1st gen Tacoma and I’ve owned two 2nd gen 4Runners and two 3rd gen 4Runners. Somehow I’ve never found myself in a land cruiser, I always was confused why they sold for so much so I’m here to get opinions on a possible purchase. What we have here is a 2002 LC in Jade mica green with 330,000 miles. It has an issue with the front differential regarding binding and tricking the system into think it’s slipping. The owner had the front drive shaft removed and continued to drive it on the highway (hence the miles). Anyways first thing that comes to mind is a bad actuator or an issue with the diff in general. I’ll provide some pictures but the owner claims minor body rust and nearly nothing on the frame except for one “hard to see spot pointed out by the dealer but is no issue at all”. It claimed a very good maintenance history with 5k oil changes and constant other maintenance of fluids and wear items. Claimed a lot more too like new entire exhaust system (stock) and other suspension components. It seems to be well taken care of and the person who I’m communicating with is the 3rd owner. He says he has all the maintenance history from new. I feel I can trust the seller since he is very thorough. Final word being the list price which is $3600. I just want to know a general consensus if anyone likes this deal or not and if it’s worth fixing to sell or keep. Probably mainly just to buy, fix and thoughrougly go thru before selling for market value. KBB said $10,000 private part even with 330k. Here’s some pictures

 

[whitec13]

Buy it, before someone else does.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Amount of rust on bits under the hood vs the frame doesn't jive.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

It has an issue with the front differential regarding binding and tricking the system into think it’s slipping. The owner had the front drive shaft removed and continued to drive it on the highway (hence the miles). Anyways first thing that comes to mind is a bad actuator or an issue with the diff in general.

Neither. There is no actuator (these are full time 4wd) and the diff would continue binding with the driveshaft removed if it was the problem because the CV axles are spinning 100% of the time due to the hub flange. Assuming by “tricking the system into thinking it’s slipping” you mean the ATRAC or VSC are activating, then The issue is likely a bad wheel sensor, sloppy steering rack, loose wheel bearings, it needs a zero-point calibration, or the center diff is locked and the back end of the t-case will explode imminently.

Probably mainly just to buy, fix and thoughrougly go thru before selling for market value. KBB said $10,000 private part even with 330k.

To thoroughly go through that thing, you’re looking at approximately $3-5k in parts alone. Although 330k miles wouldn’t really deter me as a buyer if you replace 100% of the rubber, plastic, and suspension/steering components, you’ll still have trouble getting $10k at that mileage (people are scared of miles even though Cruisers are 500k mile or more vehicles). BUT for $3600, I’d buy it as is right now, no questions asked.

 

[FMC80]

Buy it. $3600 is a steal

 

[KliersLC]

NJ vehicles are notorious for rust. For that price and the amount of work needed, I'd look elsewhere. The one I have listed is not quite as new, and is also imperfect, but has a locker, less miles, and no rust....

 

[whitec13]

NJ vehicles are notorious for rust. For that price and the amount of work needed, I'd look elsewhere. The one I have listed is not quite as new, and is also imperfect, but has a locker, less miles, and no rust....

Shameless self promotion Though either sounds like a good buy.

 

[toyotataxisreal]

Well, I’m deciding to pass it on. I just have too much stuff going on to buy it and I’m unsure with the future of the thing. So let me know who buys it. Located in Pennington, NJ on Craigslist. Yes it’s legit I’ve exchanged many emails with the owner.
2002 Toyota Land Cruiser - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle... - https://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/d/pennington-2002-toyota-land-cruiser/7457463783.html

 

[njlisting]

All, this is the seller here. I have browsed mud as a guest for years and when the poster let me know via email the truck was up here I thought I'd chime in with a couple points and confirmations.
330k mls as said, used vast majority of its life for long highway trips. My work situation has changed and my commute has shorted significantly, so she is now a second vehicle. All stock except for front brush guard and 285/75/16 tires.

-Re front diff, as stated it is currently disconnected and running on RWD with center diff locked. This is following a loss of power to all 4 stemming from some issue with the front diff that I haven't had the time or bandwidth to have diagnosed, so I had the disconnect done as a stopgap. I have continued driving it on highway like this but it is not a daily, and not for long distances. For listing purposes I cut the cost of a full front diff replacement from my asking price, hopefully for potential buyers' convenience as I don't have the time to delve into it. Who knows though, maybe the whole replacement isn't needed and it's a lesser root cause.

-Re comment on rust under hood- not that it was being suggested but this is absolutely NOT a flood vehicle, it is one driven in the northeast and sometimes back and forth to beach homes for its entire life, and by one owner with a penchant for automatic car washes. It is VERY important to me that I am being forthright with potential buyers on this. There are areas of rust on sheet metal corners, which isn't pretty, but the frame seems largely to have been spared. As noted, this is with exception of an area of corrosion on an inside rail somewhere under the pass side which was pointed out to me by Toyota at a full inspection report I had done recently. I was verbally advised by the tech he did not expect it would present much of an issue, but to be clear I do not have information on potential cost for mitigating this. I'm sure you all would know better than me. I have this full dealership inspection report on hand and am happy to discuss further with those interested.

-Some other notes- interior condition I would say is good, with pretty typical 20-year wear on front leathers, but middle and 3rd row leathers are immaculate.
-Strictly dealership serviced through much of its life, which means consistent mileage interval full services done right on time at 30k, 60k, 90k, 150k, etc and then rolled over again. Less so over the past 2 years. Full t-belt was last done about 70k mls ago if I remember correctly. New exhaust and cats (not souped up), new suspension elements (sway bars, shocks), on-time high-mileage oil changes, power antenna works, hood release does not stick (apparently common and had this replaced at surprising expense). Power everything works.
-As stated, I have a full binder of service records dating all the way back to the purchase receipt in 2002. Nearly everything is accounted for here. I am frequently asked to send the records via email, but they are not digitized and the size really makes it prohibitive to do so. So for buyers' sake I am happy to flip some pages and answer questions, but really can't batch the whole thing over.

Hope this is helpful. Thanks again to the poster for alerting me to this thread. If you are interested or have q's I am happy to discuss, I would just ask that you follow the link to the listing and email me via CL since I am not sure how often I will check back here. Thanks all

 

[njlisting]

This is now sold. Thanks all for reading