Hello everyone,
New to ih8mud but have been lurking here on and off for the last 4 years. Recently looked at a FZJ80 with around 168K miles and had some questions. Primarily looking for a stock car that hasn't been modified.
As far as mechanicals go:
-They recently changed the original radiator because it had a crack in it, they just bough it back in January, 4th owners. coolant level was low in the radiator when I took the cap off, didn't smell exhaust fumes so likely it has a leaking hose or the mechanic didn't purge the system properly. Level was about an inch below from the base of the neck. Red coolant.
-Front main seal or oil pump cover (or both) are leaking. Oil pan is probably leaking too. I've read about this here already of what is involved to fix.
-valve cover has a leak.
-all rubber hoses are cracked
-from the oil fill cap hole on the valve cover I could see some sludge in the head
-test drove it and the whole front felt loose and shook heavily as soon as you touched the brakes even gently. Also front of the truck felt lower than the back. When doing a U-turn something didn't feel right with steering. It felt separate from the chassis.
-AC was weak, probably has a leak somewhere. They told me they serviced it and it works fine but it didn't.
-gearbox shifted fine but didn't pay much attention to it overwhelmed by the shake in the front and mirrors rattling.
Body:
-been 20 years outdoors in a field, parked over unpaved driveway. Paint is tired, never been buffed or it has been years since its been polished.
-both doors on passenger side replaced, they were painted wrong with no vin tags.
-interior bad shape, expected for car left out in the sun for years, both front and read leather are bad.
-Upper part of the B pillar a few inches below the roof edge there was a huge corrosion spot, a 2 inch spot of the original paint was about to flake off with rust under it.
-cracked windshield.
-both side mirrors the lens shook pretty good while driving.
-driver seat stuck in one position (they told me this was broken plastic gears)
-except the rubber around the front and rear windows. Every rubber outside the truck was completely rotted and most of it fallen off
All in all it looked like a vehicle that has only been driven and not a single maintenance done to it with occasional oil changes. This was rougher than a previous 97 I test drove 5 years ago that looked to have 300K miles but it was rolled back, never checked the vin on that one. Mileage checks out on carfax for this one I looked at and I was a little surprised to see how rough it was at 168000 miles. Is this expected on these? They don't last like a 90s Camry?
Assuming it needs every mechanical thing needed at these miles and poor ownership style what am I looking at on parts (only toyota parts if they are still available)? (For suspension, diff, brakes, engine, ....)
Body I'm assuming it will need more than 10K for interior and exterior work.
Any idea of what should be offered in this market? They want around 16K for it and I think that's way up there but please do correct me if I'm wrong.
Looking at it I'm thinking its a $7K truck. Its rough enough that I'm no sure it will make the drive home. There is a lot more stuff I could have checked but I didn't. Just surprised by all the things wrong with it while they had made it sound like it was maintained well on the phone when I talked to them.
Thanks
Brkn80s
New to ih8mud but have been lurking here on and off for the last 4 years. Recently looked at a FZJ80 with around 168K miles and had some questions. Primarily looking for a stock car that hasn't been modified.
As far as mechanicals go:
-They recently changed the original radiator because it had a crack in it, they just bough it back in January, 4th owners. coolant level was low in the radiator when I took the cap off, didn't smell exhaust fumes so likely it has a leaking hose or the mechanic didn't purge the system properly. Level was about an inch below from the base of the neck. Red coolant.
-Front main seal or oil pump cover (or both) are leaking. Oil pan is probably leaking too. I've read about this here already of what is involved to fix.
-valve cover has a leak.
-all rubber hoses are cracked
-from the oil fill cap hole on the valve cover I could see some sludge in the head
-test drove it and the whole front felt loose and shook heavily as soon as you touched the brakes even gently. Also front of the truck felt lower than the back. When doing a U-turn something didn't feel right with steering. It felt separate from the chassis.
-AC was weak, probably has a leak somewhere. They told me they serviced it and it works fine but it didn't.
-gearbox shifted fine but didn't pay much attention to it overwhelmed by the shake in the front and mirrors rattling.
Body:
-been 20 years outdoors in a field, parked over unpaved driveway. Paint is tired, never been buffed or it has been years since its been polished.
-both doors on passenger side replaced, they were painted wrong with no vin tags.
-interior bad shape, expected for car left out in the sun for years, both front and read leather are bad.
-Upper part of the B pillar a few inches below the roof edge there was a huge corrosion spot, a 2 inch spot of the original paint was about to flake off with rust under it.
-cracked windshield.
-both side mirrors the lens shook pretty good while driving.
-driver seat stuck in one position (they told me this was broken plastic gears)
-except the rubber around the front and rear windows. Every rubber outside the truck was completely rotted and most of it fallen off
All in all it looked like a vehicle that has only been driven and not a single maintenance done to it with occasional oil changes. This was rougher than a previous 97 I test drove 5 years ago that looked to have 300K miles but it was rolled back, never checked the vin on that one. Mileage checks out on carfax for this one I looked at and I was a little surprised to see how rough it was at 168000 miles. Is this expected on these? They don't last like a 90s Camry?
Assuming it needs every mechanical thing needed at these miles and poor ownership style what am I looking at on parts (only toyota parts if they are still available)? (For suspension, diff, brakes, engine, ....)
Body I'm assuming it will need more than 10K for interior and exterior work.
Any idea of what should be offered in this market? They want around 16K for it and I think that's way up there but please do correct me if I'm wrong.
Looking at it I'm thinking its a $7K truck. Its rough enough that I'm no sure it will make the drive home. There is a lot more stuff I could have checked but I didn't. Just surprised by all the things wrong with it while they had made it sound like it was maintained well on the phone when I talked to them.
Thanks
Brkn80s
