Looking to purchase- would love input (1 Viewer)

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My husband and I are looking (obsessively looking) to purchase an FJ40.. I used to "help" my dad restore classic cars (60's/70's Camaro & Corvette) in my early teens but I really didn't retain any vehicle knowledge from almost 20 years ago, & my husband's dad is a physicist & never worked on vehicles.. so my husband & I, combined, don't know half of what we should about buying an older vehicle.

After looking for a few months, we've found an FJ40 for sale that looks about our price range & has really caught our eye but don't know if it's worth the price they're suggesting/if it's in "good" shape. Is there anyone, with a bit of free time, that would be willing to look over the information we have & photos of it to let us know their opinion?
I'm sure this might be laughable for most of you with lots of knowledge & love for this particular vehicle.. We've got the love but we're severely lacking in knowledge!

Thank you in advance, in case anyone wants to help!!
 
You can send me the info and I'll give you my honest opinion. Send me a pm.

My husband and I are looking (obsessively looking) to purchase an FJ40.. I used to "help" my dad restore classic cars (60's/70's Camaro & Corvette) in my early teens but I really didn't retain any vehicle knowledge from almost 20 years ago, & my husband's dad is a physicist & never worked on vehicles.. so my husband & I, combined, don't know half of what we should about buying an older vehicle.

After looking for a few months, we've found an FJ40 for sale that looks about our price range & has really caught our eye but don't know if it's worth the price they're suggesting/if it's in "good" shape. Is there anyone, with a bit of free time, that would be willing to look over the information we have & photos of it to let us know their opinion?
I'm sure this might be laughable for most of you with lots of knowledge & love for this particular vehicle.. We've got the love but we're severely lacking in knowledge!

Thank you in advance, in case anyone wants to help!!
 
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If you're set on buying an FJ40 or anyother LandCruiser for that matter; you've come to the right place. The next step, I would do is buy a Silver Star, post your pictures, look through the Clubhouses section in your area, see if anyone is local. If my perception of this forum is correct, there will be more then one willing to help you out. It is vital that you use the FAQ sticky, and the search funtion; odds are it's been done, people have discussed your issues.
HTH
 
My husband and I are looking (obsessively looking) to purchase an FJ40.. I used to "help" my dad restore classic cars (60's/70's Camaro & Corvette) in my early teens but I really didn't retain any vehicle knowledge from almost 20 years ago, & my husband's dad is a physicist & never worked on vehicles.. so my husband & I, combined, don't know half of what we should about buying an older vehicle.

After looking for a few months, we've found an FJ40 for sale that looks about our price range & has really caught our eye but don't know if it's worth the price they're suggesting/if it's in "good" shape. Is there anyone, with a bit of free time, that would be willing to look over the information we have & photos of it to let us know their opinion?
I'm sure this might be laughable for most of you with lots of knowledge & love for this particular vehicle.. We've got the love but we're severely lacking in knowledge!

Thank you in advance, in case anyone wants to help!!

I'll be more than happy to assist you and your husband, so feel free to PM me pics and info regarding your FJ40. Detailed pics would be good to judge the condition of the vehicle, however, as far as engine and tranny evaluation you may want to think about making a video while running.
One of the main concerns with FJ40s is rust, be sure thoroughly inspect the rear quarter panels and the underside of the vehicle, second is oil leaks i.e. engine, transmission, transfer case, differentials, etc. I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Do you have a link to some picture or details. One of many things people love to do here is critique possible fj40 purchases. But take everything with a grain of salt, unless you are looking at a really nice one location is everything, what one sells for in the south east is totally different then the north east, or west coast. One good thing to do is use a a craigslist search engine like search tempest and search all craigslist within like 500 miles of your house to get a good idea of what they go for around you and what is actually available. But put some pics here and you will know everything about it possible from those picture from anything non factory to all the positive and negatives.
 
My husband and I are looking (obsessively looking) to purchase an FJ40.. I used to "help" my dad restore classic cars (60's/70's Camaro & Corvette) in my early teens but I really didn't retain any vehicle knowledge from almost 20 years ago, & my husband's dad is a physicist & never worked on vehicles.. so my husband & I, combined, don't know half of what we should about buying an older vehicle.

After looking for a few months, we've found an FJ40 for sale that looks about our price range & has really caught our eye but don't know if it's worth the price they're suggesting/if it's in "good" shape. Is there anyone, with a bit of free time, that would be willing to look over the information we have & photos of it to let us know their opinion?
I'm sure this might be laughable for most of you with lots of knowledge & love for this particular vehicle.. We've got the love but we're severely lacking in knowledge!

Thank you in advance, in case anyone wants to help!!

Welcome to the FJ40 world or should I say "obsession". If you post some pictures and some details like the asking price, the year, the location, etc. You will probably get more replies than you want and you might even find that some of the people on here are in your area and would be more than willing to check the rig out up close for you. Pretty much everyone around here loves to talk, look at, drive, and work on Land Cruisers. If no one is near where the truck is you could have a PPI (pre-purchase inspection ) done by a knowledgeable mechanic and that may save you some headaches and large expense down the road. Gee, I remember when these used to run about $50 but now days are probably more like $250. As a minimum it should include a compression check, a look at the plugs, a test drive, overall inspection of things like lights, oil leaks, body condition, brakes, etc.

If you helped your dad like you said even if it was 20 years ago, you're already ahead of where a lot of guys and girls around here were when they got their first Cruiser. There are few vehicles that are easier to learn to work on than an FJ40, unless it was the '59 Harley XLCH that I first twisted a wrench in anger on way more than 20 years ago. No nasty electronic jazz like fuel injection that require special tools, gauges or instruments, not to mention a PhD in physics, to repair on an FJ40. And with sites like this plus a lot of other resources on the web like workshop/service/emission control manuals, many of which can be downloaded for free, you have a lot of resources at your disposal. Also what are available now compared to when I got into this obsession years ago are several vendors that sell virtually every part on an FJ40.

As far as the rig you're considering, if you have to look at it without expert help, try to remember what you heard your dad say when looking at a 'Vette or Camaro and give it a good look over, top and bottom and under the hood. Look for rusted sheet metal on the body, oil leaks under the hood and underneath, drive it and observe how it steers, brakes runs, and accelerates, and listen to how it sounds when it's idling as well as running down the road, but don't expect it to be as quiet as a Corvette or Camaro! When it comes to price, treat it the same way you'd treat any other used vehicle purchase, i.e. don't pay the asking price! For example, in July I bought my 4th FJ40, a 2 owner '78 with 78k original miles, from a Toyota dealer in a suburb of a big city. The asking price was $14,995 and I drove it home for $11.3k plus tax, license, and title.

Good luck and don't be afraid! And if for some reason the deal falls through on the one that's caught your eye, don't be discouraged, I guarantee there's another one out there that may be even better.

Pete
Central Illinois Flatlands
 
x-2 all the posts by cj and So. Boston. Post some pics--you will get a flood of advice.- most all of it will be solid. Pics of engine/compt. front knuckles rear quarters, and under--frame/t-case/tranny/diffs. Top/windshld, glass,rear--if you miss something, someone will ask.
 
our local clubs are great resources - can be found by clicking the Clubhouse tab at the very top of this page

like spotcruiser: send some info my way and I'll comment
 
Hello again, everyone! I've received some pretty fantastic & knowledgable advice from a couple of you & feel like the general consensus is to keep diligently looking (IE: this probably isn't the FJ40 for us) & as impatient as I am- we're listening!
We're located in Dallas & I checked out the Clubhouse section & found there is a local Land Cruiser crowd! We're really excited about having you all as such a great resource & for future FJ40 advice ((which we will need!)).
Expect a future "is THIS a good one?!" post. Just a warning :) :)
Thank you all again
 
I knew VERY little and you will learn an awful lot here on this site. Be patient, as nearly every rig out there has something the PO did that will make you laugh or maybe cry. I have owned mine for 14 months now and there is much more I want to do to it, take the time to do things the right way and you will have an incredibly solid vehicle. These things truly are "the real deal"......welcome!!
 

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