Need help. How to buy rust free LC100 at fair price from the north east. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter dmac95
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Status
ramangain
Clarksonian disciple
High mileage LX in FL, looks clean: LX in Tampa area
Don't know man. Those don't look like deals to me. I know my friend sent me couple CL listings from California. Those trucks were selling (2 of them) for 7-8k and had about 120k miles. It was back when everyone went on quarantine. They went within a week, but they were available to grab if need.
- Thread starter
- #44
Alright whata worst case scenario if just buy it online for say 13k 160k mileage engine runs as the owner shows me a video online?
The goal would be to buy it online so that nob one else would buy it from me. How much would I be looking at to spend to fix? I get that it depends but I cant just go drive around LA looking for a cruiser.
I have 2001 with 200k (bought it with 190k). You can open my topic and see what kind of stuff I was working on. 160k is close to 2nd TB job. Those are old trucks. You may or may not need to do a lot. Who knows? They are nice but it's still just a 20yo vehicle. With 160k miles. Expect working on suspension and so on.
I think you'll find the reality of ownership is far more expensive and less predictable than those figures. It's very hard to predict maintenance costs over the course of 5+ years. Here's my breakdown over 6.5 years with an ultra-reliable 100. Very few breakdowns and only a few thousand in "mods".
6.5 years
90k miles
Purchase price: $10k
Parts Cost in maintenance: $11,000
Mods: $3500
Total investment: ~$25k. $0.28/mile.
Current value: maybe $13k
Net running cost: $12k over 6.5 years. $.13/mile + gasoline.
Not included in the above is labor. I'm a hardcore DIY'er with a lift and full air tool setup in my home garage. The average DIY'er would have a significant additional labor cost for a few jobs and a non-DIY'er would have a labor cost probably in excess of $10k on top of my figures.
100 Series ownership isn't cheap. Don't fret a thousand or two on the purchase price. You're sure to blow waaaay past that in just a couple repairs or baselining that you'll inevitably need.
Same is true for Texas and Arizona. It's like there's some relationship between the virus and rust-free LCs.
- Thread starter
- #48
Do you replace part by part as it wears or do you do major maintenace every 90k miles? 12k is a lot for regular maintenance unless you are running some extras. What would my costs look like for a mall cruiser? I just need to get to my boat ramp (just an 18 ft boat total weight at most 2k lb including trailer).
So far with my 4runner: about 400$ spent on maintenance over 40k miles ( 3 years). I'm looking for the cheapest most reliable truck that will get me and my family to the ramp or on a road trip with occasional dirt driving. No lift no oversized tires no nothing all stock.
- Thread starter
- #49
Will I get to my boat ramp? Will I be able to drive it wouth hearing parts dragging against the ground behind my truck? and will i be stuck?
This is a serious question, hence my skepticism. I've dealt with dealers in NY like you havent seen before. I even BOUGHT a car to pick up next day only to have it stolen by the dealership after I paid for it. Can you believe that? That's a seperate story.
I just need this thing to drive and have a good engine.
- Thread starter
- #50
Prices dipped like 20-30% across the board everywhere because of a liquidity crunch. In event of those rare moments, everything goes down, even safe havens. I'd say the only thing that went up was the price of guns. I was standing on that line. I had to overpay for it self protection, as opposed to this which is just a car.
Yes, my truck would probably run until now and for much more even if I didn't touch a thing. It may clunk, etc but it will go. So, I would say if you get running truck (runs, shifts, etc) - you will most likely go for years until it brakes. We like to maintain and have everything perfect here. But it's rare when truck just stops preventing you from getting somewhere.
- Thread starter
- #52
So under that presumption, would you think its ok to buy a car for say 12k - either online - or by placing a deposit and being at the private owner/dealership the next day and having the owner drive your from airport and letting you use it for say half the trip to the owners home/near by home in exchange for the remaining in cash?
I could see that happening.
you need patience and the ability to be Jonny on the Spot should a deal be made available. I’m litterally sitting in an airport right now on my way to pick up a Hundy I found on here. A year ago a gem slipped from my grasp because I didn’t have the funds available. This time, the current owner and I agreed on a deposit to put the truck on hold while we combed through the deets. That way the owner knows you’re serious and not a lookie-loo.
I live in Omaha and am on my way to Bend, Oregon to pick her up, that’s about 1,500mi. For transparency and convenience, the owner sent me high def videos and photos of inside and out. I was lucky enough to snag one with an amazing service history and even was put in touch with the prior owner. People in the Hundy world are cool and passionate, I felt like I was being screened to make sure she was going to a good home, too
.Good luck and take your time.
- Thread starter
- #54
And what happens if it turns out to be a lemon due to engine issues you cannot solve easily (hypothetical). Do you get your deposit back?you need patience and the ability to be Jonny on the Spot should a deal be made available. I’m litterally sitting in an airport right now on my way to pick up a Hundy I found on here. A year ago a gem slipped from my grasp because I didn’t have the funds available. This time, the current owner and I agreed on a deposit to put the truck on hold while we combed through the deets. That way the owner knows you’re serious and not a lookie-loo.
I live in Omaha and am on my way to Bend, Oregon to pick her up, that’s about 1,500mi. For transparency and convenience, the owner sent me high def videos and photos of inside and out. I was lucky enough to snag one with an amazing service history and even was put in touch with the prior owner. People in the Hundy world are cool and passionate, I felt like I was being screened to make sure she was going to a good home, too
Good luck and take your time.
I suppose I take it like a man and deal with it. There are no guarantees in buying a 15yr old vehicle. If it breaks, I have it shipped home and fix it. If you’re worried about lemons and unforeseen issues, buy a new vehicle with a warranty. Hell, dealer/manufacturers are giving s*** away right now.
I have a higher set of expectations than most, I suppose. I replace anything that's showing wear that would affect functionality or reliability. I view it as a cost-savings measure in the long run.
I suppose this is largely a question of tolerance. If you can wait until you're literally on the roadside stranded to fix things, you could keep ownership costs much lower. For those of us that off-road, being stranded can easily mean a $1,000+ tow bill so it makes sense to stay on top of maintenance more than the usual car owner.
I also want to drive a nice vehicle, so I replace bearings when they make some noise - well before they outright fail. I replace/rework CVs when the boots split - well before they click. I replace coolant hoses when they start cracking - well before they fail on the road.
For a mall cruiser, I wouldn't expect a significantly lower cost of ownership. These vehicles are built to endure serious abuse. Typical off-roading doesn't accelerate wear too much beyond highway miles. Rubber still wears out, belts still wear, bearings still wear, etc...
Generally, you would not get any deposit back and if purchased, you would not get any sort of refund unless you attempted return within hours. Even then, laws vary by state. This is the risk of buying non-local vehicles. Fortunately, with the 100 series the risks of engine damage are low. Not zero, but low.
- Thread starter
- #58
I just realized in one of the posts i made - I can just go get one off copart. At least I'll know what I'm getting ahead of time.
*Edit - or include LX470 so as long as if AHC breaks - i can replace with LC AHC. my impression is that if AHC fails - would i be able to still drive it? I dont care if Im at low med or high setting.,
Last edited:
The AHC fears are incredibly overblown, in my opinion. That system is as robust as the hydraulic braking system in most modern vehicles. You can rip it out and install non-AHC suspension, but unless you DIY the whole thing with used parts it will be cheaper and easier to just fix AHC. It has one expensive wear item and that is the set of globes. They're around $1000 to replace and need replacement about once every ten years or ~150k miles. Springs may also need replacement, but that's highly variable.
If AHC fails on the street it's a minor inconvenience. If it fails on a difficult off road trail, it can be a bigger deal.
If you buy a rig with AHC, adjust the springs as needed and replace the globes when worn. That simple sentence will greatly reduce the likelihood of AHC failure. Be warned, 95%+ of mechanics will have no idea what the system is, how it works or how to fix it. Take that suspension into almost any shop and their "fix" is generally going to be a complete removal of the system or complete replacement of AHC components - generally because they have no idea what they're doing.
AHC provides a much more comfortable ride on the street and offers vastly improved towing capability since the suspension can react on the fly to varying load changes on the hitch. It does come with a certain level of maintenance cost and complexity. Small price to pay for its benefits in my eyes, but you'll find plenty of folks here that remove it on sight.
You'd have a lot more luck finding a truck by not insulting sellers.
- Status
