New to me 100 Series Land Cruiser

[nicocargo]

Hey everyone! I bought a 1999 Land Cruiser with only 203k on the odometer back in May. I’ve put more than 1k miles and loving it so far! I had the timing belt, water pump and radiator replaced since the truck didn’t come with service records so I’m slowly baselining it. (I got a fairly good price for it but the next paragraph may explain why).

I recently had the undercarriage inspected by an independent mechanic (and I know, I should’ve done this first) and the very first thing he said was “sell it” and “enjoy it for a few months then sell it”.

So I’d like to ever so kindly ask for your guys’ opinion if the truck is worth saving or can be saved. I’m also having an undercarriage specialist inspect it in the coming weeks and also hope to have Torfab look at it before I do anything else.

Photos added were taken just yesterday. I also took a wrench on some of the rustiest places and hit it pretty hard, and it didn’t puncture the frame, rust did fall off but that was it. This Land Cruiser in particular was originally from Kentucky for about 5 years based on the CarFax then moved to the PNW.

Any and all feedback is welcomed, thank you!

 

[nicocargo]

Hey everyone! I bought a 1999 Land Cruiser with only 203k on the odometer back in May. I’ve put more than 1k miles and loving it so far! I had the timing belt, water pump and radiator replaced since the truck didn’t come with service records so I’m slowly baselining it. (I got a fairly good price for it but the next paragraph may explain why).

I recently had the undercarriage inspected by an independent mechanic (and I know, I should’ve done this first) and the very first thing he said was “sell it” and “enjoy it for a few months then sell it”.

So I’d like to ever so kindly ask for your guys’ opinion if the truck is worth saving or can be saved. I’m also having an undercarriage specialist inspect it in the coming weeks and also hope to have Torfab look at it before I do anything else.

Photos added were taken just yesterday. I also took a wrench on some of the rustiest places and hit it pretty hard, and it didn’t puncture the frame, rust did fall off but that was it. This Land Cruiser in particular was originally from Kentucky for about 5 years based on the CarFax then moved to the PNW.

Any and all feedback is welcomed, thank you!

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Here’s how she looks. Runs and drives really well. Interior is in decent condition, same with paint for a 27 year old car. It’s just the undercarriage I’m concerned about.

 

[77pantera]

If your from down south/out west, people consider that "awful"
If your from deep in the rust belt, people consider that "clean"

 

[TahoeZ]

Nothing too major visible in your pictures. I would spend some time with a wire wheel on a grinder and various sized wire brushes and clean things up as well as you can.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Not bad, and that's coming from a southwest guy.

 

[Maxgrapene]

Nice looking truck! I have spent last two months looking at pretty badly rusted LCs in the Northeast and decided to get one from Oregon. Yours look pretty OK to me but I am not an expert. Your underbody specialist should be able to put your mind at ease hopefully. After that If you are really worried about it...you could get it dry ice cleaned and then wax coated for peace of mind.... That is what I am planning for my recently acquired 2000 LC with some minor surface rust.

 

[mustardfj40]

nice truck

 

[nicocargo]

Nothing too major visible in your pictures. I would spend some time with a wire wheel on a grinder and various sized wire brushes and clean things up as well as you can.

Thanks for the tip @TahoeZ , I’ll give that a shot and spend at least a few hours on the very rusted parts just to confirm there’s no permanent damage to the frame since I’m also planning to have an expert take a look.

 

[nicocargo]

Nice looking truck! I have spent last two months looking at pretty badly rusted LCs in the Northeast and decided to get one from Oregon. Yours look pretty OK to me but I am not an expert. Your underbody specialist should be able to put your mind at ease hopefully. After that If you are really worried about it...you could get it dry ice cleaned and then wax coated for peace of mind.... That is what I am planning for my recently acquired 2000 LC with some minor surface rust.

Thanks and congratulations on your recently acquired 2000 LC @Maxgrapene ! The mechanic who inspected it had mostly rust concerns, mainly with the fuel and brake line, he says “could burst anytime”. I’ve ordered OEM parts for it along with a new Brake Master Cylinder (the hard brake lines had to be sourced from a different country since they’re NLA on most Toyota OEM parts website). Funny you mention getting yours dry ice cleaned, I’m having the person who does dry ice cleaning inspect it too and if the chassis is salvageable, I’m planning to have it coated with Dinitrol after.

 

[Mchodl]

Frame looks alright, brake/fuel lines don't look great. I'd fix what breaks but your guy is right about not dumping funds into it.

 

[FJFOOL]

Good plan having Torfab look at it, they are the bomb ! What ever they suggest just do it.

 

[nicocargo]

Frame looks alright, brake/fuel lines don't look great. I'd fix what breaks but your guy is right about not dumping funds into it.

My purpose for buying the truck was 1) to be my new, reliable daily 2) to use for camping / light overlanding (nothing too crazy.. yet) and 3) to keep until either I die or the wheels fall off. I plan to be the final owner (as much as possible) and I'm wondering if this one specifically won't be able to do these. Original seller said there was no rust (should've known better and tried to crawl underneath to inspect myself during the negotiation process).

 

[shane431]

This would not be my forever platform. But it’s definitely not the worse we’ve seen on here. For ten years it’s probably gonna be fine. For 20+ I’d find another one.

 

[77pantera]

This would not be my forever platform. But it’s definitely not the worse we’ve seen on here. For ten years it’s probably gonna be fine. For 20+ I’d find another one.

I have a good friend in Yelm, WA, and have personally done 4 fly and buy's out of the greater Seattle region.
Every single vehicle has been 100% spotless underneath, so I could see how someone out there is concerned by the rust.
If I was going to sink $10k+ into a hundy, I'd probably start with a cleaner version. With that said, 80% of that could be dry ice'd, or even just a pressure washer with a turbo tip, wire wheel, etc... It's mostly just surface rust. That one brake/fuel/EVAP line is a bit sketchy though. And the exhaust work is lousy at best.

With that said, I certainly wouldn't mind if it was parked in my driveway!

My 05 from Colorado is significantly cleaner.
My 05 from Buffalo is significantly worse. When it looks like this, it's when you need to move on.

 

[excessive]

ive learned the hard way several times over not to buy rusty vehicles. I would sell it and find a cleaner one if it were something that I wanted to keep for years to come

 

[nicocargo]

Finally talked to the guys at Torfab (Nick was great btw, was really thorough in his explanations and completely honest with me) and CryoMode out in Mukilteo (big shoutout to them, especially Zach). It looks like @shane431 and @excessive hit the nail on the head so I'm going to enjoy this truck for the summer then sell it by the end of the season (maybe sooner). It's a bummer but a good learning experience. I know what to look out for this time and hopefully the next one will be my long-term 100 series. (I will absolutely be crawling underneath now when checking out a Land Cruiser). Plus, having this truck for a few months only made me want the platform more.

Appreciated everyone's thoughts and opinions!

 

[shane431]

Finally talked to the guys at Torfab (Nick was great btw, was really thorough in his explanations and completely honest with me) and CryoMode out in Mukilteo (big shoutout to them, especially Zach). It looks like @shane431 and @excessive hit the nail on the head so I'm going to enjoy this truck for the summer then sell it by the end of the season (maybe sooner). It's a bummer but a good learning experience. I know what to look out for this time and hopefully the next one will be my long-term 100 series. (I will absolutely be crawling underneath now when checking out a Land Cruiser). Plus, having this truck for a few months only made me want the platform more.

Appreciated everyone's thoughts and opinions!

Plenty of nice rigs down south and a lot of folks will gladly go look at for you. And it could be a fun road trip to travel somewhere to pick one up and road trip back. Not that everyone on here is a actual mechanic but having someone put eyes on a rig can at least expose the sellers trying to disguise a turd!

 

[nicocargo]

Plenty of nice rigs down south and a lot of folks will gladly go look at for you. And it could be a fun road trip to travel somewhere to pick one up and road trip back. Not that everyone on here is a actual mechanic but having someone put eyes on a rig can at least expose the sellers trying to disguise a turd!

Oh for sure and as a somewhat long time lurker on the IH8MUD forum, the community is pretty solid! Honestly, I might even consider importing one from the UAE and get a nice GCC spec I'll check out the local offerings first but I wouldn't say no to a GCC 100 series.

 

[Super77]

Finally talked to the guys at Torfab (Nick was great btw, was really thorough in his explanations and completely honest with me) and CryoMode out in Mukilteo (big shoutout to them, especially Zach). It looks like @shane431 and @excessive hit the nail on the head so I'm going to enjoy this truck for the summer then sell it by the end of the season (maybe sooner). It's a bummer but a good learning experience. I know what to look out for this time and hopefully the next one will be my long-term 100 series. (I will absolutely be crawling underneath now when checking out a Land Cruiser). Plus, having this truck for a few months only made me want the platform more.

Appreciated everyone's thoughts and opinions!

Greetings from another local. Tor's team is top shelf - good that you got connected with them. Consider also joining Seattle Cruiserheads on FB - I've bumped into some real LC gurus over a beer at a meetup and we talked shop for a bit.

As others have said, that truck is "Chicago nice." But here in the land that rust forgot, you'll have to price it aggressively. Drive it to learn what you want to get out of your next one, and if you sell it, consider marketing it back east, if the shipping cost works out.

And welcome!

 

[nicocargo]

Greetings from another local. Tor's team is top shelf - good that you got connected with them. Consider also joining Seattle Cruiserheads on FB - I've bumped into some real LC gurus over a beer at a meetup and we talked shop for a bit.

As others have said, that truck is "Chicago nice." But here in the land that rust forgot, you'll have to price it aggressively. Drive it to learn what you want to get out of your next one, and if you sell it, consider marketing it back east, if the shipping cost works out.

And welcome!

Greetings and happy to be here! Great suggestion, I'll do that in a few minutes. Excited to get to know more people and potentially pick their brains about the LC in general since this is my first time getting into the platform but have salivated over it since I was a kid (can you tell which series I wanted the most? lol).

Would you have any recommendations on where I could post besides the usual FB Marketplace, Craigslist, etc?

I'm also looking into another LC as we speak and was wondering where the right place would be to seek some guidance. I assume just the regular 100 Series Tech Forum but wanted to make sure I'm doing it right. I wouldn't want another possible turd again but this looks promising.