Hey guys,
I have been dreaming of owning a land cruiser for at least 15 years. Honestly never thought I would have a chance to own one.
About two months ago on a family vacation to flagstaff, my wife and I quickly realized that with a baby on the way my old tundra and her Mazda 3 weren't nearly big enough to fit a car seat. During the trip I mentioned to my brother, who works at Carmax, that we were going to need a bigger car. And jockingly if he ever found a clean land cruiser he better call me.
One of the best perks of his jobs is he can buy a couple of cars a year that they are going to send to the auction.
Less than two weeks later he calls me and tells me they just bought an awesome one owner land cruiser and I f I want it I need to come look at it quick because multiple salesman wanted it. After work I ran over and took a look. It was really dirty but not that beat. Plus for the price I knew I couldn't pass it up.
I was able to take it to my mechanic and have him go through it. After getting a mostly clean bill of health from the mechanic and doing some additional research I decided to pull the trigger.
So after all of that backstory here is what if got. It's a 2000 lc with 140 k miles on it. The bad news was it had a large dent in the front bumper, weird colored paint on the rear quarter panel, filthy interior, no hitch, and no roof rack.
Once I got it home I started by giving it a good detail. Clay barred and waxed the outside. Then I did my best attempt at popping out the dent in the bumper with a heat gun and pry bar. It looks better but is on the list of things to get professionally fixed.
The leather was a different story. I have detailed a lot of cars and I am shocked at how well the leather cleaned up. Meguires apc and a soft drill brush did a great job cleaning the leather. Then I added a couple of coats of conditioner to soften it backup. See before and after pics below. I also plasti dipped the emblems because I couldn't stand the gold emblems.
After getting the fluids baselined and a front end alignment I am very happy with the purchase. Going to take it out this weekend on its first real run up to big bear this weekend and see how it handles.
I still have a lot of things to do on my to do list (see below) but they will all get done in time. Thank you guys for all of the information on this site. I will post up more pics as the truck progresses.
I have been dreaming of owning a land cruiser for at least 15 years. Honestly never thought I would have a chance to own one.
About two months ago on a family vacation to flagstaff, my wife and I quickly realized that with a baby on the way my old tundra and her Mazda 3 weren't nearly big enough to fit a car seat. During the trip I mentioned to my brother, who works at Carmax, that we were going to need a bigger car. And jockingly if he ever found a clean land cruiser he better call me.
One of the best perks of his jobs is he can buy a couple of cars a year that they are going to send to the auction.
Less than two weeks later he calls me and tells me they just bought an awesome one owner land cruiser and I f I want it I need to come look at it quick because multiple salesman wanted it. After work I ran over and took a look. It was really dirty but not that beat. Plus for the price I knew I couldn't pass it up.
I was able to take it to my mechanic and have him go through it. After getting a mostly clean bill of health from the mechanic and doing some additional research I decided to pull the trigger.
So after all of that backstory here is what if got. It's a 2000 lc with 140 k miles on it. The bad news was it had a large dent in the front bumper, weird colored paint on the rear quarter panel, filthy interior, no hitch, and no roof rack.
Once I got it home I started by giving it a good detail. Clay barred and waxed the outside. Then I did my best attempt at popping out the dent in the bumper with a heat gun and pry bar. It looks better but is on the list of things to get professionally fixed.
The leather was a different story. I have detailed a lot of cars and I am shocked at how well the leather cleaned up. Meguires apc and a soft drill brush did a great job cleaning the leather. Then I added a couple of coats of conditioner to soften it backup. See before and after pics below. I also plasti dipped the emblems because I couldn't stand the gold emblems.
After getting the fluids baselined and a front end alignment I am very happy with the purchase. Going to take it out this weekend on its first real run up to big bear this weekend and see how it handles.
I still have a lot of things to do on my to do list (see below) but they will all get done in time. Thank you guys for all of the information on this site. I will post up more pics as the truck progresses.
