Newb Looking at a 100. 129k miles

[Beagle]

Not even sure where to post this so please delete or flag if this is the right place to post. Been lurking a a couple of weeks. First post and looking at 80's and 100's for a daily and occasional camping trip in Texas and surf trip in Baja.

Found this 100 in Cali with 129k miles and they're asking 9800. Water pump and Timing belt done at 94k. The posting reads: "129,000 miles. Clean, two-owner TLC, always garaged, service records, good tires. Factory JBL 6 CD stereo, trailer hitch, tow brake controller, moon roof, roof rails, Yakima base bars, Old Man Emu shocks, bug screen, Weather Tech floormats throughout. One of the most reliable, go-anywhere vehicles ever made . Service notes: Timing belt and water pump replaced at 94,000 miles. Thermostat at 101,000 miles. Shocks (Old Man Emu) at 105,000 miles. Fluids changed proactively including transfer cases, etc. Most recent oil and filter change, brake fluid flush and replacement, and power steering fluid replacement all performed on 9/28/18 no accidents."

Lived most of it's life in Idaho with a few months in San Fran. He sent 3 pics of under side to look for rust and says the "superficial rust" could be from that time outside in San Fran. I'd like to get some other eyes on this to see what others think. Do these limited pics of the underside tell anything. Is this a little bit of superficial rust or is it RUST? Any thoughts?

Thanks for everyone's time in reading this. I've learned loads in just a few weeks in pouring over all the posts in iH8mud.

Beagle

 

[loeky]

Looks fine and clean. Like the proactive approach to maintenance. CV boots back it up. Cheap price for relatively low miles.

 

[collk22]

129K? She's a baby, man. The rust in those pics really doesn't look like anything to be too worried about. Hard to make any further assessment without more pics of the undercarriage / frame rails, but it's probably nothing to worry about.

 

[vman07]

The steering rack boot looks wet, possible steering fluid leak. That could be minor or a sign your rack is on its way out. My rack boot was wet but I'm not losing any fluid...

 

[Skidoo]

what year?

 

[Beagle]

It's a 2001.

Thanks guys for the feedback. Here's a shot from the underside from the other end. He sent another email with this one and he thinks that it's more than just the San Fran fog. That it could be also from the snow and debris in the winters in Idaho. His wife drives it 90% of the time and it's been garage kept for 12 years. He sent his mechanics number as well and has been super fourth coming and transparent about everything. Does this shot add anything to diagnosis?

 

[KraziAzn]

It's a 2001.

Thanks guys for the feedback. Here's a shot from the underside from the other end. He sent another email with this one and he thinks that it's more than just the San Fran fog. That it could be also from the snow and debris in the winters in Idaho. His wife drives it 90% of the time and it's been garage kept for 12 years. He sent his mechanics number as well and has been super fourth coming and transparent about everything. Does this shot add anything to diagnosis? View attachment 1851420

I live in California and we don't see rust like this here at all, even if the car is near the coast. With that said, I don't know if that rust is considered bad enough to pass on the rig.

 

[Kabanstva]

That’s what a 1 year old truck would look like in Chicago after going through one winter.

 

[FxFormat]

That's really cheap for an 01 with 129K miles, jump on that before someone else does. This is not rusty at all, looks pristine for my East Coast standards.

 

[JMC5000]

Jump on it. Seems like a blue book price which undervalues these trucks. I have a 2001 that came from the Bay Area with 84k miles and you could eat off every surface of undercarriage. Zero rust. Even after one light winter in DC, not any rust but glad to have gotten down to TX nonetheless. Good luck with the purchase!

 

[nissanh]

Make sure the title shows the name of the guy you are dealing with. Do a test drive. That price is too good to be true. Get it smog checked in CA before paying any money.

 

[Beagle]

i'm going to fly out to look at it. Just got off the phone with him. Nicest guy in the world. It's been garaged in Idaho for the last 4 years on a trickle charger. It's got Idaho plates and was just brought to CA. I will be driving it to TX. The Smog won't matter right? They basically have too many vehicles in CA and need to get rid of one and this one was at their vacation house in Idaho till 4 weeks ago. It was his wife's daily when they lived in Idaho prior to that. They bought it in 2003 from a Dentist's wife. So, I'm gonna take a chance and fly out and look at this one.

Thanks everyone for posting helpful info and being a 2nd set of eye balls and brains for me. I will keep updating and then be posting all sorts of Newb questions on farkles soon i hope.

 

[KraziAzn]

Hope everything works out for you!

 

[89BIGBLUE]

God speed!

 

[loeky]

To help give more context - I took ownership of a 04 from New York [low miles though and long story on why]. I can pull out pieces of the front skid plate out with my fingers. The muffler is rusted through with holes. I was pretty concerned. It had flakey pieces of rust from the rails and wheel well areas.

This doesn't appear anything like that.

I went at mine with a grinder for surface rust all over the frame rails, in the suspension arms, and up inside the underbody. Sprayed with rust converter and appears to be holding just fine from there given the dry Colorado climate. Will see next spring after a season of winter here, given the new use of mag chloride on roads.

I'm replacing the underbody parts: skid plates, exhaust, and tire retractor that seem most affected by rust. Just had the suspension replaced and required cutting out the shocks as they were frozen. Otherwise no worse for wear as they say.

 

[Beagle]

To help give more context - I took ownership of a 04 from New York [low miles though and long story on why]. I can pull out pieces of the front skid plate out with my fingers. The muffler is rusted through with holes. I was pretty concerned. It had flakey pieces of rust from the rails and wheel well areas.

This doesn't appear anything like that.

I went at mine with a grinder for surface rust all over the frame rails, in the suspension arms, and up inside the underbody. Sprayed with rust converter and appears to be holding just fine from there given the dry Colorado climate. Will see next spring after a season of winter here, given the new use of mag chloride on roads.

I'm replacing the underbody parts: skid plates, exhaust, and tire retractor that seem most affected by rust. Just had the suspension replaced and required cutting out the shocks as they were frozen. Otherwise no worse for wear as they say.

Yikes! Ok thanks for the perspective Loeky. I'm pulling the trigger on it. I feel like it's a good deal and there won't be a ton of work to be done on it right away.

 

[nissanh]

I am in West TX. Some parts of TX do smog testing. So be ready to smog or not. CA got the highest standards so if it passes in CA, nothing to be worried in TX. Just run the smog at CA and see the readings.

Again, this is a very good find!

 

[jsigone]

Cali smog will be sniff and visual only. We don't need to smog full time 4wheel drive cars/trucks. 2wd cars/trucks are put on roller/dyno and run at various set speeds.

Mine has a heavy exhaust mani tick and it still passed the sniffer.

 

[Beagle]

Thanks for everyone's help here. Flew out to SF and picked her up and drove home. Super excited. Drove 1700 miles and it felt flawless. Mind you, that's the first time I've ever driven an LC. Super smooth and comfy. She was a little thirsty though. haha! The seller was A++. He left it at the airport for us since he was flying out. Left $200 parking money in the glove with all of the service records. It was a long trip but I feel like we got a good deal and I had to jump if I wanted it. Final price was 9k. Got in 2 hours ago from a 1700 miles drive and now I'm wanting to go get a burger so I can drive it. I'll be asking all types of Newb questions soon. The first things I want to do is Re-Badge the back. Doesn't have Land Cruiser on the back and I also will take off the running boards....I hope.

 

[cmw]

Looks great. You give a guy hope.