Newbie intro - few questions please

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Kross

Kross

10 Year
Joined
Feb 17, 2015
Threads
13
Messages
102
Location
Baltimore
Hello all,

For starters, I'm new to this world as my background lies with BMW (specifically M3) forums, so excuse any missteps or bad etiquette. I look forward to my time here and expect to learn a ton!

After searching for a few weeks I have settled on what I think (and hope) to be a well taken care of 2000 Land Cruiser with 130k on the clock. I felt that for the condition the price was right, $9k.

I'm the third owner. The previous owner has owned the truck for 5 years but only put 25k on it during that time. As for maintenance, he says the timing service was done at 105k and all other regular maintenance has been completed within the past 5k (new Michelin tires, breaks, rotors and fluids). From what I can tell from my inspection, this looks to be legit.

Questions:

I can see from the Carfax that the truck has no accidents and has been regularly serviced at Toyota dealerships. However, I don't see proof that the timing belt/chain(?) was part of that service. Should there be a sticker somewhere showing this or should I try calling the dealer?

Being that it has been almost 5 years and 25k, should I just get it done again anyway?

At 9k, even if it needs timing service done again, I feel like I got a solid deal, no?

First mods:

For starters, I'm looking for a nice head unit with GPS, rear camera integration and Bluetooth? Any standard recommendation here?

Also, I'm looking for a remote starter with cell phone/long-range connectivity. Recommendations?

Thanks a ton!!

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Kross, you did get a 'good' deal. But I would toss that in the past, as you could have paid a few k more and it not been any big deal. I only negotiate like a mercenary when it's truly a zero sum situation and I try to go easy on Land Cruiser sellers, within reason obviously. I was a prior BMW owner as well, but it was a business write off that I turned for personal use, when it hit 150k miles, it got exorbitantly expensive. Moving to an LC was a huge upgrade on so many levels.

Toss your approach to owning a BMW and think preventative maintenance and methodical scheduling and you will be well rewarded.

Here's why: The Toyota parts network and quality of OEM parts is world class. Repairs aren't things to wait on in any vehicle, and the cost of parts compared to a BMW is insanely cheap, so you have no reason not to be ultra proactive and outline a schedule of modifications/replacements to save some heartache. It sounds like a good inspection and diagnostic would still be a good idea.

Ok, so first things first. A decent mechanic can inspect your timing belt and give you an opinion. That's mission critical, as are all the items that were on the 90k service list.

I took my LC at 130k and promptly needed to upgrade CV boots, a steering rack and a few other items. But again, in comparison to a BMW, they weren't bad at all. My biggest advice is to fire up a spreadsheet and have columns for 'wish list' and 'mandatory' items and start scheduling out upgrades and repairs.

The FAQ section is a good list to review before you start..(more after my conf call)
 
Go out to www.crutchfield.com and look at double din units. Most should fit. I have one of the Pioneer AVH, it works well, but that was a decision before my time. I prefer Alpine, would go with that in retrospect.

Generally, the speakers and subwoofer are poor. These are good areas to upgrade. I just did a complete revamp of my speakers and subwoofer, need to do my amplifier next, but I'm a nerd, the sound improvement was worth it. My LC is a 2000 model as well, could write a novel on the dual subs you have in the back. Moral of the story, I think there is value in yanking out all the speakers and subs.
 
@El Cid, Thanks a lot for the feedback. I completely understand that logic regarding the "good deal".

I'll be browsing the crutchfield.com site tonight to see if I can find anything good. Sound is important to me also so I'll be doing some forum research on that and a recommended remote starter.
 
Welcome! Newbie here as well, also coming from the BMW world (traded my 330ci ZHP for his LC 100). These vehicles could not be more different, but the truck puts a smile on my face every time I hop behind the wheel. And I feel way less anxious about things breaking.

Sounds to me like you got a good deal. I replaced the OEM stereo with a JVC non-nav double-din (JT-KWHD81BT). I use my iPhone 6+ for navigation and it works out well. I'd like to replace the speakers and amp, too--will keep an eye on your build.
 
Kross,

If I had it to do over again, I would do one giant replacement of head unit, speakers and subwoofer. For the 2000 model 100 series, there are two(2) subwoofers in the back. Due to the cramped space, it's difficult to simply throw another product in, so I built a small wiring relay and just dropped in two subwoofers that I'll likely velcro to the back.

So you would end buy buying(my choices in parentheses):

1. Head Unit(Pioneer AVH)
2. Front Door Speakers(2)-(Alpine)
3. Rear Door Speakers(2)-(Alpine)
4. Two Subwoofers-(JL Audio, 6w3v3-4)

Here's the part that gets sticky. I think it would be advisable to upgrade the wiring throughout as it's not the highest quality, but I'm saving that for when I replace the amplifier with a 5 channel Alpine amp.
The reason I suggest going this all at once is two fold:
a) you can use dynamat or similar products to do some sound deadening while the panels are removed for the speakers, this makes a remarkable impact and there are lots of options.
b) you can easily replace the back carpet with improved product. I used Bedrug, love the results.

I made it an R&D project, and I'm just sharing the learning curve of how I could do this more efficiently so others might benefit.
 
Welcome and nice looking ride! Speaking of Bimmers, I had a '74 2002 when I got married and went on our honeymoon with it to Tahoe skiing, 30 years ago.
Regarding head unit, my preference is that there be a minimum of 3 lines of text: album, artist and song. Beyond that, I don't really care for navigation because it's free and constantly updated on my Android Galaxy S4 phone. So consequently, I'd rather have a single din head unit with that cubby underneath the head unit for miscellaneous things. Use the extra money to upgrade the speakers.

I know, opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one...
 
If the vehicle has been serviced at a Toyota dealer, you are likely going to find complete service records at the Toyota Owners site. After you join and put in the VIN, a lot of good info about the vehicle will come up. The timing belt service will probably be there, if it was a dealer.

http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/home
 
@Sandroad thanks a ton for that link, I wasn't aware that that site existed. I registered and see some history but no belt. Im just going to have it inspected along with the CV joints to see if they need service.
 
@El Cid I too like the idea of doing it all at once however budget may be a concern. Whatever I decide to do, I'll be sure to plan for furniture capacity and compatability.
 
My fellow BMW owners, owning my m3 was an amazing experience. However, owning one outside of the warranty period isn't for the feint of heart. That said, I've been without one for a while now and I'll be back into one with the next year or so. Im being patient and waiting for the perfect e90 (white, 6mt, extended red leather, we'll maintained, low mileage). Until then I'll have fun with my new toy!

...now she just needs a name. I'll give it a while and see if she names herself. :)
 
Kross said:
...now she just needs a name. I'll give it a while and see if she names herself.
Click to expand...
How about just "Old Reliable"?
I know I can always count on mine!
 
Kross said:
@El Cid I too like the idea of doing it all at once however budget may be a concern. Whatever I decide to do, I'll be sure to plan for furniture capacity and compatability.
Click to expand...

I completely understand. Just know that you can do all the dynamatting and sound deadening yourself. It saved me someone else's labor costs and it improved the acoustics quite a bit..
 
Kross said:
@Sandroad thanks a ton for that link, I wasn't aware that that site existed. I registered and see some history but no belt. Im just going to have it inspected along with the CV joints to see if they need service.
Click to expand...

Awesome looks just like my 2003! Ok some nubie advice since I have been running since Oct and did the following.. First I'm stuck with my stereo so I just replaced the Sub and I am happy. I had 160 on mine, I have put about 5,000 on it since then, and I'm 3rd owner. First had it to 120 second had it for the rest. Took it to toyota and they could not determine from their records if the belt had been done. I had the timing belt, water pump and systems flush done since I could not determine that. I also had the valve cover gaskets replaced since there was a small leak on the passenger side. Common from what I'm told. Here is the thing about the CV's if you can keep the OEM ones. You can get a Nappa one for 99 bucks but what the guys on here told me is that if you lift your rig you will be happy you saved the OEM CV's As such I had mine serviced vs replaced. Other than that I put a DT cat back on mine and no I feel all the PM stuff is done and I am ready to start building....
 
Kross, congrat on the new purchase. As for head unit, if you are an Iphone user, I would suggest looking into this unit, Apline iLX-007. It's works with iphone 5 and up and u can pretty much use the features on your iphone on the head unit. I'm thinking about getting the head unit for my m3 once i gather all the parts to do the double din conversation.

On your timing belt, if it was done then there should be a sticker somewhere in the engine with the dates and mileage when it was done. Enjoy the new ride
 
@kev301 Thanks for the recommendation. I've looked into that unit a little. So far it looks promising but I need to research more on how it functions if I decided to switch away from iPhones in the future.
 
Here's a link for a partial review of the Alpine iLX-007:
If you Google Alpine iLX-007 you should find a lot of Youtube videos of its various functions. That may help you in the decision process.
 
After reading a bunch of posts, I decided to start with a pioneer avh x2600bt head unit and 4 Polk DB651 6.5" speakers. I'll put them in over the next few days and see if I get any improvement.
 
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