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AvCruiser

AvCruiser

10 Year
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Threads
13
Messages
42
Location
Richmond, VA
All, at the risk of committing a forum feaux pas, I'd like to ask of you for advice re: my prospective purchase of the Cruiser linked below. I've got a pre-purchase inspection lined up and assuming all goes well, I'm prepared to make an offer, however, was wondering whether you find the asking price to be reasonable, albeit, a little high. I'm willing to pay a slight premium for a clean rig, as I'm not in the position to do much, if any work, on my own. Not surprisingly, the dealer seemed very firm on the price. For what it's worth, I'll be shipping it to VA at a cost of about 1K. The timing belt has been done, and its a three-owner truck, with no reported damage history. This will be my first vehicle purchase, and hopefully my first, of at least a few Cruisers. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

2001 Toyota Land Cruiser In Santa Rosa CA - Good Stuff Auto
 
I guess my first reaction to the vehicle is this: What's special enough about THIS 100 for you to buy it all the way across the country and pay to have it shipped? I was just looking for a 100 while I was in VA last fall (I was traveling through there and mine was wrecked), and I saw quite a few to your south for sale. Ended up buying a 2005 in Atlanta, one owner, all maint. records, 114k on the clock for $19k. Several thousand more than the one in CA that you're looking at, but newer, fewer miles, and one owner. Unless you can look at this one in-person, I'd be very, very cautious. I've looked at several that seemed fantastic in pictures but were pretty rough when I looked at them myself. Good luck! You'll love owning at 100!!!

Matt
 
Not considering if its in good condition. Add on tax, tag, dealer fee, and title + the $1000 to ship and thats an expensive buy. Good mileage for the year but the price with shipping is too high. I would keep looking.

I bought mine with 186K for $9500 and shipped from ATL to Florida for $400 i think.
 
Thanks for the input. Admittedly, I really like the color combo, however, aside from that, I suppose I'm trying to find something very clean with "lower" mileage, while at the same time minimizing my acquisition cost. To get something all said and done, under 20k, I'm finding that I'm relegated to the early 2000's. From what I've seen in the last couple months, most of the east coast cars are in/have spent time in snow-prone areas, which rule them out for me. Otherwise, anything in my price range is well over the 150k-mile mark which makes it difficult for me, as a first time buyer to finance. I'm probably looking for too much considering the money I'd like to spend at this point, but I'm anxious to get out of my current car and into a cruiser. I'd love to find something that looks great, and will be reliable for me for years to come. Perhaps the answer is to save and wait for another 6 mos. or so.
 
I'd like around $10-12K if I were to sell :princess:'s '01 LX. 175K now, perfect maintenance from new, no rust, and an appointment for new TB, AHC check-out on TIS, and anything else needed for next week. I think part of the difference is the zip code. ;)

Steve
 
hankinid said:
I'd like around $10-12K if I were to sell :princess:'s '01 LX. 175K now, perfect maintenance from new, no rust, and an appointment for new TB, AHC check-out on TIS, and anything else needed for next week. I think part of the difference is the zip code. ;)

Steve
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Without a doubt. I was actually looking at a 2000, same color combo. outside of L.A., only 75k on the clock, but asking price was 18.9K. It sold in about a week. Doubt it went for asking, but I'm sure it wasn't far off.
 
Finding one under 100K miles you will pay a premium. That is not a lot of miles per year for a vehicle 15 or so years old. Don't base your 130K up cruisers on the sub 100K prices.

I know what it is like wanting to jump on something right away, and no doubt that dealer has a lot inquires already. I don't blame them for not dropping the price after having for only one day. If you are really attached definitely get that inspection, but you need to make sure it is truly independent if buying long distance.

When I was looking for mine I was on every major City's Craigslist looking for a good private owner deal. Buying retail is something I'll never do again. I really wanted to find a good vehicle from Mud's classified, but was always too slow.
 
3 owners in such a short order is a cautionary warning for me. Something wasn't fixed properly and simply passed on to the next one.. I may be totally wrong in my assumption, but I would let it go.
 
Seems steep. I would wait for something closer. I looked for over a year and happened to find the one I wanted for the right price by the actual owner and was within an hour drive from me. It was a listing on this site in the classifieds.
 
Not nitpicking here just wonder If anyone thinks the passenger front door Is off a couple shades. ?
 
That asking price is quite high, and gets even worse when you add on shipping costs from CA. There are plenty of 100s in the Southeast in the 1999-2002 year range for well under $10,000. I just bought my '00 LX for under $7,000 from a dealer.
 
Get a Carfax report too. It looks like more than 3 owners based on the Autocheck, even though that's what their algorithm calculated. As others noted, the PPI has to be completely independent for it to be valid.
 
Sandroad said:
Get a Carfax report too. It looks like more than 3 owners based on the Autocheck, even though that's what their algorithm calculated. As others noted, the PPI has to be completely independent for it to be valid.
Click to expand...

Carfax comes up with the same figure Owner 1: 11 mos, Owner 2:11 yrs, Owner 3: 1 year.
 
Aubie77 said:
Seems steep. I would wait for something closer. I looked for over a year and happened to find the one I wanted for the right price by the actual owner and was within an hour drive from me. It was a listing on this site in the classifieds.
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Probably my best bet, but the wait is a difficult one. Work productivity may take a hit if I continue the search, although I imagine once I pick one up, I'll be on here all day eyeing upgrades anyhow. I'm toast either way.
 
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