SOLD Phoenix: 1997 HDJ81 w/ 102K miles

Year

1997

Vehicle Model

1. 80 Series

Mileage

101800

Color

white

1997 HDJ81 with 1HD-FT turbodiesel engine with only 102K miles (164K km). This car has no rust and is in excellent condition - no known problems. I imported the car myself - purchased in May 2022 and received in Long Beach in August. The car is currently titled and registered in Arizona. It's in extremely clean condition and is equally suited as a turn key off-roader or a stable baseline to start adding your own stuff.

Features:

• 1HD-FT engine, 164K km (verified)
• ABS brakes
• Airbags
• AC
• Power windows and door locks (all working)
• Sunroof (fully functioning)
• Lift kit - done in Japan by prior owner... I'd estimate it's a 2" or 3" lift with 33" tires (not sure of the lift kit brand at the moment, but for those interested I'll climb underneath and figure it out)
• new tires - Toyo Open Country MT 285/75/16
• Alpine bluetooth stereo (US spec) and hands free calling
• timing belt sticker indicates timing belt has roughly 40K km remaining to next scheduled replacement
• Very few if any modifications to OEM condition other than the wheels and lift kit - no engine modifications

Work done after import:

• new fuel filter
• new air filter
• new oil filter and oil change (using synthetic diesel)
• removed all JDM spec stereo stuff and replaced with US spec Alpine head unit
• new belts - fan, ac, alternator (one was squealing, unknown age, so I had all three replaced as a precaution)
• General inspection by local mechanic with no findings

I import a couple JDM Land Cruisers per year and restore them while also using them as secondary transportation. To be honest, this one has been boring as it showed up in great condition and needed very little work other than removing all the Japan specific navigation / toll road wiring (most of these cars I can fill a 5-gal paint bucket with all the excess wiring removed from toll booth readers, GPS antennas, TV antennas, etc... it's insane). My wife is not happy with me I'm selling this one rather than keep it for my long term car as it has air bags and ABS brakes (not sure if that's because I don't have life insurance or she actually enjoys my company... actually I know, I just don't like admitting it).

I've been using it since August as occasional transportation. It's made a couple trips back and forth between Phoenix and Flagstaff, which is a very good test of any car. The drive is only about 150 miles, but it starts at around 1200 ft above sea level and ends at 7000 ft, and some of the biggest hills are 6+% grades for 10+ miles straight often at temperatures up to 110F. This car performed like a champ - the coolant gauge never moved from it's standard temperature, the AC kept pumping out cold air, and the engine pulled strong up the hills. The exhaust looks very clean under all conditions.

I'll include a few photos here but will figure out how or where to include more detailed photos and maybe a couple startup videos or walk-arounds to better highlight the car. Feel free to post questions you want everyone to know or PM me for information specific to you.

The car is located in Phoenix, AZ.

Asking price is $33,500.

 

[kgrove]

a couple more photos:

 

[bottombracket]

That is HOT.

 

[cgeoca]

Subbed

 

[Rouleur]

Agreed very!

 

[kgrove]

FYI - I'm traveling through most of the holidays and may be quite delayed in answering any questions. Send me a PM and I'll eventually get to it... just be understanding if it takes awhile until after New Years. I'll only have intermittent cell or internet service for awhile.

 

[kgrove]

I may as well answer for everyone rather than a one-off reply. The timing belt was replaced by the PO in Japan before I imported the car. It was done at 98,500km and since the engine currently has about 164,000km, it's next scheduled timing belt replacement is about 35,000 km down the road.

When I imported the car, one of the accessory belts was slipping and squealing for the first 5 minutes or so of driving. Since I didn't know how long that had been going on or how old the belts were, I replaced all three belts. It also has new fuel, air, and oil filters along with synthetic diesel oil (Rotella T6 15-40w).

Let me know if there are other questions! I'll be traveling and away from the car until New Years Eve, but I'll try to answer anything I can do from memory before then.

 

[Radclerk1]

Just a quick question to anyone viewing this post. Say I buy this rig and am not so mechanically inclined. If I bring this to a Toyota dealership in the u.s. to work on, will they know what they’re doing?

 

[kgrove]

Just a quick question to anyone viewing this post. Say I buy this rig and am not so mechanically inclined. If I bring this to a Toyota dealership in the u.s. to work on, will they know what they’re doing?

there is a high chance the Toyota dealer would not look at your car. Theoretically they could service almost everything on the car except for the diesel specific pieces, but the a car is a square peg that wont fit in their round hole - parts lookups etc wont work on their systems. You’d likely have to find a local mechanic willing to get involved, and in all probability you’d have to be involved in looking up parts and sometimes sourcing them.

If you’re asking less about long term maintenance and more about a pre-purchase inspection, one of the prior JDM land cruisers I sold the buyer hired an inspector to come evaluate the car and give him a written and video report summarizing his findings. I saved his card but am traveling right now and can’t get to it. I’m sure there are multiple services that do this.

 

[Ryan at Hyperco]

Just a quick question to anyone viewing this post. Say I buy this rig and am not so mechanically inclined. If I bring this to a Toyota dealership in the u.s. to work on, will they know what they’re doing?

They'd probably s*** their pants.

In FL you should be able to find a good independent shop. Also, quite a few importers in FL who could probably steer you in the right direction for service too.

If I wasn't in CA I'd be looking at this one for sure.

 

[kgrove]

They'd probably s*** their pants.

They would. On the other hand, most of the mechanics there would be excited to come out and look at and talk to you about your car, they just wouldn’t be able to officially touch it. Whenever I’ve had one of these at an auto place - parts stores, tires, etc - I think every mechanically inclined person in the building who notices it’s not a standard Land Cruiser has come over to ogle.

 

[LC80PGX]

Similar truck was auctioned on BaT and commanded a top bid of $21,500. Cooling market it seems.

 

[cgeoca]

Similar truck was auctioned on BaT and commanded a top bid of $21,500. Cooling market it seems.

I agree, I tried making a deal on this LC back in august but we were way too far apart. That's the tricky thing for the guys importing, they pay a lot at an auction, pay a lot to transport it, pay a lot in fees, do some basic maintenance... then they want an arm and a leg for it. Found it easier and cheaper to be the second owner in the US. It's a very nice car, really would like it but I settled for a LC almost half the price, 60k more miles, cruise control, and with major maintenance done.

 

[LC80PGX]

I agree, I tried making a deal on this LC back in august but we were way too far apart. That's the tricky thing for the guys importing, they pay a lot at an auction, pay a lot to transport it, pay a lot in fees, do some basic maintenance... then they want an arm and a leg for it. Found it easier and cheaper to be the second owner in the US. It's a very nice car, really would like it but I settled for a LC almost half the price, 60k more miles, cruise control, and with major maintenance done.

Yep. Get over committed on the investment then try to offload a not-so-unique truck at 50% over market to cover all those transactional costs.

 

[LegShot]

Seems like there are a lot of HDJ81’s out there right now. If it was an HDJ80, I would buy immediately.

 

[Crush 4]

Seems like there are a lot of HDJ81’s out there right now. If it was an HDJ80, I would buy immediately.

I have a US 80 but still don't understand which of the imported 80's is the Holy Grail? Not trying to hijack here, just trying to get a sense for what's , what? This one looks clean for sure but I don't want the RHD.
Thanks

 

[Radclerk1]

I have a US 80 but still don't understand which of the imported 80's is the Holy Grail? Not trying to hijack here, just trying to get a sense for what's , what? This one looks clean for sure but I don't want the RHD.
Thanks

I’m thinking HDJ80. Left hand drive manual trans.

 

[LC80PGX]

I agree, I tried making a deal on this LC back in august but we were way too far apart. That's the tricky thing for the guys importing, they pay a lot at an auction, pay a lot to transport it, pay a lot in fees, do some basic maintenance... then they want an arm and a leg for it. Found it easier and cheaper to be the second owner in the US. It's a very nice car, really would like it but I settled for a LC almost half the price, 60k more miles, cruise control, and with major maintenance done.

Are you referring to the one on BaT or the one in this post?

 

[cgeoca]

Are you referring to the one on BaT or the one in this post?

Tried making a deal on this car, not the BaT car.

 

[duece71]

This looks nice. Is it still available?