Please take a look at this ad of a HJ60! (1 Viewer)

[RC51]

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.

www.kijiji.ca

This truck looks very nice to me, and the price seems to be below what I found on BAT. I don't have much LC knowledge, so I thought I'd get the experts here to take a look. Thanks everyone!

 

[OSS]

With any 34 year old vehicle, you've got to see it in person and test drive it to see if you even want it - at any price

 

[RC51]

Yep, I can't agree more. Do you see any glaring flaws from the pictures or description at all? Its all part of the vetting processes!

 

[red66toy]

Roof has bubbles?

 

[RC51]

Roof has bubbles?

Ill need to take a look in person...but generally is that a big deal?

 

[cruisermatt]

HJ from Canada, probably rusted out garbage

 

[cps432]

Ill need to take a look in person...but generally is that a big deal?

If the roof is bubbling then everything else is almost certainly rotting. $20K is roughly what these trucks cost new in the 80’s depending on what engine/trim package and country you’re in. People posting trucks with online auction sites are looking for maximum profit and usually want to get out from under a nightmare with cash to spare. A friend of mine spent $7,000 on a 90’s Jeep Cherokee that seemed like it was in pristine condition. Over the past two years we’ve replaced every gasket, water pump, injectors, electric fans, etc etc etc. last week he found a massive rust spot hiding under the paint....turns out the previous owner shot a quick coat of white over it and then let it sit for a winter before he sold it. It looked original until we started peeling it back. Buddy’s now nearly $10k into this thing and it needs major body work and a full paint job. And it’s just a standard automatic Cherokee.... don’t buy vehicles, guns, guitars, or wives over the internet.... unless you’re willing to deal with costly surprises.

 

[RC51]

HJ from Canada, probably rusted out garbage

If the roof is bubbling then everything else is almost certainly rotting. $20K is roughly what these trucks cost new in the 80’s depending on what engine/trim package and country you’re in. People posting trucks with online auction sites are looking for maximum profit and usually want to get out from under a nightmare with cash to spare. A friend of mine spent $7,000 on a 90’s Jeep Cherokee that seemed like it was in pristine condition. Over the past two years we’ve replaced every gasket, water pump, injectors, electric fans, etc etc etc. last week he found a massive rust spot hiding under the paint....turns out the previous owner shot a quick coat of white over it and then let it sit for a winter before he sold it. It looked original until we started peeling it back. Buddy’s now nearly $10k into this thing and it needs major body work and a full paint job. And it’s just a standard automatic Cherokee.... don’t buy vehicles, guns, guitars, or wives over the internet.... unless you’re willing to deal with costly surprises.

thanks for that comment...But also from this perspective, it seems like the right answer is to never buy an old truck! Also I will go see the truck in person, I am not buying anything sight unseen, only that I don't have trained eyes to pick up any problems, hence my post here. Furthermore, Its only a 40 minute drive from Toronto, so there is no loss for me.

 

[cps432]

thanks for that comment...But also from this perspective, it seems like the right answer is to never buy an old truck! Also I will go see the truck in person, I am not buying anything sight unseen, only that I don't have trained eyes to pick up any problems, hence my post here. Furthermore, Its only a 40 minute drive from Toronto, so there is no loss for me.

I would never pay that much for a 30+ year old truck. I got my fj60 for $4500. Granted I have done extensive work and upgrades over the years... but to say that 20K is a good deal for an hj60 that has roof bubbles is crazy. You should definitely go look at it in person. I’m sure you’ll see the problems with it immediately. It certainly could be worth the asking price if it’s pristine and has repair and maintenance records... but it’s highly unlikely to be the case. More often than not people who post this kind of thread asking for advice on a “sight unseen” truck end up walking away. It’s almost always a horrible deal.

 

[cruiserpilot]

HJ from Canada, probably rusted out garbage

That kind of a broad comment. Ontario is where that truck is from currently, known for high road
salt like Michigan etc. It’s 2500 miles from this end of Canada.

 

[cruisermatt]

At that price point he should be buying one from Southwest USA and shipping it home.

Note how there’s no pictures posted of rockers, underneath the 1/4’s, rear sill, floors

 

[cps432]

At that price point he should be buying one from Southwest USA and shipping it home.

Note how there’s no pictures posted of rockers, underneath the 1/4’s, rear sill, floors

Precisely

 

[Seth S]

That kind of a broad comment. Ontario is where that truck is from currently, known for high road
salt like Michigan etc. It’s 2500 miles from this end of Canada.

It’s just that every time a Canada cruiser comes up for sale it seems to be a rot box.

 

[georgebj60]

Canadian cruisers sure are rust boxes, generally speaking. But that's not true in every case. What is uncommon though is the roof rust. Salt-belt trucks (read Canada) rust from the bottom up. Humid, salt-air trucks (read Florida, Cali coast) rust from the top down. So this one needs more inspection to see what's going on.

 

[Seth S]

To be fair I have a 62 from New England parked in my back 9 that clearly rusted from the ground up. Roof looks very clean. Wasn’t sure if the frame was going to split in half when I pushed it back there with the tractor

 

[Gretsch]

Roof has bubbles?

Ill need to take a look in person...but generally is that a big deal?

but to say that 20K is a good deal for an hj60 that has roof bubbles is crazy.

The rust you can see generally pales in comparison to the rust you can't. If you have some way to deal with rust in terms of repairing it, then maybe its not that big a deal. Will you be fixing the rust itself OP if you find that its extensive? If so then it might be no problem. If you are paying someone else to do it, then forget it. You'll go broke. But there isn't a reality that I would pay that kind of money if there is any chance the truck is rusted out to the extent I would then need to turn around and immediately dump a bunch of money into it to fix its rust issues. You'll have plenty of things to fix on these trucks without throwing rust repairs into the equation. If its rusty enough to show roof bubbles already, then its a safe bet there is additional evil lurking behind the curtains. Guy has it priced up there because everyone who has a Landcruiser thinks its worth $20,000+ because its a Landcruiser, and because folks routinely pay that for them regardless of condition. Don't fall for that. They aren't as rare as sellers make them out to be so regardless of what they say, the one they have is not the only one around. There are way too many low-rust examples out there for anyone to ever have to mess with extensive rust on one. Like @cruisermatt says, look down south for one and have it shipped to you. Or better yet, find one, travel down to see it, and drive it home getting to know your new find in the process. Knowing the rust issues these have, that's really the only place I would ever look for one these days.

But also from this perspective, it seems like the right answer is to never buy an old truck!

Buying an old truck isn't a problem. Doing so without knowing what you are buying potentially could be. Do so at your own peril. @cps432 is trying to save you some headache. For me, rust anywhere is a no go. I just don't have the tools, skills, time, or money to deal deal with it. When finding mine low rust was a priority. Everything else I could address. I can't say I got a 'deal' on mine as I bought it at the beginning of the LC pricing bubble. But I will tell you it was half of the asking price of the one you are looking at, and I have had zero rust to fix if that gives you any frame of reference.

You are doing the right thing OP by going and seeing it first. But if you see roof bubbles (I cannot see these anywhere in the photos I see in the ad, but I guess they are there), then either make a deal with the seller using the rust as a bargaining chip, or walk away. Lots of great examples here on mud. GLWS and HTH.

Edit: Here is one that looks nice: For Sale - Huntsville, AL 1989 FJ62 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/huntsville-al-1989-fj62.1259011/

Not exactly the same but looks and claims to be rust free. HTH

 

[MarkBC]

Just go have a look at it. If the paint looks too good to be true then that has been recently resprayed and you definitely want to stay away. If there are blemishes and it is obviously not new, then you can have more confidence that there isn't more rust underneath that you can't see. Check out the rust bubbles he mentions, maybe it's just the start of rust. You can fix minor roof rust if it is just starting.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Yep, I can't agree more. Do you see any glaring flaws from the pictures or description at all? Its all part of the vetting processes!

No glaring flaws. However, the photos are deficient so you can't really tell much from them regarding the condition of the body and undercarriage. 30 mpg is hard to believe.

 

[cps432]

No glaring flaws. However, the photos are deficient so you can't really tell much from them regarding the condition of the body and undercarriage. 30 mpg is hard to believe.

Yeah I don’t believe a cruiser is getting 30mpg. Even with a diesel. Maybe if you swapped in and tuned up a nice modern engine, but not with an engine that’s 30 years old... and even swapping in modern engines has its limitations.