For Sale Poll: Would you pay $12,000 for this 97 Locked CE with 148k miles?

Location

United States

Below is a couple of links with info on the rig and a good amount of pics.

2 owners from the Austin area. I saw it up close. The interior is meh. Did not drive it. Paint looks good with several annoying dents. No service records that I know of and seems the radiator was replaced with an aftermarket radiator and they broke the fan shroud along the way.

This was on EBay for a week with a buy it now at $12,500 I believe and ended without a buyer.

Whacha think?

Used Toyota Land Cruiser For Sale - CarGurus

1997 Toyota Land Cruiser by Tom Sanders

 

[parker019]

Your San Anotinio looks rust free. A+.

FWIW, The identical truck was on ebay 2 weeks ago (but in super white, 25K more miles, collectors edition, original floor mats, but no after market roof rack, no lockers). Seller was in Dallas area, no minor body damage like the San Antonio photo bucket shows. ebay buy it now price was 10,500. It sold in a couple of days.

Here is white collector's ebay link if you can still access.

Toyota: Land Cruiser

I just checked if I have any more carfax reports left and I do. So I ran the white ebay one... (just ran it by plate number from ebay photos)... looks like MD for very long time... that is my only doubt as to if the white ebay one as is comparable to the San Antonio one. Needs to be rust free. I didn't see the white ebay in person so no idea what undercarriage looks like and how much rust there is. (assuming all else are the same.. knuckes, steering box, HG, trans, valve covers, transfer case, etc) Neither one have lockers.

 

[fjrohrs]

Appears to look nicer in the pictures than you describe. How bad is the rust spot on the tailgate, any concerns with it spreading? Underneath looks very clean from a rust perspective but there is an awful lot of 'wet' in a few of the pictures. Unsure if it's oil or tire spray.

 

[LockedCollector]

No, it's nice just don't know if $12k nice. Rust spot is cosmetic at the moment but needs to be fixed. Carpet has what looks like cool-aid stains. Rear seats have two matching holes in the back. Mats are a bit rough. Yeah all the dripping is degreaser and water so no clue about oil leaks. I would bet it does have the typical leaks.

 

[musthave]

It's not $12K nice, it's $7500 nice. CE isn't all that, if it were a 40th, then sure, some more $$. Lockers are great but don't add more than $2K to a good cruiser.

 

[Maverickhawk]

Seen this on my search. 2500 over my price range. Hoping to find a southern truck that is locked with around 175-180k miles for 10k. I can never get too excited about a dealer that won't fix minor things and then ask top dollar.

 

[Strand4x4]

It's not $12K nice, it's $7500 nice. CE isn't all that, if it were a 40th, then sure, some more $$. Lockers are great but don't add more than $2K to a good cruiser.

So, a non locker truck would in same condition would be worth $5,500?

 

[LockedCollector]

As is I would pay $10.5k out the door. Not many in this condition but is a bit over the top in price IMO.

 

[Kernal]

Personally, I would never buy an 80 without checking it out up close, unless it is a screaming deal or I knew the owner. I went to look at a similar (same paint color) vehicle at a used car lot within the past year; the photos looked OK, but up close I found two dozen problems not noticed and/or not disclosed by the dealer, including a radiator overflow tank with left over sludge from what looked like head gasket sealer, the oil had not been changed and it looked like it might have water in it.

The prices being asked for 80's by used car dealers or owners in my area has about doubled in the last year or two. What happens IMHO is that a couple of these get sold on fleabay at inflated prices, rightly or wrongly, and the dealers see that. Then they start hunting for an 80, doll it up but are oblivious to the known problem areas, then they put it out on their lot with a high sticker price thinking they just hit a home run.

There was another 80 being sold by an individual who flips vehicles, same deal, many many issues, dolled up, no lockers, prior accident history, dents not fixed, zero up to date pm, leaking knuckles on both ends, all the usual engine leaks, power steering leak, antenna not working, cheapo aftermarket head unit, ripped seats, stained carpet, rusty fasteners and brackets, etc,etc. The seller was convinced the vehicle was worth every penny of the asking price, not even close.

There were three others with blown headgaskets; one they had dumped in head gasket sealer, one was still leaking and knocked when the owner cranked the engine ("there's nothing wrong with this engine---"), another had half a quart of foamy engine oil still in the overflow tank that the owner had forgot to clean out.

I've looked at half a dozen 80's in the last year and every one of them had multiple issues, many of those were big ticket repairs, that the seller was not aware of or was choosing to ignore. Every one of them was overpriced by 30-50%.

Point is (IMHO/IME) that you have to check these out in person, or have someone else who knows them go check it out for you. FWIW.

 

[LockedCollector]

Thanks everybody for taking the time to vote and putting in comments. This clearly is not for me.