Purchase Advice

[olybear]

Hello 80 people.

I've been lurking for years and have wanted an 80 for close to a decade now. Finally, I find myself in a financial-family position to make it happen and am serious about buying.

I plan to use the truck sparsely mostly my annual treks out to the desert and mountains along with weekend camping/fishing (3-6 k annually, not DD) until I go to the grave. Reliability is key. I have a limited amount of experience working on cars mostly of the maintenance variety on my Gen 1 Outback (brakes, fluids, bolt on parts, plugs/wires, CV axles, ect...). I don't have an interest or time in learning how to do major repairs like a HG job. Questions:

1. Would you go after one of these 175-225k trucks with no major repairs completed (HG, steering knuckle, ect) and make my mechanic happy $5-8k purchase or pay top dollar for one with significant work already done $10k +?

2. I really like the 96-97 models, but am open to older options. Are there significant mechanical differences between the <96 and 96-97 models.

3. Lastly, what would you pay for a locked 97 80k garage kept no rust with lots of add-ons 35s, ARBs, winch, ect.


Thanks for chiming in hopefully I'll have some pictures to post sooner than later!

olybear

 

[slow95z]

if you dont want to do major work yourself buy something else. period.

a 20 year old truck with 80k miles is still a 20 year old truck. they are only new once.

 

[Hornd]

You and every Wheel Head wants lockers so rule those out.
Head on over to Craigslist.com and see what you can find.
Make sure you do a head gasket test, unless you want to attend Mechanics boot camp and learn very fast.

 

[aae42]

if you dont want to do major work yourself buy something else. period.

a 20 year old truck with 80k miles is still a 20 year old truck. they are only new once.

this...

if reliability is key why not get a 100 series..

 

[bicycleagent003]

What is the budget for the purchase?

 

[bicycleagent003]

"locked 97 80k garage kept no rust with lots of add-ons 35s, ARBs, winch, etc."
Do you have an option to buy such a vehicle with 80K original miles? That's a unicorn.

 

[olybear]

if you dont want to do major work yourself buy something else. period.

a 20 year old truck with 80k miles is still a 20 year old truck. they are only new once.

I drive a 19 yo vehicle now. Had the engine rebuilt and timing belts done by a pro. I fix other stuff as it comes up as mentioned. Runs like a top. Are 80 series that much more problematic? Is it naive to think I can get one running in good shape with a mechanics help and put 3-5k/yr relatively trouble free?

 

[DDabs]

not naive at all to think that

 

[olybear]

What is the budget for the purchase?

12-15k. For a sound truck (with mechanic bill)

 

[duggy]

A couple of things:

If you can do the minor maintainence items, go for the best maintained 80 you can afford. If you are willing to put in time and work to do everything yourself, buy the cheapest 80 you can and maintain it.

I wouldn't let the head gasket fear mongering get to you. If it happens then it will happen.

 

[ZackR]

If you are able/willing to take on most maintenance (as you mentioned with your Subaru) an 80 could be a good option. It's not the end of the world if you have to hire out certain repairs as long as you aren't hiring out all the little things that come up. The longer you plan to keep it the better off you will be learning the more involved aspects.

My main recommendation in searching for a cruiser is to find one that is well kept overall. Lockers, armor and gear can be added later but if the interior is shot, its rusty or has an untold amount of neglected maintenance you will have difficulty justifying the time and expenses needed when issues come up.

I'd keep my eye open for examples in the 5-10k range that are clean and have been well kept, with mileage and lockers being less of a concern (this will add to the pool of available choices). Drive it for a year with minimal modifications but focus on all of the baseline maintenance items to get a feel for things. Spend time reading what others have said they would do assuming they had to start the process over again, many folks wouldn't make their rigs as extreme the second time around. Prioritize things correctly, if your baseline maintenance isn't complete it's probably not a good idea to drop a bunch of money on lifts and huge tires just yet. Use restraint if the modification is really going to be more for looks, for example I think the 35" tires look great but for how I use my cruiser the 285's get the job done and still look pretty cool.

In any case good luck with the search!

 

[englaneato]

3 years ago I purchased what I thought was a well maintained lx450 with lockers. Lexus dealership records and through a dealership that semi specialized in land cruisers. Paid 7000 for 205000 miles. Found some dealer shenanigans.. ie paint used to cover Crack in driver seat, vinyl bottoms for front seats, major front end repair. Put in about 3000 dollars fixing other stuff, adding sliders, new tires Stock size, doing a cooling system rebuild. All in all super happy with my cupcake cruiser. I daily drive it now. Took it to saline valley for a camping adventure, drove over rocks and ravines and totally got lost in the desert for four hours, thing just went. Spent weeks working on it myself, did a valve cover gasket, easy but time consuming. If you are ready to live for this truck, pull the trigger. If you think it might be a passing thing, Just buy a jeep!

 

[Lankan]

My main recommendation in searching for a cruiser is to find one that is well kept overall. Lockers, armor and gear can be added later but if the interior is shot, its rusty or has an untold amount of neglected maintenance you will have difficulty justifying the time and expenses needed when issues come up.

I'd keep my eye open for examples in the 5-10k range that are clean and have been well kept, with mileage and lockers being less of a concern (this will add to the pool of available choices). Drive it for a year with minimal modifications but focus on all of the baseline maintenance items to get a feel for things. Spend time reading what others have said they would do assuming they had to start the process over again, many folks wouldn't make their rigs as extreme the second time around. Prioritize things correctly, if your baseline maintenance isn't complete it's probably not a good idea to drop a bunch of money on lifts and huge tires just yet. Use restraint if the modification is really going to be more for looks, for example I think the 35" tires look great but for how I use my cruiser the 285's get the job done and still look pretty cool.

In any case good luck with the search!

This^. The main reason I bought my 80 was because I wanted a solid front axle. If you are not planning on running tough trails, I suggest the 100 series. in the $15k range, you can find a good one (maybe as new as 2003-2005) with @150k miles. More power, more comfortable, and that much newer.

 

[120mm]

I don't have an interest or time in learning how to do major repairs like a HG job.

This will not only make ownership expensive, but will be a major limitation on potential reliability.

Finding a mechanic you can trust to do Land Cruiser work the correct way is a crap shoot.

 

[midfat]

I remember when I started. I actually sold my 100-Series because I wanted an 80. Thought to myself, I've got $5k and live in California - let's go find a '97 with lockers. Ha! Then I discovered that for every one person on MUD looking for an FZJ80 with lockers, there were 100 more hiding in the bushes. It took me almost a year and I called on dozens of Cruisers. DOZENS! Anything that was promising proved to be vapor and was sold within minutes of being posted. If you're serious about using Craigslist (really no other alternative), get yourself an app where you get post alerts the moment something is posted. If it's 3am and you get a ping, call at 3:01am. And for god's sake, have cash in hand!

In the end, I found a one-owner from the Bay Area. Not neglected, but not pathologically maintained. The only way to REALLY know your rig is to dig in and do all the work, so I went into the deal expecting to base-line everything. I paid $8k for mine with 200K miles. I'll probably have at least $3k more once I'm done. I bought the truck specifically for the 80 platform and have no intention of ever selling, so it was well worth it. But I totally agree that if you just want a fun and reliable truck to explore, go lease a new 4Runner. After all is said and done, I still have a 20 year old truck full of things waiting to break.

 

[Alleycats]

To me it seems like 'enjoying working on your 80' is a big part of the experience of 80 ownership. It is a Toyota, so yeah it's reliable, but there is a good amount of maintenance stuff which if you have a shop do could get expensive pretty quick. Having said that I enjoy my 80 more every day, awesome family camping vehicle.

 

[decoco]

we get these twice a week...

looking for: locked, bumpers, low miles, never wheeled, thick stack of mechanics papers, 80,000 miles, no wait. 80,000 kms, I don't want the headgasket to break , 20 mpg how do I get that?, but I want to spend as little as possible.

sometimes I'm just like, get a jeep bro...

*sorry not sorry, just maybe the office has me stressed out*

 

[Tbone81]

I just bought my first one and feel like I paid out the nose. Supposedly a truck with 215k and a replaced drivetrain with less than 120k. It is locked and no rust. I shopped for twelve months. So I feel your pain.

It is a locked Lexus. The previous owner spent big bucks on the restoration. And quit 80% complete.

I am now 3 months in and still dreaming or should I say spending money. My wife hates it. So keep shopping and you will find your unicorn.

 

[olybear]

Found it! 1996, 163,xxx mi, I'm third owner. First two owners had it roughly 10 years apiece. Appears to have been garaged its whole life. Serviced at Lexus dealer first 10 years, maintenance record goes dark after that. $7500.

Starter died after about 2 weeks. Knocked out the starter, PHH, fuel filter, and coolant flush. I don't see how you guys do the PHH without removing the starter. Everything on it seems pretty tight with the exception of the oil pump cover leaking like a stuck pig.

 

[retrofive]

Way to dive in