Quick question on a new rig. (1 Viewer)

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Location
Ashland, OR
I just got the report on the 95 LC I am buying in Boston.

Needs:
Rear brake pads, rotors ok. There are no shims.
Spark plug tube seals leaking a little oil.
Wires, rotor and distributor are original. "Should replace"
Front axels look good.

Question:

What are Spark plug tube seals? Should I be concerned or is this an easy fix?
What was he refering to "shims" in the rear brakes?

This rig has no rust and is in excellent shape in and out. It has 90k miles and I am getting it for $11,500. Sounds like a great deal if the "Spark plug tube seals" leaking are not a big issue.

No photos in my hands yet but if you guys want to see it search cars.com for a 95 lc and look at the one listed by Kelly infinity.

Thanks,

Fly Rod
 
FR-
unless you are wed to that vehicle or have a great reason to go to boston and drive it back, i can't imagine why you would want to sink $12.5k (assume $1K for ship) into a rig, sight unseen. you're paying "all the money" for that LC, there's no doubt in my mind.

as for rust... unless the inspector knows exactly where to look for rust, it's not going to be evident with a cursory viewing. roof at the rack mounting points and the upper rear hatch are two places to concentrate.

for a point of reference... there's a board member here in NoVA who's selling his 93, for much, much, much less than that. no lockers, but you didn't state if your's had 'em.

$0.02
 
Ace 10,

Thanks for the input. I did have my Brother in law check the rig out and in his opinion it was exceptionally clean. It does have lockers and the miles are the lowest I have found, with one exception and they wanted more than $16k. There will always be cheaper rigs but few will be cleaner based on what the mechanic and my brother in law told me.

The real question still remains, is the spark plug tube seal an indicator that bigger problems are lurking? The dealer is going to have their Toyota shop replace the gasket as part of the purchase price.

Thanks again,

Fly Rod
 
Fly Rod,

I wouldn't say great deal, but for Boston, I think that is a decent price (with lockers), assuming you have all of the service history/records. It definitely isn't a steal though.

I got mine in the Boston area for slightly less (no lockers) with every service record since new, but more miles (179K). I wanted lockers, but they 80 series is not common up here and getting one with a solid service history seemed more important at the time.

I wouldn't worry about the "spark plug seals". They just get old and brittle with heat and age.

Bigger things to think about are the issues that everone here posts over and over, front axle service, PHH, brakes, fluid service, coolant mixing creating sludge, rust on the roof from racks, head gasket, slow window raising, etc, etc.

Shims - not sure about the rear brakes without looking in the fsm, but I know the front brakes pads have anti-squeal shims that are meant to reduce brake noise. Rear pads may have them too (they don't come with factory pad kits but can be reused if undamaged). Sounds to me like an aftermarket brake job, but that's just a guess.

Charlie
 
Thanks for the input Charlie.

I just had the mechanic review those rust areas and they are clean. I am going to replace all of the fluids with synthetics as soon as I get the rig. I will do a radiator flush as well.

I am willing to pay a little more for a really clean rig out of town, especially since there are none available in the area I live in. The last three trucks I inquired on were bought out from under me, one on its way to the mechanic.

Now if I could get that rig listed on Slee's site for $15k I'd write a check now. :grinpimp:

Thanks for the input.

Fly Rod
 
I bought a car (Audi A8) that came from Boston once, every nut and bolt was rusted after 3 years. I wouldn't buy anything from the NE again if you plan on working on it yourself. What is clean in Boston might not be clean for the PNW. I waited when I bought 80 and found what I wanted locally (Portland). Now I'm considering going to a 100 because of the rear air ETC, what have you seen locked 80's going for in the NW?
 
There is a 93 in town, head gasget leaking, valve cover leaking, knuckles look like crap, leather cracked every where, loads of rock chips, and smoking a little blue smoke. Otherwise it is in good condition with lockers. He is asking $8,950 obo. :flipoff2: He said he would be flexible on the price. I thought about offering him $1,500 but then figured that might be too much.

Most of the ones I found that were as clean as I wanted were in the $14k range. Anything below $11k was showing it's age pretty good. LR_RESQ mentioned that there are some for sale in the Portland area that I missed.

The truck I bought spent most of its time in PA and OH. I am hoping it is not to bad. We will see.

Fly Rod
 
Now some matter of importance for what and where do you fish?
 
I fish anywhere there are fish. In the fall I guide fly fishemen on the Rogue River primarally. For my personal fishing I prefer the coastal systems like :censor: with a spey rod or anywhere I can catch large fish like this:



BTW: thats not me and I didn't catch a bigger fish in the same spot. :cool:

And you?

Fly Rod
 
Have the truck aligned - you'll probably find corrosion/rust down there - have to heat it up to get it to adjust. Otherwise, it 's probably okay. I'm a native of Boston and I've bought some excellent used vehicles in the past. Don't listen to anyone from PNW - they're all hooped up on latte's , wearing flannel and still depressed :flipoff2:
 
Also swing for steel with both hands from the NFU to the Might "T" with a number of stops between. This winter /Spring was awesome until the rains cam (i'm glad they did) but, I figured it was a once in a lifetime to get a winter fish on a dry. I moved a bright fish to a skated Muddler the first week of March. My local waters are the Sandy and "crack", not zipperlips in anyones book.
 
Landtank,

Thanks for the offer. I am having the truck shipped next week so no time to get work done in Boston. I am not worried about the rig, I have a way of making things right. I actually look forward to rebuilding the front end when it is needed. It will give me an excuse to buy more tools. :grinpimp:

Fly Rod
 
Thought you were driving it back for some reason. What does shipping it cost? I'm sure the truck is fine as far as rust goes. I've got 170k on my 96 and run into 2 bolts so far that were rusted in. Well worth the 3 or 4 grand you're saving on the price.
 
For the record, my 96 is fine too (182K). My local Toyota dealer shop foreman tells me it is a super clean rig.

Mine came from 30 miles north of Boston, spent it's entire life there.

I did break a couple of (rear sway bar mounting) bolts, but that stuff happens on any rig. Not anything to get excited about though.

You'll enjoy yours. Good luck.

Charlie
 
Shipping to SFO is $1,250. The cost for my flight alone to Boston was @ $900 so I figured I was miles and $ ahead shipping it. Also give me an excuse to have a weekend date with my wife in SFO. (Something that won't happen again for years with twins on the way.)

Fly Rod
 

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