Hey everyone. I’m seeking advice on a free one owner 2000 Land Cruiser I was offered by a friend of mine.
So back in September I went to Alaska with my parents on a 10 day tour throughout the state. During this trip we visited my parents friends in Fairbanks. We helped her do a bunch of chores like moving broken snow machines onto a trailer. I did most of the work and I was joking around about buying her 100 series off of her for cheap. She was so appreciative of my work that she said I could have it- for free!
There’s a catch though. The truck is very rusted out. I only got to see it for a couple of hours while I was there and did most of my inspection in the dark. The entire tailgate is rusting away along with many other parts of the truck im assuming. From what I could tell the frame isn’t too bad but many parts of the truck are rusted badly. She got a new truck so she had not been driving it. When I was there it had already been sitting for about a year. She said she drove it occasionally but for the most part it sat outside. The interior is absolutely disgusting but really just needs some detailing work done. The windshield is throughly cracked in many spots but still holds. The sunroof does not open and the power antenna does not operate either. There is also no third row. So it’s in pretty rough shape but not all is bad.
The Good- the truck only has 149,000 miles. When I was there I put the battery in and it started right up no problems or lights on the dash. She did say it has a lot of electrical issues but did not say anything more than that. It first started out it’s life in Ithica, New York, hence the rust. In Alaska they don’t salt the roads so it’s been free from salt since 2009. She took great care of it and always brought it to her trusted mechanic for whatever it needed. It wasn’t really abused it’s whole life it’s just in rough shape now. The timing belt and water pump were done at 100k like they should be. No accidents/floods or anything like that either. I have a whole car fax report that shows some of the work done. Not all of the work is on the car fax though according to her. It has a set of winter tires sitting in a shed aswell but I’m going to assume the tires on it aswell as those are dry rotted at this point. It’s going to need a lot of work but it is free so it’s hard to say no. Back in September she said she was going to get rid of it before the brutal winter began there but I have kept in contact and she has kept it for me. It has been sitting the entire time since I was last there in September. It will continue to sit until May or June when I go back.
I will put all the photos I have of it on this post (not many) and as well as the screen recording I took of the car fax. I’ll put the car fax link up too.
So what do you guys think? Should I take up on this offer? I will have to drive it all the way from Fairbanks, Alaska to Burlington Vermont.
If I do this I will have her drive it or tow it to her mechanic to make sure it will make the trip back without breaking down. The 100 series is my favorite vehicle on earth and I’m eager to pick this up for free. Once in a life time opportunity here- especially with such low miles.
VIN- JT3HT05J4Y0121898
Carfax report- Your CARFAX Report - https://www.carfax.com/showroom/reports/?vin=JT3HT05J4Y0121898&mobile=true
Here and some photos and videos.
Only got 2 photos of the underside unfortunately.
Some of these are from her Facebook over the years.
Thank you for helping me out here. I really appreciate it!!!
So back in September I went to Alaska with my parents on a 10 day tour throughout the state. During this trip we visited my parents friends in Fairbanks. We helped her do a bunch of chores like moving broken snow machines onto a trailer. I did most of the work and I was joking around about buying her 100 series off of her for cheap. She was so appreciative of my work that she said I could have it- for free!
There’s a catch though. The truck is very rusted out. I only got to see it for a couple of hours while I was there and did most of my inspection in the dark. The entire tailgate is rusting away along with many other parts of the truck im assuming. From what I could tell the frame isn’t too bad but many parts of the truck are rusted badly. She got a new truck so she had not been driving it. When I was there it had already been sitting for about a year. She said she drove it occasionally but for the most part it sat outside. The interior is absolutely disgusting but really just needs some detailing work done. The windshield is throughly cracked in many spots but still holds. The sunroof does not open and the power antenna does not operate either. There is also no third row. So it’s in pretty rough shape but not all is bad.
The Good- the truck only has 149,000 miles. When I was there I put the battery in and it started right up no problems or lights on the dash. She did say it has a lot of electrical issues but did not say anything more than that. It first started out it’s life in Ithica, New York, hence the rust. In Alaska they don’t salt the roads so it’s been free from salt since 2009. She took great care of it and always brought it to her trusted mechanic for whatever it needed. It wasn’t really abused it’s whole life it’s just in rough shape now. The timing belt and water pump were done at 100k like they should be. No accidents/floods or anything like that either. I have a whole car fax report that shows some of the work done. Not all of the work is on the car fax though according to her. It has a set of winter tires sitting in a shed aswell but I’m going to assume the tires on it aswell as those are dry rotted at this point. It’s going to need a lot of work but it is free so it’s hard to say no. Back in September she said she was going to get rid of it before the brutal winter began there but I have kept in contact and she has kept it for me. It has been sitting the entire time since I was last there in September. It will continue to sit until May or June when I go back.
I will put all the photos I have of it on this post (not many) and as well as the screen recording I took of the car fax. I’ll put the car fax link up too.
So what do you guys think? Should I take up on this offer? I will have to drive it all the way from Fairbanks, Alaska to Burlington Vermont.
If I do this I will have her drive it or tow it to her mechanic to make sure it will make the trip back without breaking down. The 100 series is my favorite vehicle on earth and I’m eager to pick this up for free. Once in a life time opportunity here- especially with such low miles.
VIN- JT3HT05J4Y0121898
Carfax report- Your CARFAX Report - https://www.carfax.com/showroom/reports/?vin=JT3HT05J4Y0121898&mobile=true
Here and some photos and videos.
Only got 2 photos of the underside unfortunately.
Some of these are from her Facebook over the years.
Thank you for helping me out here. I really appreciate it!!!