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- #21
Mind sharing some of your criteria on what consists of a "good" used LC?
Should I buy a new 2018 or a 2016/2017 used LC?
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- 200 series purchase used
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Mind sharing some of your criteria on what consists of a "good" used LC?
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- #22
Got it, thanks again!
Lack of rust and turnable KDSS valves would be top priority.
Followed by a clean history; service, repair, damage, flood ect..
Replaced parts; water pump, radiator, ect... are nice
The desired color combo is helpful. Everyone knows metallic gray on black is the best though.
Milage isn't a big deal. Theses things are tanks.
Edit: These are for used 200s, obviously.
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I did. Flew to St. Louis, drove back to NY. Shipping was going to be about $1000 and fly/drive ended up costing about $470. It was actually a really nice way to get used to a new car.
Short answer is yes but you'll need to be patient to find a deal.$50K for a 2 yr old LC sounds like a good deal, so far on cargurus a 2016 model is typically listed at around $64K...... Just now I did see a 2016 CPO with 38K miles from a nearby dealer but it has two owners already - wondering why they decided not to keep it
For those who look nationwide, if they do find a good deal, did they really fly over to pick up the vehicle?
Multiple owners on an $85k vehicle doesn't concern me - some people will buy or lease one and then swap it in a year or so after they're bored of it. I can't afford to do that, but some people can.
I bought my 2013 from Houston in Jan 2016 (first titled in Dec 2013, so barely 2 years of use). It was listed at $49k, which was the lowest price nationally for a 2013 with 30-60k miles at the time by about $4,000. Autonation had just reduced the price from $52k after 30 days. Truck had 49,200 on it and was CPO but was spotless. I was planning to fly out to do a purchase but Autonation shipped it to Chicago for me for $585. I had to make a $1k non-refundable deposit on it, but I got to inspect it at my local dealer before proceeding with the purchase - if it had been in bad shape I could have walked away (and then argued with the dealer about misrepresentation to try and get the deposit back). The deposit turned out to be a good deal because the truck arrived with a few stone-induced star cracks in the windshield, and the dealer repaired them at no additional charge. Start of search to finish I spent about 6 months watching the online ads.
Side note: I did add on the Toyota Platinum 7/100k VSA for about $1250 - ultimately probably a waste of $ but since I was financing the purchase I didn't want to risk an expensive repair if something electronic failed. Basically it was an insurance policy. So far I've only used it on the radiator, which was ~$750 installed, so Toyota is still in the black on the deal, but the peace of mind has been worth it.
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- #26
Thanks for sharing your experience, which was very helpful. I think I'll go with a used one (16-18'), based on the input from this forum. Besides Autonation's official website, what other websites did you use for searching your LC?
Do you play the Lottery (I don't)? Probability was explained by an ancient prof: IF every person in China (1.386 billion, 2017) bought a chance, AND PLAYED A DIFFERNT SET OF #S, one of them would win every time.
Monthly and annual sales figures for the Toyota Land Cruiser in the US.
So that chart shows a total # for 2016-17 as 6,805.
I just spent 2 months of my retirement trying to score a 2016, or newer, LC. I used the Toyota owners site VIN history to check service records. I scrutinized Carfax/Autocheck. I set up daily email notification from eBay.
ih8mud advice:
Reject rentals. WOW, that's a whole lot of what's on eBay/Autotrader/cargurus/etc.
Don't buy from the NE U.S. (rust on KDSS valves within first year, from reports on inspections). This actually would apply to any region where salt is used to treat roads. My township here in Kansas started pretreating my street in 2007. The rust on my FJ62 accelerated rapidly.
Don't buy from flooded areas. WOW, 2018 has added a whole slew of locales to avoid (made me particularly nervous about the Gulf Coast & all those hurricane states; is there a Toyota dealer in Ellicott City, MD?).
Don't buy with any accident. Reality Check: I contemplated a 2016 LX570 minor front end wreck on eBay for starting bid of $32K at a Missouri rebuilder yard. Could've had a Lexus-approved body shop swap LC grill & sheetmetal, Slee's in Colorado for bumper/sliders. My wife reminded me of our 92 Toyota truck grafted from 2 wrecks (not doing that again). Google found rebuildable LXs all across the country selling > $50K? Only a couple LCs.
Resign yourself to Black or White. This drastically increases your odds of finding a used 2016 -> LC.
A Chevy dealer 100 miles away had a 2017 White/Terra local LC w/29K, most tire rotation/oil change records for $64K. I contacted internet sales mgr, made appt, backed Xterra out of the garage only to find a nail sticking out of the tread on one tire. Went to tire dealer, told him we were on the way to trade it in. Rather than mount spare, they attempted repair, recommended replacement; and 2 hours later we cancelled test drive. Wife had illness next week. By following weekend it had sold.
Avoid, like the plague, dealerships where ih8mudders have been burned (Jay Wolfe Toyota in KC area has had a 2018 for $77K for some months. The color varies from Silver to Brandywine & the pics don't usually match the stated color.)
Avoid dealerships which have changed hands & no longer live up to their track record (Lewis Toyota: Topeka, Hays, Garden City, Dodge City dealerships). Topeka had a white 2014 dealer's son's wife's DD w/90K miles, $43K. Salesman apologized for the condition of the interior. Dealer Prep insists on spraying interior plastic with some kind of "pre-cleaner" which leaves a dried gunky residue on everything. "It really looks sharp when they clean it for delivery."
NOTE: The chances of finding a Toyota dealership with experience with LCs is pretty minimal in Kansas. Chances increase in the KC metro area, but then Olathe Toyota, where we purchased our 2019, sells maybe 1 or 2 a year. The most knowledgeable guy was the tech guru, who showed us the infotainment system (after purchase).
Forget about finding accurate records on what LCs are selling for (363 sold in Oct 2018; Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. (TMS) supports 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in the U.S.).
Negotiating? I thought Rule #1 was to not show anticipation of owning vehicle under negotiation. It will become apparent early on that you know more about a LC than the salesman. IF, as another thread suggests, Toyota doesn't burden the dealer with having a LC in inventory until after the sale, you've lost the incentive to move them off the lot.
I was tempted to go with CarMax, but paying to have a LC transferred to Merriam, KS, for inspection caused trepidation.
Like you, I found prices ~ $5k/yr drop for most used deals I penciled out. So I bought a new 2019 for ~ $78,700; & theoretically, I should have been able to save $5K/yr, or $15K, or $63K for a 2016. That might be what such a LC would sell for; once you've spent the time & $ to locate it; fly across country for your first inspection/trust local inspection; drive across country with a vehicle you hoped turns out to be as reliable as you believe/ship it across country.
Monthly and annual sales figures for the Toyota Land Cruiser in the US.
So that chart shows a total # for 2016-17 as 6,805.
I just spent 2 months of my retirement trying to score a 2016, or newer, LC. I used the Toyota owners site VIN history to check service records. I scrutinized Carfax/Autocheck. I set up daily email notification from eBay.
ih8mud advice:
Reject rentals. WOW, that's a whole lot of what's on eBay/Autotrader/cargurus/etc.
Don't buy from the NE U.S. (rust on KDSS valves within first year, from reports on inspections). This actually would apply to any region where salt is used to treat roads. My township here in Kansas started pretreating my street in 2007. The rust on my FJ62 accelerated rapidly.
Don't buy from flooded areas. WOW, 2018 has added a whole slew of locales to avoid (made me particularly nervous about the Gulf Coast & all those hurricane states; is there a Toyota dealer in Ellicott City, MD?).
Don't buy with any accident. Reality Check: I contemplated a 2016 LX570 minor front end wreck on eBay for starting bid of $32K at a Missouri rebuilder yard. Could've had a Lexus-approved body shop swap LC grill & sheetmetal, Slee's in Colorado for bumper/sliders. My wife reminded me of our 92 Toyota truck grafted from 2 wrecks (not doing that again). Google found rebuildable LXs all across the country selling > $50K? Only a couple LCs.
Resign yourself to Black or White. This drastically increases your odds of finding a used 2016 -> LC.
A Chevy dealer 100 miles away had a 2017 White/Terra local LC w/29K, most tire rotation/oil change records for $64K. I contacted internet sales mgr, made appt, backed Xterra out of the garage only to find a nail sticking out of the tread on one tire. Went to tire dealer, told him we were on the way to trade it in. Rather than mount spare, they attempted repair, recommended replacement; and 2 hours later we cancelled test drive. Wife had illness next week. By following weekend it had sold.
Avoid, like the plague, dealerships where ih8mudders have been burned (Jay Wolfe Toyota in KC area has had a 2018 for $77K for some months. The color varies from Silver to Brandywine & the pics don't usually match the stated color.)
Avoid dealerships which have changed hands & no longer live up to their track record (Lewis Toyota: Topeka, Hays, Garden City, Dodge City dealerships). Topeka had a white 2014 dealer's son's wife's DD w/90K miles, $43K. Salesman apologized for the condition of the interior. Dealer Prep insists on spraying interior plastic with some kind of "pre-cleaner" which leaves a dried gunky residue on everything. "It really looks sharp when they clean it for delivery."
NOTE: The chances of finding a Toyota dealership with experience with LCs is pretty minimal in Kansas. Chances increase in the KC metro area, but then Olathe Toyota, where we purchased our 2019, sells maybe 1 or 2 a year. The most knowledgeable guy was the tech guru, who showed us the infotainment system (after purchase).
Forget about finding accurate records on what LCs are selling for (363 sold in Oct 2018; Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. (TMS) supports 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in the U.S.).
Negotiating? I thought Rule #1 was to not show anticipation of owning vehicle under negotiation. It will become apparent early on that you know more about a LC than the salesman. IF, as another thread suggests, Toyota doesn't burden the dealer with having a LC in inventory until after the sale, you've lost the incentive to move them off the lot.
I was tempted to go with CarMax, but paying to have a LC transferred to Merriam, KS, for inspection caused trepidation.
Like you, I found prices ~ $5k/yr drop for most used deals I penciled out. So I bought a new 2019 for ~ $78,700; & theoretically, I should have been able to save $5K/yr, or $15K, or $63K for a 2016. That might be what such a LC would sell for; once you've spent the time & $ to locate it; fly across country for your first inspection/trust local inspection; drive across country with a vehicle you hoped turns out to be as reliable as you believe/ship it across country.
Not CPO, but religiously maintained (inspections & full synthetic every 5k) and has 45K miles on it and runs absolutely perfect.
A 2018 LC Deal Too Good To Be True?
I wanted a blue onyx pearl LC, so when Autotrader listed one in Arkansas for $70K, < 5K miles, @ a Toyota dealer which sells plenty, & strikes better deal than a trusted KS dealer per a mudder; I zeroed in.
The first pics up were shot in the shadows with a large puddle reflecting on the driver's side of the LC. Either that, or it was abrasions in the paint. BIG aftermarket wheels. VIN check showed a replaced windshield & driver's side mirror. A few days later, the VIN check showed attempts to solve problems with front cameras. Rattles in dash turned out to be broken glass in the vents. New pics showed the wheels returned to stock; and the abrasions had been buffed out, mirror back on. There were evidently several more "minor" flaws in the wreck repair which customers must have been finding on test drives; from the service reports. The price never dropped & it disappeared off Autotrader. Saving $8K over new, what a deal . . .
I wanted a blue onyx pearl LC, so when Autotrader listed one in Arkansas for $70K, < 5K miles, @ a Toyota dealer which sells plenty, & strikes better deal than a trusted KS dealer per a mudder; I zeroed in.
The first pics up were shot in the shadows with a large puddle reflecting on the driver's side of the LC. Either that, or it was abrasions in the paint. BIG aftermarket wheels. VIN check showed a replaced windshield & driver's side mirror. A few days later, the VIN check showed attempts to solve problems with front cameras. Rattles in dash turned out to be broken glass in the vents. New pics showed the wheels returned to stock; and the abrasions had been buffed out, mirror back on. There were evidently several more "minor" flaws in the wreck repair which customers must have been finding on test drives; from the service reports. The price never dropped & it disappeared off Autotrader. Saving $8K over new, what a deal . . .
Good post. You highlight something that's important to keep in mind for potential buyers of any Land Cruiser - they're "rare" to begin with, but once you weed out all the undesirables, they're exceedingly rare. I pulled data on the last 5 years of new G Wagon sales vs new Land Cruiser sales, and there were 1,600 more G Wagons sold in the US than the Land Cruiser! I think everyone can agree that a G Wagon is a pretty uncommon vehicle outside of the wealthiest areas of the country, but that shows a clean, no stories, solid Land Cruiser is even harder to find than most people think. Blue book, auction history, etc. can be loose guidelines for pricing a Land Cruiser, but when you really sort through it the market value is almost always higher for a good one.
Sidebar - I've owned ~50 cars and motorcycles in the ~19 years I've had a driver's license, yet I've only purchased ONE new car ever. Oh and that was a lease that I ended up selling back to a dealer 3 months later because I didn't like it
I have definitely considered buying a new 200 however because I think due to the above factors and relatively slow depreciation it's one of the safest bets in the realm of $75k+ new vehicles.
Just to share my experience with same delima. I opted to try and buy the oldest year with newest body style for resale purposes. This was a CPO’d 2016 black with terra Int with under 20k miles for $60k. I emailed every dealer in nation with one in stock (5 dealers) and let them know what I wanted.
About a month later I had a plane ticket to Fargo in December and pointed that heated stearing wheel South trough Nordic hell.
About a month later I had a plane ticket to Fargo in December and pointed that heated stearing wheel South trough Nordic hell.
autotrader and cars.com, mainly. I mostly ignored private party ads since the majority seem to be scammers. I looked at carmax but their pricing was just fair
FWIW I considered my find lucky, but it's probably moreso that (a) my truck is gold which isn't in high demand (red was my first choice), and (b) I think the owner was driving the truck for the month so it wasn't actually sitting at the dealership for anyone to happen upon (guessing that because it had about 500 miles more on the odometer than the ad stated).
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- #33
Folks, I have to tell you I really like this forum, which is the most robust and friendly to newbie I ever experienced! I'll definitely go get a LC by the end of this year.
You got 48 days. Good luck.
Recently sold my ‘13 and had specific requirements for my new one. Gray/terra or black/terra 2018. I couldn’t find one in CO so I flew to Iowa and drove it home.$50K for a 2 yr old LC sounds like a good deal, so far on cargurus a 2016 model is typically listed at around $64K
For those who look nationwide, if they do find a good deal, did they really fly over to pick up the vehicle?
- Thread starter
- #36
How much did you pay for it?
Markuson
SILVER Star
Sac Cerevisiae
Reid
I lucked out. A Land Rover dealer two miles away didn’t know what they had: a 1-owner 2016 with <7k miles and had it listed at ~$65k. It was Black/Black but I couldn’t pass it up. Sometimes you do win the lottery.
That’s just wrong trading a LC for a LR. SMH.
fireball
SILVER Star
I just bought a 2016 with 12k miles. The Toyota dealer posted it at least a couple grand too cheap. I called at 9am when they opened and bought it right away. By the time they emailed me paperwork the next day he said they'd gotten a half dozen calls on it. I was debating b/w used 2016 with mileage vs. new 2018. The delta isn't huge with new at $77k and used around $60k. All depends on what you can find and how easy you find it and how much time and effort you're willing to spend on surfing.
I was actually a bit sad to unsubscribe from my autolist and autotrader alerts
I was actually a bit sad to unsubscribe from my autolist and autotrader alerts
