Should i? Need some advice with 1st FJ40 :)

[78692]

I've read the thread on buying an FJ, and i have to say brilliant, just like this forum ... This is my first post, but im already glad i stumbled across it ...

Im looking at buying my 1st FJ ... I've loved them for over 15yrs, but never had the chance to own one, but the time has come and now i need to find "my precious" ...

I've stumble across this one ...

1984 TOYOTA LANDCRUISER FJ40 SWB

I will be organising a drive / inspection very shortly, but just wanted to get some opinions on pricing ... The Aus dollar is almost 1 : 1 at the moment ...

Any comments?

 

[dgangle]

It looks nice but photos can hide a lot.

I guess you'll have to ask yourself many questions like how does it compare to what else is available, how well was the resto done, do the mods fit my tastes, do I have the ability to build or should I just buy something redone...


Have you looked at anything else? Don't buy the first thing you see and take someone knowledgeable on LC's to look at it with you.

 

[Mauricio]

Looks pretty nice, but heck, for that much money I'd want a 3B engine. I'm afraid to ask what the fuel consumption of a 2H engine and the price of gasoline where you are are?

 

[Walton]

That 40 looks sweet!

 

[watrob]

At nearly 20k you would want to keep it in that condition. If you are just buying FJ40 to drive around in you don't need to spend that much money.

As the ad says its a collectors car, you buy it and only drive it on Sundays, if your looking at driving it on the beach & outback roads then you need to buy one half the price and it still will be a pretty good FJ at 10K.

It may look good now but in 5 years you will be doing maintenance on it just like everyone else. Like some of the other forum members have said, if your not up to rebuilding a FJ or your not mechanically minded, unless you can pay someone to maintain it, then don't buy it. Its just that having a FJ40 in that condition and not maintaining it, to me would be like breaking the 11th commandment! " You must covert your FJ like its your wife"

 

[78692]

The more i read the more i'm getting weary about getting an FJ ... Are they really as unreliable as i read?

Im in brissy too, im sure I've seen your FJ cruising around the streets ... looks very familiar ...

It would be driven daily to work (only 5km down the rd) and the occasional long weekend trip, maybe even to straddy or fraser, but no bush bashing ...

 

[fieldsken1]

if you got the money buy it and have fun. he says its a collectors car well its not. theres very little market for these they are not sought after like one might hope. there are plenty on ebay for 25000 plus and they dont sell. so if they are collectors cars why are they not selling??? where are they. a collectors car is something someone wants like camaro, mustang and so on. i bet he will come down in price alot. one can only try. good luck

 

[watrob]

Just remember the day you buy that FJ is only day it will be in that condition if its going to be you daily drive. And if you take it on the beach it will deteriate that much quicker.

If you have $20k burning a whole in your pocket then buy it, if it were me I would spend half that amount, still end up with a goog FJ that would be a daily drive. The $10k saving could be used over the next 10 years maintaining it because it does not matter which one you buy you still have to maintain it.

I probably spent more than that on mine but my maintainance is alot lower as I have a gal'ed chassis and a full fibreglass body, even my alloy wheels are painted. The only surface rust I am getting is on axle housing, springs, shocks.

Other things that fail are lights, water gets inside those and they rust from the inside out, but they are a cheap and an easy item to swap out every couple years. That metal body being 30 years old will have rust in it, dose'nt matter how well its been repaired, it will come back if you use it as a daily drive.

Have a look at ebay Australia, there is a pink FJ40 with 12HT diesel for sale, now that was rebuilt and looked like new 2 years ago, take a close look at the photo's and you will see what 2 years on daily driving will do! with no maintenance occurring.

I think you could get a FJ just as good as that for $10k - $12k and have a good $7k left over for maintenance
My $0.02

 

[edwjmcgrath]

You have to balance how much you value reliability, coolness, and cost.
The guys on here live to wrench and would rather have something cheaper that needs them to keep it running.
On the other hand, if reliability is your top concern you should buy a honda civic and be done with it.
If you are somewhere in the middle then this may be a good vehicle for you.

This is a 30 year old truck, so if you need it to start and run every day or else you need to call your mechanic, then you should probably be looking at something else. If you are somewhat handy and somewhat flexible in your transportation requirements, then this may work. They don't make them like they used to, and that's a good thing!

IMO, the price is in the ballpark if it is truly nearly mint. I paid a lot less but mine is not a 5 speed, does not have disk brakes, needed hardly any work (probably $750US so far), and does not appear to be in as good shape. I can afford it and I would have considered yours over mine because it's got a lot of things already done that I would eventually want.

Good Luck.

 

[lostmarbles]

... Are they really as unreliable as i read?......

????

What you refer to as "unreliability" I expect is connected with:

• "Age-related-deterioration" (the effects of the environment on these old vehicles)
• Normal wear and tear over the vehicle's lifespan, and
• The negative input from "previous owners" (crazy mods, driving in the sea, lack of maintenance, etc)

I've owned my BJ40 for 30 years and covered over 200,000kms and it has only ever let me down once. (I shouldn't really blame it for that "once" either - After all, it was caused by the internals of my battery collapsing "on the move" - leaving me having to get a jump-start next time we stopped and found zero-voltage available for restarting.



Their reliability is one of their main attractions!!

No modern 4x4 comes close to a 40 series landcruiser for "style and off-road-ability". But, as others have said, if do-it-yourself maintenance/repair is not your thing - DON'T BUY ANY 30 YEAR-OLD VEHICLE.

 

[dgangle]

....if do-it-yourself maintenance/repair is not your thing - DON'T BUY ANY 30 YEAR-OLD VEHICLE.

This is the best advise I have read here in a long, long time.

 

[1911]

The more i read the more i'm getting weary about getting an FJ ... Are they really as unreliable as i read?

A well-maintained Land Cruiser is likely to be the most reliable 30-year-old vehicle it's possible to have - but it's still a 30-year-old truck, and anything that old is going to need more TLC and have more frequent repairs than a modern car. Even one in perfect shape with low miles can have dry hard original rubber parts like fuel pump diaphragms, brake and clutch cylinder seals, engine oil seals, etc.

All we (Mud) are trying to tell you is that owning a cool older vehicle can be really fun for someone who likes to tinker and work on stuff (or is willing to learn how), but could possibly be an exercise in frustration for someone who doesn't enjoy those things. It's a different experience than owning and driving a new car.

 

[78692]

If someone expects a 30yr old car to be as reliable as a 3 yr old, then i think they need to have their head checked ... Undoubtedly things things rust, crumble, break with age and im hoping this is what people refer to as "unreliable" ...

If you have $20k burning a whole in your pocket then buy it, if it were me I would spend half that amount, still end up with a goog FJ that would be a daily drive. The $10k saving could be used over the next 10 years maintaining it because it does not matter which one you buy you still have to maintain it.

Well put ... Maybe i should look at this one instead ...

Same Guy - Different Car - A Lot Cheaper

Possible a better option ...

 

[edwjmcgrath]

That one looks really nice for that price, but...
4 speed, not 5 so no overdrive. That means that highway driving will be tougher.
Doesn't say power steering. PS is a big plus.
Doesn't say disk brakes. Disk brakes is a big plus.

They both look great to me. Go see them in person and send pictures of the one you drive home!

 

[watrob]

If someone expects a 30yr old car to be as reliable as a 3 yr old, then i think they need to have their head checked ... Undoubtedly things things rust, crumble, break with age and im hoping this is what people refer to as "unreliable" ...

Well put ... Maybe i should look at this one instead ...

Same Guy - Different Car - A Lot Cheaper

Possible a better option ...

At $11k that's not to bad, alot better than $20k. If you could get him down to $10k or under the savings would cover the maintenance cost for the next 15 years.

You need to check if its got disc brakes, although for $450 you can buy a secondhand whole front disc brake axle assembly, cost you another $500 to reco it completely. There are also plently of old 2F motors around for nearly no cost, buy one and spend the next 3 or 4 years slowly doing it up as a spare.

I bought another gearbox & t-case complete and in great working order the other day for $400. The FJ40 is a easy vehicle to work on, that one is in fairly good nick so you will have quite a few years with it before to need to start doing major repairs. If you don't like it after a couple years you can always resell it, you would not loose to much money if you maintain it, good FJ's are getting scarce.

In my opinion as you are starting off as a new FJ40 owner you most likey need to buy something half decent and give yourself time to get your head around owning a FJ40. Then if you keep it you can slowly do the odd maintenace repair and before you know it will be in your blood.

When you were a young boy you had a mecharno set and Tonka truck to play with, when you grow up you have a FJ40 to play with, same s**t different bucket

 

[justbecause]

not to alarm you... but that steering wheel is on the wrong side of the vehicle

 

[78692]

4 speed, not 5 so no overdrive. That means that highway driving will be tougher.
Doesn't say power steering. PS is a big plus.
Doesn't say disk brakes. Disk brakes is a big plus.

I noticed that ... And i guess being used as a daily it would make a different (not so much the 5th gear ... I dont go over 70km/h going to work) ...

In my opinion as you are starting off as a new FJ40 owner you most likey need to buy something half decent and give yourself time to get your head around owning a FJ40. Then if you keep it you can slowly do the odd maintenace repair and before you know it will be in your blood.

Thats the idea, I dont want to buy something that ill need to pull apart and put together (i am handy, but not a mechanic, and can be short on patience) ... better if i buy something already "there" and work on maintaining it and "personalising" it to suit me (within reason) ...

He did have 16k on it, and dropped to 11.5k overnight ... So not sure how much more flexible he is, but there should be some negotiating ... 11.5k is a little dear ...

not to alarm you... but that steering wheel is on the wrong side of the vehicle

Australia buddy Its Right Hand Drive (The RIGHT way) ... Its called Right for a reason ... not like the LHD aka Wrong hand drive

Once my exams are over this week ill head over and have a look at them ...

 

[Mauricio]

11.5k is still a little too dear for a 70s petrol model...

 

[juanchogaviria]

Nothing like an Fj´s reliability....

When I bought my 1970 fj40 I really had no idea how relliable they were, a couple of weeks after buying it I made a 1000 mile trip to the coast here in Colombia, South America, the trip was amazing, found people on the road that wanted to buy it from me, the las part of the trip was on a very muddy road, the fj had no problems, the outside heat was at about 105 degrees and it didnt overheat, when I came back I knew this was my kind of car, now I would like to buy another one just for the heck of having two Fjs.:

 

[edwjmcgrath]

11.5k is still a little too dear for a 70s petrol model...

I don't think that you can make a blank statement like that. It depends on the condition of the vehicle, engine, additional features, etc. A 70's vehicle in mint condition, rebuilt engine, no rust, working smog equipment, PS, AC, 5 speed, etc. could go for $30k in the right market. A 70's vehicle with a lot of rust, engine issues, etc. could be worth maybe $500.

It's worth what the market will bear and I've seen several 70's go for more than that.