So....Just Bought a BLUE Locked Rebuilt 96 LX With 105k on it.....Now What??

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Francis K

Francis K

SILVER Star
10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
May 11, 2005
Threads
141
Messages
1,166
Location
SE Michigan
While agonizing if I should keep my LX or not I of course purchased another one! I'm not even sure why, I'm not a gear head so it's not as valuable to me as it would be to someone else maybe I just felt like it was my duty. I've had my 97 LX for going on 16 years now, I know every noise and clunk that truck can possibly make. I drove it and listened to the owner talk about how messed it was and talk it down like he was ready to junk it but other than common problems we've ALL had the truck ran great, better than my truck that I've babied the hell out of and pumped thousands of dollars into! I gave the guy cash, he signed the title, I drove it an hour home and just pulled it into my warehouse. Did I really have a choice??

It picked up a rebuilt title in 2014 due to an accident according to carfax, but I can't figure out where it was hit but then again that isn't exactly my expertise. With the underestimated book value and incredibly expensive price for new original parts for our trucks I feel like it wouldn't take much to get totaled out so hopefully it wasn't anything crazy. It seems very structurally sound, looks straight and drives straight.



Here is what I have so far off the top of my head:

-Missing some interior pieces (IE center console and all audio stuff) and has some damaged interior stuff like the glove box, molding pieces and some carpet. Rear hatch doesn't stay up on it's own, never realized how heavy that thing is!! Stuff like that, nothing that can't be replaced/fixed cheaply with used OEM stuff.

-Heat/AC Doesn't blow at all. No clue about that one.

-Brakes are super mushy probably needs a new master cylinder, done that dance before.

-Has an exhaust leak but a small one, I know that sound all to well it kinda made me nostalgic!

-The transmission was jerking a little bit at low speeds especially when it was cold, I'm comparing that to my truck which doesn't jerk at all you don't even notice when it changes gears. Never dealt with that one before either.

-For sure needs new shocks, it was bouncing and bobbing a bit over big bumps.

-Airbag light is on, it was on for my truck for years even though the airbags had never gone off. I don't even remember how I resolved it.

-Check engine light is on due to the O2 sensor, thats original right? God help me if I didn't have mine on for a decade....

-IT'S A DAMN SMURF!!




Now all that being said, when I had it on a straight road cruising it home it drove better than my truck that I've poured thousands into babying and I feel like my truck drives great. It felt like driving my truck but 10 years ago and a hundred thousand miles ago, other than the exhaust leak it doesn't make a single sound that it shouldn't I was amazed! It was a weird feeling driving it, I've never driven any 80 other than mine, felt like reuniting with an old friend, weird but cool, is it possible to have too much attachment to my truck I'm starting to wonder....

The question now is what do I do with it?? I wouldn't mind picking some parts off it and swapping it with my truck, I was salivating a bit looking at those front seats, among a few other pieces, and then sell it as is. I would love to swap that stock exhaust with my frankensteined a****** EMS one but that might be too much of a job and I'm being a greedy.

I could put some money into it and get it sorted then sell it. If I source all the pieces myself and do whatever small work I can, easy to do thanks to mud :), it wouldn't be a large amount of money but larger for me because I won't be doing any of the mechanical work myself.

The last option would be to do the work, line it and keep it in the family. But do I really need two 80's?? Even if I gave it to a family member which is another option I feel like it would still be mine because I would always be checking up on it.


What do you guys think, any idea on what it's worth?? Thanks!

100_1376.webp


100_1377.webp


100_1378.webp


100_1381.webp
 
Last edited:
Beautiful! Best color there is!

Looks like the addiction caught on.
 
that looks like a repaint, lol
 
Holy s*** that thing is blue!

Is it a distant relative to @120mm 80?!?!
 
hmm Metallic blue, not so sure about that color....but congrat for another one =)
 
DRIVE IT LIKE THE BAD A$$ OFFROADER IT IS
 
Repainted, abused, locked, I'd guess about 6?
 
I'd say it's worth about $500. When should I come pick it up? I've got cash in hand!! :flipoff2:

Edit: It's a 1FZ-FE, I will take it off your hands if you pay me $500! :deadhorse:
 
its worth far more parted out unfortunately. id price it 3500 as is. imo. connect with mellow in the partout section and get what you need to put her back to oem. then get a paint job. then 2x that price or more
 
Yea I know it's worth more parted out, especially with lockers. But I'm telling you guys it runs great, it only has 105k on it so the best way i can describe it is that it's not tired. My truck runs great too but it has 195k on it so you feel that a little more. But then again that's probably just me because I know my truck so well and those assholes at EMS screwed me all up with their exhaust I had to frankenstein.

Unfortunately I'm not a gear head, I probably would have a really hard time stripping parts off of it undamaged, or even evaluating parts. Also I feel like keeping it around as a parts bin would be a shame, it drives so well it just needs minor work that all of our trucks have needed at some point. Half of me wants to sell my truck and keep this one but I'm thinking I'll just swap a couple parts off of it with my truck, like the front seats and sell it as is. I probably won't make anywhere close to as much as I should on it but at least I get my front seats and it will find a good home, someone who is more mechanically inclined than I am is going to be very luckily surprised with this truck.
 
I paid 3500 for her, I'll ask a little more when I sell her but I don't think I'll get a whole lot more. Should cover my costs plus a few bucks and I would love to sell it to a mud member so I could keep tabs on it, someone is going to get one heck of a truck once it's sorted.

That is if I sell it AS IS, I'm still deciding if I should do that or put a little money into her and ask more. I could replace whatever is missing on the inside very cheap with used OEM and wouldn't mess with the audio, new owner would probably want to upgrade anyway. Fix the exhaust leak, new master cylinder, change the transmission fluid, new shocks and at least diagnose the heat/ac not blowing. None of that stuff would cost very much and after all that she would pretty much be running like a champ, the only thing is I feel like the terrible paint job just screws it all up and I'm better of selling it as is to let the new owner do her up. My downfall with this truck and mine is and has always been that I can't do the work myself other than minor BS :(.

What do you guys think?
 
I must say that color is really tough to love. I think you paid market value for it given what you've told us.
 
Francis K said:
I paid 3500 for her, I'll ask a little more when I sell her but I don't think I'll get a whole lot more. Should cover my costs plus a few bucks and I would love to sell it to a mud member so I could keep tabs on it, someone is going to get one heck of a truck once it's sorted.

That is if I sell it AS IS, I'm still deciding if I should do that or put a little money into her and ask more. I could replace whatever is missing on the inside very cheap with used OEM and wouldn't mess with the audio, new owner would probably want to upgrade anyway. Fix the exhaust leak, new master cylinder, change the transmission fluid, new shocks and at least diagnose the heat/ac not blowing. None of that stuff would cost very much and after all that she would pretty much be running like a champ, the only thing is I feel like the terrible paint job just screws it all up and I'm better of selling it as is to let the new owner do her up. My downfall with this truck and mine is and has always been that I can't do the work myself other than minor BS :(.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Sell it as Is. There seems to be a lot of things wrong for 105K. The restore needs to be done well to get good returns and If your skills are so, so, It would be obvious. I have 110K on my 40th and steering wheel looks new, leather is the same accept for edge of drivers seat where there Is some slight ware. Paint Isn't faded at all. The BLUE Lex steering wheel alone looks like its from a rig with 229K. I would dig a little deeper Into the history of this 450 before diving In. The paint says ''Whats the story here''. Color codes for 1997 LX 450 -045,1B1,202,4M9,6M1, none were BLUE. LOL I hope Its all Good so It works Out for You, Low miles, Locked,Low price I'm just sayin, I would proceed with caution. Good Luck..!
 
Whileemptyheadsdream said:
Sell it as Is. There seems to be a lot of things wrong for 105K. The restore needs to be done well to get good returns and If your skills are so, so, It would be obvious. I have 110K on my 40th and steering wheel looks new, leather is the same accept for edge of drivers seat where there Is some slight ware. Paint Isn't faded at all. The BLUE Lex steering wheel alone looks like its from a rig with 229K. I would dig a little deeper Into the history of this 450 before diving In. The paint says ''Whats the story here''. Color codes for 1997 LX 450 -045,1B1,202,4M9,6M1, none were BLUE. LOL I hope Its all Good so It works Out for You, Low miles, Locked,Low price I'm just sayin, I would proceed with caution. Good Luck..!
Click to expand...

Oh for sure those were the same red flags that came up when I went to purchase it. The miles add up correctly on the carfax and the rebuilt title being issued in 2014 makes sense since the blue book on our trucks is so undervalued and parts are so expensive. It was hit, they fixed it and decided to change the color while doing it, god knows why but they did, that's my theory anyway. When I bought my LX in 2000 the top of the steering wheel had a small mark/scratch in it, a couple years later that mark was the leather rubbing away and I used to keep a bottle of leather conditioner in the door cubby for it and 10 years later I gave up and have a cover over it now. The wheel on the LXSmurf is actually in good shape other than the very top, it started going and they didn't care they just let it go! The guy I bought it from didn't have money to even put in the gas tank, I wanted to take it out on the highway and it was on empty, he said he didn't have any money for gas and I told him don't worry about it and paid for it. Our trucks run forever but they need to be maintained, I know for my truck if I had no money to put gas in it let alone maintain it it wouldn't be long before it's a clunker barely trudging down the road. That's exactly what happened here, it's a shame because I can see past all the issues and see what a great truck it wants to be. There is definitely a story with this truck somewhere.....

I'm going to post it in the classifieds soon I hope it finds a good home, better than I could give it anyway. I don't think I'm going to list it anywhere but mud, I really really would like to see it when it's done.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom