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You will never realize how much you take your "go anywhere in any weather" vehicle until you no longer have it. My wife and I both have 4WD vehicles (hers a Volvo XC90) and when the weather is poor we always take my truck because we know there is very little chance of ever getting stuck and the amount of rain or snow won't matter.

I've been lucky and never had my LX450 nickel and dime me though, even when it's broken it still seems to run well enough to get around.
 
The one thing you pretty much guaranteed to avoid by keeping the 80 are new car payments -- or even used car payments. You can do a bunch of restoration and upgrading for the cost of a loan payment every month.

If you're planning on a family, its gotta be a 4-door something anyway (car seats, remember?) and it's hard to get excited about much else once you've had a Land Cruiser to compare everything else to.
 
OR - buy something that is a guaranteed sell that you can drive while you have your 80 sorted. I bought a cabriolet while I was in the military while I worked on my Tacoma. Once the taco was fixed, I listed the cabriolet and it was sold within a week for more than I paid.
 
I'm in the same boat. I test drove a new TRD 4runner and was left with a solid "meh". Sure, it's a little faster on paper, but when I mashed the skinny pedal it made loud noises and nothing happened. I can do that in my 3-FE powered '80. I also considered the cost in aftermarket parts to get a 4runner to the offroad capability level of the '80 and you're spending at least $10K on top of a $40K plus purchase price. In the end, it's a lot cheaper to throw parts at the 80 when she gets hungry and starts eating parts, and you get to drive something with a soul, and an interesting story behind it. Besides, you can't get away with backing through a drive through in a Left hand drive vehicle.
 
Golgo13 said:
I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and recommend to go and test drive a 4Runner. You can get a used one in good condition for the money you have available. And it is a great truck. Make sure the vehicle meets your needs instead of you always having to meet it's needs.
I have a '92 FJ80, a '12 FJ Cruiser and a '17 4Runner. The 4Runner is by far my favorite mostly because I know I don't have to think about it at all. The FJ80 was great when it was driveable, but now just causes me more stress than I really want in my life because I always have to think about it being a 25 y/o vehicle. Once it is driveable again, it should basically be OK, but there are still a million things that can go wrong that I haven't 'fixed' yet.
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I always appreciate the DA response! I'd rather have a variety of viewpoints to consider than to hang out in an echo chamber. I suppose I should at the very least go test drive a few vehicles, including the 4Runner, before making any harsh decisions about something that isn't my 80.
 
Proven said:
OR - buy something that is a guaranteed sell that you can drive while you have your 80 sorted. I bought a cabriolet while I was in the military while I worked on my Tacoma. Once the taco was fixed, I listed the cabriolet and it was sold within a week for more than I paid.
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I was thinking about this too. I could get something at a reasonable price that is fun to drive and an easy re-sell at some point later in life.
 
tacosupreme said:
I'm in the same boat. I test drove a new TRD 4runner and was left with a solid "meh". Sure, it's a little faster on paper, but when I mashed the skinny pedal it made loud noises and nothing happened. I can do that in my 3-FE powered '80. I also considered the cost in aftermarket parts to get a 4runner to the offroad capability level of the '80 and you're spending at least $10K on top of a $40K plus purchase price. In the end, it's a lot cheaper to throw parts at the 80 when she gets hungry and starts eating parts, and you get to drive something with a soul, and an interesting story behind it. Besides, you can't get away with backing through a drive through in a Left hand drive vehicle.
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Haha! You speak as though we are one in the same! I love gunning it with the 3fe and watching what seems like my gas needle falling faster than my speedometer rising.
 
gummycarbs said:
Sell it and buy a Prius. They're very nice, practical, efficient boxes for moving from A to B. They're so dull that they're practically a form of meditation, so you don't have to worry about ever forgetting those 80 memories. With the money you save on gas, you can fund a drinking problem to cope with the regret.
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I hate everything about this mental image.
 
Navyator said:
I'm definitely looking to try rewiring. I've read through TONS of forum posts on it. I was worried that it might be something with my fuel system that is causing the problems, not simply overheating, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to start with the easier fix and see if anything else comes up.
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If I was in your situation I’d take $1000 put it on a hauler and ship it to ACC in Atlanta or Robbie in Colorado and say “fix all of the little things so I can have this for the next 15-20 years. You have a $8000 budget.” Buy a Corolla or a Camry to drive for a month or two while they work on your 80. Then sell it.

You couldn’t give me a 4Runner. They are just so meh. I sure as sh!t wouldn’t pay for one.
 
I hear so many stories of people regretting vehicles they sold. It is usually desperation that drove the moment. I drove a corolla while baselining a Tacoma, i sold the corolla and drive the Tacoma while i baseline the Land Cruiser. I never regret selling the corolla (it was and is a great car to someone else now), but i have not good memories of it. In 6 months of owner ship I have good memories on the 80. Have hundreds on the tacoma... I DON't regret my lack of car payments, and the money i have saved along with tools will continue to pay off for all my other dreams/toys. This is just me
 
If you have so many good memories with it, and so does your wife, and you both agree you would like to have it around even WITH kids on the way, then you have one option: Keep it.

I would just go lease a corolla or prius. Put some effort into fixing the EFI issue and use it for fun on the weekend.

Even if you'd try to sell it, its a RHD model. Even low miles you have to find the right buyer and it may not be at such a big premium. Plus, its not reliable as is right now.

Keep it, lease or purchase a cheap, practical car. My .02 cents.
 
I went 'all in' - put the 6.0LS in the 80 and drive a Camry as a daily. Best of both worlds, economy on the daily commute and a major blast on the weekends. The 80 doesn't see a lot of mileage so the fuel cost per week is minimal. I spend more on Camray fuel....
 
I say keep it Sir! Buy a nice, used reasonably priced Lexus/Toyota to daily and use the 80 for weekends to keep the miles low. My LS400 has over 300k miles, daily driven by one of my family members and doesn't skip a beat. Best $2,800 I've spent. If you have funds to do so, I'd send it to ACC Toyota in Atlanta for a full baseline.

Btw where were you stationed? I'm on the Naval base in Yokosuka with CTF70/CVN76. I'll be leaving Japan soon, nice to see other service members on the forum.
 
ACC here in Atlanta is a damn nice shop. One of the only places I would take my Cruiser and feel like I am going to get help and not further into more issues than when I started. I'll never forget the dealership that told me my cabin air filter needed to be changed.....
 
LS1FJ40 said:
If I was in your situation I’d take $1000 put it on a hauler and ship it to ACC in Atlanta or Robbie in Colorado and say “fix all of the little things so I can have this for the next 15-20 years. You have a $8000 budget.” Buy a Corolla or a Camry to drive for a month or two while they work on your 80. Then sell it.

You couldn’t give me a 4Runner. They are just so meh. I sure as sh!t wouldn’t pay for one.
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I had
LS1FJ40 said:
If I was in your situation I’d take $1000 put it on a hauler and ship it to ACC in Atlanta or Robbie in Colorado and say “fix all of the little things so I can have this for the next 15-20 years. You have a $8000 budget.” Buy a Corolla or a Camry to drive for a month or two while they work on your 80. Then sell it.

You couldn’t give me a 4Runner. They are just so meh. I sure as sh!t wouldn’t pay for one.
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I talked to ACC when I was in Warner Robbins, GA trying to get my LC back on the road with the bad radiator. They were very helpful, and I was definitely thinking about bringing it up to them for an overhaul. Thanks for the advice!
 
White Stripe said:
Take it to a good shop and take out the 3fe and put a ls motor in it. 25 to 30k is a good enough budget to do that. The LS motor is cheap to repair, easy to repair, and gets better mileage and power than the 3fe and will make it a more practical daily driver for todays roads.
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I've been tossing around the idea of an LS3 swap. I can afford a 25-30k auto loan, but if I'm doing the swap I'd like to just save and pay outright without having to take out a loan.
 
Navyator said:
I've been tossing around the idea of an LS3 swap. I can afford a 25-30k auto loan, but if I'm doing the swap I'd like to just save and pay outright without having to take out a loan.
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With such low miles on your engine I'd probably skip the swap for now and just get it dialed in. If you are hell bent on a auto loan use that $25k to pick up a C5 Corvette and use it as a daily driver.

I enjoy my landcruiser more since I have another vehicle to drive when I need to tear into it for repairs, which isn't that often.
 
ExpoGeorgia said:
I say keep it Sir! Buy a nice, used reasonably priced Lexus/Toyota to daily and use the 80 for weekends to keep the miles low. My LS400 has over 300k miles, daily driven by one of my family members and doesn't skip a beat. Best $2,800 I've spent. If you have funds to do so, I'd send it to ACC Toyota in Atlanta for a full baseline.

Btw where were you stationed? I'm on the Naval base in Yokosuka with CTF70/CVN76. I'll be leaving Japan soon, nice to see other service members on the forum.
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Thanks for the advice! I was thinking about sending it up to ACC. I was stationed in Atsugi from 14-17 with HSC-12. Deployed with the Washington, Reagan, and Blue Ridge. Have fun while you're there! I miss Japan, but being home in the states is great too!
 
ZackR said:
With such low miles on your engine I'd probably skip the swap for now and just get it dialed in. If you are hell bent on a auto loan use that $25k to pick up a C5 Corvette and use it as a daily driver.

I enjoy my landcruiser more since I have another vehicle to drive when I need to tear into it for repairs, which isn't that often.
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Yup, I was reading on here about how reliable the 3fe can be, so it definitely stalled my plans to replace the engine. Why do it now if I have a lot of life left in her? I think like others have said here, focus on getting her to a good baseline and get an everyday driver. The people here are quite wise
 
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