Test Driving a '93 LC Tomorrow. Your thoughts...

[harrydunn]

Test Driving a '93 LC Tomorrow. Your thoughts... **TEST DRIVE INFO POSTED**

After searching long and hard for a 1993 and up 80 series locally, one finally popped up.

1993 Toyota Landcruiser, loaded, moonroof, 4WD, exc cond, pearl white, 149k, $5995.

Spoke with the gentleman and seems very honest. Disclosed $1,400 tranny repair after he purchased it. No leaks, new $3,000 "pearlescent" paint job (haven't checked VIN for wrecks yet), good rubber, excellent overall cond. He was unsure if it had lockers.

Where would you start your offers if it comes back with a clean bill of health? I'd love to be able to take it to my mechanic but probably won't be able to swing that with the owner.

Thanks a bunch.

--Mark

 

[bpenn1980]

I'd love to be able to take it to my mechanic but probably won't be able to swing that with the owner.

Thanks a bunch.

--Mark

You might be surprised. Trucks getting 12mpg arent exactly jumping off the shelf these days with $4/gal gas. Have them drive it there, you pay for it, they get a call from the mechanic to come pick it up when he's done, you get a report and have your mechanic give them a report too. Gives you stuff to negotiate on too.

 

[harrydunn]

Funny you mentioned the gas issue. I was hoping that with gas prices rising, LC's might start showing up for sale in greater numbers. This is just a second 'fun' vehicle for me so I'm not too worried about mpg. We're sitting at $3.09 right now in Missouri. I'll see if he'll go for the mechanic checkout. That's a great idea. Does his price seem reasonable? I thought it was decent.

 

[fj40z]

When I bought my white '93 the owner had no problem at all letting me take it to a shop to have it looked over, I would probably have been a little suspicious about the truck had they said no.

 

[bpenn1980]

Funny you mentioned the gas issue. I was hoping that with gas prices rising, LC's might start showing up for sale in greater numbers. This is just a second 'fun' vehicle for me so I'm not too worried about mpg. We're sitting at $3.09 right now in Missouri. I'll see if he'll go for the mechanic checkout. That's a great idea. Does his price seem reasonable? I thought it was decent.

I'm just basing it off my experience. I had the PO take my truck to a dealership for a 60 point inspection. Got back a lot of scary sounding stuff, split the estimated repair costs and the seller agreed to take that off the price. Still was too high at $8,450 though (93,000 miles though so I'm ok with it).

I just got offered $10,000 for a 2004 Limited Heep Grand Cherokee with 50,000 miles on it....again, not a lot of money floating around out there for big ticket items in todays environment.

Not sure if $6,000 is good or not, totally depends on the condition of the truck, but the miles are ok I think. Others have a much better gauge on cruiser pricing than me though.

 

[Brian894X4]

My biggest concern with the repaint would be accidents and what kind of frame damage, axle and suspension damage might have occured.

Having tranny work at that low miles and with that tranny is pretty unusual too. Leads me to wonder if the mileage isn't a lot higher than advertised or if its damage related to an accident.

The price seems nice, but these things are hard to get rid of, so if it doesn't work out, you may not be able to get your money back out of it.

I'll think you'll see more and more put on the market, but you have to remember that very few were produced. Only about 10-15K per year and they tend to be concentrated in certain parts of the country and very rare in other parts. And last one was imported about 12 years ago.

Definately run at least a carfax. Very cheap insurance. But not 100%. Also, I'd check to see if it's an early or late '93 and whether it has rear disc, ABS and full floaters, unless you don't care about those things.

 

[sprocket3]

To me New Paint is a red flag for body work that was just done. Not every time, but something to really think about. Keep in mind that most paint jobs look great when they are new, but what they look like in a few years can be a problem.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

When I did a carfax for all the landcruisers for sale within a 200 mile radius every report came back with a wreck. Maybe that was bad luck I don't know but I'd check to see for sure before I bought something. The carfax should give you an idea of the severity of the wreck.


go to 80 Series Land Cruiser - Front Bumper for some good tips

I don't know why this says front bumper because it is the newbie guide on the slee website that tells you things to look for when buying an 80 series.

 

[cutter]

I would reiterate the carfax and chcking it over very carefully...and if possible do so by a mechanic. See my post "buying experience dilema" for a not so pleasant story

 

[Skim]

New Trans and a new paint job in 150K miles ? sounds like something is being hidden.

 

[rtarh2o]

I sold my 94 last year and repainted before I sold it to increase the value. I would say that probably half of the 80's need a new paint job so I wouldn't let that alone scare me off, the trans either. But they are markers to make you look closely, if his story checks out I would say it is a good deal, $6,000 for a 93 with new paint and rebuilt transmission, go for it if it checks out.
As far as the dealer, take it there if you want a long list of things that really don't need to be fixed and want some bargaining power. Find a good independent mechanic if you want an honest evaluation of the vehicle.
Rusty

 

[harrydunn]

As far as the dealer, take it there if you want a long list of things that really don't need to be fixed and want some bargaining power. Find a good independent mechanic if you want an honest evaluation of the vehicle.
Rusty

I've got a guy here in town that I use. Mom & Pop type of shop where they still let you "come on back to the shop" even though their sign says they can't due to insurance reasons. Becoming few and far between anymore.

I hope everything checks out. The seller said the PO has a manilla envelope full of maintenance logs and information about the paint job that apparently he was quite proud of, so it doesn't sound like he's trying to hide anything. We'll see.

I appreciate all of your responses.

 

[harrydunn]

Test Driving a '93 LC Tomorrow. Your thoughts... **TEST DRIVE INFO POSTED**

My findings:

THE GOOD:
Very clean and well-maintained cosmetically
Newer Tires
Smooth on highway (70 mph)
All power options work nicely
Lockers!

THE BAD (OR MAYBE JUST SOMEWHAT BAD):
Bell housing leak (fairly minor)
Rear differential leak (minor)
Rough idle after revved (see below)
Front locker won't engage (see below)



ROUGH IDLE QUESTION--After 20 minutes of driving or so, I pulled over to pop the hood and rev the engine a bit (Owner had no clue that you could rev the engine from under the hood). I held a constant rev of about 2,000 RPM or so for a few seconds and then went ahead and snapped the throttle open. On it's way back down, the engine dropped well below what I would call a normal idle RPM and was a bit shakey. It came back up to normal idle within 15 seconds or so. Does it just need some plugs, injector cleaner and to have the cobs blown out of it? This thing has not been driven regularly and is not his daily driver. Your thoughts?

LOCKER QUESTION--Shifted transaxle to Lo without any problems. Went ahead and turned the dial to lock up both front and rear lockers (FR-RR) and both locker lights stayed blinking indefinitely. I asked him if he had ever had the vehicle out of high and he said no, so I knew I was probably going to have to exercise them a bit. The rear finally locked up after I pulled forward a bit but the front never did and continued to flash. What's your take?

THROTTLE LINKAGE QUESTION--The throttle pedal was ridiculously hard to depress. Is this normal for LC's or could is just need an adjustment? He knew that it was hard to press down on but said it didn't really bother him.

BIGGEST BUMMER--he had another guy who was scheduled to test drive if after me and he was waiting for us upon our test drive return. He steps out of a shiney BMW SUV so I'm guessing he has more money than me. I told the owner that I'd call him in the morning for a second test drive and to run it by my mechanic which he agreed to--if it is still for sale.

I would appreciate LOADS of input on this and reminders for other things to look for tomorrow if it is still for sale. The front locker issue is a little disturbing.

Thanks.

 

[Firedog]

My findings:




ROUGH IDLE QUESTION--After 20 minutes of driving or so, I pulled over to pop the hood and rev the engine a bit (Owner had no clue that you could rev the engine from under the hood). I held a constant rev of about 2,000 RPM or so for a few seconds and then went ahead and snapped the throttle open. On it's way back down, the engine dropped well below what I would call a normal idle RPM and was a bit shakey. It came back up to normal idle within 15 seconds or so. Does it just need some plugs, injector cleaner and to have the cobs blown out of it? This thing has not been driven regularly and is not his daily driver. Your thoughts?

LOCKER QUESTION--Shifted transaxle to Lo without any problems. Went ahead and turned the dial to lock up both front and rear lockers (FR-RR) and both locker lights stayed blinking indefinitely. I asked him if he had ever had the vehicle out of high and he said no, so I knew I was probably going to have to exercise them a bit. The rear finally locked up after I pulled forward a bit but the front never did and continued to flash. What's your take?

THROTTLE LINKAGE QUESTION--The throttle pedal was ridiculously hard to depress. Is this normal for LC's or could is just need an adjustment? He knew that it was hard to press down on but said it didn't really bother him.

BIGGEST BUMMER--he had another guy who was scheduled to test drive if after me and he was waiting for us upon our test drive return. He steps out of a shiney BMW SUV so I'm guessing he has more money than me. I told the owner that I'd call him in the morning for a second test drive and to run it by my mechanic which he agreed to--if it is still for sale.

I would appreciate LOADS of input on this and reminders for other things to look for tomorrow if it is still for sale. The front locker issue is a little disturbing.

Thanks.

Rough idle, probably just a bit of maintenance, doesn't sound too bad from a mechanical standpoint.

Locker, Mine took FOREVER to get to lock in, it's still not consistant. At the best, it just needs to be worked more, at the worse, replace the motor (expensive, but still not a deal breaker in my opinion)

Throttle linkage, start by lubing the cable, but will most likely need a new cable (not too expensive)

If the price is right, sounds like a nice truck.

 

[gaylonw]

Just bought a low mileage '96 LC 80 series...........

Passed inspection with a $90 repair order for the D lite on the dash.
No rust, no leaks, Good Original Paint, All original sheet metal and glass, nice Michelins, ok brakes, Original Dunlop Spare never on the ground .
Understand I am a bit of a perfectionist; so it needed a new grill and bumper from Colorado stone and dust.
Clayed the entire vehicle, touched up the chips.
New rear bumper ends from a lack of depth/ distance perception from prior owner.
New Step pads and front and rear ends on both sides.
New dash wood.
New leather for driver seat; the other seats and carpet look like new.
Changed all fluids to Syn Lube.
The prior owner had the front axle rebuilt at Toyota.
She also serviced it at a Toyota since she bought it in 1999.
Miles= 123K.
Price $9900.
I have $3500 in it since I bought it.$13400 all in.
The point is - wait for the good stuff spend alittle more on the front end and avoid $$ after( and major issues ).
This vehicle will run for years and be worth $10k FOREVER....GM

 

[cruiserdood]

Marcus:

Before you choose go to cars.com and take a look. I bet there are dozens of Land Cruisers for sale in your area with lots of choices. I even found an FJ40 on the site.....in showroom condition.

Moral of the story, don't be too quick to buy and if you have any doubts at all, keep looking.

Good luck.

CD

 

[harrydunn]

BMW guy bought it 30 minutes after my test drive. Bummer. Oh well, the search continues. Thought this was the 'one' given the price and condition however. Thanks for the replies.