I test drove a clean, well kept '92 stock TLC today. I was very impressed with the way the owner had kept the truck - in the past few weeks I've seen a good number of LCs all of which were beaten, abused and neglected. This was really a first clean truck I've seen since starting the search few weeks ago.
My impressions of the truck were that it was clean, very few dings or scratches - most of which I can just live with. The color was gold with brown interior (cloth). 127K on the clock with the engine/transmission replaced (currently at 55K). The engine appears to run pretty well. Driving the truck on the highway was fine but heading up into the hills a bit with three people the car was really doggy - I had to floor it all they way to keep it there and it would constantly down-shift and rev up to a decent speed then down shift only to start the same cycle over again 20 sec later - kind of annoying.
The knuckles had a little grease on them - though they weren't visibly leaking. Tires were fairly new - though there were some 'no brand name' tire with pretty decent tread on them - stock size I believe. The current owner told me that he had to replace the starter and a new battery recently, Mobil 1 oil from the beginning. The car has no visible rust anywhere - the owner told me he had is shipped by his family from Alabama (family dealership there).
The H/L shifter worked fine - did a little wheeling on the dirt roads and it worked fine in all gears though the Diff Lock refused to engage in High for whatever reason - the factory switch in the dash. There was no clicking sounds when turning the wheel hard L to R even in Low - felt like a real 'tank' - it was a real great feeling... made me grinn
The brake pedal was depressed somewhat - maybe I'm not used ot it but comparing it to other LCs I drove this week and last it seems like the brakes could use new pads. There was no shaking during braking neither gentle nor firm.
Bad luck for the seller - the radiator sprung a minor leak as he pulled into the parking lot to show the car.
Overall I liked the car but I still have reservations about the constant downshifts and hard acceleration going uphill - that's really the only thing that concerns me about the car. Overall it's in a great shape and I would consider making an offer.
His asking price is $6750 - I think a fair offer may be $4500 - up to $5500 .... IF I can convince myself that I can live with the dogginess of this ride...
Just don't know still on the fence about it. I drove a heavily neglected '94 and '96 same afternoon and the cars both felt a LOT more responsive with that 1FZ engine... so I'm kind of lost at what to do about it...
Few pics follow
My impressions of the truck were that it was clean, very few dings or scratches - most of which I can just live with. The color was gold with brown interior (cloth). 127K on the clock with the engine/transmission replaced (currently at 55K). The engine appears to run pretty well. Driving the truck on the highway was fine but heading up into the hills a bit with three people the car was really doggy - I had to floor it all they way to keep it there and it would constantly down-shift and rev up to a decent speed then down shift only to start the same cycle over again 20 sec later - kind of annoying.
The knuckles had a little grease on them - though they weren't visibly leaking. Tires were fairly new - though there were some 'no brand name' tire with pretty decent tread on them - stock size I believe. The current owner told me that he had to replace the starter and a new battery recently, Mobil 1 oil from the beginning. The car has no visible rust anywhere - the owner told me he had is shipped by his family from Alabama (family dealership there).
The H/L shifter worked fine - did a little wheeling on the dirt roads and it worked fine in all gears though the Diff Lock refused to engage in High for whatever reason - the factory switch in the dash. There was no clicking sounds when turning the wheel hard L to R even in Low - felt like a real 'tank' - it was a real great feeling... made me grinn
The brake pedal was depressed somewhat - maybe I'm not used ot it but comparing it to other LCs I drove this week and last it seems like the brakes could use new pads. There was no shaking during braking neither gentle nor firm.
Bad luck for the seller - the radiator sprung a minor leak as he pulled into the parking lot to show the car.
Overall I liked the car but I still have reservations about the constant downshifts and hard acceleration going uphill - that's really the only thing that concerns me about the car. Overall it's in a great shape and I would consider making an offer.
His asking price is $6750 - I think a fair offer may be $4500 - up to $5500 .... IF I can convince myself that I can live with the dogginess of this ride...
Just don't know still on the fence about it. I drove a heavily neglected '94 and '96 same afternoon and the cars both felt a LOT more responsive with that 1FZ engine... so I'm kind of lost at what to do about it...
Few pics follow
Ned
