I'm in the market with fairly strict criteria. Looking for a mostly rust free, '85-'87, gray interior, mostly stock, and under 200K miles. I've been looking in the Northwest, California, Arizona, Texas. Willing to travel for the right rig. Then this one came up locally last week Friday. Seller got lots of interest right away but I was the first to see it and give him a refundable deposit to hold it. Seller left town for a week so was willing to hold it.
Verified 2 owners original California truck been in MT since 2000. Seller has had it since '97. 190,000 miles on a rebuilt engine. 32K on the rebuild. Seller has all documentation of rebuild. The seller also has documentation of new clutch and lots of engine maintenance over the years. New seals around all windows. New muffler in the last two years. Is currently getting the transfer case rebuilt and the knuckles done at local Toyota dealership. New Cooper tires. ARB bumper and Yakima roof rack with a basket.
Some drawbacks are it does have a 3" patch of rust above the right rear wheel. Frame rust (need some opinions on how bad), seller did a respray due to hail damage in 2016. No visible hail damage on the body but it is a respray. Carfax and Auto Check have some red flags concerning odometer readings and there was a minor accident in 2002 reportedly in the rear bumper. The current rear bumper does not have any dents. I'm a little concerned about inheriting a car with a poor Carfax record. Autocheck only scores it at a 39 not even in the basic range of 44-65.
I did inspect it and test drive it last week Friday. No visible rust in the A-pillar areas down through the drivers and passengers door sills. No visible rust on tailgate or lift gate. No visible rust on passenger door sills. The carpet is pretty clean but needs a proper steam cleaning along with the seats. I did not lift carpets around A-pillar and rear to inspect for rust but I plan too. Driver's seat has a small crack in the vinyl side but no tear in the fabric. No cracks in dash. A/C and heat blow solid through all levels. Radio does not work. Shifts smoothly and drives nicely. The engine bay is really clean. No rust, no leaks that I could detect from above. I did not shift into 4x4 but I plan to on the next test drive after the t-case rebuild.
Seller is asking $22K. This is a lot for me. My budget is about $20K. But I wonder if it's worth the stretch because it's in my backyard and I won't have to travel to pick one up. I can test drive and inspect it in person. I also wonder if the condition warrants the price. I know the market is whatever someone is willing to pay but I'm interested in Mudders thoughts. The bill from the dealership for the knuckles and transfer case rebuild is about $4k. This is being taken care of before he sells it.
I went down to the dealership while the transfer case and knuckles are in progress and snapped some photos while it is lifted.
Here is some c-channel and rear leaf spring/axle shots:
Verified 2 owners original California truck been in MT since 2000. Seller has had it since '97. 190,000 miles on a rebuilt engine. 32K on the rebuild. Seller has all documentation of rebuild. The seller also has documentation of new clutch and lots of engine maintenance over the years. New seals around all windows. New muffler in the last two years. Is currently getting the transfer case rebuilt and the knuckles done at local Toyota dealership. New Cooper tires. ARB bumper and Yakima roof rack with a basket.
Some drawbacks are it does have a 3" patch of rust above the right rear wheel. Frame rust (need some opinions on how bad), seller did a respray due to hail damage in 2016. No visible hail damage on the body but it is a respray. Carfax and Auto Check have some red flags concerning odometer readings and there was a minor accident in 2002 reportedly in the rear bumper. The current rear bumper does not have any dents. I'm a little concerned about inheriting a car with a poor Carfax record. Autocheck only scores it at a 39 not even in the basic range of 44-65.
I did inspect it and test drive it last week Friday. No visible rust in the A-pillar areas down through the drivers and passengers door sills. No visible rust on tailgate or lift gate. No visible rust on passenger door sills. The carpet is pretty clean but needs a proper steam cleaning along with the seats. I did not lift carpets around A-pillar and rear to inspect for rust but I plan too. Driver's seat has a small crack in the vinyl side but no tear in the fabric. No cracks in dash. A/C and heat blow solid through all levels. Radio does not work. Shifts smoothly and drives nicely. The engine bay is really clean. No rust, no leaks that I could detect from above. I did not shift into 4x4 but I plan to on the next test drive after the t-case rebuild.
Seller is asking $22K. This is a lot for me. My budget is about $20K. But I wonder if it's worth the stretch because it's in my backyard and I won't have to travel to pick one up. I can test drive and inspect it in person. I also wonder if the condition warrants the price. I know the market is whatever someone is willing to pay but I'm interested in Mudders thoughts. The bill from the dealership for the knuckles and transfer case rebuild is about $4k. This is being taken care of before he sells it.
I went down to the dealership while the transfer case and knuckles are in progress and snapped some photos while it is lifted.
Here is some c-channel and rear leaf spring/axle shots:
