- Year
- 2001
- Vehicle Model
- 100 Series
- Location
- United States
- Mileage
- 12345
- Color
- rgb(205, 201, 201)
Does anyone know how I can find an LC/LX that's not someone's flip?
Sorry, this is just a bit of a rant and may not be very popular, but since I have been looking for one of these (over a year now - nationwide!) pretty much all I find are people who are "flipping" these things. I know there are probably a number of people on Mud who flip rigs but if someone has been active on Mud for years and has a good reputation that doesn't bother me.
What bothers me is that at any given time I will see a number of these going for $20,000+ for a rig with 150k+ miles, multiple owners, etc. To be honest, many of them seem to be good rigs and would likely serve me well. But the person flipping this Cruiser and asking $20,000 for it didn't but it for $20,000. More likely $14,000 - $15,000. So where did they buy it? It's just getting frustrating when that's all I see. And I am not going to pay someone top dollar who probably low-balled a desperate seller, spent a few hours detailing it and bought a car-fax. They know nothing about how the car was maintained other than saying it was "dealer serviced". I want to buy from an actual owner who has driven it and can tell me what was done (and that I can verify).
Maybe I am underestimating what goes into a flip, but if I were going do this I am putting as little into it as possible to maximize profit potential. Like if it needs a timing belt I am going to do JUST the belt and water pump. I am not going to do anything else because I do not care about the long-term reliability of the vehicle.
The advertisements are all the same too. "This is your chance to own the legendary Land Cruiser. V8 can go to 500,000 miles! Built like a tank! Best off-road vehicle ever! Blah blah blah!" If you are looking at a Land Cruiser you know what you are looking for. Also they are super vague about ownership. They will say things like "1-owner California Cruiser!" But they never say THEY are the owner.
Whenever I ask them more specific questions they either get defensive or just ignore me. If they respond it's just something like "That's the market. People pay top-dollar for these rigs." But they didn't.
The thing that bothers me the most though is that these guys all show up as "For Sale by Owner" yet I don't consider this to be the case. I know you can sell a certain number of cars without a dealer license, but you are a reseller. NOT a private owner.
Rant over!
Sorry, this is just a bit of a rant and may not be very popular, but since I have been looking for one of these (over a year now - nationwide!) pretty much all I find are people who are "flipping" these things. I know there are probably a number of people on Mud who flip rigs but if someone has been active on Mud for years and has a good reputation that doesn't bother me.
What bothers me is that at any given time I will see a number of these going for $20,000+ for a rig with 150k+ miles, multiple owners, etc. To be honest, many of them seem to be good rigs and would likely serve me well. But the person flipping this Cruiser and asking $20,000 for it didn't but it for $20,000. More likely $14,000 - $15,000. So where did they buy it? It's just getting frustrating when that's all I see. And I am not going to pay someone top dollar who probably low-balled a desperate seller, spent a few hours detailing it and bought a car-fax. They know nothing about how the car was maintained other than saying it was "dealer serviced". I want to buy from an actual owner who has driven it and can tell me what was done (and that I can verify).
Maybe I am underestimating what goes into a flip, but if I were going do this I am putting as little into it as possible to maximize profit potential. Like if it needs a timing belt I am going to do JUST the belt and water pump. I am not going to do anything else because I do not care about the long-term reliability of the vehicle.
The advertisements are all the same too. "This is your chance to own the legendary Land Cruiser. V8 can go to 500,000 miles! Built like a tank! Best off-road vehicle ever! Blah blah blah!" If you are looking at a Land Cruiser you know what you are looking for. Also they are super vague about ownership. They will say things like "1-owner California Cruiser!" But they never say THEY are the owner.
Whenever I ask them more specific questions they either get defensive or just ignore me. If they respond it's just something like "That's the market. People pay top-dollar for these rigs." But they didn't.
The thing that bothers me the most though is that these guys all show up as "For Sale by Owner" yet I don't consider this to be the case. I know you can sell a certain number of cars without a dealer license, but you are a reseller. NOT a private owner.
Rant over!