Wanted - 96/97 Clean FJ80
- Thread starter tarheel40
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- Thread starter
- #22
Gotcha. Well the more eyes on it the better, but I feel reasonably comfortable checking it out myself if it turns out that way - may just have to bring it to your shop after the fact to get you to go thru it for me!
From what I can tell, everything seems pretty good but if there is anything I've learned from my search so far it's that there are normally a few "unfortunate" surprises in person when you really get a good look - I've already walked away from one that I thought was perfect so I'll plan to keep my skeptical hat on haha.
From what I can tell, everything seems pretty good but if there is anything I've learned from my search so far it's that there are normally a few "unfortunate" surprises in person when you really get a good look - I've already walked away from one that I thought was perfect so I'll plan to keep my skeptical hat on haha.
IMHO, you can't sweat the small stuff. All you can do is your best to find things when you buy it, after that, its just a matter of dealing with whatever you've been dealt. You will tear yourself up trying to find the "perfect" used vehicle.
Seems like you are doing a fine job of catching all you can, be diligent and don't let a couple surprises deflate your new acquisition...
I am with Jerry on this. You are looking at 16 year old vehicles at the youngest. I'd view it as a platform to build from no matter what you intend to do with it. Know as much as you can going in and factor in what you know it will cost to fix items. A great rig that happens to have a torn up driver's seat is still a great rig, you'd be surprised how far $1,500 goes toward a refreshed interior at a good local shop.
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- #25
Very true comments guys, I agree completely. My 4runner is 13 years old and extremely clean both inside and out (granted I've owned it for the last 10 years), so I know it's possible for a car to be 16-17 years old and still pretty clean. Honestly though the most important thing to me is for it to be mechanically sound and reasonably rust free - not interested in buying a rig for 8-10K and then having to spend several grand immediately to get it in good running condition.
My plan is to keep this rig for a long time, use it as a partial DD for at least the next 4-5 years, and turn it into a nice, reasonably-built adventure rig in the future. I'd really like to find a nice platform for the build since I'm planning to invest a decent amount of money and time into the cruiser.
My plan is to keep this rig for a long time, use it as a partial DD for at least the next 4-5 years, and turn it into a nice, reasonably-built adventure rig in the future. I'd really like to find a nice platform for the build since I'm planning to invest a decent amount of money and time into the cruiser.
Something a departed friend told me many moons ago and still holds true today. Plan on putting a couple thousand more into a rig after you buy it. There are going to be things the PO just said to heck with as they were only keeping it a bit longer so why put the money into it.
- Thread starter
- #27
That makes a ton of sense - buying a used anything is always a gamble, just hoping to get lucky I guess!
This just popped up....
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3929893801.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3929893801.html
Check out the forsale thread. I think this one is on the lemon lot on Bragg.
- Thread starter
- #30
This is the one I went to check out in VA, looks way better in the pics than it does in person which made me lose faith in the seller and question the mechanical integrity as well. A lot of suspicious fluid on the front axle. He strung me along saying he had standing offers for this and that, but now it's on ebay and still all over craigslist so I guess that wasn't true.
- Thread starter
- #31
Definitely the same truck, that's the seller's name and all. 11,700? Wow, not going anywhere near that. What's the deal with the "lemon lot", not a great sounding name for a car lot?
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- Thread starter
- #33
Gotcha, thanks. I did a search for the VIN a few days ago, looks like it sold last year in FL for $9100. If he can get close to that number, I'm interested, if not I'll let someone else take it.
- Thread starter
- #34
The seller seems interested in my offer so I just ran a full Carfax to see if it matched with ebay's vehicle report. Check out the mileage discrepancy -
http://www.carfax.com/viewEmailRepo...6PKL1eN68mm4+OiX/q6LcU3xPPmzKZw==&language=en
The Carfax is showing there were 162K miles back in 2006, but then when the car was sold in 2012 there were only 114K. How hard would it be for someone to tamper with the odometer, and maybe turn 214K into 114K?
http://www.carfax.com/viewEmailRepo...6PKL1eN68mm4+OiX/q6LcU3xPPmzKZw==&language=en
The Carfax is showing there were 162K miles back in 2006, but then when the car was sold in 2012 there were only 114K. How hard would it be for someone to tamper with the odometer, and maybe turn 214K into 114K?
- Thread starter
- #36
Any chance there is a carfax error of some sort or is it a safe bet that something is wrong here? I sent the carfax to the seller and he is saying he bought the car from the original owner and had knows nothing about this - it looks weird to me though that the cruiser was in NJ it's entire life and was then sold to this guy in FL, thinking there was a middle man who may have done something questionable.
Honestly, the car looks very clean and original, and doesn't appear to have 200k but I'm worried about this one.
Honestly, the car looks very clean and original, and doesn't appear to have 200k but I'm worried about this one.
- Thread starter
- #38
Thanks, I decided to pass - something doesn't make sense and I'm not going to pay a premium price for a low mileage car where the mileage is so disputable.
This search is proving to be more challenging than I originally thought, may have to back off a little to keep my sanity!
- Thread starter
- #39
I know it's a long shot, but decided to post a wanted ad on Craigslist - maybe I'll get lucky.
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/wan/3995817720.html
As always, any and all leads are appreciated - thanks guys!
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/wan/3995817720.html
As always, any and all leads are appreciated - thanks guys!
I understand what you are looking for. Have you considered looking at "lesser" vehicles that you can pay less for and use the difference to repair what needs work? Most of them need paint, many need an interior. Both of those jobs are not hard to do. Just food for thought.