What to do now? (1 Viewer)

[ccasteel]

My sister just bought a ’77 FJ40. She’s not that familiar with 40’s so she had me talk to the seller to make sure it was not going to be a piece of junk. The owner is an active member on mud, and I read his build thread, so when he told me it was good to get in and go as a DD, I was confident in recommending it to my sister.

They negotiate the price and next thing you know my sis is pumped up and buys a plane ticket to go pick it up and drive the 4 hour trip home. When she gets home, she calls and describes a problem she was having which sounds like a slipping clutch. So on Monday she takes it to the shop and the mechanics confirm what we expected. Clutch is shot.

I need to add here, that the owner did say to my sister when she was there to pick it up, that his mechanic told him the clutch might need replacing at some point. A fact he failed to mention to me when confirming that it would make a good DD.


So my question here is, what are my realistic options

• Negotiate for seller to replace the clutch, or at least half.
• Unwrap the whole deal giving the car back to seller for a refund including plane ticket.
• Buyer beware, you should have been more careful.
• Or somewhere in between.

There is no need to bash the seller. He’s been very nice about this all, but rather hesitant to accept any responsibility for the issue. Neither my sister nor I want to be difficult, but what is the right thing to do?

 

[Acadia]

Hate to say it but I think this is a case of buyer beware! he did mention that at some pt. the clutch would need to be replaced. That pt. could of been accelerated by the 4 hr drive home and someone new to an fj40??
I say take this as an opportunity for your sister to meet some of the local land cruiser peeps and have a wrenching party! JMHO

 

[exrsa1]

Charles, I would say with what you did with your 40, you could have the transmission out and back in, in an afternoon and she can be on her way. If you got a good deal and it was mentioned, I'm thinking it is somewhere in between.

Good luck
Brian

 

[2fpower]

I would go over everything with a fine comb and make sure everything else is as advertised. If more is out of order, then send him a list of issues, and see if a comprimise can be reached. If it is just a clutch in a 33 year old car, I would just change it and move on.

 

[techtafab]

a DD means you can drive it every day !
you got there and he said the clutch could be replaced !
and you or she drove it 4 hours ? i think it would be different it you drove it 30 min or 1 hour and the clutch left you on the road ! she got home and it was just slipping ! i have babied a clutch for months,but to others it must be replaced right now !
just put a new clutch in it and be happy.
i think this would be a different story if she was on the side of the road and a tow truck was called and there was a tow bill and so on.

 

[mwalls54]

Like said above. Go over it good and if it only needs a clutch then I probably wouldn't worry about it. she did drive it 4 hours and made it home ok. I know on my 40 before the new set up my clutch was fine around town but once i drove it for a hour or longer it would start to slip. Just put a clutch kit in and have the flywheel resurfaced and call it good for another 100k miles.

 

[trainrech]

Put a clutch in (and a new rear main seal while you are in there) and call it good for another 100,000 miles.

 

[shotgun]

this thread is useless without pictures, and throw one of the 40 in too.

 

[2fpower]

Good call on doing a new rear seal while you are there.. Just learned the trick using PVC hub to install. SLICK!

 

[mwalls54]

Good call on doing a new rear seal while you are there.. Just learned the trick using PVC hub to install. SLICK!

It is slick but you have to becareful not to fold the inner lip over when you drive it in because you cant see it. it happened to me and brian exrsa1 when we put the h55f in the 60 before moab. Drove it 100 miles to have a large puddle of oil under it after i stopped. Then I was using a seal out of a rebuild kit on the 40 and it did the same thing. I cought it though. I got a oem and lubbed it up good and put it in with a rubber hammer before the bell housing went on. Much Easier.