What to look for when buying used??

[recondocb]

I've always been fascinated with land cruisers and it looks like I might have opportunity to finally own one. I recently found a LX470 in a town about an hour away that seems like it is at a reasonable price. Very clean, records kept up, 2 owner, timing belt work done 20k miles ago. All for 7.5K. 220k miles on it.

First off, does the above sound pretty reasonable? Secondly, when I drive over to look at it, are there any major questions I should be asking or things I should be looking for that are specific to these vehicles?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Doc

 

[guardcompany]

Slee Off-Road 100 Series Newbie Guide

 

[recondocb]

Awesome. Thank you.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Take it to a dealer or shop you trust and pay for an inspection. Most charge less than $100 and if you are not very savvy on 200K Land Cruisers if could be the best $100 spent. In the end of the inspection you will know exactly where you are at with the vehicle going forward. If you still have the warm and fuzzy feeling about the vehicle use the inspection report as your key negotiating item.

 

[recondocb]

That's where I have a bit of an issue. My regular guy has his shop in one town, I live in another and the vehicle I'm looking at is an hour away from both. Not sure where to find a trustworthy shop in a strange town.

 

[guardcompany]

That's where I have a bit of an issue. My regular guy has his shop in one town, I live in another and the vehicle I'm looking at is an hour away from both. Not sure where to find a trustworthy shop in a strange town.

Any Toyota shops in that town with good reviews? That should fill the bill for a inspection.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

That's where I have a bit of an issue. My regular guy has his shop in one town, I live in another and the vehicle I'm looking at is an hour away from both. Not sure where to find a trustworthy shop in a strange town.

Dealership they want to fix everything that bad.

 

[Manhattan]

Rust

 

[Battleship]

Any Toyota shops in that town with good reviews? That should fill the bill for a inspection.

^^^ - Post in the appropriate clubhouse for local shops or individual inspectors. If you still come up empty, pay your guy to make the trip. $$, but a lot less than a nightmare truck.

 

[jblatl]

RUN FROM RUST

 

[87warrior]

My advice: Do not buy a 200k mile cruiser unless you plan on doing some maintenance/repairs yourself.

The price point sounds reasonable, but you should look at it like any used car and look at it accordingly.

Make sure it has at least one master key.

 

[tacoduck]

My advice: Do not buy a 200k mile cruiser unless you plan on doing some maintenance/repairs yourself.

The price point sounds reasonable, but you should look at it like any used car and look at it accordingly.

Make sure it has at least one master key.

disagree. I bought a 175k mile cruiser on here a year ago. other than a new muffler, the truck has been bombproof for 15k miles. I DD mine. OP, I think its worth an hour trip to check it out. Be sure to test drive it. some look good on paper, but ride like hammered crap.

Things to look for
1-RUST
2-service records
3-timing belt service.

also, you can log into the toyota website and see all the services done at the toyota dealer. Its great when you can see 20 pages of services done. good luck!

 

[bamabrock]

100-series FAQ

 

[OverLand Cruisers]

Rust X4. Immediately pop smoke and run away if it's rusty.

Also be wary of anything that doesn't have a clean CarFax, even a small wreck can tweak stuff to the point you'll never be 100% satisfied.

Maintenance records are a plus. Essentially evidence that someone took good care of the vehicle.