What to mind when buying a Troopy?

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will76

Joined
Dec 24, 2007
Threads
5
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Hi all,

I am travelling to Perth, West Australia next week and I am looking to buy a Landcruiser Troopcarrier there to travel across WA and back to Sydney (other side of Australia), where I will live from then on and use the car for everyday use.

However, I've never bought a landcruiser before and am not sure what to look for. Even though I am planning to get the local Road Assistance organization to do a check if I've found one that I'm interested in, it might be good to have some basic knowlege of typical flaws/weak points for this type of cars.

After browsing the local autotrader site in that region I came up with these two cars that are around the price area that we are looking in:

1. 4WD Wagons (SUVs) For Sale: Toyota Landcruiser PERSONNEL on Trading Post Online
This one has a limited mileage for a fair price and looks in good condition.
2. 4WD Wagons (SUVs) For Sale: Toyota Landcruiser 1992 on Trading Post Online
More milage and more expensive.

Perhaps you can give me some ideas/pointers to look at, based on these pics.

All help would be useful!

Wilko
Amsterdam
 
Number one ia a diesel. Number two is a gasser.

IMOP go with the diesel.

My criteria for Land Cruiser purchases(diesel ones)
1; no rust pls.

2; newer diesel such as 1hz or 1hd-t on my next purchase

3; runs smooth, no smoke at idle after a minute from cold. Or 20 seconds.

4; no rust again.....

5; good interior and exterior.


Buying a cruiser is like buying buying someones problems. They last for a long time. So a used one is sold cause someone doesn't want to invest in it any longer. So pick carefully. They all get the rough life IMOP.
 
IMO Will you would be better off buying private. I would not buy from either of those car yards.

When you get to Perth,buy a magazine called the Quokka. Its on sale almost everywhere and has hundreds of landcruisers ,mainly privately owned.
The magazine is on sale every thursday,5 am:D
There is no warranty protection on 4wds from car yards here,so there is little advantage buying them there.
Nearly all the troopies in the yards are patched up rust buckets unless you want to spend $25000.

Check underneath. Many of them have had a hard life in the outback and can have cracked bodies and chassis'
Look for signs of red dust,although it will be hard to find one without it.
The gearbox should change smoothly when warm.
Pay a lot of attention to the coolant system.
Rust is very common in these around the roof,windscreen and wheel arches.
Look behind the front wheels at the swivel joints. They should be clean with no grease or oil oozing from there.
Dont buy a petrol landcruiser for long trips.

Apart from troopies,the cab chassis 75 series are also good for travelling with a canopy of sorts on the back(like the one in my avatar:D).
The Nissan Patrols with the 4.2 diesel and the 80 series standard diesels also make good travellers and sell for the same or less than a troopy.

Allow some extra money for servicing engine/gearbox,coolant system, fuel injection system,brakes ect,ie $1500 min

When you arrive in Perth send me a PM and I may have time to look at a few with you;)
 
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Thanks for all the replies guys, this stuff is really helpful!

I was already kind of thinking a diesel would be better for the long hauls, so thats what the focus will be on.

Rosco, thanks for all the tips and tricks in Perth, as the offering of the private sold troopies online is not that big, that magazine you called is probably my best shot and I'll get one as soon as we've landed. Even more thanks for your suggestion to come and check a few out if you have time, I'll drop you a PM when I get there!

Will
 
will76 said:
Thanks for all the replies guys, this stuff is really helpful!

I was already kind of thinking a diesel would be better for the long hauls, so thats what the focus will be on.

Rosco, thanks for all the tips and tricks in Perth, as the offering of the private sold troopies online is not that big, that magazine you called is probably my best shot and I'll get one as soon as we've landed. Even more thanks for your suggestion to come and check a few out if you have time, I'll drop you a PM when I get there!

Will
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Hi Will ,glad you can use the advice.
Around xmas is not a good time to search for private ads online. By mid January things will be back to normal.

The difference between a diesel and petrol is about 650klm per tank vs 450klm per tank. It makes a huge difference on a 4000 klm trip.:D
The good news is that 80% of the troopiies offered for sale here are diesel;)
 
Hey will

diesel troopies rock..:cool:

my old man just upgraded his 94' HZJ75 to a 04' HZJ79
its available for inspection and sale.. $8k
a few spots of rust, but great mechanically..
i would take it around OZ for sure.. and I had dibs on it, but recently bought a bj74 instead:D

PM me if your interested.. can email pics etc..

anyways.. i would be looking HARD at the following items in the PC i would buy
- cooling system.. a MUST for outback OZ
- wear/slop in t-case and gearbox
- no leaks of oil on running gear
- minimal rust.. here in WA you are gonna get some rust unless your paying top dollar.. so a few spots in the usual places wouldnt concern me for a travelling vehicle... more important things to cworry about IMO.. (if it was a keeper thats another story)
- working AC
- good tyres and replaceable items..

you dont want to be spending too much cash fixing up stuff..
if the truck you are looking at has potential dramas.. walk away and find another one..
there is planty to choose from, so, make sure you buy the right one for the price

also early 90's and onwards.. 1HZJ75 is the model to look for.. with 4.2L engine..anything upto 400kms with good servicing is no problem

good luck, and hope ya have a great time here in west oZ

iain
 
Hey Offroad runner, sure please do send me some pics and information on that car if you would. Can it be viewed in/around perth around the 5th of january?

Thanks for the additional tips you guys, I hope there's some good ones out there when we arrive. Rosco, I'll PM you when in Perth and when I have some kind of selection, perhaps you can take a look at one or two if you have the time.

Will
 
I wouldnt buy a troopy to be honest...

We use them a lot for work, and they are reasonably comfortable, cruise well at speed, and are mechanically tough, however..

There's only really 2 groups of people who use troopys, and they are mining companies and indigenous communities.

I work out around the communities and on mine sites, and I'd never buy one of these vehicles. Mine site ones are treated very hard, although their serviceing is generally done like clockwork - they are however only dissposed of when they are stuffed.

Indigenous vehicles tend to miss out on a lot of maintainance, and when one turns up for sale it is best avoided.

All these vehicles generally end up at auction, and are then cleaned up and sold looking nice at suburban car yards, and also by some enterprising private citizens.

There are however a lot of 60, 80 and 100 series wagons - probably even more than there are troopies - in perth, and quite a few will have never been offroad, and only ever bought to take the boat away at christmas and easter and to take the kids to school during the week. I think the appropriate north american term is "Soccer mums"

Have a good look at the service history of these cars, but overall they should be in a lot better condition than a troopy.

Other benifits of wagons over troopies is access to multilevel car parks (troopies are generally too tall), and cheaper registration/licensing (as troopies are counted as busses and charged higher in some states)

Sean
 
Hi guys,

Well I arrived in Perth and started the search for a car. I must say the comments by Big Bob on why NOT to buy a troopy sound plausible, anyone else think the same way about this? Going through the quokka and the West Australian I can find no troopies for sale by private sellers so there might be some sense in it...

So now I started looking for 60 and 80 series, but I was wondering if you have any ideas on what a healty mileage is for these vehicles before trouble starts. Also, the 60 models are often advertised with a reconstructed or revised engine, and I don't really know if that is good thing or not as in my experience things often get messed up during a reconstruction.

Furter, any tips on what to mind when inspecting a 60 or 80 would be great (I'll post my question in those threads too).

Thanks a lot already!

WIll
 
will76 said:
Hi guys,

Well I arrived in Perth and started the search for a car. I must say the comments by Big Bob on why NOT to buy a troopy sound plausible, anyone else think the same way about this? Going through the quokka and the West Australian I can find no troopies for sale by private sellers so there might be some sense in it...

So now I started looking for 60 and 80 series, but I was wondering if you have any ideas on what a healty mileage is for these vehicles before trouble starts. Also, the 60 models are often advertised with a reconstructed or revised engine, and I don't really know if that is good thing or not as in my experience things often get messed up during a reconstruction.

Furter, any tips on what to mind when inspecting a 60 or 80 would be great (I'll post my question in those threads too).

Thanks a lot already!

WIll
Click to expand...

I did suggest to consider a 75 series cab chassis or a Patrol in my 1st post on this thread :D.
Good troopies are up in the $20k+ mark.
However with careful examination, patience and time bargains do pop up.

There is normally more in the quokka but January is always a quiet month for car sales.
The Sunday Times also has a large motoring classified section.

The landcruisers all need much the same things inspected when buying used. Generally rust is not a problem on an 80 series but finding a diesel 80 without 350000 klms is.

The 60 series here are either rustbuckets or are good. Again ,finding one that is good takes time and patience.
Unless you buy a HJ61,the HJ60 are a little slow on the long trips between towns.

Did you plan to sleep in the vehicle?
 
Hi Rosco, thanks for your quick reply!
We would like to sleep in the vehicle so thats why the cab version is not as suitable.

And after your tip we've been looking for patrol's with the 4.2 diesel as well, indeed cheaper to find. Our budget is up to max 13K so the " good" troopies are a bit too expensive for us now.

Are you saying that if we find an 80 diesel with around 250-300K on it, they would still do fine most of the times?

Thanks for the suggestions!

will
 
Well, we found two possibles so far:

60 series, 1986 man 5 spd diesel, 186.000 km's imported from japan for 6800 Aus$

80 series, 1993 4.2 man diesel, 274.000 km's for 10K aus$.

How does that sound to you guys? Any specific comments on these diesels?

Will
 
will76 said:
Hi Rosco, thanks for your quick reply!
We would like to sleep in the vehicle so thats why the cab version is not as suitable.

And after your tip we've been looking for patrol's with the 4.2 diesel as well, indeed cheaper to find. Our budget is up to max 13K so the " good" troopies are a bit too expensive for us now.

Are you saying that if we find an 80 diesel with around 250-300K on it, they would still do fine most of the times?

Thanks for the suggestions!

will
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The 80 would be my preference if its been maintained. Something to consider is the top end speed and I think the 80 would have a bit more speed than the HJ60.
I guess the 80 would be the DX with the barn doors ,white paint and vinyl interior.

The Patrol with the 4.2 would have power somewhere between the 80 and 60.

I see your short on time ,but waiting until Thursday may give you a wider chouce of vehicles.

If you can find a cab chassis with a canopy on the back ,would you be interested?
Here is a pic of mine (not 4 sale ;) )and I often sleep in the back,far more useable room than a troopy or wagon
new cruiser 005 (Medium).webp
 
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Hi rosco, thanks for your reply. We are really looking for a wagon-type of vehicle, and this afternoon we went to see the 80-series mentioned before. It was greasy all over the engine (especially at the bottom) and did not feel good in shifting gears down.

So we went to see another one, 245.000 kms, 1996 for 11.000 dollars that had a very clean engine. I posted some pics in the 80-series forum:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/197903-would-good-deal.html#post2911934

What do you think of it?

Will
 
Guys, thanks for all the help. We bought the 80-series eventually, up in exmouth, WA now. drove about 2000K's and it did great so far!

will
 
will76 said:
Guys, thanks for all the help. We bought the 80-series eventually, up in exmouth, WA now. drove about 2000K's and it did great so far!

will
Click to expand...

Hope you have a great time.:D
 
Exmouth is one of my favourite places in the world! While you're up that way make sure you do Karajini national park :)

Sean
 
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