Advice/Input needed about a 96

[yotagirl00]

I currently own a 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser and absolutely love it, but am looking for an older body style that I can rig up and take off roading. Today I came across a 1996 Land Cruiser for sale, and since I am the owner of a newer LC I don't know too much about the older ones which is why I need some helpful advice on this rig.
It's a 1996 Landcruiser with a 5 inch lift from Man a Fre includes; springs, lower control arm caster correction bushings, front and rear adjustable pan hard bars with spherical ball ends, adjustable upper control arms, lower control arms, stainless brake line extensions, shocks, steering stabilizer, front double cardon driveline, rock sliders from Rocky Road Outfitters, 315/75/16 BFG KM2 tires like new. Vehicle also equipped with Kenwood stereo with front usb and aux out, Kenwood and Alpine Speakers, interior Dyno Matted. Parrot LS 3200 hands free blue tooth with display integrated into sound system, Optima Blue Top AGM Battery, window tint, interior mounted outside temp gauge and luggage rack. He recently replaced the exhaust manifold. It has 227K miles on it and everything work and all fluids have been serviced. The interior is in perfect condition, and so is the body besides some very minor trail pin stripes (which should buff out). After reading about all of these additions I e-mailed the guy, and asked him a few questions as well as for a few more pictures. The only red flag that has popped up is that there are minor oil seaps (which he says the 4.5 is known for), but it doesn't form a drip on the driveway...
He is trying to sell it for $9,900, which seemed a little expensive to me, but then again I don't know too much about this year.
I attached a few pictures to show you guys what it looks like. Any kind of advice, input, etc would be helpful. or
Thanks!

 

[Andrew Prince]

from me - sounds like a great truck. With these older trucks, servicing and maintenance is generally much more important than miles. This truck sounds like it's been well looked after - the minor oil seeps wouldn't worry me too much. It has a ton of mods and accessories so probably doesn't require much more work to get it ready to play off-road So you wouldn't have to spend a lot more beyond the purchase price.
On the actual sum of money, I couldn't comment as I have no clue where US prices for 80s are relative to the UK. As a straight conversion into our money, the price looks reasonable maybe even tending towards cheap for all the extras, new tyres and so on. You'd probably be better off asking on a US cruiser site like MUD - but maybe you don't want to go there because one of them will snap the truck up under your nose

Does the truck have axle diff-locks? Most of the 80s over here do but I understand that they're relatively uncommon in the US. Diff-locks will be pretty valuable if you intend to off-road the truck seriously - if it has lockers, then that might make the price look even better. Aftermarket lockers are available but are pretty expensive when you factor in fitting plus a compressor etc (maybe $2-2.5k in the US at a guess?)

Hope that helps! Welcome to the club BTW

Cheers,

 

[james-c]

I'd say the service history is very important. The general condition of the plastic bits, hoses, radiator in the engine bay is a good indication as to how well it was looked after.

Also look at the front diff steering knuckles - if there is oil/grease seeping out the oil seals need replacing. A Toyota garage was quoting me £650 to replace including labour.

If it has diff locks - check that these work too.

With older cars in general i've found that if there are no oil leaks you know that it has run out of oil...

 

[LandCruiser1978]

it's BLACK

just buy it


80's in BLACK do things to me that they shouldn't

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi,

Again on the lockers issue, check to the left of the steering column for a round locker activator switch, if it's there 99.99% chance it's got them, if not the aftermarket option is available.

Even if they don't work (which is not uncommon if it hasn't been driven offroad much) they are often easily "freed-up" DIY or at the service. Mostly they don't work because they've never been used.

PO of my car didn't know what the knob was for after 220,000 km behind the wheel!

It looks a beauty, almost too good to go offroad. (How can an 80 be too good for offroad )

... and it's black...

 

[yotagirl00]

Just got this from the owner....
"I'll start out by informing you that I am the Service Manager of a dealership and I am also a Master Technician, meaning I believe and practice servicing vehicles. In fact as a Service Manager there are perks to the job. I purchased the vehicle about 3 years ago, it had about 160k on it. It took me months to find this rig. I looked at a ton of them and so many were beat or had been wrecked significantly. I found it at a small dealership in Marysville WA for 8000.00. I immediately serviced all of the fluids; brake fluid, transmission fluid, tranfer case, front and rear differential, power steering and coolant. I have a lot of friends in the industry who are chemical vendors (BG fluids and Justice Brothers) they always give me the hook up. I replaced the valve cover gasket, front crank seal, belts, coolant hoses including the heater hoses, water pump, front and rear brake pads (ceramic), front brake rotors, battery (Optima Blue Top), head light bulbs (PIAA extreme white), Alternator (factory Toyota, not aftermarket), I had a water leak from around the left rear window when I first purchased it, I had the window frame replaced and resealed. As for the lift...I purchased everything from Man-a-fre. They specialize in Landcruisers. The lift is a 5 inch lift, includes 4 competition coil springs that are reated to for heavy bumpers and winches without sagging, the front and rear panhard bars (kind of like a tie rod end/track bar) are adjustable and equipped with spherical ball end/heim joints for strength and articulation, caster correction bushings in front control arms, tubular rear upper and lower control arms, the uppers are adjustable and both are also equipped with hiem joints, front driveline is a double cardone, brake line extension (brake lines are all stainless and accomodate the lift). I'm sure I'm missing something. I removed the interior to install dynomat to deaden road noise and vibrations as well as provide better sound from the stereo. It also gave me the opportunity to clean it very well. I installed a parrot LS 3200 hands free cellular device that is integrated into the stereo (really cool), it automatically pairs to your phone everytime you start the vehicle. I also installed an outside ambient temperature sensor, it can be removed but I spend a lot of time in the mountains fishing and hunting it's important to know if the temperature is freezing and the road may be slick. The speakers have been replaced with very high quality Infinity speakers. The Kenwood deck will accomodate USB or AUX for an Ipod.

Back to the fluids. I service all of the fluids anually. Again...it's because I can. I also service the differentials any time the vehicle has been exposed to deep water. It is equipped with the center locking diff. It does not have the front or rear lockers. The gears are factory.

The tires are BFG KM2 315/75/16 and have about 80% tread remaining. I also have 2 full size spares (one on a wheel). I installed the roof rack primarily to house a spare when I'm on a trip, but it works out pretty nice when you run out of room inside.

I did quite a bit of research on the rig before I purchased one, but I have learned so much more since I have owned it. People are very passionate about their Landcruisers. I was particularly interested in the 96 and 97 because they are OBDII equipped and have the 24 valve 4.5 liter engine that is more efficient and Lexus designed.

I have been all over and through out this vehicle. It appears that the previous owners took very good care of it. In fact...the first time I exchanged all of the fluids, they had fairly recently been done.

Everything on this vehicle works except the trip odometer. It quit a couple of months ago. Kind of a bummer because I'm the kind of guy that resets it every time I fuel up.

I have put the last 70k on this rig. At one point I commuted 60 miles each way to work for about a year, it has taken me and my wife fishing and hunting in some great places including the Olympic Penninsula, Missoula Montanna, Oregon and Idaho. I truely love this thing. Our last trip to Montanna from Olympia we decided to just sleep in the Landcruiser. We picked up a self inflatable mattress and it fit perfectly. Anyway...I'm getting off the subject.

I'm not sure about the fan clutch or why it would need to be upgraded. 0 degrees - 115, I have never had a cooling problem including being stuck in Seattle traffic for hours with the AC on.

The last oil leak that needs to be repaired is the oil pan. It doesn't leak badly, in fact. I am usually only down about a quart between oil changes. Thats not much considering it holds 9 quarts.

The windshield is cracked and I am replacing it tomorrow. The windows are tinted.

Now the question of the hour...."why are you selling it!?"
My wife and I relocated to Lewiston from Olympia in March. We are living in and renting the house that we are in the process of buying. After jumping ship the lenders told us they could not count our rental income from our house in Olympia and because of that, our debt to income is too high by about 3%. How rediculous! So...to make this happen I am sacrificing my Landcruiser which I said "I'm never going to sell this thing" a thousand times including about a month ago. So there it is...my story. "

 

[Chas]

That looks like a fantastic truck, but that message from the PO here in the UK we would say 'too much information' it sounds like he is overplaying his hand in my opinion

 

[yotagirl00]

Just got home from test driving this rig, looking it over, and crawling up underneath of it to check everything out. i'm in love. he originally said 9900$ firm, but after negotiating with him for about an hour he agreed to 8500$...i'm still hoping (fingers crossed) he will go a little bit lower...but even then, for this rig i think 8500$ is pretty good. dont you?

 

[Chas]

It looks good, it sounds good, the price seems good and from what you say it drives good, so I would say it probably is good

 

[Towpack]

The only thing that would make me think twice is if it's that good (and the description certainly makes it appear so) why is he so willing to drop $1400 and possibly more so readily?

 

[Bat21]

The only thing that would make me think twice is if it's that good (and the description certainly makes it appear so) why is he so willing to drop $1400 and possibly more so readily?

Maybe.... just maybe, yotagirl can be persuasive

 

[Chas]

The only thing that would make me think twice is if it's that good (and the description certainly makes it appear so) why is he so willing to drop $1400 and possibly more so readily?

Maybe.... just maybe, yotagirl can be persuasive

Ooh, Bat, that is SEXIST

 

[yotagirl00]

The only thing that would make me think twice is if it's that good (and the description certainly makes it appear so) why is he so willing to drop $1400 and possibly more so readily?

he never even wanted to sell this rig, but he is forced because he has to pay off his house and him and his family will lose it.

 

[clivehorridge]

If that's the case, then pay him the asking price.

You get a beautiful rig at a good price and gets to keep a roof over his head...

Everyone happy, no?