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Expert Opinions Wanted --Apply Within

What does the collective wisdom of the forum think of this one. It's previously had several advisories and then an MOT fail for the usual corrosion to rear chassis. Seller claims to have then had all the necessary wedding done for its last MOT, which it passed with no advisories.

He's actually included some photos of the underneath, showing the welding. It looks pretty crude to me. But I'm not much of a judge, given the standard of my own welding!

It's also an LC5 which has had the air suspension replaced with standard springs. On the face of it that sounds like a good move to me; all the gadgets of the LC5, without that temperamental fancy air suspension.

Hmm... I dunno. Do we file under "Lots of problems sorted"... or "Patched up to get rid of"?

 
You do know you can buy an mot in a pub with the car unseen if you know the right people ?

I don't hear of it any more so i reckon they cracked down on it but years ago my mate bought a valid driving licence in a pub , he was damned unlucky to get stopped by the exact same copper who had booked him for having no licence just days before :lol:
 
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You do know you can buy an mot in a pub with the car unseen if you know the right people ?

Well, not exactly, now that it's all computerised, though you certainly could back in the day. Nowadays, it has to at least turn up at the MOT station and go through the motions. That said, I know that there are plenty of people who are best buddies with, or related to, the guy who runs the local MOT garage. And also places which sell vehicles and do their own MOTs. So, yeah, I know not to put too much faith in a 'glowing report'.

You used to be able to view the test location on the MOT History site too. Which was useful, as you could see if a motor had been taken from one place which just failed it on loads of things to another one, to get a pass. Now you need to know the V5 no. to see the test locations.
 
I posted you i think it was a blue 90 a while back without actually checking the mot history but rather because i was seeing what i'd expect to see which was rust in time to remedy and typical condition which in my view is an honest and clear place to start with making it your own .

Personally i'd prefer a known quantity in time to save than an unknown quantity that may or may not have been saved in time .
 
Personally i'd prefer a known quantity in time to save than an unknown quantity that may or may not have been saved in time .

That's pretty much my instinct too. Why would someone spend a fair wodge of cash on getting a load of welding done which, to quote the seller "...should sort it for another 15 years!..." and then immediately sell it? Unless there was more such work looming on the horizon. But I thought I'd run it past the forum gurus, just on the off-chance my natural cynicism was misplaced.
 
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There are good ones out there , my brother has never fixed a car in his life but his 120 was rust protected while still looking new underneath - but only because i told him to, and he sold it later anyway .
 
That's pretty much my instinct too. Why would someone spend a fair wodge of cash on getting a load of welding done which, to quote the seller "...should sort it for another 15 years!..." and then immediately sell it?
To be fair, the owner may want.to sell it but that's very difficult without a valid and relatively long MOT (unless you want to give it away for peanuts). So the owner gets the work done to pass the MOT, with the intention of still selling it. Though you're right that they will probably do the bare minimum to pass.

I personally wouldn't overthink it, keep looking and checking, the right one will turn up. :thumbup:
 
This stood out to me because the owner says the underneath is “Mint”!! May be worth looking into.

 
years ago my mate bought a valid driving licence in a pub
we had a local pub where you could get a licence , MOT & tax disc , a sort of all in one service. 90 series Landcruisers are now in same state that lots of Defender /discovery 1 &2 were , on paper uneconomical to repair but kept going because folks like 'em and want something that is viable to repair at home or at a local non specialist garage. Be patient but also think about how long you want to keep you next purchase for.Also think about how viable a prospect a Ford ranger will be in 20 years time .
 
The only time, way back in my mis-spent youth, I bought dodgy MOT off someone*, they spotted it straight away when I went to the post office, to buy my tax disc. And that was back in the technological dark ages before everything was even computerised.

I think it would be even less likely to work nowadays, when the coppers [or anyone else] can just look it up online.


* [fun fact. I bought it off one of JRR Tolkein's grand-daughters. Since this was about 30 years ago, I'm presuming the statute of limitations will protect the guilty!]
 
Computers are brain-dead intelligence , if a typo makes you 43ft tall then so you will remain for all posterity and i'm sure they can sell typo's when nobody actually reads all the data collected unless the computer flags up a "money to be made" mark .
 
Tell me about it. My last insurance company hadn't added my policy details onto the askMID[0] database [which is what the coppers use to check if a vehicle is insured]. So I got a nasty letter from Plod HQ in Wales, warning me I'd been spotted on camera driving an uninsured vehicle and warning me not to do it again 'or else'.

I had to hassle my insurance company repeatedly over about 10 months and eventually had to resort to setting the Insurance Ombudsman on their case, before they eventually got around to adding my details onto the database. Useles twunts!

Thing was, I was insured. I had paid the premiums and got the insurance certificate to prove it. But, seeing as they just email you it by PDF these days and let you print it out yourself, I knew that, if I did get pulled by plod, I risked getting my car impounded by the side of the road, as they'd just go off the database and "computer say no"

[0] askMID - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]
 
What do you lot think about this one? It's only up the road from me so, for once, it would actually be easy for me to get down there to look at it.

BAD POINTS:
* LC3 --if I did get an LC, I'd have preferred an LC4. But hey! ho!
* Pretty high mileage
* Late 2006, so falls into the "Ouch --my wallet!" road tax bracket
* Bit over-priced for what it is [but aren't they all]
* Only MOTd til December

GOOD POINTS:
* Reasonable MOT history. Most advisories relating to brakes and tyres. Little mention of corrosion
* Dealer seems to have a pretty good reputation
* Supposedly has been 'AA inspected' [for what that's worth]



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What's up with the dash bits all mangled up .... The right bottom cluster is actually caving in. This needs a close inspection to make sure everything does what it's meant to.

Btw, I think the cloth interior actually doesn't age as badly as the leather interior doors. Also, a car with a bit of mileage and maintenance history is better than something stood, with no history and an iffy not!
 
This is two mins from me if you want i can take a look..... I didnt know which thread to put it in you've got that many on the go Mr Stuzbot.... Toyota land cruiser | eBay - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club] I dont know the Guy but he's always got some kind of Landcruiser up for sale.... It says back end needs finishing....... 'Sez' it all really. Low mileage really for a Colorado.. Mine had 285,000 on the clock when i sold it........ Or this one Toyota land cruiser | eBay - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]
 
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This stood out to me because the owner says the underneath is “Mint”!! May be worth looking into.

Well, I've setup a fake FB account using a throwaway email address. So at least I can see these ads now... until the account gets blocked.

MOT history does look good on that one. And it's in Bakewell which isn't too far from me.

[WHOOPS! -- thought I'd posted this yesterday, but it seems I only previewed it]
 
This is two mins from me if you want i can take a look.....

Thanks. I might take you up on that, if I don't hear back from a couple of other ones I've messaged people about.

I didnt know which thread to put it in you've got that many on the go Mr Stuzbot....

Yeah. Sorry about that. I was trying to stay 'on-topic' by not posting about 90s in the 120s forum [and vice versa], or about non Land Cruisers in any of the forums.. But I ended up just making too many threads and pissing everybody off!

Anyway, back on topic [I hope!]: What think you lot about this one? Not too far from me. I asked the seller for some pics of underneath and engine bay and got this. Hard to tell if that's the dreaded black gloop all over the underside, or just some black paint. Anyone spot anything good, bad or indifferent?...

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BTW --It's an LC3 manual. !80.000 miles and the seller wants around £4500. I didn't bother posting pics of the outside as we can pretty much take it as read that they all scrub up well on the top.

MOT history is average. Mostly failed in the past on service items such as brakes, etc. But had this in 2019:

  • Nearside Rear Integral body structure or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a body mounting crossmember (6.2.2 (d) (i))
  • Offside Rear Integral body structure or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a body mounting crossmember (6.2.2 (d) (i))
Which suggests that might either be black gloop, covering up some nastiness. Or someone's had some work done there and then painted it. No mention of corrosion on the subsequent pass or on the 2020 MOT [for what it's worth!]
 
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Iv seen a Hell of a lot worse.... Ask seller about Injectors/ Seals/ etc etc if there is any history of them being done.... If Not it will be a job that will need doing soon. Im sure the 120 experts can give you a bit more detail..... At least someone has tried to keep the underside half decent, Most dont Bother
 
Maybe i'm seeing things but i'm inclined to think the rear most chassis has been replaced from a donor vehicle ?

That in itself wouldn't bother me at the price and mileage if everything else looked good . A weld is stronger than the frame if its done right and the car might drive perfectly well with that section entirely missing .
 
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