New Member wanting to sell his 91 model landcruiser

[Aaron French]

To Members,

Thought I would post on here before I scrap this vehicle. My 91 model Toyota Landcruiser is up for rego and I got back a quote that it's going to cost me $1900 just to fix before rego and I don't know what to do as I can't afford this. So I have decided to put it up for sale I bought it off a dealer in 2010 and apparently its had one other owner paid $10000 had the gearbox reconditioned on 2012 and had the clutch also done at same time so 4x4 has cost me an extra $2600 over the years now I have decided to sell it and if I can't sell it then scrap it. It is a straight diesel, manual has 490000 on clock and is still going strong motor is great the thing that's wrong that needs fixing is the blinker in bill bar, head light blown, hub nut broke off one tyre on front left, sway bar, front suspension and rear handbrake leaking oil. Got quote for $1900 approx just to fix which to me is a cop out since he was the one that 12 months ago accepted the pink slip so why after a year would it have this many problems. Anyway anyone interested in giving me $ 2500-3000 for it they can take it for parts or fix it up. By paying the $1900 you would have a good car worth a lot more I just can't pay another $1900 for this anymore so I'm getting rid of it and buying something smaller please reply if your interested...

 

[StarCruiser]

Got any photos Aaron? Description might also help, 80 series Diesel I'm guessing. Your location probably useful too as Oz is a pretty darn big place.

Personally I would fix it up. You've just joined one of the friendliest forums there is with bags of information and help for these trucks. If it's not rotten with rust then although you may think you are spending hand over fist, you ARE going to need to spend a bit on a truck that age with those miles on. Once looked after these trucks reward you with great reliability but they don't go on forever without being looked after.

Welcome to the forum BTW, I hope you stay a cruiser owner but understand if it's not for you. If you don't love driving it then maybe sell but not on cumulative cost alone if I were you. Most of what you've listed can be fixed without too much trouble, if you buy the parts, then you can make a saving, if you fit them then you can save AND get to know your truck and how darn good it is.

Think on new friend.
Best wishes
Richard

 

[Aaron French]

To

Got any photos Aaron? Description might also help, 80 series Diesel I'm guessing. Your location probably useful too as Oz is a pretty darn big place.

Personally I would fix it up. You've just joined one of the friendliest forums there is with bags of information and help for these trucks. If it's not rotten with rust then although you may think you are spending hand over fist, you ARE going to need to spend a bit on a truck that age with those miles on. Once looked after these trucks reward you with great reliability but they don't go on forever without being looked after.

Welcome to the forum BTW, I hope you stay a cruiser owner but understand if it's not for you. If you don't love driving it then maybe sell but not on cumulative cost alone if I were you. Most of what you've listed can be fixed without too much trouble, if you buy the parts, then you can make a saving, if you fit them then you can save AND get to know your truck and how darn good it is.

Think on new friend.
Best wishes
Richard

To Richard,



I'm hoping to buy a newer model I do like this model 80 series but not if I'm going to keep forking out money all the time it does have a bit of rust in the back windows but other then that uts great. I'm not mechanically minded even though I can fix things and could probably fix it myself but don't have the time. I live in Sydney NSW and I do have photos but will have to post them tomorrow...?

 

[clivehorridge]

1900 AU $ is about 1200 Euro. I can't imagine me scrapping my truck for the sake of 1200 Euro.

I appreciate that the money may not be available, but as Richard says above, with assistance from members here, it's likely you could get the truck roadworthy for less than half that price.

A set of new tyres would cost me 1200 Euro fitted and balanced, so it's a bit like scrapping a vehicle because the fuel tank is empty.

Think on Aaeron, you might be able to save the old girl yet, or at least get it roadworthy and sell it as a runner for 3 times your current asking price.

Money is money after all and a small investment can offer bigger returns. Or a nice truck instead

 

[StarCruiser]

Rust is the killer Aaron. If it's mostly good underneath especially then the mechanics can be fixed. Granted it's an early truck with high mileage but in Oz the miles will always be high. I do understand the time issue and later trucks in the 80 series are the holy grail so you may have to search well for a later one. Or perhaps a 105?
Anyway, Clive is right, you've done most of what it needs by the sound of it. Think hard, maybe fix it up and sell as a runner when you have the time. Easy for us to say I know.

 

[Shayne]

Without the time and money your stuck between a rock and a hard place but try and imagine who will buy it , As Starcruiser says the 80 is a holy grail to some people and i'm sure there's plenty of folk out there that have the time and the skill to put it right but struggle to find the purchase price .

How much would it be worth repaired ? minus $1900 quotation and a handy spanner man will recognize it as a bargain to be had because he can fix it himself for less than half the cost you have been quoted .

 

[Aaron French]

Thanks guys for all your help and I do appreciate it,
I would love to keep it, it was a dream car of mine since I was young the square headlights and all. I think the mechanic is ripping me off as well to a degree but I do know some that are even more expensive than that that's for sure but as I said I don't know where to start and what I'm looking for, what part to order, if there was someone close with the expertise and could help I would be willing to learn and use my muscle just to fix it and throw some cash to that person but you don't get something for nothing I'm still thinking of what to do.

 

[Aaron French]

Does anyone know of someone that deals in Landcruisers that could help...? If I could get some of the repairs under my belt it might cost me a lot less.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Put it in perspective: A mate up here sold his 600,000km 80 series for north of $7k

On yours:

• Shocks: Fairly easy to replace, something like a set of EFS Elites are $320 for the pair
• Blinker in bull bar: Depending on make, about $40 gets you a brand new unit, realistically it's probably the connection or the $2 bulb. Look at LED options to avoid the bulb problems.
  
• Head light blown: Don't know if yours are the sealed beams or not, so harder to guesstimate a price; reckon of $50 upwards for a sealed unit, $20ish for a new bulb, but look on line at somewhere like AutoElec
• Hub nut broke off one tyre on front left: This sounds like a monkey has been let loose with a rattle gun to do up the wheel studs instead of torquing them correctly - a bit of a pig of a job, as it'll be strip the hub back etc and then go from there with new studs all round. Wheel stud is $9 each from SuperCheap
  
• Sway bar: These wear out, especially if driven on dirt roads a lot. $70ish for a pair of new links from SuperCheap.
  
• Handbrake leaking oil: I suspect it's the cylinder or the calliper leaking; not sure if the 80 is drum or disc - if drum, then a new cylinder is about $30 for a reputable brand at SuperCheap.

Go see someone else about how much it will cost to sort the technically difficult jobs; I know that the rego costs are about another $1k including greenslip and rego.

 

[Shayne]

It's daunting at first mate i dabbled in motorbikes but never needed a car until 4 years ago when i got my 90 series cruiser . I tried throwing money at it but eventually accepted garages even Toyota dealers are nothing but cowboys who will charge you as much as possible while doing as little as possible to make the car good . I recently removed a wheel arch which i paid good money to have removed and painted only to find bubbling paint/rust underneath a 2 minute fix 3 years on and something they clearly ignored .

They wanted so much to fit a new turbo they wouldn't even tell me how much "depends mate it might take all day" leaving me with the impression that the price might reach a grand by the time they had done .

So i thought sod it lets have a go and guess what , its just bolts and its impossible to put most things back together wrong because it only fits one way . I've since had the front diff out and all sorts because its all just nuts and bolts and it can't go back in upsidedown or the wrong way round because it won't fit .

I'm still learning but it is my truck that's teaching me , my advice is to get stuck in and while pulling things apart you will be surprised at how obvious it all is .

 

[clivehorridge]

I would suggest that you more clearly define the faults that you are aware of and the extent of them as you know so far.

For example I've re-read your original post and can conclude the following list:

1. "blinker in bill bar"
By this I presume you to mean the repeater indicator light in the Bull-Bar.
Most winch bumpers have them and the problem could be as simple as a replacement bulb or as complicated as a new indicator unit required.
A bulb will cost you a few cents and a replacement unit off e-Bay or a local parts shop will not be much more than 10-20$AU
Fitting will be easy even if you know nothing about wiring and the forum would be pleased to advise if you post up photos of your wiring and so forth.

2. "head light blown"
As with 1. above, this could be a simple replacement headlamp bulb for a few dollars and easy to fix.

3. "hub nut broke off one tyre on front left"
By this can I presume you mean a sheared-off wheel mounting stud?
If so, these are often easily replaced, a new stud can be bought on e-Bay for a few dollars max, and again, the forum will be able to advise you on removing the broken stud and fitting the replacement.

3. "sway bar"
There's an anti-roll bar (or sway bar) on the front and rear axles. They are steel and very rarely break themselves, but from your description there's no clue as to what is wrong with yours.
Usually, it's mounting rubbers that fail. Each bar has 2 "D" shaped mounting rubbers and the ends of the bar have rubber bushes. The front bar end bushings attach to the axle and on the rear there are links to the chassis with rubbers at each end. Sometimes the rear links break (especially if they've rusted) but the technology is very simple indeed, the rubber bushes are cheap, and with assistance from forum members, I'm sure you will be able to fit them for just a few dollars.

4. "front suspension"
This may be part of no. 3 above. Maybe "Sway bar front suspension" and if so ignore no.4.
If it's a separate issue from no.3 above, then what is wrong with the front suspension?
It could be a broken coil spring, in which case replace both sides together, this is an easy job with assistance from forum members, but the springs (new) are a little pricey, maybe 100$ or so depending on where you get them. I do think you could get springs from a breakers yard in Oz for a fraction of the price.
It could be rubber suspension bushings. These are a bit pricey and they should be new bushes that you fit. Again a couple of hundred dollars max. The old bushes on the lower suspension arms need pressing out and the new ones pressing in, but a local repair shop can do this for you quite cheaply if they have a press.

5. "rear handbrake leaking oil"
I suspect that a seal is leaking in one of the rear brake calipers, it's brake fluid that's leaking (not oil as such but it will look oily!).
Brake rebuild kits are available and they're reasonably priced. Again, helpful advice from the forum should get you through this bit of work. Otherwise, a new caliper can be fitted. Again, this should be done as a pair (both sides of the truck) because all suspension and braking components should be balanced both sides to avoid unequal braking and suspension behaviour. This is not so important if you're fitting a repair kit. Some might say I'm being over cautious, but I don't want to give advice that may cause you trouble.

My list above may be conservative, but it looks to me that you have about 4-500$ to spend on parts and some relaxing summer evenings to come getting your hands dirty.

You (or I) might have missed some things, but all of the above are fairly cheap and simple repairs. It would be such a shame to lose the truck for such trivial things. Have a shop around for a more friendly mechanic if you can't do them yourself. There's bound to be a competent lad or guy that could do with a few extra bucks in his pocket for jobs that would take him no more than a weekend to do.

Just my humble opinion.

 

[clivehorridge]

Ha, ha!! Looks like we were all typing the same sort of stuff at the same time ED/Shayne

 

[Aaron French]

No I have had two other quotes and just to fix it's a stair ting point of $2000 where it finishes is anyone's guess so I will be selling it out of rego as is and I will post more pictures on this site if anyone is interested please let me know I have three months before I would have to take the plates off and scrap the vehicle and or trade it in then it's gone forever so sad.

 

[clivehorridge]

No I have had two other quotes and just to fix it's a stair ting point of $2000 where it finishes is anyone's guess so I will be selling it out of rego as is and I will post more pictures on this site if anyone is interested please let me know I have three months before I would have to take the plates off and scrap the vehicle and or trade it in then it's gone forever so sad.

 

[StarCruiser]

It's a shame you're not nearer the Gold Coast Aaron, there's a forum member there that might be able to help you but that's 9 hrs or so away and 500 miles.

Sounds like you've made up your mind so I'll leave it there.

Maybe @Ben has room for another project cruiser though his love is for 70s.

 

[Aaron French]

 

[Aaron French]

Will be putting on car sales probably tomorrow for $3500 ono will need to be towed or put on back of truck just can't afford the repairs. This car runs very well just needs 4 new tyres and some repairs that I just don't have the time for or the money to throw at it.... anyone wanting to grab for Spare parts then drop a line or if you would like to buy let us know....

 

[Aaron French]

Will post some photos of engine tomorrow and dash inside if I get time....

 

[StarCruiser]

looks good on the bodywork Aaron. Do some shots underneath too as that's where the real story lies for a purchaser. If I was nearby in Oz I would come and look at it.

 

[clivehorridge]

It's a shame you have to let it go Aaron, but at least OZ is a good market place for 80s.