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Sigh! --Will I Ever Find One?

Called in to see the " Dronfield " Collie.
After crawling round and underneath in the wet gravel I did get a decent look and a few photos.
Looked good from 20 yards but nothing is impressive with half flat tyres.
In fairness the chassis did look decent but the tinwork looked a bit seen into.
The rear axle had been repaired ( LH turret) and covered in black dag but the case was very crusty with not a long life expectancy, The diff lock ( or remains of) would never work again.
All the rear of the chassis was full of mud but the suspension pick up points were sound.
I couldn't see any oil leaks and all the discs were very good/ new.
The bodywork was very good and straight although the bonnet had the classic rust spot where they all start to corrode from the inside and quickly get a sizable hole. ( Collie bonnets aren't available from Toyota)
The sills were pretty solid though rust had infiltrated all the seams, there were bits just came off in my hand though.
Inside looked very tidy.
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All in all it was up for £5500, about double what its worth.

Hope this helps
 
Hi Andy. First off, cheers for taking the time out to look at that for me. It's much appreciated. And it looks like you've saved me another wasted journey. From the photos you've posted, that one looks in an even worse state than the one I went to see in rotherham. At least the sills were good on the Rotherham one. And it wasn't covered in black gunk, so at least I could see the state of it properly.

Oh well. Back to scouring the ads again!

[Unless this one @Lenny Toyota has turns out to be half decent]
 
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Isle of Man, eh? You'd need to really want one badly to go and look at that.

Two or three months ago, before I sold my van, I started looking at ads for Land Cruisers, to see what was available. Back then I still naively thought I might be able to find a nice 80 Series that didn't break the bank. I soon realised there were hardly any 80s about and those that were available were asking stupid money. But I noticed that there were [relatively speaking] loads of Colorados about and they nearly all seemed to be around £3000 - £3500. So I thought "If I can't find an 80, I'll go for one of those instead"

Needless to say, fast forward a few weeks til I'd managed to sell my van and I started looking for a Colorado/Prado in earnest. And, in the intervening few weeks it seems that they're nearly all asking £5000 - £7000. I knew the so-called Covid Tax was pushing up the price of camper wagons and the like. But it seems to be affecting all kinds of motors now. Even crappy Transit vans are being listed on eBay for money that would have bought you a decent 2nd hand Sprinter last year.

If I didn't need some wheels by the end of June, I'd be tempted to sit on my money and just wait til prices come back to Earth again, before trying to find a Land Cruiser. I'm actually thinking of just getting some random cheapo runaround, as a stopgap, to use for the next couple of months, to see if things do settle down again. But, then again, even the cheapo runarounds are silly money at the moment.
 
I think even the gods have started mocking me now. Either that or the 'Three Wishes Genie' has made a serious cock-up!

I went out for my cycle ride down to some meadows, where I go running, this morning and, as I was chaining my bike up, I happened to glance down at the tyres....

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I dunno how I never noticed this before. Maybe this is as close as I'm destined to get...


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and traction control
 
Hi Stu, spoke to Adam (Dr) who told me he'd sold the Collie. He said you really knew what you were looking at. Its gone all the way to Chesterfield.
He's coming up at the weekend to look at my 120 and 100 series as he's really got the LC bug.

I'm just wondering if a UK spec Collie which comes up to expectations might be a big ask. It may be a thought to cast your net wider and look at Prado's with the intercooled 1KZ engine. They may have fared better than the UK variant. I've looked at a good few Collies since I sold mine and wouldn't buy one of them, the only one I'd buy is my old V6 and it only lives round the corner from me.
Let me know if you spot another candidate for me to view, I'm all over Yorkshire and North Derbyshire throughout the week.
 
Hi Andy.

I'm not totally fixated on a Collie, although that would be my first preference. My main priority is just to find something that isn't going to need welding on the chassis and which has a basically sound engine and transmission. Everything else is just service parts and maintenance.

I'd be happy enough to find an imported Prado, or a 120 Series, or even a 100 Series which fulfilled those criteria. I'm really not set on a particular model. Unfortunately, it really does seem that rear body chassis rot is endemic. I know that it can vary a lot and surface rust is nothing to worry about. That's what wire brushes were invented for! But literally every one I see listed has "Underbody corrosion" as an advisory on the MOT [often on several MOTs going back years]. And, given the state of the two [ie. the one I saw and the one you looked at for me] I've seen the underside of so far, it does make me wonder how bad the corrosion must be on all those others, seeing as the Rotherham and Dronfield ones didn't have any mention of corrosion at all and were both pretty bad.
 
This just popped up on FB. But if you're not on FB as many aren't then you're missing vital intel. It's an import so likely to have a decent underside. 64K miles. Looking at signage in the back ground it's in Herts.


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Even got some underneath shots! Clearly been sprayed though with some less-than-accurate masking round the mudflaps
 
It's worth waiting for the right one, nothing worse than getting it, getting excited then it all turns into a shitstorm and you wish you never bought it.
 
This just popped up on FB. But if you're not on FB as many aren't then you're missing vital intel...

I want a Land Cruiser badly, but I'm not sure I want one badly enough to start using Facebook.


Even got some underneath shots! Clearly been sprayed though with some less-than-accurate masking round the mudflaps


It seems to have been snapped up pretty quick, anyway. unless FB is just showing me that message because I'm not in with the in crowd...

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The simple biggest hurdle that I can see here really is the underside. No one sells a car really with any kind of description of the underside which means a physical inspection. It's essential. You just can't buy one of these without eyes on. Andy and I once went to look at an 80. it was very very nice. OK needed a tighten here and there and we found that it had a new wing on. Hmm, OK time to negotiate. Super high prices, wouldn't shift one penny. £14k. Then, I just decided to look at the roof. The roof???? Complete stoved in. Like a pallet of breeze blocks had fallen of a motorway bridge. They'd not seen that. Made it worth about £1k. They still wouldn't shift but said they'd have their body shop sort it out, still £14k.

We walked. Obvs. Underside was like new though.
 
Fakebook is where it-s at but any 20 + year old UK 4x4 will need some welding .Keep looking IMO & meanwhile but something cheap to run around in (and to go and look at Landcruisers ) I had to come from Spain to buy mine so i think you've got it a bit easier
 
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