'94 Toyota Hiace information - anyone?

[WU7X]

This pretty little 4WD 1994 Hiace was sitting in my church's parking lot last Sunday. Can anyone give me any information about it? I have no idea of the mileage on it. It has a disabled parking sticker on the front, an original from Japan. The body and interior are in really good shape. No rear seats, but looks like it was nicely modified into a camper/sleepeer. Are parts available for this little beauty here in the states? What are typical prices for these beasts? It would be fun to built it up a bit for light overlanding. I don't know, nor have I met the seller. But seeing that he/she has a "For Sale" sign on it, I'm pretty sure it is no problem to show it here.

 

[WU7X]

My curiosity got the best of me. I called and spoke to the owners, whom I happen to know quite well. They purchased the Hiace about a year ago from an importer in Portland, OR. The vehicle had approximately 27,000 original miles on it. It has a turbodiesel engine and auto tranny. They spent the past year driving it all over the west and added another 15,000 miles and love it. The engine runs great and has lots of power. It gets around 20 mpg average. BUT, the rig developed a intermittant grinding sound in the right front end. They had new belts, brakes, tires, wheel bearings professionally installed, and have even purchased a new right front differential for it. Looking for a mechanic to install that. The bearings apparently took care of most of the noise but they still occasionally hear a small sound. They are not mechanically inclined so are very reluctantly putting it up on the market. They like to do remote camping and need something 100% reliable because they don't want to do the wrenching themselves.

Apparently they are leaving on another vacation trip in a different vehicle tomorrow. Will be back in a couple of weeks. Looking for a Toyota mechanic in the Spokane area to install the diff. Will then decide to either keep the Hiace or put it on the market for $25,000. Ah, for the lack of a competent local mechanic that can work on this thing!