Hey Expo! 1992 Land Cruiser Question

[Fishdog]

Hey Expo! I'm a new guy to the site. Great site by the way, this is exactly what I have been looking for. I found you guys by looking at the Mud site, which contains a lot of great LC info, but this seems to be geared towards what I like. :smiley_drive:

I found this Land Cruiser on cars.com and was wondering your thoughts. It's a 1992 with about 126000 miles. Since I am in CO I would have to have it shipped out from OR. I think I can get the dealer to go to about 6000 - 6500 shipped. I understand that it has the 3FE, which is not the most desireable in an 80. Has anyone actually seen this one themselves?


http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...ional&paId=300003204&recnum=3&leadExists=true


Cheers:coffeedrink:

 

[Hltoppr]

Welcome to Expo from another Colorado native!

As the past owner of a 1992 FJ80, I can say they are great rigs. The major factor is that the 3FE engine, which is bulletproof, when in the heavy FJ80 package, combines low power with poor fuel economy. You'll likely get a maximum of 12mpg in town, 15 mpg on the highway, if there are no hills, and you don't try and do more than 65 mph.

$6K is WAY high for a 1992, which you can pick up all day long in the $3K range...the demand is just not there; most folks look for the 1993+ FZJ80s with the 1FZE motor (220 hp. as compared to 135 of the 3FE).

I love the FJ80...would I buy another one...dunno.... I think you'd be much better off going with an FZJ80. Check out the For Sale sections of www.IH8MUD.com

For $6K you should be able to get a well built FZJ80 in great condition.

HTH

-H-

 

[SoCal_80]

I agree the price seems rather high for a '92. There is still a big demand for the 93-97 cruisers, so getting one "built" for $6000 might be a challenge but not impossible. If it was me, I would hold onto my $$$ and wait a little bit and see if something else comes along...They always do. I would find a good priced STOCK 93-97 and build it myself. That way you know it hasn't been wheeled hard and you can get some pride in ownership knowing you built it up yourself. Just my 2 cents....

 

[Fishdog]

Thanks for the quick responses. I have been looking a bit, unfortunately Land Cruisers in CO tend to go for a premium. When looking at a 91-92 or 93-97 for that matter, what would be considered high mileage? Should I steer away from something in the 150-170k mile range?

Part of the process is convincing my wife that a Land Cruiser with over 100k miles is just as reliable as a (insert vehicle here) with 50-60k miles. . . Given that the PO kept up with all of the required service.

 

[t0mills]

As the owner of a 1991 FJ80 that I picked up for $500, I can tell you that they are bulletproof, and even with 220k miles (such as mine), I would trust it to take me from coast to coast.

I can also tell you that you'd be absolutely insane to pay $6k for one.


I've done all the maintenance on mine, and the biggest project was rebuilding the birfs. Just take your time and you won't have any problems.

Look for a 1993+ FZJ80. Preferably one equipped with lockers. I recently found a 1994 at a local Toyota dealership, going for $3800. It had the e-lockers, and was in good condition.

Good luck in your search!

 

[bigreen505]

Something else to ponder is that gas prices are low now, but probably will go back up to the $5/gal range reasonably soon. As gas prices go up, selling SUVs that get really bad mileage gets exponentially harder, and prices go way down. If you are not in a rush, it might be worth seeing what prices are like in the summer, when gas prices are artificially high anyway.

Also, I personally would not buy a Colorado vehicle if you can avoid it. Magnesium chloride dissolves everything. Since this is likely a vehicle you would be keeping for a while and you already are searching nationally, find one in a state that is more vehicle friendly.

 

[Fishdog]

Also, I personally would not buy a Colorado vehicle if you can avoid it. Magnesium chloride dissolves everything. Since this is likely a vehicle you would be keeping for a while and you already are searching nationally, find one in a state that is more vehicle friendly.

Exactly - not only are the prices for a LC inflated here in CO, the mag chloride is brutal on cars. I have been mainly concentrating my efforts outside CO, specifically in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and the like. This one happened to be in Oregon. I am not familiar enough with the NW to know if they use salt or corrosive compounds on their roads.

 

[robski]

Be patience and you will get a better deal. I used to own both fj80 92, and fzj 94, and I would prefer the fzj because it has more (not a lot) horses and a little better gas mileage.

 

[Ducks]

Exactly - not only are the prices for a LC inflated here in CO, the mag chloride is brutal on cars. I have been mainly concentrating my efforts outside CO, specifically in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and the like. This one happened to be in Oregon. I am not familiar enough with the NW to know if they use salt or corrosive compounds on their roads.

Oregon and California have some great cruisers around. They don't use salt in the Northwest.

 

[sundaypunch]

Exactly - not only are the prices for a LC inflated here in CO, the mag chloride is brutal on cars. I have been mainly concentrating my efforts outside CO, specifically in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and the like. This one happened to be in Oregon. I am not familiar enough with the NW to know if they use salt or corrosive compounds on their roads.

About 4 years ago I had an Oregon FJ62 shipped to me in Michigan. It had about 180K miles, some dents, but was incredibly rust free. As in not even light surface rust anywhere underneath the vehicle.

In general, I would take a Pacific Northwest vehicle over almost any other location in the country. Not only do you not have the salt but you also don't have the blistering sun that bakes TX, AZ, NM, etc. vehicles.