Is a 200k Gen 2 worth buying?

[Swank Force One]

While i'm sure this isn't a normal situation, and i'm sure every other $3k Montero comes with all records since new and is current on all maintenance....

... I actually have a Land Cruiser. It's 4 years older than my Montero, has 30k more miles, all maintenance records since new, was in much nicer condition at time of purchase, and fell within your $5-6k mark. (Yes, it was a steal. I would have paid more for it.)

... Which is a mark my Montero exceeded a looonnnnggggggg time ago.

I'm sure my anecdote doesnt apply as a majority. But my anecdote is why i give the direction of "Monteros are cool. Buy one if you want a Montero. Do NOT buy one because it's cheaper than insert $10k truck here."

 

[plh]

... I actually have a Land Cruiser. It's 4 years older than my Montero, has 30k more miles, all maintenance records since new, was in much nicer condition at time of purchase, and fell within your $5-6k mark. (Yes, it was a steal. I would have paid more for it.)

Unicorn for sure. I've been looking for an 80 series and good ones locked are $10K plus with a lot of miles. These days I'm not interested in anything with more than 150K miles and would prefer another Gen 3 sub 100K (looking).

There is a local 2001 Tacoma for sale here with 225K miles for $2800 (needs frame). LoL

 

[Swank Force One]

Unicorn for sure. I've been looking for an 80 series and good ones locked are $10K plus with a lot of miles. These days I'm not interested in anything with more than 150K miles and would prefer another Gen 3 sub 100K (looking).

There is a local 2001 Tacoma for sale here with 225K miles for $2800 (needs frame). LoL

Yeah it was a unicorn, but 80s are still pretty easy to find under the $10k mark. Pretty much every Montero is under the $10k mark, to be perfectly fair and objective. A hundy is more like a Montero, just with a better motor. Cross shopping a triple locked FZJ80 and a gen2 Montero is kinda.... not apples to apples. If you want a triple locked FZJ80, you should buy one and not a Montero. ?

It's hard to convey what i mean on the internet, i know a lot of my posts sound like i'm pooping on Monteros, but i'm specifically trying to avoid that. Mine just hit me up for another couple hundred dollars and that made me really mad, but now that it's done, it's fun to drive it again. I like it. I just don't know how much more time i can bring myself to spend maintaining something this old that isn't a Toyota. It's just plain old not as overbuilt as my Toyotas, and it's way more annoying to work on. Love the driving experience, and i love to look at it, though.

 

[Swank Force One]

I'm not interested in BMWs past the E46 era for that reason. E46s and older are quite easy to work on. The newer stuff can DIAF.

As for being comparable, the size is pretty much the same. Both are pretty huge as far as 90s japanese trucks go. You're talking about two 3-row SUVs. Driving experience is much different. The 80 feels much more powerful, much less "nimble," and feels more solid/like it's cut from one single piece of metal. The steering ratio is also much slower, which is kinda wild to get used to when you're hopping in and out of the two.

Hands down, that said... this Montero is the worst thing to work on that i've ever had. Don't get me wrong, certain things are awesome and easy and i wish everyone got some of these things right. (I love you, balljoints) Anything in the engine bay? I'd rather have a root canal worked on. Having to unbolt the diff mounts to remove FLCAs? Puhhhllleeeaaaassseeeee.

It's still WELL within my comfort range.... it's just not anywhere near my "enjoyment range."

The FZJ80 is pretty annoying to work in the engine bay too, to be fair. The difference is that i can get to ANYTHING in that bay because there's miles of room. The annoyance is that it's a HUGE motor and a HUGE engine bay, so i just plain old can't get to a lot of it without literally sitting IN the bay. The plus side is that once i get there, i don't have to decide how much of my epidermis i'm willing to sacrifice to the wrench gods.

 

[kalieracer]

I have one with 250k runs like a top, but as it has been said 25 year old trucks need to be taken care of.

 

[PacS14]

Sorry big boy, If you have to ask, you can't afford it...jk that's from super troopers.

On the honest side if you want a reliable 4x4 vehicle, that you don't have to get up to date on maintenance, that you want to have some sort of value at the end of it all, that people are going to say you got a nice vehicle, etc go get a newer 4runner, Tacoma, Landcruiser (If you find a used one for a price you are willing to pay). These are off-road vehicles, heavy at that, you cannot compare having a BMW that's always on pavement, taking you from point A to B, where ignoring suspension maintenance can be a thing, where as long as the engine runs and transmission shifts everything else can wait. As mentioned before Monteros tend to sit around and be neglected because most owners don't want to spend the money, don't know how to do it themselves, or don't know what they have, then someone that knows buys them and wants to use them off-road, that's when maintenance beyond engine maintenance will be needed as all the rubber in the suspension will be at the end of the road on these 20+ year old vehicles.

Do I regret buying my Montero instead of a Landcruiser nope. I saw a few Landcruiser for around the same price (early 90s), and not really. Either way the amount of work I would have had to do would be the same. Now if you just want to buy parts off the shelf and slap them on the Landcruiser has way more aftermarket support.

What is it that you plan to do with the Montero? Use it as a daily/weekend adventurer? It all depends on how much you want to abuse it.