Hey gang. I have been a Jeep owner for over 20 years. I started with a 1948 CJ2A, went to a 1985 Cherokee, followed by a 1993 Cherokee. The 1993 ended up with a 2” OME lift, quick disconnects on the front sway bar and I removed the rear sway. Set up in that fashion, the Jeep could get me just about anywhere I wanted to go. However, it has reached the point where it is high mileage, old age, and I no longer trust it to take me on long trips. So, the search was on for a replacement. The requirements:
Solid front & rear axle
Manual transmission
Under 150k miles
Under $13k purchase price
Decent reliability
Every vehicle I researched fell short in at least one of the requirements. I narrowed the field to the 1999-2000 4Runner (manual), 1995 Discovery (manual) and the Land Cruiser. It didn’t take long to find out that I do not fit in the 4Runner height wise. While looking at the Land Cruiser and the Discovery, I came across a LX450 locally that was in beautiful shape. It is a 1997 without a scratch, dent or ding and only 125k miles. It also has that funny little switch on the left side of the steering wheel that seems to send people into a tizzy.
The gentleman selling the vehicle was asking a bit more than these usually go for in my area, but considering the shape, low miles and diff lockers, I decided to go for it. It also didn’t hurt that it has a new set of Nitto 285’s.
So, I now have a My FJ Cruiser as my daily driver and the LX450 as my fun vehicle to replace the aging Cherokee. This marks the end of an era, where I will no longer have a Jeep in the stable, and my first automatic transmission. I hope y’all can accept me into the 100% Toyota owner’s club. I know that once I get out my credit card, Christo Slee sure will!
...I would have taken a picture to post, but it was raining so hard this weekend that several people started building an ark up on top of a nearby hill.
Doug
Solid front & rear axle
Manual transmission
Under 150k miles
Under $13k purchase price
Decent reliability
Every vehicle I researched fell short in at least one of the requirements. I narrowed the field to the 1999-2000 4Runner (manual), 1995 Discovery (manual) and the Land Cruiser. It didn’t take long to find out that I do not fit in the 4Runner height wise. While looking at the Land Cruiser and the Discovery, I came across a LX450 locally that was in beautiful shape. It is a 1997 without a scratch, dent or ding and only 125k miles. It also has that funny little switch on the left side of the steering wheel that seems to send people into a tizzy.
The gentleman selling the vehicle was asking a bit more than these usually go for in my area, but considering the shape, low miles and diff lockers, I decided to go for it. It also didn’t hurt that it has a new set of Nitto 285’s. So, I now have a My FJ Cruiser as my daily driver and the LX450 as my fun vehicle to replace the aging Cherokee. This marks the end of an era, where I will no longer have a Jeep in the stable, and my first automatic transmission. I hope y’all can accept me into the 100% Toyota owner’s club. I know that once I get out my credit card, Christo Slee sure will!
...I would have taken a picture to post, but it was raining so hard this weekend that several people started building an ark up on top of a nearby hill.
Doug
