Hi - Brand new to this forum. I am looking at buying an 84 Land Cruiser. I Looked at as best I could last night, and I have it over at my mechanics' place right now (Monday, 11:00 a.m.) getting looked over. I have never owned one, and never really looked at them before, so I'm kind of in the dark. Here's what I can tell you:

84 Land Cruiser, 4.2, 4 sp, AC / PS / PB / Fold down rear / AM FM Cassette --- pretty basic - no power antenna, no power windows, etc. 230,000 - nothing's been rebuilt.

Body & Paint - Cherry - This thing has been garaged it's whole life. First owner owned for 24 years, current owner has had for 2 years. One SMALL (size of a dime) ding on the drivers quarter panel, Zero rust anywhere, paint (white) in excellent condition. Doesn't look like it has even been offroad.

Interior - I would give it a 9 out of 10 - Dashpad, dash, carpet, headliner, door panels, all in excellent condition. One tear in the driver's seat cushion, drivers side window regular needs some attention... that's it. MINOR wear in places like kick panels, carpet, etc... very nice.

Engine compartment - Looks very clean, but there definately is oil leaking both top and bottom. Mechanic gave me an interim uptate --- leaks at rear main seal, trans pan, rear axle --- said it was sealed with old school "blue goo" (???) which, apparently, was one way to do it back in the day. Said they all need to be addressed. AC blower, condensor etc works, but doesn't blow cold. Needs to be evacuated, converted over and charged... may have a leak???

Has a book of receipts of every service every performed (haven't seen it myself, but I know the current owner has it). Had the gas tank factory recall performed, has been regurlarly serviced, and probably babied it's whole live. I don't have any pics of it. I will be picking it back up later today and wanted to see if anyone has a clue what this might be worth. California car it's whole live. Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to the TRUCK forums. I'd pay no more than $1000. I'm sorry, but you're not driving paint and dash pads, you're driving the truck, and no matter how nice it looks that thing is old and will need some work to get it to be a nice driving truck. I've owned only one cruiser, an 83, so basically the same one you're looking to get, and I've had many pickups and runners, and I can say that from a mechanics standpoint the trucks and runners a re a whole lot easier to work on. That being said, 60 series cruisers are still just plain cool. Big, boxy, roomy, and they do turn heads.

 

DANG - First, I truly appreciate the input. But.......... WOW - I never thought the value would be that low. Being as how I am laid up until at least December, maybe longer, there's no way I could even change a spark plug on it myself right now, let alone crawl under it to do anything else. They guy was asking $6,000, and I have him down to $5300, but I doubt he will go much lower. I thought..... maybe a value would be around $4000 - $4500, but had no clue it would be valued that low. I'm into older muscle cars, and this would be for the wife (she loves how it "Looks" ... birthday coming up at the end of the month, and she just had a major fender bender in her 98 Caravan yesterday... can't even open the hatch in the back.

Any other opinions - I can take it, and I can leave it too

 

Had a family friend die recently and they tried selling his 60 which had sat in a barn most of its life for 2k. Took a while to sell. One good thing about them is the SOA mod for relatively cheap and easy lift. Maybe the price varies a lot between Cali and North Carolina.

 

P.S. - It does run and drive very nicely... took it down country roads, city streets, highway... no noises, no squeaks, no issues

 

Update:

Well, just got back from the shop. Seems there are "issues":

Rear main seal leaks
Transfer case leaks
Car won't rev over 3000 rpm (Tach goes to 4k)
Other potential issues, but I think these make it a no-go

Owner of the shop said he wouldn't give over $1500... I guess you were pretty spot on OldGold......Thanks for all the help... I'll be back.