Older LC Cost of Ownership Opinions

[flybriz]

Hi there Cruiser friends! I've had an 07 FJ Cruiser for a couple of years and I just love it. I have some life changes coming up soon where I'm seriously evaluating letting the FJ go and using the equity to purchase an SUV that I can pay cash for and ditch the $500/mo. payment. I would love to have a classic Land Cruiser, but the price tag on the cherry classic LC's doesn't make much sense for me at the moment since I'm trying to avoid a car loan. I've been entertaining the idea of getting a late 80's land cruiser, one that's in the $4000 - $5000 range. I know that this is an incredibly vague and subjective question, but I wondered if I could solicit some opinions on what I would be up against regarding cost of ownership for maintenance and repairs. I know that these things can run forever, but if I pick one up in decent condition with about 150,000 miles on it, am I likely going to need to put a significant amount of money into it to keep it running smoothly? Again, I realize that this depends largely on the LC I choose and it's maintenance history, but I was hoping for some opinions on yearly cost of ownership for an older LC.

Thank you for any comments!

[Skybill]

You will probably get a better response to your question if you post it in the 60 Series and the 80 Series forums at www.ih8mud.com

Which Cruiser you choose to buy kind of depends on what you plan on doing with it.

Are you going to wheel it? Will it be your DD?

FJ60's and FJ62's are not known for great mileage. 12-14 MPG at best. FJ80 will be about the same and the FZJ80 might get as good as about 15 MPG.

That being said, I have an 89 FJ62 that I had no reservations buying with 256K on the clock.

I rebuilt the transmission and transfer case myself last fall at 288K. I could have just replaced the front pump seal and got away with it, but felt since the tranny was out, I might as well do it right.

Still cost me about $2K to do it, but I replaced all the critical parts with OEM parts and I also replaced some parts just because I was in there.

One way to look at it is that if you spend $5000 on a vehicle and pay cash for it, as long as you don't have $500 a month in maintenance costs (and you are happy with the vehicle!) you are money ahead.

Good luck!