A few days ago, I got the wild idea to get rid of my daily driver, shed my car payment, and buy a used Land Cruiser. My car gets super tight with an infant and mom in the backseat, and who wouldn’t want an excuse to own a burly, old-school SUV? Well, the problem is the prices have risen so much that a Land Cruiser like this low-mileage FJ80 here on eBay is worth about as much as my daily – which still has a note on it. Foiled again.
Consider me surprised – and behind the eight ball, again – that values have risen so much for these not-that-old Land Cruisers. Sure, I knew FJ40s (old and the new ones) were commanding stupid money, but I guess I didn’t consider that the beach cottage crowd in the Hamptons had already spiked these to the point that they make no sense buying other than as an investment. Thanks, rich people! You get the joy of overpaying for a gigantic air brake that offers little in the way of refinement, cloth seats, and an engine bearing more resemblance to that which is found in a farm apparatus than a “luxury” SUV.
Of course, I still want one. Not because the jet-set from Wall Street has deemed them desirable, but because they are dirt-simple to work on and maintain – the type of SUV we don’t make anymore. We make rolling insurance claims, because the second an Escalade gets hit and its 16 airbags go off, the thing is a write-off. Never mind if there’s a computer failure in your new Navigator and Matthew McConaughey isn’t there to switch it from “Adventure” to “Babbling Brook” driving mode and you’re stuck with all eight cylinders blaring away as you attempt to navigate a railroad crossing (see YouTube for Lincoln’s latest “advertisement” for context.)
The crazy this is that this Land Cruiser with 38,787 miles on the clock is going to look cheap in ten years with its $11,950 asking price. Mark my words. If you’re in a position to buy and simply maintain this – while keeping the mileage south of 50K – you’ll make $10K when it comes time to sell. Old Japanese SUVs are on the rise, which is why I need to hoard a Trooper and a Montero before those end up on a car lot in the Hamptons, too.
I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting presentation wise, but it was certainly more than a ’92 model Land Cruiser with a $12K price tag photographed in a strip center parking lot.
The low mileage is amazing, if it’s true, but I prefer the later ones with the 24V heads and the lockers front and rear.
“Vehicle Title: Lemon & Manufacturer Buyback” hahahahahahaha!!!
Also: “The independent suspension and stabilizers on this outstanding vehicle provide added comfort and superior handling especially in unexpected close call situations” – I wonder how that’s possible with solid axles front and back???
IMO this seller is full of sh**!
Very strange description. Oh, the seller is from Brooklyn. Run.
Honestly, it looks pretty nice for the price at first glance, considering I’ve turned down $10k offers on my Tacoma with 235k *rolls eyes*. What’s up with the driver’s seat, though? Old-school Toyota truck fabrics wear pretty tough; that looks like more than 38k of wear to me. Why are is everything in the engine bay so rusty? No mention of the “Lemon & Manufacturer Buyback” title? Yeah. Something’s off.