Is the FZJ80 worth it in today’s market?

[Lovetheworld]

It is not really special in Europe or US, mostly on paved roads anyway.
It is special if those 500.000km were all over Africa, or in some mointains in Asia in bad conditions. Central Asia and Mongolia for example. Though conditions and they don't back down.

Anyway, I am not sure if my point is getting across by now.

 

[Ozark_Prowler]

Personally I regret not going with a GX-470. The V8 seems like a more reliable motor without the HG concerns. The 80 series has the 90s cool factor and the solid axle, but I’d be hesitant to say it’s “worth it” anymore, at least in the U.S. it’s hard to find one for under 10k, even on rough shape.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It is not really special in Europe or US, mostly on paved roads anyway.

Or in the rural US with mediocre unpaved roads and heavy towing.

Most roads in the midwest are not paved. Like many in my area the road that I live on is not paved. Most farm trucks are not pavement pounders that never tow anything.

I can picture horrible conditions overseas and we ain't that. But steep hills, rough roads, mud/snow/manure, temperature extremes (we have roughly a 100*F temp swing in a year) and filthy air (gravel dust and currently dust from harvest) combined with heavy towing... we have all that. And yet 300k mile pickups are everywhere. My wife's car has 280k, my main pickup has 197k. Last year between mud and snow I was using 4wd for a month straight just to get to the highway.

So don't blow us all off as suburbanites.

 

[Lovetheworld]

So don't blow us all off as suburbanites.

I am not doing that.
Some dude was suggesting 80s only had that suburbanite usage and so it would be easy to get a reputatuon for reliability.
Which is ridicilous and ignorant to the global history of Landcruisers. They have proven themselves.
I'm not saying a US pickup would be bad at its job in rural conditions, I think there are great options all around in the 4X4 market. And the 80 is old by now.

So an 80 deserves its reputation but perhaps is not the best value for money right now. Yes in case of investment in a real nice one. But as an overland truck which you are going to properly use, probably not.

 

[Ozark_Prowler]

I am not doing that.
Some dude was suggesting 80s only had that suburbanite usage and so it would be easy to get a reputatuon for reliability.
Which is ridicilous and ignorant to the global history of Landcruisers. They have proven themselves.
I'm not saying a US pickup would be bad at its job in rural conditions, I think there are great options all around in the 4X4 market. And the 80 is old by now.

So an 80 deserves its reputation but perhaps is not the best value for money right now. Yes in case of investment in a real nice one. But as an overland truck which you are going to properly use, probably not.

I think @nickw was making that point in the context of the US, where Cruisers were sold as luxury vehicles despite their working-class underpinnings. I doubt the faux-plush leather interiors on the later 80s would hold up to much forestry work.

But I think the better analogy to the work trucks he alluded would be the 70-series pickups sold around the world to be used in agricultural and industrial settings. Toyota certainly doesn't bother with the pretense of "luxury" in those.

As for the 80 series, it seems like it's going the way of the 40 and 60 series in that it's approaching collectible status. Even a few years ago, you could find a nice triple-locked example for well under $10k and go beat it up on trails. Nowadays the factory lockers are more and more just becoming a way to boost value for collectors and would-be "overlanders," many of whom are wealthy young professionals allured by overlanding instagram accounts. I'd wager most will never use the platform to its full capability.

All the rank and file Toyota fans who used to buy these things on the relative cheap are now looking around asking "whoa, where did they all go?"

Well, if you think about all the ones that got hacked up and destroyed as crawlers, or were driven into the ground by clueless college kids, etc., this recent spike in value is really not that surprising.

I do think it's possible prices will come down again at least a bit when people star to realize how sluggish an inefficient they are, but that remains to be seen.

 

[Arktikos]

Personally I regret not going with a GX-470. The V8 seems like a more reliable motor without the HG concerns. The 80 series has the 90s cool factor and the solid axle, but I’d be hesitant to say it’s “worth it” anymore, at least in the U.S. it’s hard to find one for under 10k, even on rough shape.

Then sell it and buy a GX 470. I'd personally not worry about the HG until it actually blew, but that's just me.

 

[Ozark_Prowler]

Then sell it and buy a GX 470. I'd personally not worry about the HG until it actually blew, but that's just me.

Yeah but with the V8 you have to worry about cracked manifolds and timing belts.

And I’d tend to agree that you should fix what’s broken and just budget for an eventual top end rebuild, but what happens if the HG decides to pop during a random hill climb on some trail in the bush?

 

[Arktikos]

Yeah but with the V8 you have to worry about cracked manifolds and timing belts.

And I’d tend to agree that you should fix what’s broken and just budget for an eventual top end rebuild, but what happens if the HG decides to pop during a random hill climb on some trail in the bush?

Well, there are a lot of "what ifs", for things that potentially could go wrong. Maintain your cooling system and bring along head gasket repair in a bottle, I guess. You could get an oil analysis to see if there's any indication of a leak. Leave the HG replacement as preventative maintenance to the guys with deep pockets.

 

[hayde89]

Well, there are a lot of "what ifs", for things that potentially could go wrong. Maintain your cooling system and bring along head gasket repair in a bottle, I guess. You could get an oil analysis to see if there's any indication of a leak. Leave the HG replacement as preventative maintenance to the guys with deep pockets.

Head gaskets aren't a hard job. But I agree if you are not working on your own vehicle leave these old gals for the more interested.

 

[Lovetheworld]

The whole point of choosing a Landcruiser is to deal with a lot of those "what ifs".
So choosing a 30 year old one is perhaps not that great, because there are some what ifs again.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Yeah but with the V8 you have to worry about cracked manifolds and timing belts.

Not sure about the V8's manifold cracking but a cracked exhaust manifold is rarely a total shutdown issue with other engines. Annoying but usually they more or less self seal when they get hot.

Timing belts have a lifespan and generally have a service interval. Stay well within that and you should be fine. Change all the other associated bits when you change the belt too (any idlers, tensioners, water pump if recommended etc)

 

[Arktikos]

Not sure about the V8's manifold cracking but a cracked exhaust manifold is rarely a total shutdown issue with other engines. Annoying but usually they more or less self seal when they get hot.

Timing belts have a lifespan and generally have a service interval. Stay well within that and you should be fine. Change all the other associated bits when you change the belt too (any idlers, tensioners, water pump if recommended etc)

I was bugging a colleague of mine to get a new timing belt on their UZJ100 since it was original with over 200K miles. They finally did it at 250K!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I was bugging a colleague of mine to get a new timing belt on their UZJ100 since it was original with over 200K miles. They finally did it at 250K!

My old 4G63T Eclipse was supposed to get one every 60k...it was sudden death if it broke.

Everything I have uses chains... which I guess I kinda prefer.

 

[calicamper]

Yeh I'd like to say I could do most of it myself but I'm not sure I trust myself to overhaul the cooling system or replace a valve cover gasket without making some dumb mistake and losing coolant or oil pressure though. Maybe I'm just psyching myself out though. In the past I've preferred to drop the car at the shop and not worry about it, but that may have to change now.

5-10k seems pretty steep for baseline if you're doing the work yourself, unless the truck needs a top end rebuild? In any case, I'll have to space out the work a bit with my budget. Cooling system is my first priority.

Just to do my j80 knuckles, valve cover and new brake lines was $4200. That was a Cherry one owner low mile J80. The junk I see out there today at todays prices easily have 5-10k of work needed just to be solid reliable. Even when mine was mint I didn’t take it on long trips due to its lousy range. Was basically just a fun local car “3rd” car. My current 3rd car fun car is Grandpa’s mint SLK350. Honestly its more fun and even a better road trip rig at 28mpg at 90+mph and 18 gallons of go juice. ?
The Sequoia I replaced the J80 with needed more space, better range and power was a nice improvement. The 2019 Platinum HD pack Expedition however is by far my top favorite SUV so far. Not a narrow trail rig but pretty dang good otherwise.
Would I get a J80 again? Nope an old beater 60’s Rover would see the same use, be more fun and be far far cheaper to get to 100%

 

[hayde89]

Just to do my j80 knuckles, valve cover and new brake lines was $4200. That was a Cherry one owner low mile J80. The junk I see out there today at todays prices easily have 5-10k of work needed just to be solid reliable. Even when mine was mint I didn’t take it on long trips due to its lousy range. Was basically just a fun local car “3rd” car. My current 3rd car fun car is Grandpa’s mint SLK350. Honestly its more fun and even a better road trip rig at 28mpg at 90+mph and 18 gallons of go juice. ?
The Sequoia I replaced the J80 with needed more space, better range and power was a nice improvement. The 2019 Platinum HD pack Expedition however is by far my top favorite SUV so far. Not a narrow trail rig but pretty dang good otherwise.
Would I get a J80 again? Nope an old beater 60’s Rover would see the same use, be more fun and be far far cheaper to get to 100%

These all sound like you problems. Personal opinion if you aren't willing to do 90% of the work then any older vehicle isn't for you. Knuckles are messy but easy to do in an afternoon.