Advice on 2002 Land Cruiser
A neighbor is offering to sell me his 2002 Land Cruiser, 152,000 miles. Haven't gone over it with him yet, but from a distance it looks very clean. Would like to know: What options were available for that year, and which would be important to look for? Are there any special areas I should be concerned about (mechanicals, body, trim, electrical, etc.)? What sort of price range should I be expecting/accepting (quick web search shows a huge range)? Anything else I should be thinking about?! Any help and guidance hugely appreciated. Thanks!
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Answers
The miles are pretty high, so you'd want to be seeing some service records. In addition, have a good look at the tires and exhaust system, as both of these could add a quick $2000 in repairs and both are very necessary for a safe and reliable truck (and critical if you live in a smog state).
Everybody sells a used car for a reason, so you have to be pretty blunt about finding out what the seller's reason is. Usually there are two reasons----the first one and then the real one.
So at 152,000 miles no matter what "book" you are consulting, or what "comparables for sale" you are noticing, you have to operate at the low end of the price spectrum. The miles might be pretty "normal" for a 14 year old car but miles are miles and a vehicle only has so many left in it.
By all means, if you like the truck and you like your test drive, invest the $100-$200 bucks to have a thorough pre-purchase inspection done. It not only makes good sense, it makes good neighbors!
OPTIONS: Look like there wasn't too much of significance to add on to these except things like NAV and maybe a hitch.