Should I buy a 1993 Toyota Landcruiser FZJ80

[James__oconnell]

Hey, this is my first post on the forum. I'm a 19 and am looking at buying my first 4wd for weekend adventures. I have found a petrol 80 series with 179,000km for $13,000. I was just wondering people's thoughts on this whether it's worth it or should I buy a newer ute (like a demax or triton) or even a Prado. Being a university student I don't have that much money. This car is fairly grandpa stock. Thanks for anyone's help, I still don't know that much about this stuff.

 

[Lost1?]

If it is truly grandpa's car and all indicators confirm this on inspection, go for it. But these cars are thirsty and are not cheap to maintain. You need to do your sums to make sure you can afford it.

 

[discomatt]

First you need to decide what you want it for, driving to a camp spot beside a river and relaxing, basic touring, remote touring or tackling tough tracks when ever you can.
Just the fuel bill and if your not handy with the spanners an old 4wd will send you close to broke regardless of what brand it is.

 

[Deadweight]

You should be able to find a petrol 105 series with similar kms for a similar price, although they have gone up a bit recently with covid prices. I paid $13k for mine in 2019, single owner with just over 200k km on the clock. Maybe not as cool as the 80 but very similar engine and driveline, a little better on fuel and a bit newer (= less maintenance overall). Overall probably wouldn't recommend the petrol 80 or 105 on a uni student budget (I certainly wouldn't be able to afford the fuel bills when I was at uni!) - expect anywhere from 18L/100km to 30L/100km depending on load. That's assuming it's not on LPG

 

[James__oconnell]

First you need to decide what you want it for, driving to a camp spot beside a river and relaxing, basic touring, remote touring or tackling tough tracks when ever you can.
Just the fuel bill and if your not handy with the spanners an old 4wd will send you close to broke regardless of what brand it is.

The main purpose of the vehicle is just to do some lighter weekend touring, getting to some off-grid campsites and some tougher tracks but nothing ridiculous. Maybe eventually doing thee cape. The main driving factor for me getting it now is that I'm going to work at the snow this winter and would prefer to get a 4wd before then so I don't have to put chains on every day.

 

[Toyasaurus]

The cheapest part of owning a car is buying it.

 

[Albynsw]

Regardless how good the 80 is it will be heavy on fuel and perhaps maintenance. A Triton or similar might be a more budget friendly option to run longer term

 

[cam04]

‘93 was the update to 1fz-fe. If it is manual you can get 17-19 L/100. If it has 180,000 genuine kms it might be sold already. It is a rare thing at those kms. They really don’t need any mods to go touring. No chance I’d take a 100 series over an 80. They were a backward step IMHO until the TD 105’s arrived.

 

[Deadweight]

‘93 was the update to 1fz-fe. If it is manual you can get 17-19 L/100. If it has 180,000 genuine kms it might be sold already. It is a rare thing at those kms. They really don’t need any mods to go touring. No chance I’d take a 100 series over an 80. They were a backward step IMHO until the TD 105’s arrived.

No such thing as a TD 105 (aside from those that have been converted), only TD 100s (HDJ100 with IFS).
105s (solid axle) and 80s are very, very similar in a lot of respects including driveline and the 1FZ and 1HZ engine offerings. 105s have a higher payload and I believe a higher towing capacity although I think the 80s were upgraded to 3500kg in 1996 with the 1HD-FT update, although not sure if that was only the turbo diesel models. Various driveline components are reported to be stronger in the 80s (e.g. diffs), and some in the 105s (e.g. wheel bearings, sub axle) but not sure how much of this is just hearsay.

 

[Rusty Panels]

Don't expect performance or economy out of any of them. If you just want to get to the odd camp site I'd be looking at something a bit easier on the pocket for your everyday use like an x-trail or similar. Maybe leave the serious off roading till you have finished uni and can afford the extra expense.
also as I said, most of these things wouldn't pull a straw from your thick shake.

 

[cam04]

No such thing as a TD 105 (aside from those that have been converted), only TD 100s (HDJ100 with IFS).
105s (solid axle) and 80s are very, very similar in a lot of respects including driveline and the 1FZ and 1HZ engine offerings. 105s have a higher payload and I believe a higher towing capacity although I think the 80s were upgraded to 3500kg in 1996 with the 1HD-FT update, although not sure if that was only the turbo diesel models. Various driveline components are reported to be stronger in the 80s (e.g. diffs), and some in the 105s (e.g. wheel bearings, sub axle) but not sure how much of this is just hearsay.

Yes I mixed them up again. 105 came out first then they went backwards to 100 - who does that?
Yes 105 has a high pinion front diff made of cheese. They are not as reliable as an off-road proposition as an 80. Never try to recover or even drive steep hills in reverse in a 105. We broke a few at work doing pretty mundane stuff that we had done for years with the 80’s without issue. Most 105’s would have front air lockers by now to replace the broken parts cheaper than buying another weak diff from Toyota.

 

[Bomber2012]

Considering your at uni I’d be looking at a newer model twin cab diesel rather than the 80 , fuel / maintenance will be much more afffordable . I’d buy a stock vehicle over something that’s been moded , a few of my sons (19yr old) mates bought moded 4wd’s and 2 of them were up for new motors within a couple of months due to them being caned by
the previous owners .

 

[laurenceoleveda]

hey muy, have you bought that Toyota yet? I'm on a small budget and I'm thinking about buying one, but I'm wondering if it's going to cause much trouble or not...

 

[paolagoombi]

hey muy, have you bought that Toyota yet? I'm on a small budget and I'm thinking about buying one, but I'm wondering if it's going to cause much trouble or not...

as the other members already said, this car is thirsty and can require often repairing, so it is definitely better to look for something more 'stable'. Honestly, I think that its not the best idea to spend money like that, especially while you're a student. There are much better ways to spend your money, you could at least pay for research papers and other academical stuff on websites like https://papersowl.com/pay-for-research-paper and many others. I really advise you to be careful with that aquistion, it may be a really bad idea.