Land Cruiser FJ80 - Import or Domestic?

"LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com" (limitedtimeonly)
05/22/2020 at 08:46 • Filed to: land cruiser, What Car Should You Buy?, Thought Experiment

I just saw the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! bit on Jalopnik, and noted that Orlove recommended !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! FJ80 for overlanding. By contrast, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is a bit cheaper (and just was !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ’ , amusingly).

My question for HammerheadFistpunch, Tim, Kelsey and others who may have opinions is this:

If one were planning on “overlanding” around the US, and one had decided that an FJ80 was what one wanted, would you recommend a US market FJ80 (likely with higher miles, but lower cost) over a spiffed up recent JDM import, and why?

The corollary to that question is: What would change in your choice if you were planning to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ?

This is just an idle thought exercise for me, but I would think that a better maintained, low miles import might be worth the extra cost, and the parts should be as readily available, with likely very little different on the JDM model.

By that logic, it shouldn’t be an issue to maintain in a different country, but maybe(?) could cause confusion and problems to have a JDM vehicle titled in the US such that other countries don’t view the entry/exit process as clearly documented?

DISCUSSION (13)

facw > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 08:53

I think buying the JDM version of a car sold in the US is a bit silly. You are adding hassle and cost for not much benefit. I’m sure there are clean and low mileage US-market versions out there, you just have to sift through more. If you are going to import something, at least get somethi ng cool that we didn’t get.

pip bip - choose Corrour > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 08:56

NP compared to these ones near me

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1990-toyota-landcruiser-gxl-manual-4x4/SSE-AD-6540229/?Cr=2

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1990-toyota-landcruiser-gxl-auto-4x4/OAG-AD-18670192/?Cr=0

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > pip bip - choose Corrour
05/22/2020 at 09:06

Nice price to pay almost double (USD$15,900) to get the 29 year old JDM example with only 50k miles? Versus USD$8,800 for your 30-year-old Australian example with 150k miles?

Part of me wonders about regular maintenance on a old vehicle with low miles, but if my heart were set on the FJ80, I’d probably feel it was worth it to pay more for the low miles, less wear and tear . . . that’s for me to put it through!

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > facw
05/22/2020 at 09:08

Good point, but I was stipulating that the theoretical buyer had decided that the FJ80 was what was desired. I wonder about finding any comparable clean, low mile versions in the US market. I haven’t bothered to look, though.

pip bip - choose Corrour > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 09:09

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1995-toyota-landcruiser-standard-manual-4x4/SSE-AD-6458143/?Cr=0

but if i was to buy a Landcruise, i’d go diesel.

interstate366, now In The Industry > facw
05/22/2020 at 09:24

It depends on what options were available in the car in Japan and the US. Using my own car, the Lexus GS, as an example, you had the Aristo which offered the twin turbo engine* and cloth interior that doesn’t degrade as bad as the leather. Plus if you have your heart set on a 1st gen Aristo/GS, it’s getting very hard to find a USDM model that isn’t ready to be scrapped.

*could you do a swap? Sure. I have the room and tools to do so, but others may not . Same deal with, say, someone who wants to have a JDM front Integra.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > pip bip - choose Corrour
05/22/2020 at 09:40

Whoooo, at 340k miles, it needs to be a diesel. That’s a reasonable price.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 09:45

Orlove was on the right track, but didn’t quite go all the way. I’d have answered an imported SUV of that era like a Pajero or Cruiser, but not with a gas motor. This particular truck has the wrong motor. Import a diesel version that we never got here. It doesn’t get too much more durable or simple to maintain than old school mechanically injected diesels, and you get to cruise off road getting 20mpg like my Pajero.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 10:40

I noticed that the FJ80 linked by Orlove has an Australian Toyota manufacturing tag, which might explain the switchgear being in english (so maybe it ISN’T JDM, but Australian )!

Is your Pajero switchgear labeled in japanese?

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 10:51

Huh, I assume that your switchgear is in english, since this Hilux Surf (diesel) appears to be from Japan, with english switchgear.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 11:06

Yes, my switchhlgear is in English.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 11:08

Kinja'd!!!

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
05/22/2020 at 13:34

I grew up in Asia, so mostly JDM imported cars is what we had. Most switchgear was usually in english - the only things I remember being in Japanese was on the newer cars with complicated navigation systems with screens and lots of buttons - guess at that point they needed to be in Japanese for the average JDM consumer to understand WTF they were beyond things like play/stop/rwd/ff/tune/vol/