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Need advice

1K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  SilvFx 
#1 ·
Greetings FJ clan I was hoping for some advice regarding a potential purchase since you all are the experts around here. I'd love to own this vehicle and be a part of this community but I need to be sure I'm making a good choice. I am from New England

Year:2010
Trim:Base
Miles:91k
At Trans
Color: Iceberg lettuce/storm trooper
Owners: 1 lease->buy
4x4

Market Price: (2/7)$22,400 >> (2/26)$21,980>> (3/6)$21,479.
First negotiated price: $20,800 (claimed as the lowest possible figure)

Packages:Convenience package.Upgrade package 2.

Dealer installed aftermaket: Arb front bumper, rails and rear bumper. Skid plates. Full lighting compliment. Winch. Cb radio +ant Front and rear moonroof. Leather heated seats. Front media touch screen, 2x rear headrest media touchscreen, black grill, side mirrors, black trd wheels, trd aluminum shifter and 4x4 knobs, BF AT KOs. Forgot to check on the shocks, I'll just assume dealer aftermarket

The Good:

- Appears most of the add ons we're for cosmetics only and we're correctly installed by the dealer

-Appears to have rust equivalent to its age and miles but maybe garaged or washed occasionally

-Engine bay was in great shape and had almost no rust. Fenders looked fine.

-Couldn't really see any obvious signs of off-road use and most of the off-road stuff appears essentially unused. This is important to me because I don't want to inhereit something that could potentially have lots of extra wear.

- 6 months and 5k miles between dealer services like clockwork. Original mats with no wear under oversized rubber mats

-Everything seems to be in working condition inside and out. Though the battery was dead upon my test drive, though very possible someone left something running. A small cheap charge box booted her up in 10 seconds. Either way I asked them to test it

-Holy crap do FJs drive nice and from what I could tell of the test drive the suspension is in fine shape. I was honestly shocked at how comfortable it drives. My old Xterra was like a joke in comparison. My wife already loves FJs exterior but I wasn't sure she would comfortable. Not worried anymore.

-god tier heating and AC

-tires about 40% life left which is fine for me

-Blind spots were not a problem at all. Coming from a Veloster I felt right at home

The bad:

-Tcase looks like it has been wheeping a bit. I read when they go unused (more specifically 4L) it can cause some problems. This would make sense if my hypothesis is correct about it not being used as an off-road vehicles. Played around a bit with the different 4x4 systems and had some trouble getting it back into 2h, appeared to be mostly user error on my part. Dealer seemed honest in saying they had a very good mechanic check the car upon arrival and they cleared it.

-Moonroof frames are not held up very well in regards to the cloth. I don't suspect it will hold up forever but I won't really be up there anyways.

-Originally was at a smaller dealer (found google image cache) but went to a bigger franchise type new car dealer. Found it strange there was no record of this, maybe not a bad thing

-drive armrest is a bit worn

-driving to it was a bitch but staff were cool

The Ugly:

Nothing this car is gorgeous

Final thoughts:. I'm feeling good how it's been going with the dealer but optimally Id like to be in the 19s as I really feel FJs around here get inflated. Was told the offer was as low as they can go and "we're only making $100", which sounds like something frequently said by dealers. I am not a greedy person but I'd like to get the best deal possible of course.

Thank you very much for reading and helping with the expert advice. Tomorrow may be the day
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#2 ·
Front and rear moon roofs, never heard of that in an FJ, got any pics of that? Anyway here’s the best purchasing guide to buying a used FJ, that price doesn’t sound bad but that transfer case leak isn’t good I just don’t know how bad it could be.

 
#3 ·
My only concern would be the rust. I would want to poke and prod at the rust with a screwdriver to ensure its just surface. Then it will take the effort to remove/encapsulate it. Price seems good for the year/miles/equipment.

The moonroofs are not factory and therefore subject to crappy installation and could be a problem down the road.
ARB front bumper and winch are a bunch of weight on the front. Would be interested what type of lift or suspension mods. If I had to guess, they simply added a crappy spacer lift that you dont want to offroad with....So research a bit more about how it is equipped. Suspension mods done right are $1300-$5000+

I dont see the transfer case weeping you are talking about from the pic you provided. I also dont understand how you could have trouble getting back into 2WD....its just pushing the T-case shifter forward from 4H to 2H....nothing to it, unless there is some other issue there. Make sure that you can get it into 4H and 4L and the lights on the dash show up without blinking. If it has A-Trac and rear diff lock, make sure those turn on.
 
#4 ·
My only concern would be the rust. I would want to poke and prod at the rust with a screwdriver to ensure its just surface. Then it will take the effort to remove/encapsulate it. Price seems good for the year/miles/equipment.

The moonroofs are not factory and therefore subject to crappy installation and could be a problem down the road.
ARB front bumper and winch are a bunch of weight on the front. Would be interested what type of lift or suspension mods. If I had to guess, they simply added a crappy spacer lift that you dont want to offroad with....So research a bit more about how it is equipped. Suspension mods done right are $1300-$5000+

I dont see the transfer case weeping you are talking about from the pic you provided. I also dont understand how you could have trouble getting back into 2WD....its just pushing the T-case shifter forward from 4H to 2H....nothing to it, unless there is some other issue there. Make sure that you can get it into 4H and 4L and the lights on the dash show up without blinking. If it has A-Trac and rear diff lock, make sure those turn on.
It was dark and due to the aftermaket moonroof the lights up top are gone. The pic with the transfer case, look at the skid plate right below it.

I think due to other features it has whatever Toyota offered for upgraded suspension. I'm nearly positive everything in the car is from day 1 at the dealer. Even the moon roof stuff
 
#5 ·
A 2010 with those miles that is clean is completely worth that. Add in those extras and I say its a great deal. Yes, some rust remediation is in order, but given your location its probably not too scary. Wait till the guys from Cali chime in and tell you to "run!".
 
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