Is this KZJ78 a good buy or way too expensive?

[crazydragon]

So I've been shopping for a manual KZJ78 with sunroof and difflocks for a while now and this came up. I've seen 4 so far and I missed 2 of them and couldn't afford one of them. KZJ78 manual with sunroof and difflocks are pretty rare.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/toyota/auction-761265820.htm

But the thing is this one's 250,000kms, not as tidy and a whopping 15k! I can afford it but I don't know if I want to spend that much. My original budget is around 12k for the truck and an extra 3k for intercooler add on.

The previous 3 I saw were very stock and original, which is what I'm looking for.

1st one:
122,000 kms - $9000 (Listed 8pm at night, next morning I went at 8am with cash on hand and it's gone already)

2nd one:
168,000 kms - $12000 (Couldn't afford it at that time)

3rd one:
225,000 kms - $11000 (Someone else beat me to it)

What do you guys think? Worth the buy? Or should I just wait for a next cheaper and better one to come up? $15000, dealer's 90% sure head's been replaced recently, had big bore exhaust.

I won't be doing any hardcore offroading on this. It'll be a daily driver and family wagon for holiday camping trips. But the ultimate reason of purchase is personal preference. I just like the square shape of it lol.

[crazydragon]

Btw, I can see an OffRoadExpress sticker on there. If the previous owner can pm me that would be of most help as the dealer's not really answering my questions properly.

[Jerry]

15k is too much I have seen manual ones go for about 9500 unmolested with a rear locker, 8-12 max, no mention of the head being done and its at 250k so factor in another 2500 to get this done

Check any along the roofline for rust and the sills and rear corners for rust/damage

ECU's are another known problem, $300 to repair

Also if it has a dual mass flywheel that's worn out .... 2k from memory

Check the power steering pump for leaks

Get the fuel pump checked

Check the viscous fan hub as well as the condition of the radiator fluid

Check the underside for damage

[drive it ...]

I havn't been watching prices but it looks dear to me. I've got kzj78, manual, factory diff. For comparison I paid $18, 6 years ago - incl 2 sets of wheels, near new road and mud tires, winch, cargo drawers, bars, prs radio, full height clip on caravan awning, snorkel, alarm, etc, etc 150K's, full service history, very very tidy (not any more).
Having the manual and driven a couple of friends autos - I would go auto unless you do a lot of open road driving- the small turbo diesels like the 1KZ work really well in front of an auto off road. Round town the auto's nice as well. The factory locker is a nice extra but you can get an auto locker for $500 or even less, I'd guess another $500 to get professionally fitted?
And yeah - the square box thing is cool

[crazydragon]

Thanks for your input guys. Yeah I think it's slightly expensive as well Jerry. I think I'll pass on this one and wait for an unmolested one to come up in the future.

I think I remember which one were you talking about. I saw a champagne gold one few months ago. Manual & difflocks but no sunroof ($9500). Might be the one you were talking about.

Drive it,
I used to have an auto KZJ78 but the head cracked and I sold it. Someone bought it cheap, fixed it up himself and sold it back for a higher price. My dad currently still has his auto one. But it's really boring to drive. Gear changes are way too sluggish for me. Manual is so much more fun!

Are aftermarket e-lockers as strong as factory ones? I never knew they cost that little? ARB's airlockers front and rear are about 3.5k fitted the last time I asked..

[BlakeNZ]

when he said "auto locker" he means a lock rite or lokka, which stay locked until you turn.
A E-locker will set you back almost 2K last time i checked, plus install.

[Wild_South]

Be very, very careful of that seller.... PM me for details.

[85bj71]

regan johnston used to $1 reserve his trucks and shill bid them to get what he wants, I made the mistake of buying one, all the fresh black paint and silicon soon wore off and the dog i bought exposed itself, it should not have even had a wof. I would give anything he has for sale a VERY thorough look over before even considering purchasing. . .

[tallsam66]

If you look carefully at pic 11. The bolt at end of suspension arm doesn't look right .Its not centered, appears to be too high meaning bush might be slogged out.

[tomsoffroad]

If you look carefully at pic 11. The bolt at end of suspension arm doesn't look right .Its not centered, appears to be too high meaning bush might be slogged out.

Or it has castor correction bushes??

[crazydragon]

Thanks for the warning guys. It appears that a few people had bad experiences with this trader in the past. Yeah I think I'll definitely give this one a pass now. Considering I can't personally be in ChCh to inspect the truck. He does make the pictures look pretty good though.

[tallsam66]

If you look carefully at pic 11. The bolt at end of suspension arm doesn't look right .Its not centered, appears to be too high meaning bush might be slogged out.

Or it has castor correction bushes??

Shouldn't need any not like its got any real lift ... but could be.

[zukmeista]

All that guy does is buy cheap trucks on TM stick some black rims and MT's on then about 2 litres of silicone and asks thousands more than original price. Was a hilux on there a couple of months ago, original list price was $5k he did his tarting up and then tried to sell it for $12K

[Jerry]

just keep waiting, have you looked at 80 and 100 series? also GU Patrols and Jeeps, Hilux's are still stupid money and landrovers

90 series prados are in this price range as well

[derk]

don't mean to sound negative about those kzj's but bear in mind you want to ensure you have reserve funds in the budget for if/when it needs a new head thrown on it and if your trying to find one with an elocker(s) IMO they arent the flashest of selectable lockers the actuators are always seizing up if they aren't regularly used and they don't like going in and out at speed on the fly for the extra money you'd pay for a truck with an elocker you'd easily get an ARB off the net out of the states and shipped over I think they are still around a grand usd over there.... and don't forget to dump the electric hubs and get some manual ones fitted

[crazydragon]

Yeah but I don't really like the shape of 80 series. 100 series are a bit out of my budget at the moment. The cheapest manual 100 series are around 20k with 300,000kms on the clock. I know 1HZ are much more reliable but it's a lot more money for something more used. I wouldn't mind one in the future but not at the moment.

My personal preference is still the 70 series. I just really like the shape. If I can find a HZJ77 I'll definitely go for that. At the moment I'm looking for either a KZJ78 or a HZJ77 and I want a manual one. Don't really want to go for a patrol and I'll never ever consider a Jeep.

Jerry, does the 90 series with intercoolers get head cylinder cracks as often as the KZJ7* series?

[lax2wlg]

I'll never ever consider a Jeep.

You totally should.
If it wasnt for Jeep, your Land Cruiser would never exist

[derk]

If it wasnt for Jeep, your Land Cruiser would never exist

Bloody jap's copying everything

[Jerry]

Yeah but I don't really like the shape of 80 series. 100 series are a bit out of my budget at the moment. The cheapest manual 100 series are around 20k with 300,000kms on the clock. I know 1HZ are much more reliable but it's a lot more money for something more used. I wouldn't mind one in the future but not at the moment.

My personal preference is still the 70 series. I just really like the shape. If I can find a HZJ77 I'll definitely go for that. At the moment I'm looking for either a KZJ78 or a HZJ77 and I want a manual one. Don't really want to go for a patrol and I'll never ever consider a Jeep.

Jerry, does the 90 series with intercoolers get head cylinder cracks as often as the KZJ7* series?

90 series still suffer from cracking heads and ECU faults, but on the upside are more powerful to drive, Centre diffs are a known weak point if taken too far off road

[axel]

Definitely sounds like a rip off mate. Should be able to pick one of them up for under $10k With that many kms and in reasonable nic. However they r hard to find with an elocker for the right price. But like mentioned above u could always get a cheap one with open diff and put and Arb in

[crazydragon]

Haha.. True that but I've test drove a friend's cherokee before. Didn't like it. I'm not a big guy but I find it really cramped. And they don't seem as reliable as Toyotas. I've seen the guy spend more than 10k fixing stuff on his Jeep in 2 years and everything seems to keep breaking.

The KZJ78 I used to have was pretty cheap on maintainence until I carelessly overheated the engine and cracked it. That was before I even knew this was an ongoing issue with the 1KZ. I think now I've got enough knowledge to prevent that from happening again.

Jerry,
So lets say if I were to buy another KZJ78 and install a 3in exhaust, intercooler, temp gauges and remove the EGR system, will I still have to worry about the head cracking? Provided that I don't push it beyond the recommended engine temp and always maintain the coolant levels.

[BlakeNZ]

the inter cooled 1kz motors as a general rule are doing way higher mileages than the non inter cooled ones, on the original heads. Sure , I have read of some inter cooled versions that have cracked heads, but not one of those (as far as I'm aware) had aftermarket exhausts.

[peter_Kzj78]

Did you own a KZJ78 before?

I have one but honestly...even considering that I love the truck...it being my daily driver I would go nuts.

Without nice tires, at least decent AT´s they look pretty poor. Tires are the worst thing on the road. this car has no ABS, no traction control nothing. If it rains I really think twice before I climb the Toyo. It´s 33" MT´s which are pretty new are a nightmare to drive on wet streets. breaking distance to stop is about 1,5 wider than a normal car. consumption is at minimum 12 liters per 100km, you can do with half with most current cars. If you want a SUV and don´t take it offroad go for something softer. A Pajero is a nice truck, has no rigid axles, good comfort and still looks a bit offraodish. finally, you´ve got a family so think twice if you want to expose them to the extra risk of a dinosaur daily driver that has no active safety but no passive safety as well (airbags etc.). Love your truck but love your family most...