Family friend is offering to sell me an 08 FJ Cruiser, is this a good buy?
Posted by ibeatmyson5555@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 20 comments
Hey all, recently a family friend has offered me his 08 FJ Cruiser because he knows I’ve been looking for a car for a min and while I am very interested, apparently this car has like 300xxxkms and was neglected by the previous owner before the current owner had it. They took it off-roading often and also did not change the oil often but the current owner has taken proper care of it. Is this a good buy? He’s willing to sell it to me for 7500 cad.
5thor6th@reddit
Get it. It's a living legend. You'll have o2 sensors problems and ignition coil problems but both are minimal. Those will go 500,000 miles.
ibeatmyson5555@reddit (OP)
How much will those run me to repair? Also how can I maintain it to get it that mileage? This thing is cool asf and not something I see often but the milage and age scare me ngl lol
Nib-q@reddit
Under $500 every 3-5 years.
DeiaMatias@reddit
Less than that if you find the right guy or can do it yourself.
DeiaMatias@reddit
If you don't want it, I do. I passed up a great deal on one a couple of years ago and really regret it. Those are great cars.
I recently ran into one while doing the loop in Monument Valley and got to BSing with the owners. He'd taken that FJ places my Subaru could only dream about. He was pushing 500,000km on it. He'd just turned over 300,000 miles.
(I googled freedom units to metric just for you)
Patient_in_a_Cabin@reddit
Terrible visibility and the backup camera is essentially useless. I wouldn’t touch one with a 10’ (3m) pole.
PurpleSausage77@reddit
Check it over good, look for rust. Even so, for $6k cad let’s say, I’d take it and work on it myself.
People saying to avoid have clean/weak hands.
Get it to where it’s in a better condition, maybe sell it later on for $10k+. I saw one with 200k km decent condition 6spd manual go for $30k cad.
Invisible7hunder@reddit
I would buy it, but it depends on your needs.
RGuy77@reddit
300,000km, neglect, offloading 🚩🚩🚩
Invisible7hunder@reddit
On anything else, yes. But FJs have a cult following for a reason.
aringa@reddit
I wouldn't buy it. If you need a cheap car, you want something like a civic or Corolla, not something that will get 15mpg.
Objective_Place9599@reddit
Get it now if your mechanic checks it out. That sounds like a too good to be true, Best friend deal.
TarponTalker@reddit
Check for rust.
Leg_Final@reddit
In imperial numbers, a $5500 Toyota FJ with 186,000 miles that has had regular oil changes more frequently than every 5,000 miles. If you're not going to buy it I will.
jrileyy229@reddit
How do you or he know they didn't change the oil often?
ibeatmyson5555@reddit (OP)
He said when he took it to the shop for an oil change he found out the previous owner hadn’t changed it for over 8000kms which is nuts but he’s been on top of changing it regularly since.
jrileyy229@reddit
8000km is exactly how often you're supposed to change it... That's not nuts.
Neither is using a car designed to go off road... Off road.
No_Organization_7509@reddit
8000km is nowhere near neglect.
TheTaxman_cometh@reddit
The price is fair to low for what the market is, but I wouldn't touch that car with the mileage and knowing the maintainence history. On top of that, gas for it is going to kill you. That $7500 will go a lot further in a smaller car. Consider what you need from a car first, then start looking for vehicles that will match that.
bobqzzi@reddit
No, no it's not