Thinking of buying a 97 Surf 3.0 diesel

[hardtofin]

Hi guys,

My first ever post here, i'm totally new to 4x4's so am after some advice please.

I have my eye on 1997 3.0 diesel KZN185.

It is a reasonable price for £2.2k with 120k miles on the clock. I know very little about 4x4's aside from the fact that the Hilux is an excellent choice.

If I were to buy this vehicle I have 2 main concerns which I'm hoping you guys can help me with.

1) Obviously this vehicle is 20 years old, are they money pits? I am more than happy with the price but once I've bought it would I have to spend lots of money on it, with things needing replacing, servicing etc.

Which leads me to number 2.

2) Do I need to be proficient at vehicle maintenance/have good mechanical knowledge to run one of these. I really have a very basic knowledge of vehicle maintenance and am wondering if you guys on here are all enthusiasts doing all the work on them yourself as I can imagine garage bills could get very pricey.

I'm sure I will have many more questions, but these are my 2 main concerns.

Thanks ever so much for your help guys and I look forward to becoming an active member here!

hardtofin

[Koi]

Like all second hand cars, check it over thoroughly.

Check all electrics work, all five windows, central locking, mirror sunroof etc.
Air con, check oil and all levels ATF etc. Check 4wd system functions correctly search on here for more info when to and not to use it for posts like this
http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11226

Given the ground clearance you can simply crawl underneath to check chassis etc.

If you do need any parts they are readily available from here:

http://www.milneroffroad.com/

http://www.roughtrax4x4.com/

and places like ebay. at no more cost than most parts for other cars.

Like any other car carry out regular maintenance.

Where are you buying it from, private garage etc. Got any links pics etc.

[hardtofin]

Thanks for the reply Koi.

It is from a trade seller. The link to it is here:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...@AutoTrader_UK

Be interested to know what you think.

I saw on other posts here, people are flushing the rad, changing belts etc as soon as they buy it, is that something I need to do? As I'm not very mechanically minded.

[hardtofin]

Also, have you guys typically had to spend a lot of money on your vehicles after purchasing them, especially the older ones, like the one I am looking at which is 20 years old.

Many thanks

[Karma Supra]

Stuff wears out.. it depends how well it's been looked after before, and how fussy you are.

Generally these are very reliable, as long as they are looked after, and any bits that have been replaced had been replaced with proper parts, proper coolant etc and it'll give many years of trouble free operation.


What are you coming from, to compare?

[hardtofin]

Well it's just that i haven't bought a 4x4 before and as it was old I am a bit concerned about how much it may cost me to maintain it.

Do you do the work on it yourself or use a garage?

[Karma Supra]

Being a 4x4 doesn't in reality change anything, its more what you are coming from... age related parts wear out, and Toyota parts can be pretty pricey, but again, everything is relative.

I do all my work on mine.

[hardtofin]

Being a 4x4 doesn't in reality change anything, its more what you are coming from... age related parts wear out, and Toyota parts can be pretty pricey, but again, everything is relative.

I do all my work on mine.

Well i used to have a 16 year old toyota corolla and that just flew through MOT after MOT which was amazing. I was thinking I would get a similar level of reliability with the hilux.

As an aside, if you attach a tow bar bike rack to a hilux, do you need to remove the spare first so the first bike doesn't foul the spare?

[Koi]

on the whole looks pretty clean and tidy, as its a dealer you get minimum three months warranty.

If you look after and service them no more issues than any other car, my
4Runner was over 20 years old and other than the normal consumables never replaced anything major.

Most only flushed the rad/coolant system on fresh imports as the coolant used in Japan is crap in our climate. So flushed and replaced with new coolant for piece of mind. Same as belts as vehicle could have stood still at docks for months before ending up in the UK.

Assuming this is not a fresh import then I would imagine any thing like that will have been sorted. Just give belts etc. a visual inspection for any cracks or wear and tear.


Have you agreed a price yet, offer him £1800 doubt he paid/part ex for more than about £1000 for it anyway.

[hardtofin]

Thats great info, thank you!

I haven't offered him anything for it yet, but the timing belt light is on. He said he would do that in the price, but if he was doing that he wouldn't drop the price below the £2250.

I was thinking of offering him lower and either trying to do the belt myself or paying toyota as I know I will get genuine parts. They quoted me £300 for the lot.

[Bogus]

Thats great info, thank you!

I haven't offered him anything for it yet, but the timing belt light is on. He said he would do that in the price, but if he was doing that he wouldn't drop the price below the £2250.

I was thinking of offering him lower and either trying to do the belt myself or paying toyota as I know I will get genuine parts. They quoted me £300 for the lot.

Better to offer less, and get the timing belt done yourself, its one of the easiest of any vehicle to do. At the same time do the tensioner and change the water pump. That way you will know its done, rather than just the warning light reset. they are not difficult vehicles to maintain or to get bits for and in 10 years mine has never failed an MOT , rarely had an advisory, and apart from the usual consumables has only had money spent on it that I wanted to spend.

[Koi]

Timing belt change is 100,000km or 60,000 miles so its at 120,000 miles so yes due a change unless its recently been done by previous owner and didn't know how to reset the light.

Any previous paperwork receipts etc. with it?

[hardtofin]

Timing belt change is 100,000km or 60,000 miles so its at 120,000 miles so yes due a change unless its recently been done by previous owner and didn't know how to reset the light.

Any previous paperwork receipts etc. with it?

No, no paperwork with it I'm afraid, but it's on 124,000 miles so it needs to ASAP.

Found this video online of a guy doing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-L24B8fCb0

Not sure I am confident enough to do it tbh.

[Predictable Bob]

There are towbar bike racks that don't foul the spare

Google is your friend ...

[hardtofin]

There are towbar bike racks that don't foul the spare

Google is your friend ...

Many thanks Bob. I did google but couldn't find anything.