im buying my first surf

[shaggy]

i go to look at my first surf on saturday and all being well i will buy
after looking on the forum and seeing all the problems (head's etc)
im a little worried
it is a j reg 2.4
it has 200000 kms on the clock
the man im buying off wanted £1800 for it
the clocks still read in kms (will this be a major problem)
he dont know if the head has been 'upgraded' as he has had it 6 months and cant afford the fuel to run about and wants a car now
i know to look for the obvious ie : off road damage, chassis number correct, noisey bottom/top ends etc but apart from that what pitfalls are there?
also the timeing belt light has just come on (he says just) but i have someone to do that for me
sorry to ask so many questions on first post but just want to get it right and i thought you chaps would know about the little expensive things that i may over look
cheers in advance

[Sancho]

Have a look at this:

http://www.showmesome.info/hilux/info/faq.htm

Should help a bit. I think the timing belt light comes on every 100,000km? So 'just' come on with 200 on sounds right.

From what I could find when I got mine, they all look decent so don't fall in love with the first one you see - there's plenty around. 1800 sounds pretty cheap for one that's sorted - could be a bargain, could be a dog. Obviously, ask to see the receipt for the head. I personally wouldn't buy it unless it was definitely a modified head. But that's because I think mine's just gone (it was replaced with a non-modded one a couple of years ago) and I'm sulking.

Good luck.

[shaggy]

great stuff cheers mate

[shaggy]

spoke to the guy about this motor today and here are the problems with it!

lost log book! (i will however hpi it so i can check the details and only buy from his home address)
rear window only comes half way down (tailgate) (you have to push it the rest of the way then pull it half way back up to close)
aircon is not working the guy says its never worked while he has had it
it also has 200,000 kms on the clock
he has used it for 6 mths and has not had any problems with it
he says it starts first time every time
im worried about all the head problems on the 2.4 ive read on the forum (but would have thought that at 200,000 kms it would have already gone! no?)
the body work is ok with the odd scratch here and there
after chatting with him he seems ok and he didnt want me to travel 200 miles to look and find these problems so told me about them
he has been made redundant and needs the cash and has droped the price to £1200
the mileage dont bother me ive bought transits with 300000 miles on and put extra 50k without problems i just change oils & filters as often as they need

the thing is that i dont have the £3k or so to buy a "right" one so dont mind the few repairs (as long as they are no too expensive)
just wondered what you more experienced chaps think
cheers in advance

[Woodzie]

Check out http://www.toyotahilux.com/index.php?doc=1
for parts . Cam belt changes are every 100,000k but most do them early

Head problems appear to be down to luck
clock can be converted to mph but will still rack up km's on the clock

There are alot of threads to tell you about other pitfalls have a look and diegest

[shaggy]

Check out http://www.toyotahilux.com/index.php?doc=1
for parts . Cam belt changes are every 100,000k but most do them early

Head problems appear to be down to luck
clock can be converted to mph but will still rack up km's on the clock

There are alot of threads to tell you about other pitfalls have a look and diegest

i have been reading & digesting for 2 days now m8 and thats the problem m8
ive digested that much i think im going mad
every time i close my eyes i see a surf lol
the problem with forums (especially tech stuff) is that people only post with problems so you kind of get a one sided untrue picture.. if that makes sence?
im not knocking the forum!! i think it is one of the best ive been on and i can understand people being bored with the same old questions time & time again! because people dont use the search button!
what im asking is would you guys take a chance at £1200 knowing what you know about the car from my post?
if its a proper dog i will walk away but its the old human downfall of getting a bargain, i dont want to miss it if it is

[chasharman]

buying cheap Surf

at the end of the day, only you can tell if the Surf is a good one when you do go to see it. Make sure you listen to the engine noises very carefully, any un-toward ticking noise or bad rattles, walk away. A re-con engine will cost £1000-£1500 and then fitting charges on top of that. By the time you have got your Surf working again, you have just spent the £3000 you said you never had to buy a decent Surf. Don`t make the same mistake I made, I set my heart on buying a Surf and was blinkered when going to view my first one. I ended up buying the first one I looked at and it has haunted me ever since.It is a real dog. And when I see the condition of some of the Surfs on thid forum and ones for sale on e-bay, I now realise I was done.
I know what you are saying about the forum being mostly full of doom and gloom, but the Surf really is a great truck at the end of the day and even when things go wrong, the majority of forum users just get the problems sorted and get on with it. The forum is a very valuable tool which is well used. If you do buy your Surf, you will soon become a regular.
Good Luck.
Chas

[shaggy]

cheers m8
any other views/thought chaps

edited to say:-
ive just done an hpi on this car and it has come back clean, im awaiting the chassis no off the guy that has it so i can check it fits whats held on computer
the funny thing is its come up as a 4-runner when its actually a ssr-x hilux surf(thats what the stickers say in the pics of the rear i have)
does this matter for insurance or if some numpty runs into me?

[logey79]

if its imported then not all the details always match up 100% to what the motor actually is. i had 2 different checks done on my 1st gen before buying it because i got such a good deal with it i assumed i was being fiddled. first check told me the surf was a 5 door model when in fact it is only a 3 door thingy. anyway, on the other check that my paranoia had me run it came up as 3 door 4runner.
i don't know if this would affect insurance, i can't see how as long as all the details on your insurance certificate match the car's actual spec. just renewed my insurance and the details on their import records or whatever they got matched my truck 100% so why hpi and the other ebay check didn't perfectly gel i don't know. good luck anyway, and if you do get it, try lifesure for insurance, they advertise on this site and are the first insurance guys that i have genuinely been impressed with.

[ortiva]

get if you like it shaggy

Hi Shaggy I have just bought my first Surf here in Tazania its a 1994 3 litre auto and its got 163000 on the clock well cared for by last owner and even more cared for by me. Secret with surf I think is regular oil change with good quality oil and filters. Engines are tough my work truck is also a toyota (hilux dc 2.8) it has done 220000 km uses no oil and is still tough as old boots. I had another Hilux in Zimbabwe with 500000 on the clock before she gave me to much problems. Maybe look around a bit more as in Uk there are 100's of good ones. The 3 litre Td diesel like my 'new' one has a lot of power it is thirsty though but I love it to bits Take your offer truck for a drive first do at least 20 miles both in town and open road then you will see what shes like, do some hard breaking to make sure she does not pull left or right. The wear on the rubbers on the pedals will give you an idea on the mileage being genuine dont end up doing this forever find the right one first time.

Good luck

Regards

Adrian

[shaggy]

cheers for the reply's chaps
its only another 24 hrs now and i will see for myself

[BIG G ONE]

shaggy's surf

Hi Shaggy, this surf your gonna see sound a bit rough with all the work your

gonna have to do on it not to mention the money its gonna cost, drop me an

email and i'll give you details of a surf for sale that you can use with

confidence, no changing cam belt or chasing logbooks etc, just a straight

honest solid surf, in YOUR AREA, ( Morley ), in fact i'm going to see the lady

thats selling it saturday morning, COME HAVE A LOOK FOR NOWT , ITS A

BARGAIN, contact me at grahamsbox@hotmail.co.uk

all the best, graham

[shaggy]

Hi Shaggy, this surf your gonna see sound a bit rough with all the work your

gonna have to do on it not to mention the money its gonna cost, drop me an

email and i'll give you details of a surf for sale that you can use with

confidence, no changing cam belt or chasing logbooks etc, just a straight

honest solid surf, in YOUR AREA, ( Morley ), in fact i'm going to see the lady

thats selling it saturday morning, COME HAVE A LOOK FOR NOWT , ITS A

BARGAIN, contact me at grahamsbox@hotmail.co.uk

all the best, graham

just seen this now and sent you mail
i am setting off at 11 in the morning to wales so would like to know some details of the surf you are talking about m8
i only live 2 miles from morley so am interested
ive put my mobile number in the email so call me now if you are up or early in the morning
cheers

[shaggy]

Hi Shaggy, this surf your gonna see sound a bit rough with all the work your

gonna have to do on it not to mention the money its gonna cost, drop me an

email and i'll give you details of a surf for sale that you can use with

confidence, no changing cam belt or chasing logbooks etc, just a straight

honest solid surf, in YOUR AREA, ( Morley ), in fact i'm going to see the lady

thats selling it saturday morning, COME HAVE A LOOK FOR NOWT , ITS A

BARGAIN, contact me at grahamsbox@hotmail.co.uk

all the best, graham

been and had a look mate and its not right
the rad has had 2 repairs on it
its had a new viscous fan and there is water leaking from the head
she needs to get it sorted before it causes problems

im not having a pop mate im just concerned she will have the new owner on her back when the head pops

if you need to look at it it is on the right side of the enging where the head meets the block and when its ticking over it is bubbling from there

any way mate cheers for the thought and keep in touch

im not going to look at that car in wales now its just not as much a bargain as i thought it was

so im still on the lookout for one but i want one with the head mod done



edited to say
ive been and looked at 5 surfs today and have to say im not impresed with any of them
all 5 have water leaks from either the rad (at the top r/h corner) or from the head
it has put me off the 2.4 unless the the new head has been fitted
so my option now is buy a surf with modded head or buy a 3 ltr
so its economy time in our house and beens on toast for the next few months till i have a few more pennys to play with

[BIG G ONE]

HI BRETT,

Just missed you by 10 nmins, yeah i knew about the rad repair which any

motor can have, the water stains is where she over filled the coolant when

adding antifreeze and it blew back onto engine???, if you spotted bubles m8

you do right to leave well alone, i honestly did NOT know about this or i

wouldn't have sent you to look, i wont be sending anyone else, sorry fella,

have a look at FYLDEIMPORTS, he sometimes advertises on ebay, only sells

3.0L surfs, not OTT on price either , all the best in your search, keep in

touch .

GRAHAM