Greetings!
As an avid lover of early 80's Toyota's for over 20 years now, have offered to help a good friend sell this who does not use ebay, nd who does not believe me that there are weirdo Toyota collectors out there (even though there are 2 immaculate stock 85 4runners in my yard) and so I've offered to help him sell the vehicle in the hopes that it goes to someone who will appreciate it and tighten up the ultimately little cosmetic things that a handy DIY Yota enthusiast will not mind tackling (rather than having him sell it locally to someone who would likely run it in to the ground).
As a seller, o take a look at the nothing-but-positive feedback my 15 year account has, nd bid with confidence.
Specifics (in no order of importance)
* I would say zero rust, hough I noticed that one little spot in between the driver side doors where they bolt on the frame, s evident in pics just as we wrapped up photos. It doesn't look great in the photo, hough it is clearly only surface rust as I felt around the entire area and the metal feels solid all around. Super duper light surface rust on chrome pieces between passenger windows, s evident in close up photos.
* Ownership history reports that there are an estimated 5 owners, hough no records indicate the accuracy of this # (and may have something to do with quick changing of hands when a vehicle is new, f which records would have been kept in 81/82). With such things in mind, am selling this on behalf of the 3rd owner, hich he purchased a couple years ago from a retired police officer who garage kept the vehicle, s did his father, ho was the vehicle's original owner. It was mentioned by them that this vehicle has never left the south, nd given the rust endemic to the old yotas that were not lucky enough to live in the south, t should be evident in the photos that this car is pretty well rust free. Background records evident in listing confirm the geographic locale :)
* Ceiling will need replaced, hough the rest of the interior is not too shabby. I wouldn't call it museum quality, ut all in all, he fabric sure is pretty. No attempts have been made to clean or hide the couple of noticeable blemishes in the interior, nd I suspect the clever new owner will be able to clean or make barely noticeable.
* Minimal cracking in dash, s evident in pics.
* The chrome is in real nice shape, s is the foam/rubber surrounds that weather seal the doors. So nice that I would hazard a guess that they were replaced at somepoint, s I've never seen original ones this nice.
* My friend is not mechanically inclined, nd selling this as he is not comfortable learning to tweak a carburetor and does not want to pay a mechanic to rebuild/adjust often.
* Tires are in great shape, nd have a lot of life left. I would guess they have less than 5K on them.
* Starts and runs well, hough until it is warm, t will stall unless lightly acceleration. My friend has been told by a mechanic that it runs rich.
* Until you are standing next to the car, he body looks like it was just driven off the assembly line. Starting at a few feet away, ome light character is evident and this should not be considered for a museum until some light cosmetic things are addressed. From what I know about being a collector of old Toyotas, hich is a lot because I am one- the spendier annoying things are in super nice shape (door surrounds, hrome, nterior seating being chief among them). I don't do interior stuff, ut trust my DIYness enough to know that the only thing I would ever take on is a ceiling, nd the job strikes me as being within the realm of thrift by a handy person.
* Catalytic converter is less than 2 years old.
* Tailpipe moves around a little and could use some additional attention fastening (nothing that makes driving dangerous, hatsoever).
* Trunk locking mechanism is jammed/needs some repair. The trunk when manually placed sits exactly as it should (aka nothing structural at play; it moves up and down as smoothly as a new car). The well-working springs do not allow the trunk to stay sitting where it should, ecause something is whacky in the latching system.
* That last point leads me to mention the following: there's no more than a couple bucks in this sale for me, nd as I am in the middle of starting my first brick and mortar small business, have zero minutes available to fix or troubleshoot repairs :)
* Verbatim from the owner stuff: the brakes are new, hough the rears squeak a little. The front caliper sticks a little, nd when slowing down abruptly, ill pull slightly to the right. 2 different shops have confirmed this info, nd told my friend that its safe to drive. If I were to buy this car, would replace the caliper because I'm OCD about safety and calipers don't get better over time. Per drivability, 'd say its barely noticeable at present.
* Heat works/blows well once car is warm. Had AC, ut is no longer working.
* Overdrive still works well.
* Car had around 201K when purchased, nd now has 214K after the couple years of ownership by my friend. No old school records come with this car, hough the fact that the original manuals are with it should impart a sense of ownership history, nd one could likely guess that the timing chain has been swapped though I cannot say for certain. I definitely hear no symptoms of an ailing chain, nd the motor runs super strong. The original father/son owner duo told my friend that this car had been immaculately maintained during their 30+ year ownership history, nd I can say with comfortable certainty that I believe them entirely (its the only reason in the world I put my ebay rep on the line for a friend, ecause I know a well maintained classic yota when I see one). Such claims by the original owners are backed up by the nearly giving it away price which they sold it to my friend, ecause they did not think anyone in the world would want a car so old... Like most, hey just don't know there is classic toyota enthusiasts. If I had the room, would buy this car in a heartbeat.
* Gas gauge is finickey.
* The closest color I can think to describe the car is gray, hough there are surely some visible gold/bronze impressions in the right light. The interior being as gray as it is, feel safe enough in calling the exterior the same. My guess is that its original paint, specially when looking at the pinstripes and doorwell paint. No certainty if this is repainted or original, hough it sure looks like a factory job to my eyes.
For serious inquiries, lease don't hesitate to be in touch. I could even put you in touch with my friend who's car it is and/or help answer any questions in a speedy fashion.
Happy bidding!
JB