stuzbot
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2021
- Messages
- 481
I just thought I'd share with you the fun & japes of my quest to find a decent Prado / Colorado so far.
There have probably been 20 or 30 "mint conditioned... maintained regardless of cost... drives like a new car...." [You know, the usual bullshit] ones that I've liked the sound of on eBay or Gumtree. Only to find, when I put the details into the Check MOT history site that most failed the MOT more times than they've passed and have often carried the same list of advisories for 5 or 6 years running [Maintained regardless of cost, my arse!].
In amongst all that obvious dross, I've managed to find a few that sounded decent.
1: Rung up that one in Slough that's already been discussed. Bloke tells me it's been sold. But, a week later, it was still listed on eBay
2: Found one not too far away in Yorkshire. Another one with nothing major in the MOT history and the guy says it's solid and rust free underneath. I ask him [twice] to send me some photos of the underside. He doesn't bother. So I don't bother.
3: Found another one at a dealership in Stockport. A bit more than I wanted to pay but, again a good MOT history. So, again I asked for some photos of the underside. That was last week. As of today, no response from them either.
4: Another dealership. This time in Bolton and another Land Cruiser with a decent MOT history. Nice chat with the guy on the phone last Friday. He knows his stuff about Land Cruisers and we tentatively arrange I'll come up on Monday to see it.He's supposed to ring me on Monday to confirm a time. But doesn't. So I ring him on Tuesday. "Oh. Sorry. I decided to keep it for my dad. Because he needs a car and can only drive Land Cruisers"
5: Which brings me onto today. I find another one. In Rotherham this time. Usual story "Solid underneath... loads of service history.... all genuine Toyota parts..." etc. Once again the MOT history checks out. Last MOT with only one minor advisory for a split rubber boot. But it's only MOT'd til July, so that's a bit of an alarm bell. A lot can happen in 11 months.
Anyway, I head off to Rotherham today, on the train. Having arranged for the guy to pick me up at the station. I walk out of the station to find he's arrived to collect me in the Land Cruiser. Second alarm bell. Everyone knows you want to check out a vehicle with the engine cold, so you can assess how it starts, how it sounds, how smoky it is, etc. Before it's warmed up.
Anyway, the exterior and interior look really nice and we head back to the guy's house for me to give it the once over.
First thing I do is lift the bonnet and loosen off the oil filler cap. It practically flies off into the air, as I loosen it and, when I remove it, there's a constant spray of oil spitting out. Enough to completely soak the palm of my hand when I put it over the top for a second or two.
I'd decided at that point not to bother. But, just for the heck of it, I crawled underneath to check the amazing 'rust free, regularly treated and rust-proofed chassis' I looked at the rear axle hanging bracket and it looked like a chocolate wafer. I pulled a lump of it off with my fingers and it felt like I could have poked my finger right through it, without too much effort.
So that was the end of that one. I stood up, dusted myself down and said "I think I'll leave it".
The seller looked rally shocked and said "I've never seen anyone being that thorough when buying a car before!"
Thorough? From getting out of the car and opening the bonnet to asking for a lift back to the station can't have been more than 10 minutes. And I had already decided it was a waste of time after about 2.
I know this is not a particularly interesting or informative post. But I just felt like venting a bit, as I'm starting to feel like I'm on the quest for the Holy Grail here, trying to find a Prado / Colorado that's a halfway decent platform to build on. As I've said before elsewhere. 'Thank god for the DVLA MOT History Check site!' I shudder to think how much time I'd have wasted traipsing round the country to view all those other supposedly mint ones, had I not had that to give me a pre-emptive 'heads up'.
Oh well. Back to eBay again. The quest continues!
There have probably been 20 or 30 "mint conditioned... maintained regardless of cost... drives like a new car...." [You know, the usual bullshit] ones that I've liked the sound of on eBay or Gumtree. Only to find, when I put the details into the Check MOT history site that most failed the MOT more times than they've passed and have often carried the same list of advisories for 5 or 6 years running [Maintained regardless of cost, my arse!].
In amongst all that obvious dross, I've managed to find a few that sounded decent.
1: Rung up that one in Slough that's already been discussed. Bloke tells me it's been sold. But, a week later, it was still listed on eBay
2: Found one not too far away in Yorkshire. Another one with nothing major in the MOT history and the guy says it's solid and rust free underneath. I ask him [twice] to send me some photos of the underside. He doesn't bother. So I don't bother.
3: Found another one at a dealership in Stockport. A bit more than I wanted to pay but, again a good MOT history. So, again I asked for some photos of the underside. That was last week. As of today, no response from them either.
4: Another dealership. This time in Bolton and another Land Cruiser with a decent MOT history. Nice chat with the guy on the phone last Friday. He knows his stuff about Land Cruisers and we tentatively arrange I'll come up on Monday to see it.He's supposed to ring me on Monday to confirm a time. But doesn't. So I ring him on Tuesday. "Oh. Sorry. I decided to keep it for my dad. Because he needs a car and can only drive Land Cruisers"
5: Which brings me onto today. I find another one. In Rotherham this time. Usual story "Solid underneath... loads of service history.... all genuine Toyota parts..." etc. Once again the MOT history checks out. Last MOT with only one minor advisory for a split rubber boot. But it's only MOT'd til July, so that's a bit of an alarm bell. A lot can happen in 11 months.
Anyway, I head off to Rotherham today, on the train. Having arranged for the guy to pick me up at the station. I walk out of the station to find he's arrived to collect me in the Land Cruiser. Second alarm bell. Everyone knows you want to check out a vehicle with the engine cold, so you can assess how it starts, how it sounds, how smoky it is, etc. Before it's warmed up.
Anyway, the exterior and interior look really nice and we head back to the guy's house for me to give it the once over.
First thing I do is lift the bonnet and loosen off the oil filler cap. It practically flies off into the air, as I loosen it and, when I remove it, there's a constant spray of oil spitting out. Enough to completely soak the palm of my hand when I put it over the top for a second or two.
I'd decided at that point not to bother. But, just for the heck of it, I crawled underneath to check the amazing 'rust free, regularly treated and rust-proofed chassis' I looked at the rear axle hanging bracket and it looked like a chocolate wafer. I pulled a lump of it off with my fingers and it felt like I could have poked my finger right through it, without too much effort.
So that was the end of that one. I stood up, dusted myself down and said "I think I'll leave it".
The seller looked rally shocked and said "I've never seen anyone being that thorough when buying a car before!"
Thorough? From getting out of the car and opening the bonnet to asking for a lift back to the station can't have been more than 10 minutes. And I had already decided it was a waste of time after about 2.
I know this is not a particularly interesting or informative post. But I just felt like venting a bit, as I'm starting to feel like I'm on the quest for the Holy Grail here, trying to find a Prado / Colorado that's a halfway decent platform to build on. As I've said before elsewhere. 'Thank god for the DVLA MOT History Check site!' I shudder to think how much time I'd have wasted traipsing round the country to view all those other supposedly mint ones, had I not had that to give me a pre-emptive 'heads up'.
Oh well. Back to eBay again. The quest continues!