Talk me out of buying a 450,000km petrol 80 Series (I've already emotionally committed)
Found a 1995 80 Series GXL, 5-speed manual, 1FZ-FE on dual fuel. Full service history from new, mostly Toyota stamps. ARB rear air lockers and compressor with the original install receipts from 1998. Dual batteries just done, UHF, immobiliser, even Apple CarPlay wedged into a 30-year-old dash. Clear coat peeling on the bonnet and roof like every 80 ever made.
[$13,000 asking, 440,000 km]
Use case: weekend rig only, I've got a daily. Mostly Gippsland trips — Walhalla tracks, Phillip Island runs, maybe some High Country eventually. I like big manuals and I want something that won't leave me on the side of the Princes.
I've also been looking at GU Patrols — a 2.8, a ZD30, and a TB45 — and every single one has either a famously fragile engine or an ad that reads like "all new head, radiator, hoses" (so… it cooked itself, right?).
The 1FZ at 450k with history feels like the safe pick, but part of me says 18-20L/100km of petrol is going to hurt even at weekend kms, LPG stations are disappearing in regional Vic, and 450k is still 450k.
So — anyone daily'd or toured a high-km 1FZ? Is the fuel bill as bad as the calculators say? And Patrol blokes, this is your chance: convince me the barn door is worth it.