Advice - Sell As Is, Fix, value?

Hi,

Posting this for a friend since he’s less knowledgeable on car stuff. I’m a Land Cruiser nut so helping him out.

He has a 2004 that has lost compression in at least one cylinder. See diagnostic video. 220k miles

Upgrades:
- arb bumper
- FJ Cruiser 17” steelies and Falken Wildpeak AT3w. Tread on the tires are decent and the spare is unused
- also has a cap with sport rack on it

Needs: new engine, front suspension is tired from the heavy bumper, o2 sensor needs replacement, exhaust needs replacement, the tape deck doesn’t work (CD player and radio are fine).

Professionally serviced on a regular basis. Full synthetic every 3-5k since he’s owned it. Purchased in 2019.

The frame was replaced by Toyota under warranty not long before he purchased it.

He’s in Massachusetts but has been diligent about having it Fluid Filmed and the undercarriage cleaned.

He was already looking at Tundras because his family is growing.

I don’t think the time/cost to fix makes sense but seems like a great start for someone that can do their own work or wants to do an LS swap.

What do you think it’s worth as-is? Open to any and all advice.

https://youtu.be/Q61v3LAQHiM?si=xb1rNaxNAELNXR-C

more pics available when he gets the truck back from the shop.

Here are some pics:


Including a pic of my truck for street cred

 

Pictures of the undercarriage are pretty important to assess value. How clean is the rest of the body, rust anywhere? Interior clean? Also, is it a manual or automatic transmission? These 4 cylinders are known to have head gasket issues. I also believe they need regular valve lash adjustment. Not sure if either of those impact compression but idk if it is for sure that this engine can’t be saved.

 

Could be as simple as a head gasket or a valve/seat burned. To claim it needs a total engine is BS.

Since it likely runs, I'd bet all the issues are top end/head gasket, no need to replace or even pull an engine for that, pull the head, rebuild it or just buy an already rebuilt one and use the one in it as a core if they require one.

 

I think its not worth more than $5k, and that'd be best case senario, i.e. it having all the right options, and being in great shape outside of the engine problem and your buddy finding the right buyer.

As others have already stated, the other ancillary factors can sway that figure a lot.

- Does it have the rear E-locker?
- Is it auto trans or manual?
- How clean is the interior?
- How clean is the body/paint/chassis?
- Other than oil changes, how well maintained is it?

If its automatic transmission, with not much maintenance history, with some crusty bits on the body panels, and some torn/stained seats AND its running on 3 cylinders, then its probably only a $2000-3000 rig.

 

There isn't really a calculus that works for everyone in these situations. If the owner has any emotional attachment to the vehicle a fix might be the right direction. If the equation is purely financial, then cut losses and move on might be best. Agree, value not more than $5k but that number really depends on the details. Could be significantly less depending on intertior and underside condition.

 

Welcome to TW..

 

Watched the video, the mechanic could be right but I’m betting he’s FOS or at least he’s not familiar with 1st gens. You can’t tell the engine is shot merely from the compression check. Like others have said really need to pull the head to see what’s what. He also recommended a custom exhaust shop, a Walker cat-back exhaust is less than $200. That said, the value really depends on the condition of the rest of the truck.