Toyota Land Cruiser 80 for sale in Japan

Buying one from here

The diesel is the reason to buy from Japan

The 1HD-T and 1HD-FT turbo-diesels were never sold in America, and the 25-Year Rule is the way to get one. The petrol 1FZ-FE is the familiar engine and a perfectly good one; the diesel is the car people import for.

Rust decides the value

Check the chassis rails, the rear wheel arches, the battery tray and the sills. A tidy-looking 80 with a corroded chassis is a poor buy at any price, and this is the single best reason to have one inspected in person at the auction house.

Mileage matters less than you expect

These run to very high mileages and a 250,000km car with a straight body and good service history is often a better proposition than a low mileage one that has sat. Look at the condition first and the odometer second.

What it costs to land one in the US

Ocean freight, customs duty, clearance and our sourcing fee sit on top of the Japanese price. The duty rate is 12.5% of the car's value — the figure JDM Imports works to, and the one the calculator uses; see tariffRate in js/services/calculator.js, which is the authority. Every line of that cost is set out here, and the 25-Year Rule is explained here. The landed cost calculator works the whole figure for any car on this page before you commit to it, and cars 2002 and older clear the 25-Year Rule.