Thoughts on ex mine vehicles

[NLC071]

Hi,just interested if anybody has bought an ex mine car or are they something to steer clear of.Ive been looking at buying a 100 series and have come across an 04 model with only 100 thousand on the clock,looks good and drives good but it is an ex mine car so im not sure on it.also is there anything i should be checking on it.
Thanks in advance,
Damien

[doe]

Mate rust is one of the biggest problems with mine vehicles have a good look over it for that. Most mine vehicles are well maintained and serviced but they do get a hard time. Have seen some good ones come out of the mines but also some bad ones what sort of money are they asking for it? Thats what it comes down too at the end of the day good luck with it but go over it with a fine tooth comb.

[nayto]

That 100000km will be some of the hardest, roughest kilometres,driven by different people everyday trying to flog the ass off it, in the mud/rocks/dust, getting washed in ground water (usually high salinity levels) that most cars will ever see.......but thats not the case for all mine vehicles, some are boss's cars which rarely go down the pit and are mostly road cars.
So SOME ex mine cars can be ok, but a lot are not worth the hassle. Like its already been said, rust is a big one to look for.
Be very wary and give it a thorough inspection before thinking about buying.

[Dane]

Rust. If it isn't present now, it will be sooner than a non-mine vehicle. One of our work Hiluxes looks ok in the body but there are holes in the aluminium side steps you could put a tennis ball through. It is only a surface vehicle but the ground water they use for dust suppression is very corrosive.

I wouldn't let it stop you buying one that is a bargain, but be prepared for the inevitable.

[dickie75]

my 75 series is an ex santos ute and was clean as. full service history no rust never had a problem with anything. guess it just depends on who was driving it and where it was being driven.

[Elmo]

Be very very careful dude, i've worked on alot of different mines and i've never yet come across a mine vehicle that isnt drifted around corners, smashed up nasty goat tracks, driven through bonnet deep slosh, done circle work, handbraked around corners and generally just treated like absolute crap...

As Nayto said, if your buying a vehicle from the hunter valley especially the salinity levels in the water used to wash them is extreme and i dont care what car you get, even the bosses cars normally get washed in the same wash bay with the same water even if they dont normally go down the pit. RUST IS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!! No exceptions

Maintaince boys do there best, but you gotta remember these are driving on the same roads as trucks weighing anywhere between 200tonne and 500tonne, they're not smooth. They will have seen potholes, corrugations, waterholes, driven over rock spillage the size of the wheels and had absolutely no respect from their drivers.

Motors might run good for you now because it would have been prettied up, but bear in mind, the dust these things drive through is intense and dont think for a second that those airfilters get cleaned or shaken out everyday, once it comes out of service, theres a 99% chance that airfilter aint getting touched until it goes back in for its next service - its blocked big time.

Pre-starts are supposed to be a daily check, and on supervisors and above vehicles, yeah you might have a chance of it being done and being driven by the same person everyday, there is a little bit better chance that it got looked after, but general vehicles who are open for every man and his dog to use dont actually get checked everyday - book / rules say its meant to happen, but good bloody luck. Oil levels will go un-noticed, power steering will get run dry, hoses could be torn, belts could be loose you name it...

My opinion is a 2004 model car with only 100,000km is a rarity, i dont know how the hell it lasted 6years and only got that few a kilometres because pit vechiles can travel upto 500km a day. My guess is that its had a new dash which is quite common with 100series's we've had a number of cruisers that we drive everyday and you get to know the lemons from the gooduns and which ones are your favourite to drive and which ones you leave alone, but you might know a car really well, jump in it one day and the odometer reads only a couple hundred kilometres... Chances are the dash was replaced the last couple days, seen it many times.

But in saying that, you might have found a genuine 100,000km car... Just be super careful and check it right out... But i still wouldnt be paying anymore than 4 or 5 grand at the most.... ABSOLUTE MOST!!!!!!


Oh and for what its worth, in the probably 300 or so different landcruisers and patrols i've driven across sites, i've only ever found ONE that i would have bought - LV2240 from B2 Site - that was a gem, but rare as rocking horse poo

[drr]

Down here in the brown coal mines it isn't unusual for them to spend 150k per car on maintenance over about 80,000kms. That's not including panel work. These are the cars that aren't road registered and live in the mine 24/7, the cars are pretty much farked once they're finished with them.

[SCANAS]

Drr, can you explain the 150k per car on maintenance?

[Elmo]

Jeez 150k, never knew it was that much... Wouldnt surprise me though, i was good mates with the light vechile mechanics at my last work and everytime i went in there, there was always 4 or 5 cruisers lined up in the bays....

Constantly replacing gearboxs and fuel pumps apparently. Plus the normal suspension, bushes, lights etc etc wearing out or just falling off. Oh and tyres, but they're pretty much just a disposable item... DAM they go through tyres

Would love to see a copy of the annual repair bill hey

[drr]

Drr, can you explain the 150k per car on maintenance?

God damn it. Just wrote a massive reply to this and then it logged me out. But yeah, lots of damage and wear due to the conditions and drivers. Also increased servicing. No warranty from Toyota due to some agreement they have in place, but it means that they get looked after if they come across a problem.

[Cyrel]

We have had about 6 cruisers over the time and all have come from the vic coal mines. These cars need to be checked over well but in the auction yard you can't drive them. Out of all the cruisers we never had a dud and the biggest job was the 3 day detail to get rid of the coal dust. One if these has done over 350k and still going strong but the rust has taken its tole being a 60 series. Also note that many of the cruisers in the yards around melbourne a from the mines if they are a std modle. The others are the parks and DSE and if you think they are treated any better then you have your eyes shut, most of all be wary of these after the fires as dusted motors were very comon. Now you have me started you could always get a farm 4x4 they get a wash if they are lucky.

Cheers

[hzj75 94]

stay away from coal mine vicheals they'll rust out like anything as for that my dad bought a 04 ute with just under 100k early last year and it runs perfect not a sign of rust and it was from a phosphorous mine near mt isa the paint is discoloured from high calcium water but other than that it seems perfect

[monster fj]

dont by one unless u want some parts RUST RUST RUST i bought a troopy had no rust 4 years later the thing nilly fell apart all the sulfar dust gets into evry where that u cant c DoNT by 1 unless for parts

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

like others have said ive seen some rough ones and some good looking ones.
but they get a very hard tough time.

generally with things in a mine.... a miner will lose 1, steal 1 and break 1.

you have to see how things get treated to believe it.

if it were me, i'd want to have a really good look at someting first before bidding and allow enough in your budget that if it breaks big you arent too far behind a non mine vehicle money wise.

[BillV]

I've been told to stay away from them though in saying that there are some good ones out there I know of a fella that's just bought a 04 hilux that was an Ex-mine vechile, seems in good condition & came with front & rear lockers only paid I think it was $8'000 for it, though as everyone is saying you do get lemons but you get lemons everywhere you buy a used car, I would also suspect no matter how well it was treated the Suspention will all be totally shagged, which is really common in mine vechiles

[ferrit]

. The others are the parks and DSE and if you think they are treated any better then you have your eyes shut, most of all be wary of these after the fires as dusted motors were very comon.
Cheers

Not wrong there- when i was there in week 4 of the black saturday fires, we were driving around with holes in the air cleaners because the vehicles consumed EVERY nissan air filter in the country, and the shipment was going to take another 3 weeks to get there. Fleet requirements mean you need to use genuine filters, so we were SOL.

Apparently toyota flew two pallets of filters from japan overnight for the 79 series because they used every filter in stock- wasnt odd to blow the filter out in the evening when you got back, and next morning drive out at 6am, and by 10am have the air filter blocked light on all the time.

[Mike4r]

I've seen a GU Patrol and 100 Series Landcruiser both from the mines in a wrecking yard. Both were full of dust inside the chassis rails.
Can't be good long term for rust and must also add some extra unnecessary weight.

[Elmo]

I've seen a GU Patrol and 100 Series Landcruiser both from the mines in a wrecking yard. Both were full of dust inside the chassis rails.
Can't be good long term for rust and must also add some extra unnecessary weight.

Oh mate, the extra weight these things carry of mud underneath is mind blowing. They just dont get cleaned underneath unless there going in for service or off site. The common practise in the mines when told to wash a car is wash the sides, bonnet and windows and thats it... Roof, inside and underneath hardly ever get cleaned unless SPECIFICALLY TOLD TO!! and even then its a pretty bloody rough job

I honestly reckon there'd have to be a good couple hundred kilo's of just dust and mud on these cars permanently

[NLC071]

Thanks for all the feedback guys,i decided to steer clear of the mine car,dont think i want to risk ending up with a rusty bucket of sh#t in 12mths time.Found a clean 06 model with lpg injection and a heap of extras,its a fair bit dearer but has been well looked after.

[stitch_all4x4]

Do yourself a favour dont buy an ex mine vehicle..i used to work at all four x four part's with fester hence the nick.. and in my opinion mine vehicle's are absolutely rooted structually. gu patrol's.100 series cruisers came in absolutely flogged out by rust. word of advice..the poor man always pays twice.

Stitch