Auction Watch • 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser VX • Cars & Bids
The DadCruiser
A green 100 Series with a turbodiesel and a stick shift, the combination America never got. It sold on Cars & Bids with no reserve, and I did the math.
It's the right color
My Favorite Toyota Green
Toyota calls this color Imperial Jade Mica. I call it emerald green, and it's my favorite Toyota color. Not one of my favorites. My favorite. And it's on a 1999 Land Cruiser VX on Cars & Bids with a manual transmission and a diesel.
I checked, because that combination sounds made up in the U.S. It isn't. The listing says it has a 4.2-liter 1HD-FTE intercooled turbodiesel inline-six and a five-speed manual with a two-speed transfer case. It's a right-hand-drive Japanese-market truck, imported and titled in Arizona. Toyota never sold the 100 Series here with either one.
Here's my hot take: this is the coolest middle-aged dad car you can buy right now. It's a 100 Series, so it rides like a Land Cruiser should. It's green. It has three pedals. All it needs is a dad in a Tommy Bahama shirt behind the wheel, on the wrong side.
What you're looking at
The 100 Series America Didn't Get
The 100 Series Land Cruiser ran from 1998 to 2007, and it was the first Land Cruiser with independent front suspension. In the U.S., you got a gas V8 and an automatic. In Japan, you could get this: an HDJ101 with the turbodiesel six and a stick.
The listing rates the engine at about 202 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque. This one also has a locking center differential, heated front seats, a rear cabin heater and automatic climate control. VX was the nicer trim in Japan, so it's a dad car with a few dad comforts.
The uncomfortable part
Read the Flaws First
It's a 27-year-old truck with about 281,800 kilometers on it. That's roughly 175,200 miles. The listing calls out chips on the front, a dent in the rear driver-side door, a scratch on the rear bumper, a ding on the lower tailgate, faded trim, interior wear and carpet stains.
The bigger one is corrosion spots on the front fenders and underbody. Rust is the thing I'd want to see in person, or have an inspector see, before I sent money.
The good news is the seller has done a lot of work in 2026: fluids, filters and hoses in April; the water pump, timing belt and an EGR delete in May; the alternator, a pinion seal, control arm bushings and a wheel bearing in July; and rear springs in August. A timing belt that's six months old is the best paperwork a diesel can have.
I'm a CPA, so here we go
The Money Section
There's not much data on diesel 100 Series trucks in the U.S. My Market Tracker doesn't have a single one. Here's what I do have, and where this one sits.
| The 100 Series Comps | Price |
|---|---|
| 100 Series median, all sales (87 sales) | $22,500 |
| 100 Series median, manual transmission (2 sales) | $52,875 |
| 100 Series diesels sold | None in my data |
| This VX, sold Nov. 9, 2026 | $33,750 |
| This VX, per mile (about 175,200 miles) | $0.19/mile |
| This VX, per pedal (three of them) | $11,250/pedal |
The first three rows are from my Land Cruiser Market Tracker. Mileage is converted from the 281,800 km on the listing. My price guess is labeled as a guess.
The Verdict on the Math
$33,750 is $11,250 over the median 100 Series in my tracker, and that median is mostly gas automatics. It's still well under the two manual sales in my tracker. Two sales is not a trend, and this truck has 175,000 miles, right-hand drive and some rust. My pre-close guess was that anything under $35,000 was fair for the right person. It landed just under that, so I'll call it a fair price for a rare spec, not a steal.
The snark section
Things I Noticed, in No Particular Order
It comes with its Japanese license plate. Hang it in the garage. It's the best wall art a Land Cruiser person can own.
It has a Japanese ETC reader. That's an electronic toll card reader. It won't do much on an Arizona highway.
The tailgate still has a sticker that says 最大積載量 350kg. That's the maximum load capacity, 350 kg. That's about 770 pounds, or one dad, one cooler and a lot of Tommy Bahama.
The EGR is deleted. There's a block-off plate on it. Check your state's rules before you assume that's fine where you live.
It comes with three keys. One for you, one for the spouse and one for the kid who's going to inherit it.
The tires have 2022 date codes. Budget for tires sooner than later.
Receipts
The Listing, Before It Disappears
Auctions end and listings go stale, so here are the key facts as Cars & Bids listed them on Nov. 9, 2026, the day it sold. Every photo in this post comes from the Cars & Bids listing.
| The Listing | Details |
|---|---|
| Car | 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser VX (HDJ101) |
| Engine | 4.2L 1HD-FTE intercooled turbodiesel inline-6 |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual, two-speed transfer case, locking center diff |
| Mileage | About 281,800 km (about 175,200 miles) |
| Colors | Imperial Jade Mica over gray cloth |
| Drive | Right-hand drive, Japanese market |
| Title | Clean, Arizona |
| Seller | Private party |
| Reserve | No reserve |
| Ended | Nov. 9, 2026, 11:54 a.m. MST |
From the Cars & Bids listing quick facts and description. Seller name and town left out.
The hammer drops
How It Ended
It sold at no reserve for $33,750 after 46 bids. Late bidding pushed the end of the auction from 11:45 to 11:54 a.m. MST on Nov. 9, 2026. That’s the hammer price, before the Cars & Bids buyer’s fee.
Final thoughts
Would I Buy It?
I already have an 80 Series in TRPLOK, and every spare dollar goes to the Fund the 40 jar.
But if I were shopping for a dad cruiser, this is the spec. The right color, three pedals, a diesel and room for the whole family. Add a Tommy Bahama shirt and you're done.
See the Listing
The full Cars & Bids listing has the rest of the photos, the service records and the underbody shots. Want more Land Cruiser math? Start with Land Cruiser prices for every generation or LX450 vs. 80 Series.
All car photos are from the seller's Cars & Bids listing. The front plate is blurred.
Drive Fast · Take Chances · Never Lift.
