The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[pauly1664]

hi all,ive decided to take the plunge and buy a 4x4 and the only one that takes my fancy is the landcruiser and as i am not exactly flush with cash i was wondering if anyone can offer advice as to the cost of purchasing a decent one and what are the service costs like ...paul

[Google]

[Wandering Willy]

They come all shapes and sizes. Can you be a bit more specific about what you are looking for? Or what you want to do with it?

Each model has its supporters who wouldn't run anything else. I've had a 2002 Amazon since last July and - so far - I am very pleased.

The thing about the older models plus the 100 series (that's the current Amazon) is that they are made to be used in the Australian desert, the middle of the African jungle and halfway up the Himalayas. Often fixing them requires nothing more than a large hammer and a couple of bits of wood. Therefore, they make a great car if you want to service and maintain them yourself. A lot of the service parts can be obtained quite cheaply from places like Milners:

http://www.milneroffroad.com/Default.asp?c=17146

for a fraction of what your local friendly Toyota dealer would ask. There are specialist garages which can deal with the more complex problems (ask here) but a lot of the routine stuff you can do yourself and save a lot. A copy of the Haynes or Max Ellery manual is a big help. If you are not sure about a strange noise, something falling off or poor performance, ask here and there will be someone with advice to get you started.

If you look at the forum for the older Amazon - the 80 - you will see people being encouraged to change the engine bearings - the BEBs - on their driveway! You can't do that to any family saloon that I know of.

If you are willing to take on the routine stuff yourself you can check the price of parts at a few of the company websites such as Milner and do the sums.

As for the cost of a car to start with, it could be as low as a couple of thousand for an older type up to £20,000 - £25,000 for a very respectable newer machine. My 2002 Amazon cost me £13,000 last Summer. It was a bit grubby but had only 53,000 miles on it and everything seems to work so far.

If you can specify what you want to do with the car, someone here will suggest which models will meet you needs. The beauty of this web site is that once you decide on that, you can find out what type of problems you might encounter before you buy.

Once you have an idea of which model would suit your requirements, take a long-ish look at the discussions here about that type. Each one has its problems but most are solvable. The biggest costs with the newer large models are insurance and fuel rather than maintenance. With the older types, it's the other way round but maintenance costs shouldn't be painful unless the car has been abused.

Again, once you decide on the model or models that meet your needs, there is probably one of us in your area who could help with selecting a good one.

Keep in touch

Willy