The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[chilipepper]

Just joined the forum as I'm thinking of buying a LC Amazon this summer to replace my current Mercedes G Wagon.

I moved to the G's after years of defender's / discovery's, (they sometimes get stuck!)I love the my G's off road ability with the 3 diff locks, it's never got stuck unlike the defender/disco, but it's not quick enough on the motorway.

I use it as a second car when I know it's going to be dificult terrain or weather, with an ML for most of my road work (I'm a contractor who travels long distances and then needs to cross muddy fields without support of another vehicle to pull me out.

Someone on the G Wagon forum suggested looking at an Amazon but was shot down for making such a remark on the forum.

So what's your advice, with the right all terrain tyres what should I be looking for and where should I be looking? Budget £15K

Thanks

[Google]

[Wandering Willy]

Hi Chilipepper

I bough a 2002 GX Amazon last July for £13,000 with 53,000 miles on it and am very pleased with the vehicle. The significance of it being a GX rather than a VX is that it doesn't have leather trim, electric seats or the self leveling suspension. Since this seems to cause a few problems I was happy to go for the lower spec model.

My car was (and still is) quite tatty regarding paintwork; lots of scratches and a few dents. But I can deal with them so preferred this to an earlier 'prettier' car with more miles on it.

I can only speak for this car as it's my first 4X4. It's a diesel automatic and very good to drive; quiet and comfortable. But I am a boring old f**rt so probably cause moans from other road users since my speeds are at or below the legal limit most of the time. Around town you are conscious of the size of the thing which is another reason for taking it nice and steady.

The S&M Michelins on when I got it were pretty worn and I wanted some tyres with a bit more off-road capability. After poking around a few web sites I got some Yokohama Geolanders. They are quiet on the road, seem to have reasonable grip and are chunky enough to cope with muddy slopes. I have a 24 acre smallholding which I am developing (hence the choice of car) and use the car to pull a large horse box type trailer which it does nicely.

I could have gone for Goodrich ATs or similar but was afraid of them being noisy on tarmac and perhaps with their stiffer sidewalls a little less capable in mud or soft soil.

Going back to the choice of car. You should be able to get a nice 2003 car for £15,000. If you prefer petrol and don't mind having an LPG conversion (for economy), the V8 Amazon comes with lots of goodies. The diesel can be manual or automatic and has a central diff lock and one on the back axle. I think the petrol model is always automatic and uses the ABS as a sort of traction control system rather than having diff locks, but I may be wrong on this.

After checking recently, I seem to be getting around 24 mpg with my sedate motoring. Using the air conditioning drops this to around 20 and towing the trailer takes it down further (no exact figures but 18 or there abouts seems likely).

Good luck with your purchase.

Willy

[mbw13]

For something which is of similar shape to a G-Wagon, a 70 series would be the way to go.

The brand new 70 series 5 door wagon is sold here and in NZ with a 4.5L TDI v8 as standard.  

Must say I'm a fan of the G-Wagon, looks like a nice machine, never been lucky enough to see one in real life though.  
_________________


Mike.