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Which Landcruiser would you recommend?


 
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purplecarters
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Joined: 19 Oct 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Yeovil, Somerset

PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:03    Post subject: Which Landcruiser would you recommend? Reply with quote

Confused  Hey there everybody peeps!
We are looking to purchase a landcruiser, for all the usual reasons, fit enough to tow a caravan, can carry umpteen people and two dogs, la de da de da.

we have been looking on e bay and auto trader to get an idea on price and mileage, prefer diesel, not worried about manual or auto.

Some however, even with low mileage seem to be very cheap ie, N or P plate with less than 100K on clock for roughly £3.5K and others for about £5K.  I wondered if there is a fault we should be looking out for which would make a LC that cheap?  Or should we just snap one up so to speak?

We love toyota's in general, have got an Estima at the moment and after 6 years of owning it, its now starting to play up (Cylinder Head trouble) and have learnt that this is a problem with estima's when they reach about 180,000 K on the clock.  Other than that this car has never caused us any problems and for that reason we would like to stick with toyota's!

So what can you recommend?  I'd be really happy to hear your opinions!

Thanks a lot Liz  Laughing
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joinerman
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Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Posts: 2200
Location: Here & there

PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 18:55    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd be biased because i have an 80 series, love it to bits, reliability is not a good enough word really, can't see me giving it up for a long long time.
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purplecarters
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Joined: 19 Oct 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Yeovil, Somerset

PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 23:21    Post subject: Reply with quote

haha, Joinerman, I understand completely.  Thanks for the reply!
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olivergt
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Joined: 14 May 2007
Posts: 217
Location: Galway - Ireland

PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:35    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm a bit like Joinerman, I have an 80 so am biased, I have only had it for about 18 months, but have been impressed so far.

I tow a caravan occasionally and it is perfect.

I also had it on a long run down to the south of France with wife and 3 kids, I've done this same journey in a SAAB 9000 and a 5 series BMW and I can say without a doubt that the LC was the best, plenty of space for everybody and the wine Smile.

Highly recommended.

When i was looking I looked at 90's as well as 80's, but figured the 80 to be far better value. Unless you can stretch to the one with the D4D engine (120? someone can correct me) which was introduced in 2001/2002 I would be inclined to spend some time looking for a well looked after 80.

Oliver.
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joinerman
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Joined: 11 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 19:47    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another thought, get anything from March 2001 onwards & you'll be paying £400 road tax very soon

Although i have an 80 i drive my mates 99 diesel Colorado quite a lot, have to admit it's superb, if i could afford it i'd have both.
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deltafive
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Joined: 06 May 2007
Posts: 86
Location: WARWICK

PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 18:58    Post subject: Which LC Reply with quote

Go for a LC90 the Colorado/Prado The Diesel manual is the best for towing and most economical but many have auto boxes. The VX with leather is a really nice spec and should come for £4k unless it is one of the later cars with the D4D engine. For towing you might need rear booster springs but Grayston assisters are an easy fit and not expensive

Dave
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Wandering Willy
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Joined: 18 Jul 2007
Posts: 1016
Location: Norfolk

PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 13:01    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think any reasonably well looked after Land Cruiser will do what you want. There are two options though:-

a) do you want a luxury car with off-road capability some of the time (probably rarely)

or

b) a go anywhere/carry lots of stuff car which can serve as a shopping trolley from time to time?


I guess it's more (a) than (b) in which case stick to a recent 80/90/100/120 which has never seen a muddy track and you should be fine. If it's the other way round, you might prefer a 55/70/80 with raised suspension, a winch and chunky mud tyres.

BUT, don't by a category (b) car and then feel cheated that it doesn't drive like a Subaru Imprezza!

Given a bit of TLC plus a few gadgets, most of the recent Land Cruisers (less than 20 years old) will take you, your family and a trailer to the furthest parts of the world and bring you back.

Remember the old Australian adage, 'a Land Rover will take you into the outback but a Toyota will bring you back as well!'

There are lots of bits available to uprate, 'improve' and enhance Land Cruisers. Many of them have to come from foreign parts. However, the internet lets you buy them and their prices (from SA, US, Oz) are often very reasonable.

There are some well known and fixable problems with each of the series. Look in the relevant forum for more information. However, these problems are as nothing compared to some cars I won't mention. The attraction of the Land Cruisers is that they are built very solidly and are relatively easy to fix with basic tools. The category (a) cars tend to be a bit more gadget laden and require more computer time to sort out when in trouble. Hence the preference for the older series for uprating, etc.

A lot of them are available with a diesel engine as well as petrol. The same car with petrol will possibly be more a category (a) vehicle than its diesel sister (or should that be brother?). However, both are very capable and durable. The petrol cars use a bit more fuel than the diesel and many have been converted to run on LPG as a result.

Take care buying a car with a lot of miles on it with an old LPG conversion. The early LPG kit was a bit basic, modern kits can be very sophisticated making the car more economical and nicer to drive. Also, LPG can damage the cylinder head and valves over time. The car should have a FlashLube kit and it must have been used all the time (difficult to check). This is a sort of permanent supply of Redex type oil to reduce damage to the valves when using LPG. But, a petrol car may be offered at a lower price than a similar diesel one and may have more gadgets.

Some of the grey import cars have different gadgets from the 'normally' imported cars. This can mean you don't get some of the normal bits but get things that the 'normal' car did not get. These grey import cars have known to have been stolen from Japan or the Middle East and can be impounded by the police when discovered. You need to check both aspects before buying. This doesn't mean that these cars are to be avoided. You just need to be careful before buying.

One other little point. A lot of LCs have an automatic gearbox. These are very (VERY) good to drive. Some people will only drive a manual gearbox car but these are good in almost any situation. An older automatic might need a bit of TLC but a similar manual gearbox car will probably had several new clutches as well. When I say 'old' I mean over 200,000 miles. This is a normal mileage for a well maintain LC and shouldn't put you off provided the car looks and sounds OK. 500,000 miles might sound like a lot but it would be quite normal for an 80 or 100 series - again, if it has been properly maintained. So don't be put off by the sort of mileage that would kill lesser cars.

If you can afford a recent low mileage car - hooray! But if not, keep looking and you will find a bargain which suits your needs.

Willy
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wildsmith
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Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 1580
Location: Stourbridge, West Mids, UK

PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 18:30    Post subject: Reply with quote

We had a pair of 80 series for 6 & 7 years and from a distance I couldn't see much point 'upgrading' to a 100. I did eventually get bored with not having had a new motor for so long and went and looked at a few 100's, and bought a petrol, for family motoring. I have to say they're night and day and anyone who had already told me that was right  Laughing  I don't think you can beat the 80 as a work horse and we still have mine, but for pulling a caravan and general transport duties the 100 wins my vote easily.
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Jon m0zxj

01 UZJ100 lifted (AHC & 40mm BL), ARB locked f&r, cryo'd 4.88's, TJM front bumper, 12k goldfish, sliders, rack, snorkel, 35's, storage, aux power etc.
93 HDJ80 sold
94 HDJ80 RIP
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stjones(R1)
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Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 20
Location: FARNBOROUGH

PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 21:01    Post subject: Landcruiser worries Reply with quote

Land Cruiser Amazon 80 or 100

Both bullet proof with a tried and tested drive train.
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Landcrusher
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Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2689
Location: Chesterfield, East Midlands

PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 22:01    Post subject: Reply with quote

Say R1 - check the posting date. This is Oct 2008. Not a current thread.

LC
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HDJ 80 but still a 90 owner at heart (yeah right!)
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Ecky Thump
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Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 739
Location: Crawley, West Sussex

PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 22:17    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who cares

It brings some of the old threads back to life.
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Les
TLOCUKSB Member No.80
1998 VX Ltd Auto 4.2TD 24 valve beast!! OME 50mm lift & Safari Snorkel
1997 auto petrol 80 (for Er'in'doors)
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