The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[toyotazoo]

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- I posted this in 100 series by mistake I think as I dont see £5k being enough !!!
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Hi to all,

Just joined the club as I am interested in buying a 7 seater 4x4.

I was thinking of either a Discovery, Shogun or Landcruiser(My favourite)

I understand that the shogun can have gearbox problems so I guess its between the Discovery and Landcruiser.

It will be out main family car but its unlikely it will be doing more than 10k a year. It will not be needed for heavy towing just transport for me to and from work and taking the family a new dog on holiday !.

I like the later rounded shape model but have no idea yet what the difference models are...

I am not too worried about mileage as I only have about £5k to spend.

Any help with this...?

Is there much difference between a 3.0 and 4.2 TD ?
Was the facelift in 1995 a major one ?
Is the VX the one to go for ?
Any good dealers/websites to find these models ?
WHAT ABOUT IMPORTS ?


I would like to buy over the next few weeks

Thanks

Peter

[Google]

[Ian-P]

Hi Peter,

I'm not sure if this will help,. but it's a reply I made to a similar post about a year ago.

I loved the Discovery from the moment I saw the first ones back in the late 80's early 90's? (memory). I was brought up in Africa on a diet of Landrovers, and have spent the last year looking at buying one to tow all my various toys from A to B. The more I have looked, the worse the story seems to be. The following is not necessarilly 100% correct, but here goes.

The Disco is very prone to corrosion due to the mix of aluminium alloy and steel used in the build. The roof is steel, the window frames are steel, the chassis is steel, but I believe that the rest of the body panels are alloy. It would appear that there is no barrier between the alloy and steel, so you will find corrosion on almost all Disco's. The main problems that I have been told about along with the visible corrosion that I have seen time after time is as follows.

1) Underneath the black rubber strips on the doors where the frame meets the doors. The rubber looks as though it is bubbling.

2) Open the rear doors, and at the top of the rear arch, there is often the start of corrosion present.

3) There is almost always some slight sign of bubbling somewhere on the tailgate.

4) The boot floor is a favourite if you talk to garages that specialise in Disco's.

5) Apparently, the steel roof/alloy body join is not that water tight, and so you get water ingress that is not always visible. This leads to a lot of invisible damp leading to the corrosion.

6) The manual gearbox is unreliable, the automatic is bullet proof.

7) The dash will curl up if not protected from the sun. A fixing kit is available for this.

8)The headlining nearly always drops down. Not sure how expensive this is to replace.

9) The head lining on Disco's with sunroof's seems to fair better as it's held up by the sunroof sorrounds, but apparrently they can leak a fair bit.

10) The bottom of the doors rust.

11) The sills are prone to rust as well.

The 200 Tdi and the 300 Tdi are virtually the same engine, but the purists seem to prefer the 200 Tdi.

I had my car MOT'd at a Landrover specialist last thursday, and as I arrived, the tester was taking out a Disco for a test run post service. When he got back, I grilled him for about 20 mins on the pro's and cons, and he prettyy much confirmed all the above. He told me to steer clear, and if I was set on a Landrover product to go for a classic Range Rover. He basically said that the problem was appalling build quality, cheap unreliable parts, but apart from that they're a good vehicle!

I have driven them, like them, and if you read any of the Landy mags they rave about them. They are very good off road, very good towing vehicles, but let down by an appaling build quality.

If you want a good one, there are several company's that specialise in importing 2nd hand Disco's from Japan. I have been and seen several, and they are nearly all in superb condition. A much higher spec than the UK, all are automatic, but you pay a premium.

So, having tried for so long to talk myself into buying a Disco, I decided today to spend the money on a Landcruiser instead. She' in mint condition, has a 4.2 Td and goes like a train, shame about the fuel consumption though.

HTH, Regards, Ian.
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4.2 TD 12v VX AUTO

[toyotazoo]

I thought you would say that..

I have had a number of landrovers ( 90's ) and they were lovely machines that never failed to start or get anywhere for me but in the end I stopped buying them because I kept on having to get someone with a welding torch !!

How old is the VX ?.. I was thinking of an 80 series for around £5-6k

[joinerman]

I think for 5-6k you will be looking at around a 94 - 95 year. i have an 80 series 94 4.2 vx import auto which i get 22 mpg no matter how i drive it. parts are no problem, best car iv'e ever had.

Joinerman

[toyotazoo]

Did you buy it private or from a garage ?

Any recommendations ?

Thx

[joinerman]

Bought mine on e bay

Joinerman

[Towpack]

I had a '94 model 300 Tdi which was a great car apart from the usual  corrosion (both rust & electrolytic),panel gaps you could drive a bus through,leaky roof windows,not to mention the infamous cambelt problem (just caught mine in time).In short,poor build quality.Apparently the '96 models were the worst as production was stepped up to try and meet the huge demand for them.
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Phil


1998 HDJ80 Amazon VX 4.2TD
2004 Yamaha R1 (Sold)
2011 Ducati 1198SP (Sold)
2012 kawasaki ZZr1400
2002 Honda XR650R (BRP)- STOLEN GRRRRR!!!
2010 Husaberg FE570....YIPPEEEEE!!!!
2003 GT XCR3000
1995 Border Collie-Passed away 23-5-2011

[Blewyn]

So you guys are basically saying that an automatic Disco is pretty much rock-solid and reliable apart from rust problems ?

[nailhead]

I just bought a 4.2 TD '91 VX import 80 series (Amazon).   It is in fantastic condition with hardly any rust anywhere.  Took some shopping around, but I am well pleased.  It is my first 4X4 and I am now hooked.

I drove a Disco and a few Defenders while shopping for my vehicle, and the Landcruiser is a lot better to drive and more comfortable.  

I bought the vehicle for an overland trip through Africa, but if I were looking for something for more general UK based use I would really recommend looking at a Colorado as well.  You can get a good '97/98 in the £6k region.  It is slightly smaller and has a smaller engine, but for general use it is a really good vehicle imho.

Mike

[toyotazoo]

Thanks for that but I have noticed quite a lot of negative comments about the colorado on this site compared to the Amazon/VX..

From my small knowledge the colorado is more of a discovery size. I need a nice big 7/8 seater as I intend to go abroad with the whole family ( 5 + dog ) and want plenty of room !!

Are you saying the colarado is a big 7/8 seater?

I must admit after seeing many comments on this site I have not even been looking at them

[nailhead]

My advise would be to go and drive a Colorado.  No harm done either way.  If you like it and it suites your needs it just gives you more options when looking for that perfect vehicle in your budget.

I have only test driven one and was very tempted.  It isn't as big, but still a very capable vehicle.  Apparently the UN use them in Eastern Europe so they can't be that bad.

The one I drove had 2 folding seats in the back so I guess it could be class as a 7 seater, although I wouldn't want to sit in the back for long.  I was just going to get rid of those two seats anyway so wasn't a problem for my needs.

[joinerman]

Agree with nailhead, although i have a 4.2 vx i often drive my mate's R reg colorado, it's got 197,000 on the clock but still drives great, it's a smoother ride than my vx, i might be tempted to get one myself soon.


Joinerman

[DaveN]

Don't forget, the 80 is big on the outside, but not so big on the inside. I should think there isn't much between the two in terms of internal size.

[marsie]

I have owned several discoveries in the past and still own a modded defender winch challenge car.But after buying a 1992 4.2 about six months ago the difference in quality is startling .The landcruiser is built like a tank and makes the discoveries feel flimsy and the only downsides are-the price of parts(compared to LR) and the fuel economy(low 20's) but then again i dont suppose its bad for something that tows a 3.5 ton combined trailer and LR90 as though it isnt there and at least it dosent need parts as often as LR so over a period of time the parts probably arent that dear

Dont get me wrong,i think landrovers are brill.Its just a shame the build quality isnt as good as toyotas
Paul

[toyotazoo]

Thanks for all the comments..

I had a quick look at the colorado but I need the extra seats to be proper seats so that we can travel abroad and I like the size of the 4.2..

I must admit the 80's I have seen are huge inside and I have owned 4x4's from the Jeeps to Landrovers and Range Rovers..

The biggest question is do the later 94+ gearboxes make such a big difference.. I'll probably post that as a different question..

Thanks