The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[Te2800]

Hi there was thinking of purchasing a amazon landcruiser and thought best place for advice is here .. I’m looking at a 03 model on because of slight facelift just wondered about pros and cons on buying one I dont mind diesel or petrol model I hope you can shed some light on the best model .. I have read about worn big end bearings on diesel models so any help would be great thanks in advance

[Google]

[garyclark]

Hi.

I'm no expert on these cars but I have owned a 2004 model for a year now, so I have a little knowledge of them.

I've a feeling that worn big end bearings is not that common. You have to remember that people only get on the forums when they have a problem, so everything you will read will reflect that. I would suggest that worn bearings come from high mileage and/or lack of maintenance, or some other abuse.

Mine is a diesel and is quite noisy when cold but lovely and quiet when warm. Warms up in 1 minute in the summer and about 4 minutes in the winter.

The air suspension can give problems but is generally reliable. Quite expensive to fix if it does go wrong. Relatively cheap (£700) to convert to conventional springs and shocks. Luckily mine is doing ok.

With my auto box I get 22mpg with town work and 35mpg on a run at 60mph. My average obviously falls between those figures somewhere. I could get more MPG (probably 25) around town if I was lighter on the pedal. I love the torque produced by this engine which is why I keep pressing the pedal too hard! Unfortunately due to this behaviour I'm going to have to move her on to get something more economical  (and boring) instead.

Overall a lovely car to own and drive. They've become more "Range Rover" over the years whereas I believe they were more "Landrover" in the early days. My 2004 is definitely more a luxury car than a workhorse, even though its 4x4 and towing credentials are still very much there.

You might get more response on here if you ask more specific questions. Some very knowledgeable people on this forum.

Happy hunting.

Gary.

[Rocket]

I have had mine for about 5 years and just done up until recently general maintenance and servicing.

Rides well, comfortable, loads of go when you put your toe down and can pull anything, the engine noise   .

Very juicy on the fuel, Petrol 14-15 mpg, I don't like LPG so bought one that had not been converted, I hear of to many problems with them and I do not do the miles to warrant the extra cost.

Gary get 35mpg out of the diesel? the Toyota figure is about 23mpg Ave, but I have never had one so maybe.
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2002 Amazon 4.7 V8 - What a machine !

[garyclark]

Yes, 35mpg is what I got on a 100 mile run from Felixstowe to South London holding 60mph as best I could. That's the A14, A12, M25 and A3. There was about 1 mile of town work at each end. The figure on the dash was 35.8mpg but after filling and calculating it was 35.3mpg. I rounded that down to 35mpg.

Take a look at Honest John for true mpg figures from real people. The range on there for the 4.2td is 22mpg to 35mpg. That pretty much matches what I said in my first post.

I've no reason to make up numbers on a forum so they are true and accurate. My maths is excellent and my calculator is better than me!

Gary.

[Rocket]

That brilliant for a car that size, I never knew they were anything like that good on fuel Gary.

Having had diesels of all sorts for company car around the 03 to 10 reg, bog standard stuff mondeos, vectra's, insignia's etc, they would only do about 40 ish. So made a bad assumption.

Anyway I should only comment on what I have    and I don't check it to often but 15mpg would be a fair average fuel consumption.

back to topic i did have the spheres refurbished because I thought she was not that smooth but made no difference really although the chap thought they were a bit low on pressure, changing the oil for this cost about £80 from Toyota not to tricky to do, other than that and the recent brake pump that's all i have had so I would say pretty bullet proof  
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2002 Amazon 4.7 V8 - What a machine !

[garyclark]

On the other hand, I could easily get down to 15mpg if I raced it around like I did with smaller cars in the past. Driving style plays a huge part in mpg of course. I remember watching an old chap on TV in the 70's showing how he got a 20% saving in fuel just by changing his driving style, and very little time was lost on his journeys. I can see now that I may have evolved into that man!

Like yourself, I thought the ride was not smooth enough, especially on small sharp bumps. I had my spheres changed by Pleiades in Sawtry. Terrific company and good price but it made little difference. I messed about with all suspension parts trying to improve it to no avail. I then renewed my tyres last week with exactly the same tyre model and it's made a huge difference on those smaller bumps. That came as a pleasant surprise

Gary.

[Rocket]

What tryres did you put on Gary? I have also recently put 4 new tires on and at the same time had my wheels refurbished. When the chap came to change the Michelin MTX M/S he said they were the original tyres made in 2002! Done 156K!!!!! still had loads of thread but had started to perish on the sidewalls.

I therefor asked for the same again but when I picked it up they have put Michelin Latitudes on as he said he could not get the same not noticed any ride improvement but I have noticed that it seems to wander more, sort of track in the ruts They have not done 100 miles yet so early days.
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2002 Amazon 4.7 V8 - What a machine !

[garyclark]

My old tyres were Bridgestone D684 113H and I replaced with the same. I've been very surprised and happy with the difference between the old and new ones. The old ones would squeal on virtually any corner (embarrassing in town) but the new ones don't. Same good grip though.


Mine are on 18" rims giving a lower profile tyre than the optional 16" and 17" rims that Toyota supplied. The lower profile may be part of the reason for the bumpy effect on the smaller bumps like drain covers and joins in the tarmac/concrete.

I wondered if the sidewalls on the newer tyres were somehow softer and helping to absorb those smaller shock from those smaller bumps, but it doesn't feel like that when cornering. The other thing I thought is that the deeper tread is probably taking some of the shock. My old tyres were very near the limit so hardly any tread to soak up the bumps. Whatever it is, I'm pleased with the effect.

What we're the concerns you had with gas conversions? I've never had one so know very little about them.

Gary.

[Rocket]

Just looking through forums and speaking to people sounds like they always need tweaking plus the room they take up.

I wanted the petrol due to a lot of small journeys mine does the wife uses it really and she probably does 2 miles a day and thought that would not be good for a diesel?

if i was to get one i think from what I have heard the prince system is one of the best.
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2002 Amazon 4.7 V8 - What a machine !

[big-yin]

Morning

Very interested on this post, such great advice.

I'm off to look at a 1999 4.2TD on Saturday morning. 155000miles, 3 owners, last serviced 10,000miles ago, timing belt done 90000miles ago, possibly needs one new tyre as others are good, bodywork is excellent, last owner was a lady owner for 13yrs and on the pictures at least looks in good condition inside and out.  I have 4 boys + extras and 3 dogs, so need the space and have always fancied one so why not.
I suppose my question would be on the servicing side : I would plan to get a service done, oil change and general check at the minimum but notice that Toyota have good offers on so was considering getting what they call a "full service" done at my local centre, i'm based in Daventry.

Any thoughts on specific things to check for when i see the car or the servicing side would be greatly appreciated.

Michael