Does somebody know if besides Toyota also other car manufacturers are still producing 4WD's with old fashioned technical equipment that is easy to understand/repair. In other words: is there an alternative for the Landcruiser HZJ75? Does Nissan for example still produce old fashioned Patrols?

Thanks

Toyota:
HZJ 75 ceased production in '98 IIRC and was replaced by HZJ78 and 79 (troopy and pickup).
HZJ 76 - rugged station wagon version also available 2007 onwards.
HZJ105 - production stopped fairly recently.

Santana:
no idea what it is really called (Hannibal?), but they make a simple, robust vehicle somewhat based on the Defender

Landrover:
think you can still get basic 300Tdi vehicles

Nissan:
Patrol still available in various versions of trim from simple to very luxurious, but with good old fashioned TD42 engine - we just bought a GL which should be with us next week.

Gil

Thanks. What's the new price of this uncomplicated Nissan Patrol? Cheaper then a new HZJ 78?

Don't know your location, but I bought my new Toyota 78 series Troopie for £22000 + VAT in the UK.

Jojo

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Atlas Overland - Specialist adventure tour company providing off-road holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts in Europe and North Africa.
Tours to Morocco, Tunisia, Arctic Circle, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

Mitsubishi, Isuzu and Fuso produce smallish (upto 2 tonne payloads) 4x4 cabover trucks. Come in 3 and 7 seater versions.

Well, I reckon a lot would depend on your location. The Patrol is costing us $40,000 excl. vat, but our company is in Ghana. so makes it about £3K more than Jojo's troopy.

Gil

Can you tell me why you prefer Nissan Patrol instead of Landcruiser?

Are you looking to buy a truck for a trip?

Also where are you?

A lot of people aim for something like a Troopie, etc for their overlanding trips due to the simplicities, however due to the costs, availability, etc if you are in the UK it is usually best to go for something like an 80.

The 80 series do have some electronics, but they are Toyota eletronics which are inherently more reliable than most and noe of them are really going to stop you in your tracks.

A lot of overlanding guidebooks/companies insist that you shouldn't have electronics, you shouldn't have an automatic, you shouldn't have alloy wheels, etc, etc, but I feel this is a bit extreme. I know of many many people that have travelled in most parts of the world with all of the above and amazingly they have survived.

Just some food for thought.

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Cheers,

Julian Voelcker
Overland Cruisers - Specialising in Land Cruiser preparation and servicing.

Good question. Actually I don't!!! I drive a 105 series LC as a DD company car and have a 2007 HZJ78 as a private car with a rather long list of modifications... But with my company hat on I buy vehicles as follows as we require several categories of 4x4 vehicle:
- light p/ups for forest managers which we change after 2 years. We use D22 Nissan p/ups from South Africa. Cheap and simple. After two years they are shot to hell. After three years they are almost scrap...
- Heavy duty pickups for mechanics and field repairs, we use HZJ79 Toyos. We will probably get 4 years out of them on average before selling.
- Heavy duty 4x4 station wagons for ferrying managers on weekends off, collecting customers and visitors. They do about 5,000kms per month on a mixture of good and shocking roads. We probably tend to keep the vehicles maximum 4 years, at which point they still have a good resale (+$10K) but are by EU standards VERY worn. I have a simple criteria for these cars;

Coil springs
S/Wagon body with 5 comfy seats
Rigid axles
Ladder frame chassis
Old fashioned mechanically injected diesel
As few (difficult to repair) complex systems as possible
Decent build quality to handle 4 years brutal punishment

For many years we used Patrols and 80s. Then 105s. Now with the 200 series and 76 series there is no Toyota which meets our requirments so back to Patrols which are IMHO a ba' hair close to the Toyo in build and durability. We have more toyota parts in our store, but to be honest we try to get rid of the cars before major problems. If there was a Toyota in the current line up that matched our requirements then I would buy it. IMHO Toyota have made a bit of a mistake not having a utilitarian coil sprung LC any more.
Cheers,
Gil

Thanks everybody. I am asking all these info because I am writing a article for a Dutch magazine about the question: which 4WD is most suitable for a NGO in Africa? Just needed some background information. I have traveled through Africa myself a lot: Libya, Chad, Algeria, Niger among others - mostly in landcruiser. But also in a Discovery, a Nissan Patrol and a Mercedes 190.

Last question for Gil: So coils are much more comfortable then leaf springs?

Thanks

In my experience what is suitable for NGOs and what they end up buying can sometimes be two very different things...
Yup, coils are more comfortable. They also tend to provide better articulation. No doubt. In my experience a leaf sprung vehicle where the load is well matched to the springs can be comfortable, but a heavily sprung lightly loaded vehicle can be a nightmare on African roads. When I was doing +5000kms a month in leaf sprung vehicles (HZJ75s and Hilux's) we used to line the load beds with solid timber floors, sides and various boxes and build in (behind wheel wells) old caterpillar track rollers (bloody heavy) just to provide a heavy, constant load. Leaf sprung empty hilux with a bench seat was about my least favourite vehicle ever! Lightly loaded Defender or 80 series is very different!
Gil