WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO BUY A TLC?

[PJC]

Can anyone please point me in the best direction for getting info on purchasing a TLC for overland travel.

Is there a firm in the Uk that will import Troopies from Oz? I beleive that Oz is possibly the best place to start looking to import from. Are ther any official sites that sell ex UN vehciles as I used one whilst working in Cambodia with the Un in 1993?

Any pointers would be most welcome.

Paul

[Roman]

Paul,

The best place to look for is the Autotrader, Exchange&Mart and possibly this group. There are also small dealers importing Toyotas from Japan (I pass one on the way to work, near the Hanger Lane roundabout in West London). I bought mine from a private seller through E&M. Troopies are almost impossible to find here (other than from an occassional private seller). It may be easier to find a TLC on the continent, but because here people call them jap-crap, prices tend to be even 25% lower than in France or Holland.

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Roman (UK)
www.polandrover.com

[Mel D]

Hello

In OZ you can buy a 2 yr old TLC with 40,000 on the clock (klms that is) for $35.000AU. So that's just over 10,000 quid. Most of the people who buy at auction are dealers so they will only go so far in price before they stop bidding. So if you are prepared to add an extra $500 you have a good chance of getting the vehicle. The same vehicle at a dealer will sell for over $40,000.

There are 2 main auction houses in Melbourne - Fowles and Auto Group. Both have websites:

www.fowles.com.au and www.autogroup.com.au

There are many other 4WDs on sale as well, but TLCs come in groups. I have found that around mid-year the government gets rid of them all and there can be 20-30 for sale in any one week. Other weeks there might be one or two.

Some aution houses have their vehicles selling for 'fixed price' so you don't have to go to auction. You cna view them on the web.

On this forum are links to shipping options between OZ and the UK. I have heard figures around US$1500 between OZ and sth Africa. Geoff Kingsmill's site has good info on shipping: http://africa.dreamers1.com

Or make an adventure out of it - buy the vehicle here, ship it to say India or Sth Africa then drive to the UK. You can fit it out in OZ, see our wonderful country, then take it back to Europe and most likely get a good re-sale value.

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http://www.on2anotheradventure.com