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Which Land Cruiser? Which Land Cruiser?
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Light Overland Vehicle Tech Tech issues, tips and hints, prepping for travel
Under 3500kg vehicles, e.g. Land Cruiser, Land Rover, Subaru etc.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 29 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by liammons View Post
Oh and diesel, manual all the way.

Manual is one less thing to go wrong, diesel is cheaper to run.
That is what I'm thinking at the moment....

Only concern is there's not many of the manuals out there in decent condition. Rarer than hen's teeth from what I can see.

Also interested in figuring out if petrol has any advantages over diesel either from the dirty/high-sulphur fuel in Asia/Africa perspective, or for owning it as a lifetime vehicle in Australia.

Understand it's more expensive in fuel costs, although also cheaper to buy, but what's the reality like in terms of reliability, fuel availability in remote areas, etc?

Quote:
But the 100 and I think the 105 have a weaker gearbox than the 80.
Manual, auto, or both?
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  #2  
Old 29 Mar 2014
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And also, do any of the Aussie members have experience of running a UK sourced land cruiser? As that's where it'll be ending up for the rest of it's life after these trips.

I know Toyota have different specs for different markets.

Is there anything that's critically different?

What about insuring an import?

Parts availability/cost, etc?
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  #3  
Old 31 Mar 2014
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Originally Posted by Av8r View Post
Do any of the Aussie members have experience of running a UK sourced land cruiser? As that's where it'll be ending up for the rest of it's life after these trips. Parts availability/cost, etc?
Overseas I travel on 2 wheels, although a good friend in France sourced a 61 Series locally with the factory 12HT last year for 5000 Euro or so, he's one very happy boy.

Be ready to travel and wait to find the right car and know what you're looking at or have someone who knows look at the car before you buy. The least amount of electric accessories the less will go wrong. Find one with a bull bar and spotties if your lucky some of the 61 series came out with a factory PTO winch, nice ;-) Buy from an owner not a dealer if possible. Or importing a car from Japan is easy enough there a plenty of dealers in the UK doing it, MOT'd the lot. You will find the cars from Japan are mostly very well looked after, un abused, often fully optioned and with low K's / miles.

Look at, a car that is proven and will stand up to some punishment, the 61 series Turbo Diesel and the 80 series Turbo Diesel are awesome 4X4's. Simply add 33 inch tyres and alloy mags and go ;-) Regarding the 80 Series, I'd recommend putting free wheeling hubs in to save some fuel, tyres and transmission.

Auto is not my choice although there are plenty out there and I have not heard of many issues with the boxes. Mind you it will depend on what you tow and they are not quite as fuel efficient.

One thing with all of the Toyota diesels is the oil, it must be changed every 5000 Kilometres or so without fail, easy to do albeit expensive at 9 litres or so.

Parts are easy enough to source given the net these days, generic oil, fuel and air filters and plentiful and cheap, anything else just order online or source through you local 4X4 clubs or wreckers.

The 2 models or variations I'd look at are;

1990 Toyota Landcruiser Sahara HJ61RG

1992 Toyota Landcruiser Sahara HDJ80R

Good luck, Cheers Dave
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  #4  
Old 31 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Av8r View Post
And also, do any of the Aussie members have experience of running a UK sourced land cruiser? As that's where it'll be ending up for the rest of it's life after these trips.

I know Toyota have different specs for different markets.

Is there anything that's critically different?

What about insuring an import?

Parts availability/cost, etc?
Hi,

Permanently importing any Land Cruiser made after 1988 into Australia is virtually impossible unless you can prove you have owned it for more than a year overseas and you have Australian residency granted before it arrives. However, with the impending death of the Australian car industry we might see the import laws relaxing. (Here's hoping!)

Imports are usually more expensive to insure in Australia and some of the mainstream companies refuse to offer agreed value on them. You might be stuck with market value and it can be a pittance.

Parts should not be an issue. Most Toyota dealers will now order parts for imports although you might have to wait for them to arrive and pay a bit more.

In the unlikely event you find an ex-Australian car with the Australia compliance plate still attached under the bonnet, then re-importing again is no problem.

Cheers,
Brett.
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  #5  
Old 31 Mar 2014
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Originally Posted by bnicho View Post
Hi,

Permanently importing any Land Cruiser made after 1988 into Australia is virtually impossible unless you can prove you have owned it for more than a year overseas and you have Australian residency granted before it arrives. However, with the impending death of the Australian car industry we might see the import laws relaxing. (Here's hoping!)

Imports are usually more expensive to insure in Australia and some of the mainstream companies refuse to offer agreed value on them. You might be stuck with market value and it can be a pittance.

Parts should not be an issue. Most Toyota dealers will now order parts for imports although you might have to wait for them to arrive and pay a bit more.

In the unlikely event you find an ex-Australian car with the Australia compliance plate still attached under the bonnet, then re-importing again is no problem.

Cheers,
Brett.
Yes, it'll be a personal import, the one-year rule and residency won't be a problem.

I'll need to investigate the insurance issues, but had already assumed there would be a cost implication.

Thanks for that, very helpful.
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  #6  
Old 30 Mar 2014
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Originally Posted by Av8r View Post
That is what I'm thinking at the moment....

Only concern is there's not many of the manuals out there in decent condition. Rarer than hen's teeth from what I can see.

Also interested in figuring out if petrol has any advantages over diesel either from the dirty/high-sulphur fuel in Asia/Africa perspective, or for owning it as a lifetime vehicle in Australia.

Understand it's more expensive in fuel costs, although also cheaper to buy, but what's the reality like in terms of reliability, fuel availability in remote areas, etc?



Manual, auto, or both?
Sorry, the manual box is weaker. But it can easily be changed for an 80 one.
Quite a common mod.

Low octane petrol is a problem too, same as diesel. I'm not as familiar with petrols to know how much of a problem though.
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  #7  
Old 8 Apr 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by liammons View Post
Sorry, the manual box is weaker. But it can easily be changed for an 80 one.
Quite a common mod.
I'm pretty certain the manual in the 100 series is the same as an 80, but the manual in the lower powered 1HZ engined 105 is weaker (although appropriate for the engine).
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