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Newbie Advice Please

Emma_WA

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2019
Messages
4
Hello all. I am completely new to the world of Landcruisers and very out of my depth. Hoping you all may be able to share a little of your knowledge and perhaps be kind enough to answer some questions. Looking to buy a secondhand Landcruiser (max $15,000-$20,000 AUD). We live in Perth, Australia but will be moving up to Broome for a year. Will use the Landcruiser as a second car for the next 6 months (city driving, hubby 20 min commute to work). Next year will be our primary car in Broome. Hope to do moderate off roading, no heavy towing. Obviously the cars we are loooking at (in our price range) are 15-20 years old, with quite high mileage. Any good reason to go for Diesel over Petrol? (Seem to be able to get a newer, lower mileage Petrol for similar price as an older higher mileage Diesel)? Are the Diesel's less likely to have problems at that age / mileage? Should we prioritise age over mileage (or vice versa)? Should we avoid the Prado or would it do the job for us? And how important is it that the car has been regularly serviced? I'd be very grateful for any advice you may be able to offer, Thanks so much
 
Welcome Emma. The consensus on Cruisers is that overall condition and maintenance is everything. Age and mileage mean very little. My ‘98 is steadily approaching 200k miles with no major work done to it. That is nothing compared to some of the trucks on here.

Have you got a model in mind? I envy your choice. If I were you I’d have a look at the 105 which is not generally available over here.
 
Welcome Emma. The consensus on Cruisers is that overall condition and maintenance is everything. Age and mileage mean very little. My ‘98 is steadily approaching 200k miles with no major work done to it. That is nothing compared to some of the trucks on here.

Have you got a model in mind? I envy your choice. If I were you I’d have a look at the 105 which is not generally available over here.

Thanks so much for the reply Jacob. Looking at 80 or 100 series, probably GXL (think the extra seats in the back would come in handy). A mechanic friend of a friend suggested we go for the naturally aspirated diesel engine, however I wasn't there for that conversation so not sure what the reasoning behind this is. I've found very few diesels in our price range that seem to be well maintained (evidence of) and my gut feeling is we'd be better off with a petrol that has been fully serviced and maintained
 
Don’t know what the price and availability of fuel is like where you live but be aware that the petrols tend to be v v thirsty.

Is this representative of what you’d be likely to pay for a diesel 100/105 in WA?

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/wan...05r-gxl-white-5-speed-manual-wagon/1215200139
Thanks again Jacob, that car looks great. However I probably overestimated our budget. Realistically we really don't want to pay more than $10,000 - $15,000. I found these last night which potentially look good.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/ell...xcellent-condition-landcruiser-gxl/1220141982

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1999-Toyota-Landcruiser-GXL-Auto-4x4/SSE-AD-6116468/

I'm aware that diesels are far cheaper to run but not sure if we'd save the extra $10,000 in fuel we'd need to spend to get a comparative diesel? Don't see us doing insane long driving round the state journeys (we have 2 very young children). I guess a fundamental query I have is are the diesel engines (if well maintained) more mechanically sound / less likely to give us problems? And thus worth the extra money? Or alternatively that we'd be better off with a higher mileage older diesel than a newer lower petrol?

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/de...-6051286?pageSource=details&id=SSE-AD-6051286

Thanks so much again for taking the time to reply
 
Historically the diesel engine is considered to be more reliable than the petrol engine. With the diesel it is self ignition so does not require an electrical ignition system to keep it running. The 80 diesel engines are just that simple whereas later model diesel engined LC's can have an element of electrical control and there could be more to go wrong. Generally, like for like, the petrol engine 80 might do 15 mpg, the 12 valve 80 18 mpg and the 24 valve 80 28 mpg.
 
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p.s. I would not buy a gas converted car nor one that has been run on home made diesel. Not enough quality control.
 
p.s. I would not buy a gas converted car nor one that has been run on home made diesel. Not enough quality control.
Hi Frank, thanks so much for taking the time to reply and for your advice. Actually ended up buying a 1999 100 series petrol. It seemed to be too good a bargain to pass up, so decided to take the chance. Thank you again
 
Hi Frank, thanks so much for taking the time to reply and for your advice. Actually ended up buying a 1999 100 series petrol. It seemed to be too good a bargain to pass up, so decided to take the chance. Thank you again
Ok Emma good choice .Lets have some photos of your Landcruiser , we love photos!
 
Hi Frank, thanks so much for taking the time to reply and for your advice. Actually ended up buying a 1999 100 series petrol. It seemed to be too good a bargain to pass up, so decided to take the chance. Thank you again
Nice cruiser Emma. Welcome to cruiser ownership. There’s plenty of knowledge on here on that cruiser. They are super smooth and very good vehicles but like all things, age isn’t kind to them. Look at having the suspension springs replaced if they haven’t been as this could help save you a whole heap of pain with the adjustable suspension. Hope you checked underneath for rust but I’m guessing that isn’t such a problem where you are.
As said, let have some pics.
Best wishes
Rich
 
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