Wanting to have a land cruiser for overlanding

[Silviu]

Hi,

I'm Silviu, a romanian based in Bucharest, hoping soon to be an overlander.
I got here in my current quest of buying a car for overlanding, planing to do PanAmerica. As I'm looking for the car I keep seeing Land Cruisers all around and by now I got to know most of the models.
On my way to work I saw clivehorridge's LC several times, so I thought let's see what landcruiserclub.net it's all about.
Seems to be a nice place so far

I hope you guys can help me find my dream car for my dream travel.
I wish I could find a good LC 100, but I'm considering also an 80's and possibly even an 120.
Is there a For sale section ? Could not quite find it.

Should I make a post in a different place about my journey in finding a car ?

 

[hopeless wanderer]

Hi and welcome Silviu.

At the bottom of the forums list is classifieds and Ebay addicts.
Vehicles come up in both threads.

 

[StarCruiser]

Hi Silviu, welcome to the forum. It is indeed a nice place with many great members with lots of info and advice.
Reading some of Clive's posts, he had to part with a lot of cash for his 80 and I think it was a rare beast. Good luck with your search.

Best wishes
Richard

 

[Shayne]

Hi Silviu a few of us visit Clive in our trucks from the UK once a year and we don't see many , if any cruisers around your way so i guess you have your work cut out for you .

There's people from all over the world on this forum but the majority are in the UK so you might not see many left hand drive trucks being advertised on here .

This might be a good source for you http://www.theparking.eu/used-cars/...#!/used-cars/toyota-land-cruiser-romania.html

 

[Silviu]

Hi Silviu, welcome to the forum. It is indeed a nice place with many great members with lots of info and advice.
Reading some of Clive's posts, he had to part with a lot of cash for his 80 and I think it was a rare beast. Good luck with your search.

Best wishes
Richard

Hi Richard,
You are right, I seldom see an 80's, the most I see are 120's.
I wonder how much would I have to spend on bringing an 80's to good shape for what I want to do.
I found one that runs for 10000€ and has 590000km with the 4.2 HD-FT engine I think. Do you think it's worth investing in it ? https://www.olx.ro/oferta/toyota-land-cruiser-80-4-2td-24v-autoutilitara-ID77Na4.html
In Romania we have an emissions tax that is very prohibitive and the only way you can reduce this tax is to have an utility car. This one it's an utility car and the tax is about 840€.

Hi Silviu a few of us visit Clive in our trucks from the UK once a year and we don't see many , if any cruisers around your way so i guess you have your work cut out for you .

There's people from all over the world on this forum but the majority are in the UK so you might not see many left hand drive trucks being advertised on here .

This might be a good source for you http://www.theparking.eu/used-cars/...#!/used-cars/toyota-land-cruiser-romania.html

I knew that most people here are from the UK and I need a LHD vehicle. But maybe somehow I get to find one. Thank you for the link.

 

[clivehorridge]

Welcome to the forum Silviu, it was strange for me to see my name get a mention in your introduction, it suggests some kind of notoriety that may not be deserved

Whereabouts in Bucharest are you? Fairly central I guess if you've seen me on your way to work. I'm living on Ion Mihalache (Una May) opposite the Sfanta Maria Spital Clinic, half a km from Piata Victoriei.

If you can send me a "conversation" (we used to call them "private messages" or PMs) "Inbox" (in the top right hand corner) then I'll respond. Most weekends we go to our house in Comarnic so you could join us one time, and we can have a beer and a chat if you wish.

I don't know too many off-roaders here and even less (take that as none) who are interested in overland builds. You may get some connections through GTC Autos out at Popesti Leordeni (if I've got the names right) they service my 80 and seem to know everyone that worth knowing.

Nice to see the Romanian flag flying against a new member, let me know if you're interested in meeting up .

 

[Silviu]

As was said before you don't get to see many 80's on the roads, and seeing yours brought me here.
I live on Ion Mihalache corner with Turda, not far away from you and I work on Ion Mihalache in the tallest tower building there is here, so I get by each morning in my route to work.

At the moment I'm really stressed out with solving the car issue because I need to ship it at the very latest in beginning of December but maybe we'll meet sometime.

 

[clivehorridge]

As was said before you don't get to see many 80's on the roads, and seeing yours brought me here.
I live on Ion Mihalache corner with Turda, not far away from you and I work on Ion Mihalache in the tallest tower building there is here, so I get by each morning in my route to work.

At the moment I'm really stressed out with solving the car issue because I need to ship it at the very latest in beginning of December but maybe we'll meet sometime.

I'd like that, if it can be arranged somehow.

As for sourcing a good 80, I wouldn't know where to start. Do you have a preference for LHD/RHD?

I think the RAR has relaxed a bit on the issue, I know at one time RHD here was a pain in the ass for registering.

And yes, the tax on an old Euro 2 (??) 4.2 is staggering, I pay something upwards of 7,000 RON every year IIRC.

120s worry me a bit, a very nice machine, but they seem to rust terribly.

 

[Silviu]

I would definitely need a LHD. Most countries in South/Central America don't allow RHD vehicles.
About the 120, do they make a good choice for overlanding? Have you seen such a car equipped for expeditions?

 

[Michael Montgomery]

Welcome Silvia, you'll find lots of knowledge & experience on the forum from the amazing landcruiser enthusiasts here.

Good luck with your search.

 

[clivehorridge]

I would definitely need a LHD. Most countries in South/Central America don't allow RHD vehicles.
About the 120, do they make a good choice for overlanding? Have you seen such a car equipped for expeditions?

I can't answer that with any knowledge or conviction but I'm sure the answer would be yes. There are many on this forum with 120s, have a browse through the 120 section and the trips and trip reports sections, and you'll see for yourself.

 

[Mojo]

Hi Silviu,
It took me 5 years to find my 80. It was worth the wait. Don't rush into buying any old 4x4 to meet your deadline, esp a Euro10,000/600K'er. Set your budget and model (there is a big difference between a 120 and 80), google around, look on social networks, try www.autoscout24.com etc, print out Chris's threads: https://www.landcruiserclub.net/community/threads/so-what-does-a-decent-80-look-like-part-1.146503/.
Half the fun is finding the right vehicle the other half is when you take it overlanding and go places.

At the moment I'm really stressed out with solving the car issue because I need to ship it at the very latest in beginning of December but maybe we'll meet sometime.[/QUOTE]

 

[Shayne]

To be blunt an old Dacia or Lada would likely get you where your going and back again without drama so what you want and what you need are two very different things . The Landcruiser badge is synonymous with overland because it guarantees you have the most reliable vehicle money can buy to start your journey with .

The only concern i would have about using a more modern cruiser for your trip is some it seems suffer when fed with fuel of questionable quality which might be something for you to investigate .

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi Silviu,
It took me 5 years to find my 80. It was worth the wait. Don't rush into buying any old 4x4 to meet your deadline, esp a Euro10,000/600K'er. Set your budget and model (there is a big difference between a 120 and 80), google around, look on social networks, try www.autoscout24.com etc, print out Chris's threads: https://www.landcruiserclub.net/community/threads/so-what-does-a-decent-80-look-like-part-1.146503/.
Half the fun is finding the right vehicle the other half is when you take it overlanding and go places.

At the moment I'm really stressed out with solving the car issue because I need to ship it at the very latest in beginning of December but maybe we'll meet sometime.

[/QUOTE]

Yes Mojo, I agree entirely. I bought my 80 by mistake, well to qualify that a bit I just wanted a 4x4 on the cheap and mine was for sale at an affordable price, so I bought it never realising I'd just bought probably the most capable stock off-roader ever produced!

Since then with the help from this forum, I've got the truck to be what I want it to be and it's my baby. It's not everyone's cup-of-tea (as we Brits say) but it's my (not so little) pride and joy.

I too, worried reading Silviu's post "stressed out .... needing to ship by it at the very latest in the beginning of December..." because these pressures and constraints will only lead to getting the wrong base-truck for overlanding, even if it's the right model.

80's are very thin on the ground in Romania, I think a guy (with access to data) once told me that there were only 90 ever registered in the whole country.

Where will a good LHD import come from? The US or rest of Europe? US trucks will be petrol most likely, no real bad thing, they're cheaper to buy but I have my reservations about reliability at the high mileage end of the scale.

80's are not particularly plentiful anywhere in Europe, the French have unbelievable price tags, the Dutch and German trucks (and countries further North) seem to have big corrosion problems, Spain might be an option or further East...., Russia perhaps??

 

[Shayne]

https://www.expatads.com/119-Bulgar...713796-Toyota-Land-Cruiser-for-sale-1997.html

 

[Pumpy]

Welcome Silviu

I think this is a German website but seems to cover EU, anyway, few 80's on there... https://www.autoscout24.com/offers/...l-silver-fb07422e-ce6e-e25b-e053-e350040a5a83

 

[Rosy]

how about this one that just turned up in the classifieds... I wish I had that kinda change lying around!

https://www.landcruiserclub.net/com...8-troopie-exped-ready-peterborough-uk.146678/

 

[StarCruiser]

This may be sticking ones neck out (as we say) but the 80s carried on production in one of the South American countries. Rather than ship one to South America, buy a good one there and ship it one way, home to Romania. There's probably far more to choose from down there. You could perhaps ship out what you need for your trip, or buy it out there, probably cheaper (?).

How's that for an idea?

 

[Silviu]

This may be sticking ones neck out (as we say) but the 80s carried on production in one of the South American countries. Rather than ship one to South America, buy a good one there and ship it one way, home to Romania. There's probably far more to choose from down there. You could perhaps ship out what you need for your trip, or buy it out there, probably cheaper (?).

How's that for an idea?

The problem with buying one in Chile ( the only actually country where you could buy a cars as foreigner) is that you have to sell it only in Chile. They are afraid of people carrying out cars out of the country. And you have the restriction that you cannot be more than 6 months out of the country with the car.
Besides I want to travel to North America and spend 6 months just there.
Even if I manage to ship the car to Europe, there would be different hurdles to import it, and the expensive Romanian TAX, that would make the whole thing not worthwhile.

My best chance is shipping the car from here or buy & sell different cars along the way.

I've heard about some problems with the head gasket on the 80's. Do you know which specific model has such problems?

Unfortunately, I didn't imagined finding a car would be such time consuming and that I have to look years for one
Thank you for your support.

 

[clivehorridge]

The problem with buying one in Chile ( the only actually country where you could buy a cars as foreigner) is that you have to sell it only in Chile. They are afraid of people carrying out cars out of the country. And you have the restriction that you cannot be more than 6 months out of the country with the car.
Besides I want to travel to North America and spend 6 months just there.
Even if I manage to ship the car to Europe, there would be different hurdles to import it, and the expensive Romanian TAX, that would make the whole thing not worthwhile.

My best chance is shipping the car from here or buy & sell different cars along the way.

I've heard about some problems with the head gasket on the 80's. Do you know which specific model has such problems?

Unfortunately, I didn't imagined finding a car would be such time consuming and that I have to look years for one
Thank you for your support.

What is it like importing fro Bulgaria Silviu? There's so many "Romanian" cars driving around with Bulgarian plates I've often wondered how it's done without exporting / importing car from Romania to Bulgaria.

I know the Romanian import tax is steep, along with the spaga, it was going to cost me €12,000 to import a Pajero from Qatar 10 years ago.

I don't have any knowledge of head gasket problems with 80s. Maybe someone else can advise on that.

Like any engine, it needs the cooling system to be in good order, but as long as you're not losing coolant, you should be OK.

A coolant flush occasionally might prevent sludge building up in the block, and causing temperature distribution problems normally associated with warped heads, but if you use genuine Toyota coolant, that will prevent sludge in the first place.