What to look out for when buying used 2004-2007 model?

[Solveig]

Hello,
I'm looking to buy a used Land Cruiser, model 2004-2007. Is there anything special I should look out for?
1. Is there a difference between the years 2004-2007? Any year better than the other?
2. Does it matter regarding lifetime if I buy diesel or petrol?
3. Is there more maintenance on the diesel machine or petrol?
4. Regarding maintenance, should I look for the Lx, Gx or Vx type?
Thank your very much,
Sólveig

 

[Crispin]

Hi Sólveig,

The diesels - pre 2006 - had some problems with injectors. They would leak which caused the oil to eventually block the pick-up and ultimately break the engine. Few and far between though and Toyota did do a recall on them. Best is to call them to check the chassis number for the recall. Do a search here for problems with the 120 for a bit more detail.

As for Petrol v. diesel - personal choice I guess. The petrol is a beast of an engine while the diesel is a workhorse. Both very good.

As for maintenance - the diesel requires more frequent oil changes - IIRC, 15k miles but other than that, I don't know of anything drastically different.

Where in Iceland are you? I've spent a week touring the Westfjords and up to Varmahlíð. See here. Stunning countryside. Will be back soon to do the eastern parts.

CP

 

[GeekOKent]

Hi,

The 120's are also happy when looked after really well. I would recommend malling sure there is good service history for that reason. Ideally from Toyota, in the hope that they would have done all the right work at the right time ( eg belts, ATF, diff and auto box , AHC etc ).

Recall check is must too for those years.

Regards