120/150

[Gr8Yota]

Sorry just a curved ball…Have you considered looking at an FJ? I loved mine, made me smile every time I pressed the loud pedal. Basically a 120 underneath. I was getting 30mpg motorway cruising and about 22 on back roads/town from the V6, sounded lovely too, super capable and comfy

 

[Rob Cowell]

I've been grappling with upgrading my 18 year old 120 series (1kz-te). However I can't seem to comprehend why the 150s cost twice as much and more than the 120 series. I have no real reason for wanting to upgrade except that it would be newer. Truth be told, I thoroughly enjoy having it repaired, which is rare, with genuine parts which I tend to order direct from Japan.

If your 120 is in good shape I really wouldn't bother. My 2022 150 is nicer to be in than my 2005 120, but I think 95% of that is new car smell, v 17 years of use on a farm If the 120 wasn't so rusty underneath and I was constantly worried that the rear cross member would come off when I was towing I could have happily stayed with it. The 150 does seem to do much better on fuel, comfortably 35mpg v 26/27mpg in the 120. But the 150 has already done a set of injectors in 10,000 miles so I am yet to be convinced of its longevity.

As it happens I've just started pulling the inside out of the 120, and taking off the bumper and body mounts to have a good go at rust repairs, and the rear member is in surprisingly good condition compared to the rest of the back half of the chassis.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

…Have you considered looking at an FJ?

Hi Sarah, yes thought about it and if it was available in diesel form it would be a front runner. I use a good quantity of diesel every week and have my own bulk tank so diesel is better for me.

If your 120 is in good shape I really wouldn't bother.

My 120 is in excellent shape underneath as I constantly spray it with WD motorcycle chain lube. There is very little rust and certainly no corrosion of any kind. Maria uses it for everyday use, its done 165k miles now with a new set of injectors at about 155k.

Since I put up this post obviously I've been using the Teabag on a daily basis and have shifted my itch towards a 200 series, just need to save.

 

[Juddian]

If your 120 is in good shape I really wouldn't bother. My 2022 150 is nicer to be in than my 2005 120, but I think 95% of that is new car smell, v 17 years of use on a farm If the 120 wasn't so rusty underneath and I was constantly worried that the rear cross member would come off when I was towing I could have happily stayed with it. The 150 does seem to do much better on fuel, comfortably 35mpg v 26/27mpg in the 120. But the 150 has already done a set of injectors in 10,000 miles so I am yet to be convinced of its longevity.

As it happens I've just started pulling the inside out of the 120, and taking off the bumper and body mounts to have a good go at rust repairs, and the rear member is in surprisingly good condition compared to the rest of the back half of the chassis.

WTF, 10k miles for a set of injectors to last on a new 150 is ridiculous.

120s in really good nick must be getting rare now, i keep being badgered to sell ours by several people, ex mechanic at work asked for first refusal a long time ago, their fairly new Jeep (our Toyota not intended to replace that) is presently throwing him a hefty bill after going into limp mode because the ECU is apparently encrypted and throws spurious faults for his obviously non dealer but otherwise professional standard diagnostics, brilliant, he's a decent stick and doesn't know what to do with it once fixed, as he asked me the other day what is genuinely robust out there any more?

 

[Raj]

Looking at all the complicated systems diesels have, are petrol Landcruisers more trouble free? Petrols are also ULEZ why diesels are more over petrols

 

[karl2000]

Won't be long before they start pushing ulez on more petrols. Some petrols are affected already

 

[Sweeks]

FJ cruisers are not readily available in diesel where I'm from (Trinidad W.I). They are few and far apart compare to the 120s and 150s.

My 120 is in good condition, was dealer maintained for the first 14 years of owners and then meticulously maintained by myself afterwards. It's done only 211 000km and I can source genuine mechanical parts which makes life a whole easier. All the more reason to hold on to it.

 

[stumog]

Sorry just a curved ball…Have you considered looking at an FJ? I loved mine, made me smile every time I pressed the loud pedal. Basically a 120 underneath. I was getting 30mpg motorway cruising and about 22 on back roads/town from the V6, sounded lovely too, super capable and comfy

Didn't think they did 30mpg that changes things

 

[Juddian]

Doesn't the FJ have similar transmission to Hilux of the time (and indeed 70 series), ie RWD for normal driving with selectable 4WD, this must make for more economic on road driving unlike the 120/150 in which the front axle is permanently driven.

I'm in two minds about the benefits of part time 4WD, having owned a 2007 mk6 Hilux, in RWD on damp roads they're very tail happy made worse by the standard LSD on Invincible models of the time, the LSD was so tight that it effectively gave almost the same sensation as a locked diff in slippery conditions, no surprise then that the demo we were supposed to be buying was written off by a salesman on a wet roundabout.
OE tyres were Pirelli and horrid in the wet, made the truck a quite frightening vehicle on damp roads, after various unplanned and not at all provoked oversteers and some research i sold them on with only 1000 miles on the clock and fitted General UHPs which gripped superbly in the wet...also Toyota had specified a smaller tyre for South African built euro bound Invincibles than the rest of the world had on Thai built Hilux Vigo (one size smaller in both width and aspect), once swapped to the Generals on the rest of the world size it was a much more planted vehicle afterwards.
Also grabbed a set of Vigo alloys and had Vredesteain Wintracs fitted for use in the season, fantastic winter tyre with high levels of wet grip.

 

[karl2000]

Interesting that Jud. I wonder what the fuel saving actually is between part time 4wd and full time?

 

[Juddian]

Subarus which have similar full time AWD systems drink like a fish, we couldn't justify the XT Forester if it wasn't for LPG, its a 2.5 petrol turbo auto and won't better 30ish on a run, general knocking about its about the same fuel figures as the 120, though considerably quicker.

Our 2007 Hilux was definately better on fuel than the 120, same 3 litre engine similar gearing in top gear despite it being the 4 speed auto, might have been a tad lighter basic vehicle but we had a hardtop and towbar so i bet there wasn't much difference in weight.

 

[Gr8Yota]

The auto FJ has part time 4WD, the manual has full time.

Personally I‘m unconvinced it makes that much difference. I always drove my LC70 with hubs locked and the economy was identical to if they were free…

 

[Rob Cowell]

WTF, 10k miles for a set of injectors to last on a new 150 is ridiculous.

Don't know what was really wrong. Car was running fine. One day just popped up DPF full and went into limp mode. Every other DPF regen had been no more than 2 bars to regen out of about 10, ie not much to burn off. Dealer plugged in the computer, it said injector fault - I assumed an injector in the dpf, although why it suddenly showed full I didn't understand, thinking the injector was needed for the regen. But they changed all injectors and pipes. No issue since, but only done 5K more, after the 8K where it failed.