Hello from England

[foobar]

Hello,

New user with a new car, Friday the 13th wasn't really the best day to buy a car after my recent luck with them, but I'm not superstitious

I bought my first Toyota today, a 2004 Land Cruiser Amazon 4.2 in green and cream. I've only done two miles in it (my wife had to drive it back from the previous owner two hours away because she wasn't insured on my hire car) but I love it already.

My previous car was an imported 1997 Subaru Legacy GT-B, I would be very lucky to see more than 21-22mpg on a run so this will seem slightly more frugal in comparison!

I'll mostly be using it for my commute to Watford and back, but I volunteer for my local Raynet group so sometimes find myself having to go off-road, can't think of a better car for both.

Steve.

 

[karl webster]

Great into Steve.

Welcome to the forum.

Did you let the Subaru go then?

I'm sure you will love your new 100 series

 

[foobar]

Hi Karl,

Thanks. I had to let the Subaru go to the scrap-heap in the sky because of rust within 30cm of a rear seatbelt anchor point, it wasn't financially viable to get that fixed. The car owed me nothing though, I'd had it since November 2005 and only had to replace the exhaust (with a nice hand-made Hayward and Scott) and the power steering pump, and I loved every minute of it. Very practical, very very fast!

Now I just want comfort and similar or better reliability, as well as being able to go almost anywhere, so it had to be one of these.

Steve.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Welcome Steve to a great forum. Nice intro, the kind we appreciate, you should fit in well here, along with the rest of the "Cruiser" enthusiasts.

 

[Ian Chuter]

Welcome along Steve. Are you going to keep it standard or are you going to start down the slippery slope of 'minor' mods?

 

[foobar]

Thanks for the responses, I wasn't expecting so many replies!


There are a couple of things I'd like to add in time. Some amber lights front and rear matched to the hazard warning lights would be good because I sometimes have to drive accompanied through crowds, so any lighting high up would be good, and stay within the road lighting regulations. I need an amateur radio as well but I'll worry about that later. Some of the roads around here are unlit, so I might add a discreet light bar because of all the wildlife.

Looks like I already decided on that slippery slope Ian!

 

[karl webster]

Hi Karl,

Thanks. I had to let the Subaru go to the scrap-heap in the sky because of rust within 30cm of a rear seatbelt anchor point, it wasn't financially viable to get that fixed. The car owed me nothing though, I'd had it since November 2005 and only had to replace the exhaust (with a nice hand-made Hayward and Scott) and the power steering pump, and I loved every minute of it. Very practical, very very fast!

Now I just want comfort and similar or better reliability, as well as being able to go almost anywhere, so it had to be one of these.

Steve.

Yes I know they are a nice quick bit of kit. Real shame to have scrapped it.

Anyway, bigger better things.

 

[Bhutan]

Welcome Steve, enjoy your new ride. I'm new to the club too and have not got my hands on my ride yet, it's just passing Northern Africa at the moment on it's way - maybe a couple more weeks with a bit of luck!

Looking forward to some pictures, post them when you can.

Cheers!

 

[foobar]

Thanks, I'll get some pictures up once I've given it a wash, hopefully this weekend. First job is a set of new front pads, I have some Pagids on order.

Steve.

 

[StarCruiser]

Hi Steve and welcome to this very friendly forum. Great introduction, both here and to the world of cruiser ownership. Looking forward to the photos.

Best wishes

Richard

 

[Pumpy]

Welcome Steve, our RT does a bit with Northants RAYNET good bunch of lads, I've got my intermediate exam in June too, I'll probably join in when I've got my house finished next yr.

2004? did you make the cutoff? or post cutoff bend over and grab your ankles here comes the taxmans latest wheeze 2004?

I got the Wouxun quadband KG-UV950p, great radio once you've learnt the menu system, moonraker did us all a good package deal for the RT/RNet lads knocked a fair bit off

 

[foobar]

Hi Pumpy,

Good luck with the Intermediate, as long as you're happy with a soldering iron you'll be fine. I didn't find the difference between Foundation and Intermediate too big, but the Advanced exam is a step up and took a bit more home study, but there are no practicals at least!

With the 2004 I'm in the cheaper tax bracket, that was one of my requirements. I think there are early 2005 models (before some time in early January?) that are also in the same bracket, but otherwise it's a bit of a wallet-emptier for the same car.

I plan on putting a radio in it of course, not sure what yet, probably something second-hand that does APRS so I think a Kenwood TM-D710 would work well.

Cheers,
Steve.

 

[foobar]

Hi,

Sorry for the late update, I finally found myself in a nicer part of town last week, but without my proper camera, and it wasn't until I saw this that I noticed my phone camera lens was covered in detritus, so this will have to do for now I'm afraid

 

[foobar]

I was marshalling at a local event last weekend, I was in a 'backstop' position in a field about half a mile down a usually-closed public footpath, access was easy. I had nothing to do unless a team got lost. Fortunately none did so I spent a late night day-camping and burnt some sausages on my Firebox.

Once it got chilly I just lay in the back on a self-inflating mat, read my Kindle and listened to the owls. Very relaxing

Steve.