Hello to all Land Cruiser fans .... advice on 1st cruiser please

[Juddian]

The 120 is a really good truck.
As said before.
The 80 series are old and noisy.
The 100 series are crazy prices
120 is the peach.

My daughter is looking for a nice 120 series, of about 2007.
I found this for her, but she wanted to wait until after the New Year.

2006 Toyota Land Cruiser LC5. Full Toyota MD service History. | eBay

Toyota Land Cruiser Rare Top of the Range LC5 model. 3.0 Diesel D4-D, 6 Speed Auto, 8 Seater. Top of the range UK supplied LC5 specification, fabulously capable towing machine, with its legendary adjustable-height.

www.ebay.co.uk

MOT history notes corrosion issues from 2017 onwards, tell tale signs for me were the wheels, still it sold cheap enough to be worth sorting, course it might not be as bad as it sounds.
Don't forget highest VED class if regd from March 2006 onwards.

 

[Paulys]

Huge amount to think about and thanks to you all for taking time to comment.
the defender went as it was too small for the family and being6 2 was not exactly spacious.
wouldnt ever consider a Disco ( but thanka for the suggestion Higgy )
Likely a 100 or a 120. Just need to get out there now and see some once lockdown eases. Whatever I buy j will have professionally undersealed, taking on the advice re rust.
Graham - thanks for link which proves they are out there !!
If people hear of one on the grapevine please let me know.

 

[Juddian]

Paulys, be wary of professional rustprooofers, some of whom just pressure wash the underbelly, blow dry it then spray waxoyl or similar about, it will look the dogs danglers when done but this will only seal the existing rust in and allow it to fester, and cause destructuve water traps when it start to peel off.
You can do a better job yourself every couple of years for the next ten years for the £400+ the pro will cost for a one off.

 

[Paulys]

juddian - thanks for that

 

[Graham]

My ideal Land Cruiser, for my wife, would be the 100 series petrol, (late 2003 to 2006) with the newer gearbox.
Her does so few miles, and I have company vehicle.
I just can't get my head around some of the 100 series prices.

 

[Paulys]

The 100 are great cars and if I can get a good one then would be a keeper but as you say prices seem high at the moment

 

[Paulys]

Evening I have found a 120 on a 56 plate LC5 with 149k on the clock. They are asking 8k with a service , cam belt and 4 new injectors to be fitted. It is described as very clean underneath but the only history it has is a bill for 1300 back in the summer of 2020 where it’s had full service rears pads done, stabiliser arm , a couple of decent tyres decent and other bits. Any thoughts on the issue of lack of history ? Cheers Paul

 

[Graham]

Too expensive

 

[Tractionman]

Agreed it does sound expensive, but if one could be picked up for say around 6k, by the time service, injectors and cam belt are done, it wouldn't be far short. Injectors would take up the bulk of the 'extra' outlay.
Others will be along to give their own opinions, to help arrive at a decision, one way or the other.

 

[Paulys]

Cheers Guys. My biggest concern was lack of history.

 

[karl2000]

You can always check and see what history Toyota have got. I think if you've got the VIN and log book details you can register the thing on 'my Toyota' and get the history they know about from there.

Why are they getting rid of the car? Sounds strange to spend £1300 on it then get shut 6 months later, unless they're is a good reason.

Why do they want to do the extra work (cam belt, injectors etc) before they sell it? Is it a garage that effectively gets the labour for free or something?

Price doesn't sound a million miles off to me with all that work done. Have you actually seen underneath it?

 

[Tractionman]

Good points Karl, I had assumed it was a garage sale, that was pushing for a sale, with 'incentives'.
Yeh, any corrosion needs looking into, clean condition can have many meanings.
You can check some previous mot history, free on line. It only goes back so far, but can be a good indicator as condition, fails and advisories. Looking there first, may be a decider whether to enquire more or walk away.
That may give an indication where the £1300 has been spent.

 

[Juddian]

Remember 56 plate carries £555 road tax penalty, personally i'd rather spend that £8 on a similar conditon pre March 06 model because as time goes on * and vehicle value decreases that ropad tax penalty will have a serious effect on value.

* we had the same dilemma when we bought the 08 plate Forester XT, but managed to get it roughly £1500 under value which sort of pre paid the difference in VED costs compared with pre 06 for several years...oh and we save massively because its dual fuel, we get a whole £10 off, so cheap as chips @ £545 or whatever it will be next year.
I should qualify this post with we haven't a clue what our govt of lunatics will do re future motoring costs for us plebs, to claw some of the moeny pack they've pissed away over this flu farce or the next stage in the reset the climate scam, we could all be paying ridiculous figures the chancellor plucks from his back side to keep our jalopies on the road.

As the posts above, much depends on the condition underneath.
Re the injectors, that it needs injectors before sale raises my hackles, why? and why after spending £1300 and now another £1500+ fitting injectors and a new cambelt. Is the engine banging like a drum or rattling like a horde of skeletons in a biscuits tin, has someone peered up the drain plug and seen the oil pick up stuffed with carbon sludge?
New genuine injectors or recon? who's fitting them? warrantied work?
Yes you and i or any of us might get diagnostics done and decide its time for new injectors on vehicles we intend to keep, but it seems a bit suspicious to me doing so to sell a vehicle, might be quite innocent of course.
Count me wary until i'd seen the vehicle and had a chat with the seller (preferably previous owner) face to face.

Tyres shouldn't really be replaced in pairs on full time 4x4's, fine on part time 4x4's because 4WD is usually only selected in slippery conditions, ideally with AWD vehicle you should keep tread depths as close as possible on all 4 and same tyre type and wear them all down evenly by rotating.

 

[goodoldboy]

I think that going to see a few and test driving them - lockdown permitting - will start to give you a bit of an insight into what you're dealing with & some way of making sense of that great advice that's been posted on this thread.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Paul, re the injectors on the D4D engine, are they saying "new" and fitting recon which are way cheaper? They will be ready by this mileage. When I wanted to buy a 120 as a step up from a Collie I had a lot to consider, LC3/4/5? year, pre march 06 for lower tax. Out of the 10 I viewed the one I pulled the trigger on was an 05 LC4, no history, self maintained by the PO ( 4th) since 2011 with all the dates of the oil changes written on the lid of an oil filter box. It was the highest mileage ( 130K) but was by far the best all round from what I'd viewed. Best drivers seat, steering wheel and gear selector. Quietest engine, everything worked but I did know at some stage I'd have the injectors to do. It was mentioned on the MOT slight misting of oil on one rear damper and thats all. Discs were a little worn but well serviceable and the wheels looked like 13 years old.
The worst I viewed lived up the street from me with one owner, full service ( Toyota) history and 42K miles. I had previously expressed an interest in this but when I had it on our ramp it was horrendous underneath, everything was crusty rusty with major components very corroded. It needed major restoration.

Since it was the lower tax bracket I treated mine to a new set of dampers, discs and overhauled the callipers and fe furbed the wheels so I was starting off with no jobs to do. 2 years later came the £1k injector job which I really could have put off for a while but didn't want to encourage possible piston damage.
This Cruiser has been superb for the last 15K miles, its very quiet cruising at 70 and has a nice feeling of solidarity about it. Having well protected it underneath I doubt it will ever need welding.
Moral, be patient, the right one will come. If you're not sure take someone who is familiar with their peculiarities and can spot trouble. Never buy work.

 

[Paulys]

Thanks all for some more great advice. The seller is a garage and I have chatted to the mechanic who has been up front and believed they had the SH in the folder but it appears not. He is happy to put it on the ramp and owns an 80 himself so does know LCs I do wonder re spending so much and then selling if there are bigger hidden issues and the garage which is selling is doing the work so possibly recon injectors. I think will wait till lockdown eases and get out and test drive a few. Thanks all for your really helpful comments