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Man 24 seeking Landcruiser

HGW088

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great_britain
Hi All!

I have been doing a lot of reading across the forum and I think now is a good time to introduce myself.

Originally I set out looking for an 80 series, after realising that the finding right 80 series for the right money is like looking for rocking horse … I’ve started to look at a couple of different options landcruiser wise.

The motor will be used generally as a weekend car, weeks away camping, I’d like to try abit of light off roading and over time the goal is to build it into an overlander with the view to eventually doing a trip across continents, around the world when time and money allow!

I am interested to hear what people would recommend for us. I have been looking at 100 series Amazon’s but have recently stumbled across a very tidy well looked after 95 series Colorado. Do you guys think the Colorado would tick the boxes. I understand they are a lighter duty landcruiser but what are the significant differences between the two.

Whatever I buy I would like to keep for a long time, dry store and maintain as much as I can myself.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone has to suggest.

Cheers,

Harry
 
Hello,
Find the best 80 you can here. If not import one from Japan.
If you can’t afford a decent one then save up till you can. That’s my advice.
Colorados seem to rot worse than the 4.2s and you’ll always deep down wish you had the big engine variant.
 
For what you plan the reality is the 90 series is about a foot shorter than the 80 with regards to interior space but the 90 has a higher roof so it evens out . A good one is unlikely to disappoint .
 
I’d take a decent Colorado over a less good 80 in an instant. They are essentially Hilux chassis and running gear which is a well proven platform. I’d also wager running costs would be substantially less when you factor in all the maintenance old 80s typically require. As Shane said, a good one is unlikely to disappoint
 
Can't say I quite agree with MM, I've had 80's for the past 25 years and run one now full time alongside a V6 Collie. I've also had a VX D4D auto Collie as well. The 80 is a product of the 1980's and it now shows, they are big and heavy with a quite inefficient 4.2 lowly stressed engine, but against form is quite frugal. The 24V green manual 80 I had for a while would get 30 mpg on a run which was about the same I could get with the D4D Collie but, as it was chipped to 200 bhp the Collie was far more interesting to drive.
Getting a good one of either will be a challenge, there are well more Collies for sale at the moment than diesel 80's so patience and persistence will be needed. Sometimes one can get lucky and find a good one early on in your search, I bought the first D4D Collie I viewed, 250 miles away it was accurately described and I was pleased with it from day one, that said I did have to do a bit of remedial work on it but thats the same with the purchase if any 20+ year old truck.
A Collie may be described as " Light Duty" but there's nothing really light duty about them.
A Collie is a more pleasant drive than an 80, as its more modern, just a bit smaller, a better bet is the 120, more modern still, bit more room than the Collie, more refined and with the 5 spd auto, a pleasant drive indeed,.
Do your research, test drive all the options, do your costings for parts, accessory's running etc, remember, as you add weight you decrease MPG.

Keep your eye out all the time but don't don't be temped to buy work.

As you say," finding a good 80 at the right money", They are fetching the " right" money, they were and will always fetch it too. When I bought my first 80, £27K was the right money, I think the lowest point pricewise was about 2005-6. My £27K 80 was worth about £3.5k and it was a minter, they seemed to pick up from that point.
 
And to throw you a curve ball theres some nice looking surfs finding there way out of Japan it seems lately
 
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Thanks for the replies guys.

I think I have talked myself out of the 80, certainly for now at least. It doesn’t quite fit the bill or the budget at the moment.

The Collie I am looking at is the 3.0 D4D. Are people finding parts are still readily available for these? Also accessories and mods, winch bumper, side rails, roof rack, are there plenty of options about? If they are on a Hilux chassis and running gear I assume everything underneath is pretty much off the shelf?

I would head straight over and have a test drive in the one I am looking at however it is 5 hours away so it is a big commitment in its self to go and view! All reads well tho and the lad that’s selling it is very helpful.
 
Roughtrax sells most of what you might need factory wise , a lift is easy to find , you will find a winch bumper and snorkel but the options with regards to modifying are not vast .
 
If I was buying another D4D I'd buy an auto VX again, the leather seats are more comfortable than the fabric ones although they don't wear quite as well. Make sure the rear diff lock works, the air con and the electric Ariel as they are just jobs you'll want to do but not cheap. They wear well but are prone to rust anywhere from the middle box back so a careful examination of the inner sills, chassis everywhere as they rot from the inside out. Back axles are prone to the locating turrets breaking off and also becoming porous as they rust through so a thorough examination of that will be required. Fuel tanks are prone to rusting through on the top half and the fuel pipes from the tank also.
New body panels aren't available any more and the front wing arches nearly always hide large holes in the wings which can be seen maimly when the wings are removed. Bonnets corrode from the inside out usually starting as a little rust scab about 10 cm from the nsf corner, it quickly becomes a 20 cm rust scab and then a big hole.
D4d injectors should be treated as a service item and replaced around 150K when they will become very rattley when cold but quieten up when warm, budget about £1k for this job and it really has to be done if you plan on keeping it long term. The engines do breath a bit as they get older but will achieve really high miles aith correct maintenance.

Just out of interest where in the world is this Collie? if its close by I'd look at it with you.
 
The 90 series is still insanely popular in Australia and ticks all those boxes IMO. We have used it for camping, shopping, holidays, off road and as a daily driver and for a 22yr old 392,000km car it's pretty reliable. There are diesel variants about with 500,000km or more still going strong though this country only had the 1KZ diesel 90.
 
Another thing Harry, if you get a D4D you can retro fit cruise control, I'd forgotten about that, transforms the truck for not a lot of money and not a lot of time.
 
Thanks for that Andy, this is exactly the sort of pointers I was looking!

The Collie is in the south/south west of the UK. If you were close by there would certainly be a beer in it for you.
 
Hang on i'm saying a foot shorter front window to rear window but i think i was measuring my swb 3 door against Clives 80 , so the lwb 90 might actually have more interior space than the 80 !?!
 
I would head straight over and have a test drive in the one I am looking at however it is 5 hours away
Have you any photos of the underside or k ow whether it's had any work done? If you going to buy an old Cruiser best put aside a few pounds just for travel expenses to see a few, you might have to rack up some miles unless you get lucky. Have to say my Collie sits fairly high and is stock but as mentioned parts are easy to obtain but accessories are not.
 
Im trying to get hold of some photos of the underside at the moment. I will post them up here when I get them through.

I agree Mick, I think I will be racking some mileage up having a look.

Wrong end sorry, am in S Yorks.
No probs Andy, thanks for the offer! I am in Lincolnshire so not a million miles away from yourself.
 
I’d not really considered a 120, any big selling points over an 95?

Who are folks insuring Landcruisers with, in-particularly those with some modifications on. I’m guessing some of you are getting pretty good deals on classic car insurances? I have just done a quick insurance check for the 95 mentioned above and it’s coming back at £750 with no mods declared atall. I’m sure I could get this down a little bit but wondering if I’m missing any tricks.

Thanks again for all the pointers guys!
 
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