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Our J95 land Cruiser not known to Insurers? Plus the Quality of the Turbo

LandyMick

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Our land Cruiser needs insurance renewing in a week. As it's not an import and I thought it is called a Colorado but am I wrong on that one? The AA insurance lady asked are you sure
it's a KDJ95 model??????? Yes I said because what I'm saying to you is on the Registration cert !
Over the years I've had a few issues with parts but not many due to this great vehicle not requiring many parts in any case although it is quite heavy on clutches. Well it would be wouldn't it at 2 ton! Clutches last the prescribed 50 thou miles so this is taken as normal. It seems to be the plate wearing that causes the fault with the clutch never juddering or a weak clutch unit considering it's a very heavy vehicle..........

I nearly replaced the turbo on the Toyota L Cruiser that has done 95 k miles due to being paranoid about a 2.7 TDi Terrano we had with the turbo failing at 85000 miles but sccording to the reviews I see these land cruisers with the D4D 3 L engine do a lot more miles than 95000 before the need to replace it's turbo but I am keen to know from those who have covered whatever miles when 'their' original turbo failed or leaked oil..... I mean how many miles do these Toyota turbos do before they need replacing?

The failure of the Terrano turbo was catastrophic seals failure whereby the 6 lts of engine oil goes straight down the exhaust pipe without a wisp of smoke. As usual we were on the motorway so had no time to stop immediately the temp went up about 5 degrees. It took but a few seconds before the engine bores were scored. The engine replacement in the Terrano
is a diabolical job because both gearboxes have to be shifted back three inches before the engine will clear the front body with the rad removed...... Why on earth didn't the Japs make that body part bolt on????
 
Could be a Prado , a Landcruiser , a Meru , or a Colorado all names for the same vehicle depending on what market it was originally sold to . KDJ is your engine designation and 95 what series body . Pop you reg in here to find out how its described on the insurers database https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk

The forum has seen one or two turbo faults with your engine in my 7 or 8 years here and to my recollection the fault was electrical . In short we don't expect them to fail ever - its a old school Toyota built when quality mattered .

Clutch is the same it might go on and on if it hasn't been abused i think Beau here has over 200k miles on his 95's original clutch though i can't be sure .

It's not a Nissan :thumbup:
 
Mine did 170k miles on the original clutch and the original turbo is still good at 240k miles. My replacement clutch is still good after being replaced, if yours are only lasting 50k miles than maybe there's something wrong somewhere
 
Thanks for the reply.... Brand new came from Holland to a main dealer in Chesterfield and it was the last of the J95 models as the new shape came in the year we bought it . It was a year old when we bought it and it had done 7 miles! I'll have a look at the site you advise thanks.
 
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Thanks for the reply We'll have to see how this new Exedy one lasts...... I pull a boat up the slip now and again but it's only about 700KG. I realise this will affect the clutch but it's always in low range doing that. We'll see...... When it was brand new I was not impressed with the clutch in Crete because it did not handle boulders very well on the beach there...... My Land rover would have P It and not in low range either...... but the engine in my Land Rover lets it down due to there being more strength in an asprin!
 
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I'd suggest there's something amiss if you're having clutch trouble at that mileage, and it's not going to be a light boat on a slip. I tow heavy (over 2 tons) and fairly regularly and the clutch has not been an issue in 12 years.

Regarding the insurance/registration thing.. what year plate is it on? Mine is on a 2003 plate here, despite manufacture in 2002 ( it was on the dealer forecourt until March 03). I have had to explain multiple times that is a 95, and not a 120 when getting service parts, as the reg confuses the computer. Never had the problem with insurance though, as they have never asked other than engine size.
 
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It's a grey import as it came in via the Netherlands official network to a dealer in Chesterfield (I doubt a main Toyota dealer, they'd have got a slapped wrist from Toyota UK) - it sounds like it was from the era where there was money to be saved (and made) importing from high vehicle tax EU countries to low vehicle tax EU countries. Cars are one of the few things sold in the EU that are (were?) taxed at the point of use, not point of purchase, so cars in Denmark, Netherlands and few others were good sources as they had a high tax rate (and therefore a lower pre-tax price) that meant when brought over to the UK, they were a good bit cheaper than the UK supplied vehicles.

What tax rate do you pay on it? I think that'll tell you as well; if it's a flat rate tax band for a post 2001 registered vehicle, it's likely to be an import of what ever flavour.
 
A Toyota main dealer charged me for a new clutch that only lasted a year , i reckon they only adjusted it somehow so next time i opted for a heavy duty Exedy and had it fitted by a friend of the family who is into building and driving rally cars , "Exedy are the best" were his exact words when i asked him to do it .

Its been severely abused since given my 90 has far more power than Toyota ever intended + wide 33" tyres + thousands of miles dragging a heavy trailer while still being driven like its a hothatch boyracer toy hence i would suspect those who fitted it rather than the strength of the clutch .
 
It's an import as I would think all Japanese made vehicles are 'imports' but this is a genuine Toyota Dealership Toyota Landcruiser and the dealer had a Toyota franchise which was ending as they started selling another vehicle brand. To confirm the genuine bit and not an 'import this vehicle was recalled and was found to not have a fault with something minor on the front suspension and it was recalled by Nottingham Main Toyota Dealership = Inchcape Derby Road Nottingham. We paid
£325 in March for the road Tax which I think is extortionate just because it has a decent sized engine. As regards emissions there is hardly ever and contaminants as regards particles due to my biodiesel so the robbery re what we pay is ludicrous. Quentin Wilson is right when he says the air coming out of the tail pipe is usually cleaner than when it went in..... or words to that effect! I have learnt one thing during the 2 injector replacements which I did a few months ago and I saw all the crap caused by exhaust fumes that stick in the heat exchanger or rather cooler before the fumes enter the Air mass body due to the engine design 'these days'. The engine is trying to consume it's own crap!
Mind you this system is not as bad as the more modern particle filter systems where the system gets blocked solid with deposits and then has to have plenty of money spent on that system to keep the air we breathe cleaner. I don't think cars make a lot of difference to general air quality when the fires in the Amazon and Australia are taken into consideration..... not much said about that situation????
I think due to not many of these J95 s being made it caused a problem. Toyota seem to have changed design quite a bit at that time 2002..... I didn't know anything about this vehicle only that it was a lot dearer than the Nissan Terrano and drove much better. It felt like a 'Rolls' to me when I picked it up and it reminded me of sitting on a nice comfy sofa while driving it home...... It had much more stability on the road and I was glad we bought it.
 
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One of the two Nottingham Toyota main dealers told us we would not get our vehicle as the new model came out 2003. Our lad just happened to go by our vehicle in Chesterfield and told us -I've just seen a lovely Toyota Landcruiser. It's on stands that is tipping it and it looks great it's silver metalic. We'd already ordered a new Nissan Terrano 'sport' but the ignorant Co-op sales man in Ilkeston who looked posh told me -we don't let any Tom Dick or Harry drive our new cars! I said to my wife we'll pay quite a bit more for a Toyata but they'll be a better qual than Nissan so we can ring that nice salesman up and cancel it!....... As soon as we saw the Landcruiser we put our name on it....... We did well with the deal because we got £7500 on a LWB Maverick that was kept in mint condition by my wife..... She straight away ordered seat covers for the new purchase. The landcruiser always gives the impression to the driver I feel that there's a lot of metal round you and there is when I found the thing is two Ton or thereabouts.
It could be that the clutch plate was of inferior quality but I cannot prove that. It has had two though in 90 000 miles. Does my wife keep her foot on the clutch when I'm not with her...she'd certainly deny that if I suggested it. She admits to covering the clutch inadvertently as I do sometimes but I notice what I'm doing and get my foot off it SAP. She is the ultimate 'good' driver and has never ever had a bump in all her diving career.
 
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In fairness there's no comparison between a terrano and 95 cruiser really, although they may have been sold as in the same category, the cruiser is far bigger and as you say, a much better drive. I had one on rental for a while in Spain.
 
We love it....... I've told my wife many a time Don't sell it we'll never get anything to match it for quality.
 
I know the feeling.. we've recently bought a Rav4 for Mrs Bob, and her old Ford is coming to me as a commuter so I can carry our little baby. There has been no mention of the cruiser going anywhere, despite it going to cost about a grand a year to be a yard ornament most of the time. It's a family member... Way too many good memories for the last 12 years. It stays
 
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