120 spec differences, colour combinations and audio

All

Can I ask a couple of questions?
First of all, what are the main differences between an LC4 and an LC5 120 please (lets say pre-2007) ?
Secondly, theres a nice Maroon/Wine red colour, was it available with a black interior (quite important in my line of work), same applies to the Gold paintwork. I am presuming that the dark blue will defo have black as an option...
Finally, the audio/telematics in these are likely to be a bit old school by modern standards. What upgrades are available to do things like touchscreen nav, rear camera, integrated hands free/ipod and usb?

Thanks very much (quite stunned Mrs JB prefers the 120 to the D*sco 3 if I'm honest!!!).


John

Hi Jonny

they come with grey or beige leather not Black as far as im aware.

LC4 doesnt have the built in touchscreen so its easier to upgrade (the reason i wanted an LC4), doesnt have air suspension on the rear either.

<---- is this the colour you are talking about ? the inside is all beige

I have seen a black 2007 lc5 invincible with all black inside...

rear cam was an option, I am told almost no one took since it was £750 on spec. no integrated hands free either ( but might not have been an option at all ). none of the Bluetooth and USB stuff pre 2007 either ( actually might even be pre 2010 ).

yes thats one of the colours he likes.
Need black interior though, my pal has a grey one that he wont sell me
Seem to be some aftermarket options for radio/nav etc on ebay for Prado but I presume the same?
like this for example:-
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUTORADIO...954250?hash=item3cf127c94a:g:efsAAOSw8d9UwNAM

With the LC5 lots of system controls are wired via the navigation system. Eg the climate control, audio system etc.

Swapping it out might be fairly intrusive.

I bought one for my LC3 (not same as in the link) from China a few years back, on paper it did everything.
In reality, it did everything astonishingly badly except for the satnav whose software had no doubt been copied from someone who did put in the work.
I was lucky where my unit had a fault and I got the excuse to return it for a full refund.

Moral of the story is the I'd never part with that much cash on a whim to an unknown brand ever again.
I did check their rating prior to buying which was very good. This is largely due to the seller emailing customers offering cashback of £10 if they leave positive feedback within two days of delivery. Most people have opened it at that stage, it looks great but they havnt gotten around to fitting it !
I hadnt left feedback, this is probably why they offered a refund in my case.

I bought a reputitable brand (JVC) after that, had no satnav but great for everything else, cost me more than the Chinese unit but it did exactly what it said on the tin. There must be loads of decent units now which display google maps via bluetooth from your phone.

edit : as per posts above, changing the head unit on an LC5 my be very tricky, I'd want to see the finished article or talk to someone who has done exactly that prior to attempting it myself, may not be possible with any aftermarket units.
LC3 and LC4 are simple to change.

By the looks of things if you want black interior it looks like a black Invincible model is the answer, as KB said.

Noted about the chinese units, thanks, and about trying it on a LC5, in the real world whats the difference in terms of the air suspension? I will be towing, usually a plant trailer (not with a machine on), and if we use it for italy there could be a couple of hundred bottles of wine come back with us, so I had suspected the air was needed by is for self-levelling?
Thanks so far.

Isnt the invincible post 2007 ? (ie out of budget anyway).
My pal's grey 120 is a 53 plate and has black leather.
He won't sell it to me...

So tonight we viewed a 120 and a Disco 3 back to back. For reference, the LC was a 5 and had black leather (lol).
Rather amazingly, Mrs JB stuck with her original thought that she preferred the LC over the Disco.
Much prefers the dash layout (very Lexus-like she said, and we did have a new RX300 SE-L a few years back).
Preferred the looks.
For me - and my situation, the Disco 3 is probably more suiable - it is far bigger inside, the 6 and 7 seats fold flat rather than me needing to take them out, I thought the Disco 3 was much better soundproofed than the LC (although just started both up and idled on forecourt).
However.....as I said to my mechanic pal, I'd only need him for servicing, vs he'd defo be kept busy with the Disco......
I need to look into the AV side of thinks LC wise, if anyone has any pointers as asked earlier.
Also really need to think about air susp vs coils LC 5 to LC4 for towing if anyone could pipe up?

Cheers

I am confused about the spare wheels??
The one I saw tonight was an LC5, 05 plate, had a spare on the back door.
Looking on eBay there are some with, some without the spare on the back, doesn't seem to matter which model (ie LC3/4/5 etc).
Anyone definitively tell me whats what please? Cheers

A good way to workout spec etc for the models is to try and find the toyota sales material / brochures for the years you are looking at.

off the top of my head, I would say all LC5's have under body spare wheels, nothing on the back door.

w.r.t the Air suspension, the specification of the truck still says 2.8T, which is the same as the official braked tow cap for the lc3, which does not have the air suspension. I've also heard that its not a huge cost to replace out if things go south ( am hoping to never find out exactly how much though ).

the spare wheel underslung or on the back door was an option. so no real answer. all i can say is its bloody nice not having the weight of the spare every time you shut the back door.

On our way back yesterday saw a very nice condition Invincible model in black/black on a 55 plate in the services on the M1. Real minter. You came to mind JB

Thanks guys.
May be heading towards a 100
Never been one for the sensible choice have I ?

jonnyboy54321 said:

Thanks guys.
May be heading towards a 100
Never been one for the sensible choice have I ?

Click to expand...

Certainly depends on what you mean by sensible.... the 100's seem to have lost value faster than the 120s. Today a similar condition 120 and 100, are likely to be around the same price. 12K gets you a nice clean 2004/2005 120 lc5 or a 100. Nevermind they were priced slightly differently out of the box. Also just going by ebay / autotrader velocity, the 120s seem to be shifting faster than the 100s. This is something Andy also pointed out a few days back. the 100s are being undervalued at the moment.

So I'd guess if you are wanting something for a bit, get a 120. It will move along easier, similar priced. If you want something to hang onto for a while, the 100s are the way to go - you get a bit more car for the same'ish price. Only cost-of-ownership issue being insurance ...in the 100 is almost double that of the lc5/lc4 ( group 40 V/s 28 )

Me? Still driving the mondeo .... as my wife has now taken over complete control of the 120. Looking for that elusive 80.

regards,

I reckon 120 prices are artificially inflated by the fact you can buy a 90 series of the same mileage for half the price . Rhetorical question - is it 50% better.

Having driven both recently I think an equivalent condition comparison is that a 120 is 30-40% better than a Collie,as it is more evolved. Remember one thing, if you think a 120 is a 'mini' 100 Amazon, it is not.
It must be an area thing, the insurance, the Amazon was £290 last time, the Collie £240.

AndycruiserguyLomas said:

Having driven both recently I think an equivalent condition comparison is that a 120 is 30-40% better than a Collie,as it is more evolved. Remember one thing, if you think a 120 is a 'mini' 100 Amazon, it is not.
It must be an area thing, the insurance, the Amazon was £290 last time, the Collie £240.

Click to expand...

£850 for the 120 with 11 yrs of no claims. Cheapest i could get when asking around for a 100 was £1700 a yr. I must really live in the dumps.

Shayne said:

I reckon 120 prices are artificially inflated by the fact you can buy a 90 series of the same mileage for half the price . Rhetorical question - is it 50% better.

Click to expand...

Defining "better" is difficult but the 120 does have a couple of refinements which I'm not sure the Collie has. One is the active yaw and ATRAC being the other, I remember trying to climb a long and slippery hill on the Salisbury plains on my first outing in the 120 and made it about halfway before losing forward momentum. Had to fail the climb but really just tobogganing backwards in the muddy ruts. The active yaw was working with the ABS to to stop the car from rotating around its centre which I was very impressed with.

ATRAC with centre diff locked is an interesting take for traction compared to the Collie arrangement and the traction control has cut in if being a bit lively in the snow or wet.

Better? Dunno but there is a price and value to the advancement in technologies that we can't "see"and forget when looking around a vehicle.