Landcruiser Buying advice

[benos1116]

Giday, I'm in the market for an older landcruiser. I have been looking at the sx cruiser with the 1kz in them mostly but am just wondering if anybody has any other ideas? Whats the 4.2 straight six diesel like? And should I even bother buying a cruiser with a 2.4 2lt diesel in it?
And I've also got a limited budget of around 7k ha so that limits things a bit.
Cheers.

[snotgoblin]

A lot of us will say you cant really go too far wrong with a 'cruiser. But they do tend to hold their value, as do almost all Toyotas.

Whereabouts are you based - there are a few worth looking at on Trade Me;

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/toyota/landcruiser-frp/auction-469683810.htm

[url]http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/toyota/landcruiser-frp/auction-469683810.htm
[/url]

[benos1116]

I am living in Christchurch, I've seen that wagon there a wee bit rough maybe but its the kind of truck that fits my description really I suppose. Theres one I've found with a 2.8 transplant in it I thought that would be good but maybe a bit sluggish in a cruiser.
Thanks for the help

[Jerry]

have a look at a safari or even a pajero as well (as well as cruisers)

[Smurf]

I have a 2.4 in my LWB Prado, On road it is a slug, but not bad for what it is, on the flats anyway. Though hills are its enemy, esp on larger tyres. Offroad, It does all it needs to do.
If you want a quicker more powerful onroad wagon, then a 2.4 probably isn't what you are after, but if you don't mind cruising a bit slower at times then you might find a 2.4 is ok for you. test drive one before you write the 2.4 off. And they are cheaper than the 3.0 to buy.
6 cylinder Cruisers have more power especially if you chuck a turbo on them. But they also chew a bit more gas.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =468432396

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =460828601

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 909293.htm

[snotgoblin]

I paid 4k for my 1980 BJ40. All the mods on it are certified, but it was not rego'ed or WOF'ed.

It was resprayed etc - so most of the hard work is done, some tiny bits of rust to sort.

Hoped to have it back on the road by now - but found that the suspension mod was less than well installed...

So I guess you need to think about whether you want a ready to go road legal one. Or a bit of a project.

[MNC]

I paid 4k for my 1980 BJ40. All the mods on it are certified, but it was not rego'ed or WOF'ed.

It was resprayed etc - so most of the hard work is done, some tiny bits of rust to sort.

Hoped to have it back on the road by now - but found that the suspension mod was less than well installed...

So I guess you need to think about whether you want a ready to go road legal one. Or a bit of a project.

Yeah, if you are not able to do all the work yourself it is far cheaper to buy a truck that suits what you want to do that has already been built and certified (plus has current WOF & Rego) and is ready to go.

[crazydragon]

I paid 5.5k for mine. 1994 prado sx 3.0L. It was a cheap sale because it had around 1.2k worth of road user charges in it. But it was around 300,000kms on the clock. I would say the previous owner didn't really take care of it cause there are couple of minor problems coming up now and then.

One thing though if you're looking for an auto version, beware of the solenoid problem. My dad's truck started failing after 1 year of purchase while mine failed just after 2 months. Obviously if you know what you're doing you won't have to spend that much but for both our trucks we spent around another 1k each fixing the solenoids.

[mytronic]

I paid $6800 from a dealer + $1400 for the warranty (1995 Prado Landcruiser SX), and boy have I used the warranty in the past 3 months. With 208000km on the clock it did the head in (Common on cylinder 3) .This was before it got off road , then 1 month later all the injector tips failed. so moral of story , check service history if you can. A well serviced diesel is a happy diesel. As for power the 3.0 is a great little power house , but on steep muddy inclines with 33" it runs out of puff as a Suzuki flys past haha. Mine is the Auto, which has an OK low box for 1st low, compared to a Pajero and jeep auto.

[juz]

There is quite a few MWB Cruisers on trademe for decent money with the 3.4 diesel engine, a good old coal burner of an engine and alot more reliable than the 2.4... If your looking at a 2.4, ask if its had the head done and if not allow enough spare $$ to do it. cos itll crack, not if but when. The 1kzte Landcruisers are great but also prone to cracking heads.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/toyota/landcruiser/auction-473607598.htm

[oldblue]

The SWB Prado's ( Car rego) are cheaper to regester than the SWB Landcruiser's ( Truck rego )