Justin Burns replied:

I have an 89 surf you have to be very careful because in Japan they dont service them properly and i know of a lot that have had stuffed motors ie full of rust but other than that their a good unit you can see mine at http://members.optushome.com.au/justinbu/offroad/index.htm

matt replied:

Tim, I looked into buying a Surf late last year & visited numerous dealers that imported & sold them. I found most of them to be in average condition, some of them in bad condition, and probably only 2 or 3 in good condition - and I looked at a lot! One thing that I was told that disturbed me, was that in Japan, after a certain amount of kms, theyre not allowed to drive them anymore, hence they export them. However, apparently it isnt unususal for them to disconnect the speedo cables at about 75000kms & reconnect them when the car is just about ready to give up. So you cant trust the kms totally. As in the first reply, servicing of the vehicles is few & far between apparently & minor crashes in Japan are frequent & covered up with slap happy repair jobs. I ended up buying a trusty 60 series landcruiser in the end and havent looked back. Thats not to say that you wont find a suitable Surf - be thorough with your research before buying. Happy hunting! Matt.