Toyota 80 series or Navara D40

Mate, have a read.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2099474

I reckon you don't have much knowledge on 4wd's and lemons.

Have a read also via google on turbo 1HZ engines.

Good luck and lots of it if you buy either.

I think it's a no brainer, unless you are prepared to fit a double row timing chain & sprockets to the D40!

John - bought one you mentioned 5 years ago when it had 245000kms on the clock. Now had 310000 on it now. It has been to NQLD and back twice towing a 20' caravan. Have had no problems with other than I put in a heavy duty clutch. Changed oil/filter every 5000kms. I'm 64 now and this vehicle will see out till I stop caravanning. Wouldn't buy anything else. My policy if towing a big van tow with a big motor not a 4 cylinder puppy. Go ahead and buy. Larry

I owned an 80 Series with a 1HZ motor since new and had an aftermarket turbo fitted at 150,000 km. It was the last model of the 80 Series, built in July 1997. I sold mine with 211,00- on the clock.

As a tow vehicle, the turbo made a difference to performance but not as much as I had hoped (with a conservative 8lb boost), so I would rate it as an average vehicle to tow with. It simply is no comparison to my latest vehicle which is a 3 litre CRD. I would not put an after market turbo on another vehicle I owned as its always a compromise. A factory fitted turbo 80 series bought at the start would have been a better choice. I had the bigger exhaust fitted and also fitted an EGT gauge and drove according to the engine temp rather than the speedo when towing.

That's the negative stuff dealt with. If I ditched the caravan, the vehicle performed very well with the after market turbo, It was responsive and never lacked power nor did the EGT ever go higher than 400 degrees C and only rarely went that high.

The vehicle in general cost me $1400 in repairs for things that failed. I consider that to be exceptionally good. I doubt I will ever get another vehicle as competent or reliable.

That said I kept it very well maintained and the cost of doing that was not insignificant.

If you buy an 80 series now , its at least 16 years old, and has done a lot of kilometres, so you need to be very careful about what you buy. If you know its history then you are better off than buying one otherwise. Have the engine checked out thoroughly. People have said that putting an aftermarket turbo put in is not good for that motor. I never had a problem but I had a very conservative amount of boost and that counts.

I sold mine for a similar amount but it had a few extra's in it.
Duel airbags (factory fitted)
Polyair air bag suspension fitted inside rear coils
Turbo Timer
EGT gauge
Snorkle
Cargo barrier
Dual batteries
3' exhaust

I'm not sure you would get better performance from the 80 Series than your current vehicle. But off road there's no comparison. Tye 80 series is much better.

Good luck
WBS