Opinion of imported Landcruiser HJ61 please
Submitted: Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 12:03
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chenj3
Dear all,
Late last year I was planning to import used Landcruiser HJ61 from Japan under 15+ years rule and ended up bought a 97 L/C 80 series for Christmas holidays as I ran out of time. The 1997 L/C is a great car and took me where I want to be. However, my lady still does NOT allow me to bash this car in the bush as it is too new to be abused.
Now I still can see the advantages ( lower K, high spec, reasonable price,Turbo Diesel, ready for abuse.. ) of the imported Landcruiser from Japan. I know they are 24 volt and may have some sort of mileage manipulation problem. However, Can those people who are driving the imported Landcruiser HJ61 in particular give me some feedbacks on how this car model performs and the problems you have experience. any comments are much appreciated.
Reply By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 12:40
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 12:40
Are they 24v? I recently made that mistake on another thread when referring to a surf. I was looking at an imported patrol with duel batteries and I was told it was 24v but he hadnt had it long. Sorry I havnt answerd your question but i will be following this thread with intrest as I have considered looking at imports too
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Follow Up By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:27
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:27
As for milaege manipulation I read some reasnable advice once and that was to look at general condition of wear areas for example a vehicle with low ks shouldnt have a sagging
seat and have areas worn smooth on the stering wheel where your hands go and a gearshift with the numbers worn off etc although a craftey dealer would be onto those areas I guess it is a matter of being aware of the potentiol and asking yourself does this look like it has done 120k rather than 250k
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Follow Up By: chenj3 - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:39
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:39
Davoe,
I went to a
Brisbane local car yard call W**
gate last year and inspected a imported 1988 L/C with 140K on the clock. I was shocked to discovered the service book and auction sheet (both in Japanese) in the glove box stating the car already has 240K when auction in Japan. Apparently it was re-wound back here in the car yard. The chassis number on the auction sheet is identical to the number on the car. The car saleman was too shy to answer my concern and asked me to leave.
I would like to import my own L/C over the internet and would NOT have any chance to have physcial inspection.
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Follow Up By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 14:13
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 14:13
Thats just wrong you shoulda blown the whistle on them. I annoyed a caryard when i traded my valiant in and I refused to sighn the decleratiion that the odo was correct because it haldnt worked for years
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Reply By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 12:56
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 12:56
24v? Is this correct, if so Davoe I would have to appologise for my previous accusation, I have never heard of this in imports, however these older imports are relativly new as now the law has changed and made these a popular option instead of terranos and surfs etc which can no longer be brought in.
If it is 24v it would be no real drama as there are plenty of up and down convertors off the shelf that are cheap, supercrap auto has some I notice. I guess they are mainly for trucks, but then again an HJ61 is pretty close to a truck. (let's keep on subject and not go into that debate again)
Anyone out there got one of these older imports an can tell us for real if they are 12 or 24v, I'd be interested to find out.
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Follow Up By: chenj3 - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:43
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:43
I have inspected many imported L/C and all of them are 24 volts. Basically it is NOt a big deal but still a problem as extra steps need to be taken. However, the alternator and the starter will be a bit of issue here, I may approach the Wrecker for 24 volts parts.
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Follow Up By: uppy - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 17:15
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 17:15
Hi guys ,the patrol that i had in NZ was a import it was 24 volts and needed 2 batteries,It was a 4.2 1991 deisel
regards uppy
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Reply By: Moose - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:06
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:06
"my lady still does NOT allow me to bash this car in the bush". She is the smart one. You should not be talking about bashing around in the bush. If you think that's what the members of this
forum get up to I think you are sadly mistaken. We go bush but we do not seek to abuse our vehicles nor the environment. Go and do a training course and/or join a club and find out how to enjoy your vehicle and the bush without abusing either.
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Follow Up By: chenj3 - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:31
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:31
Moose,
Please forgive my word of "Abuse".
My 97 L/C looks like a brand new one and we made some scratches on our first 7000 Kms trip to South-East Australia. we spent more than 2 days to restore it's glory. I would be silly to abuse my $30,000 worth L/C for no reason nor do I abuse any of our environment.
I saw a lot people still driving early 1980 4by in the bush and did NOT have worry any dent or scratches. I just want to be one of them.
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Follow Up By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:38
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:38
I know what youn are saying chenj3 I have smothered my l/c campervan with scratch-dents from going down tight goldfields/southcoast tracks You may be interested in a write up I saw on a product that you roll onto your 4by like a lizard skin that protects against scratches and peels off afterwards I can dig up the distributer (next week) if you are interested
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Reply By: Member - Bradley- Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:55
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 13:55
Hey chenj3, if you want to buy direct out of japan,
check out www.prestigemotorsport.com.au They sold this one recently, and can look for whatever vehicle you desire.
1988 Toyota Landcruiser VX diesel turbo, Auto, 118,000 kms, Gold, $13,000 plus modifications and ORC's
~ SOLD ~
Status Sold
StockID 1940
Year 1988
Make Toyota
Model Landcruiser VX diesel turbo
Transmission Auto
Kms 118000
Colour Gold
cheers.
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Follow Up By: chenj3 - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 14:36
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 14:36
Thank you, bradley,
Actually I have account access to 30,000 vehicle on the net and can see most of the prices in Japan. it all depends on the quality of the car ( the auction grade).
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Follow Up By: Member - Bradley- Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 16:22
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 16:22
Yeah, grade 3, 4 etc. If you can get a buyer to do the buy and arrange delivery to the docks etc. Then you can just apply with your state transport dept. and arrange transport to bring it in. Then just find an engineer and fit the compliance package. Not too hard as you probably already know. see ya.
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Reply By: jonojeepster - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 15:16
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 15:16
Imports are gre(y)at ;) especially if you want them to bash or abuse them in the bush as they have probably been
well thrashed previously ;) Good luck.
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Reply By: Jimmy - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 15:51
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 15:51
Chenj3 I Have a jap Nissan Patrol /Safari and it is definately 24v However.. the dash is partly 12v The radio runs on 12v as does the cigarette lighter point.
All the lights are 24v so if you wanted to tow a trailer make sure it has 24v lamps installed!
As far as the millage goes I really didn't give a toss, The engine checks out fine and you get all the bells and whistles, I got winch and rear diff lock with
mine even little wipers on the head lights. If it lasts me 5 years I reckon i'm on a win
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Follow Up By: uppy - Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 17:20
Friday, Apr 23, 2004 at 17:20
Hi Jimmey it sounds very much the same as what i had in NZ,i had
mine for over 5 years, great wagon .no really problems.
regards uppy
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Reply By: Keith Scott - Saturday, Apr 24, 2004 at 16:50
Saturday, Apr 24, 2004 at 16:50
chen - save yourself hassle and sleepless nights and worry. don't buy imported, (why take risks if you don't need to?) buy what you can afford properly. You seem to have 'bought above' yourself with your current cruiser because you can't afford to get an occasional scratch etc or enjoy it properly. This happened to me once and its not fun. My rule is 'if you can't afford to use it properly as intended, you can't afford it' (even if you can scratch together the purchase price).
Keith
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