Hi ladies and (mostly) gents,
long time reader, first time poster.
I am having to upgrade my dear old 82 BJ42, which is primarily just a (trade) work truck, for something larger and more family friendly. I have a 3.5yr old child and there may be another addition one day.
Our other car, a 2016 Subaru outback is not quite big enough for holidays, so if we upgrade
mine to BIG, then we can downgrade that to something smaller and more efficient.
I have a bias towards Toyota's and Landcruisers, and towards diesels. I like how diesels drive, I am no lead foot, and I am very apprehensive about owning such a big 4x4 on petrol, and LPG seems to be getting very hard to find.
I contemplated a 70 series in dual cab or wagon, but they seem rather overpriced for what they are, not without some issues, and really probably a bit more utilitarian than I actually need. After owning a 40 for so long I am actually looking forward to some plush creature comforts.
80's seem too old, and still expensive for good TD ones.
Primarily for the reputation of the 1HDFTE I settled on 100 series, and started the long hunt looking for the right one.
I've tested driven a couple.
Budget has been 30-35K.
Have been looking for a later model one, GXL or Sahara, in good condition inside and out, and mechanically A1 (and if Sahara then not the last model one with the AHC
suspension).
Reasonable examples almost always seem to have high KMs, and low KM ones are asking so much money in my opinion, and most of them seem to have been set up for heavy towing.
I've also considered a couple of 105 series that have had the 1HDTE swap, but if going that route I would want a super clean and perfect example one, and in the end I think I would be happy with an IFS front end anyway.
I don't go looking for trouble 4-wheeling, I just need it for work and want it for holidaying.
I do a lot of roofrack work (timber and stuff for work), load
tools in the back (3rd row seats would be removed) and do only light towing- just a box trailer or a light sailing dingy, and we haul a lot of junk on beach holidays (kayaks, surfboards, etc). Once the daughter is a bit older we aim to get out camping a lot more like we used to but have no plans for a big caravan or really heavy towing.
Last weekend, after strong urging by him, I
test drove a friends 2010 GXL VDJ200R and was very impressed by the comfort, driveability, the engine and power and even on nearly bald road oriented tyres the four wheel driving ability in stock form.
That muddied the waters severly.
I've started looking into them a bit more, but even though the prices cross over, getting one of them within my budget or slightly above it, seems to be challenging and I worry about getting a high KM example with that engine...
I've read of early year models burning oil, alternators set too low, fuel sensitivity, big maintenece costs for problems, and so on. But then every model has its issues...
I know these threads (I've researched and read every one I can find) comparing cars and models like this can't tell me which to buy, as most of the really relevant discussion I have found is getting rather old now, I'm hoping for a bit more updated opinions and experiences on this stuff.
How is the reliability and maintenance costs of the VDJ200R's looking, and how many km's would be considered too much/risky to buy one at?
I want efficiency, and I want reliability, and I want reasonable maintenance costs. I want comfort and driver/family pleasure in the thing.
Thoughts and experiences on the 100 vs 200 in todays market in the $30-45-ish range?
Thanks for any replies.