100 series

I currently have a 2005 ver. of the turbo/diesel/auto 100 series.

My advice would be, don't buy a worn out one! Hehe

Consider 275,000kms or there abouts with full service history.

I'm not aware of any systemic faults but the 100 series went over 10 year and there were minor changes on the way.

The last diesel turbo/6/auto is IMO the one to look for! Cost more and harder to find but if you want minimum trouble, that would be the one to have!

Do your research on what they weigh and what you can legally carry as they can be overloaded very easily especially if you add a few extras. We own a TD Auto and consider it to be the best vehicle we have owned except for the low payload.

Joe.

Toni,
If you are not going to tow anything, I would not discount the petrol V8. They are cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain and very nice to drive.
The downside is that they use more fuel.
I had a 2006 petrol V8 and replaced it with a lifted 2008 200 series. My wife says she still prefers the petrol.
Keith

Hi Toni, As mentioned above the last of them where the best!, I had a 2004 V8 petrol for a few years, nice to drive as mentioned but we had a few issues with ours. The five speed auto used to do a few weird things, from time to time ,but there was a modification that fixed the issue ,I would look into that if buying one with that particular auto. otherwise their a good thing overall...

Cheers Axle.

I owned 6 100 series cruisers with my tour business, they were all great vehicles. They were not that expensive to run if well maintained, all were manual.
However, if you don't want to spend money on a 200 series, don't test drive one as an option, why? They are chalk and cheese in comparison.

Hi Toni, not sure what your budget is, but you can get an early 200 Series GX for around $50K. These are TTD V8 auto’s.

As others have also mentioned, the petrol 100 series were very reliable if they were well maintained, I had a 1998, 6 cylinder Petrol (Manual Gearbox), that had more than 300K kms on the clock when unfortunately it was written off in 2009 after an altercation with an Armco railing. Mechanically it was in excellent condition. I know you mentioned you want an auto, and the later models of this series did come in auto.

Macca.

Issues I can think of from when I had one....


Brakes sticking - caused by wrong brake fluid... very expensive fix if fresh brake fluid and a good flush doesn’t fix it (brake accumilator - or whatever it is called)

Fuel pump - unknown cause

Torque converter -unknown cause, but expensive..

Main computer- unknown cause, but $$

Windows not winding up - cracks in the housing on the doors - LCOOL easy fix

CV’s -common issue due to age,lift, etc - maintenance at this age of car..

Rust around windscreen


There are probably other issues that I have forgotten... Mine was a 2001 4 speed auto, and I HATED the auto! My current 1988 hj61 5speed tows my boat easier...

My wife has a 2014 200 series, and there is NO comparison to the 100. If I was you, I would look for an earlier 200 - possibly a gx, or even better, a late 80 series factory Turbo diesel 5 speed manual - without any of the electronics!