Second Hand Land Cruiser - Unsure

Hi Catchy
The truck to find is a 1998 - 2002 naturally aspirated diesel 100 series auto.
Put on a DTS turbo kit and you will have a good unit.
You stay with the 1HZ diesel and live axle front. Can't go wrong.
I have been servicing one up to 194000 k's now no probs.
I have an 80 series non turbo manual diesel with 272 000 k's.
Put an after market clutch in it at 258 000 k's and replaced it this week with a genuine one at 272 000 k's. Should have stuck with the genuine part in the first place.
Cheers.

Go with the 80 series.. Solid cars, less plastic to crack, and less shaped like a breadbox.

You could accessorise it with the $1000's you save.

Hey Catchy,
Agree with truckster. Know a few people who have updated to 100 series from 80 series and wished they hadnt. One complained something bout the diffs but cant remember what.

From personal experience I would go with a late model 80 series TD. I had an 80 series and traded to a 100 series which was a real mistake. The drivetrain in the 100 had (and has) far too many problems plus for all the $$ you pay, you have to pay a heap more to make it off road capable (eg breather extensions, spare tyre carrier, diff locks for the weak front diff and lack of LSD in the rear after ~15000Ks), then there's all the plastic bits.

The motors are very good in both models.

Pity you can't get a Yota TD combined with the patrol drivetrain.

Digger

Dont get to hung up an all the yabba about weak drivelines in the 100s as far as I can tell the standards run the same gear as the 78 utes and I havnt been able to brek one of those yet (except for the bits I rip off when severly bush bashing for work) Where they do fall down is there collosol size and weight it makes them hopeless compared to the utes for any thing other than driving on well formed tracks. my suggestion is ute but that wasnt the question so pronbably an 80 but as they are getting some age on them now check it out thoroughly as (take it from me) fixing land cruisers costs makes the war on terror look cheap and there is more likely for an end to it than the repairs that may be needed for a lemon. Beware of aftermarket turbos as Toyoto do not turbo the standard motor for good reason. Both the 2h and later the 1hz underwent significant modification to provide reliability when turboed. As for ks you have a good budget which will dictate the amount of ks on the vehicle

Have you looked at the TD 90 series Prado? Pretty good truck, motors strong and proven and has some boot to it, still got a landcruiser badge on it! :-)
IFS is not a real big issue if you are not rock crawling, doesn't stop me goin anywhere. For $40K you'd be able to buy one second hand and have change for some cool accessories.

Thanks guys

It won't be doing any Hardcore 4 Wheel Driving, mainly towing the boat, as well as some Beach/Dunes work.

Only problem I seem to have with the 100 Series is the weight at the moment. I've also heard they float around on the roads a bit.

Cheers again

Catchy