Shopping for the new 4WD

Hi All,

Im shopping for a Landcruiser to replace my Hilux surf. The surf has a 3.0 litre turbo diesel, free wheeling hubs, bull bar, sidesteps, Auto Trans, lift kit and fold down tray at the back. Basically, Im looking for the same car, but in the Landcruiser range with the bigger (4.2) motor.

The catch? I only have $30k to spend and with my experience in the hilux surf, am definitely sold on the toyotas.

I have seen quite a few 100 series stds (about $32K with 87K on clock) but they are all manual, and have the barn doors at the back, skinny tyres, no steps and no bar work. I really like having the use of the tray, as it is a good table to work on when camping, fishing etc. Im thinking it may be better (more cost effective) to look at a good 80 series TD and fit free wheeling hubs to it. Any suggestions?

Also, is there really a big difference between the std and turbo diesel engines off road?

I do a lot of soft sand beach driving, and gravel tracks in the SW of WA.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.