Advice/buying guide for a 105 cruiser 4.5?

I just sold a 4.2 factory turbo 105 gxl with alloy Bull bar, tow kit, full roof rack, spoties, near new tyres, and 265000 km for 15 k to the guy across the road.

25k for a petrol model is way to much even if it was gold plated.

Under 20 for a reasonable one and no more than 22 for a really good one.

Just remember that these so called gas guzzlers are not popular these days with most people. Our gain, their loss.

Victoria is the place for dual fuelled vehicles as there are many more down there.
Check out carsales.com.au and ebay.

Have a look underneath for dents and damage which would indicate too much off road. The auto boxes rarely if ever give trouble and are stronger than the manuals apparently. Get the lowest Ks you can of course but Ks are not a amjor problem if it has been reasonably well looked after.

I bought my current 03 V8 petrol cruiser through carsales.com and paid 22.5 grand for a really nice one with medium to slightly high Ks Goes very nice.

For 25 grand you could get a nice V8 but they are not 105s they are a 100 with Independant Front Suspension as are the factory turbos.

105s were only available in the 4.5 or 1HZ diesel as far as I know. Even the Factory turbos were IFS as far as I am aware.

From late 2002 onwards they went to a 5 speed auto easily picked out in photos by the chrome indicator plate around the base of the gear shift. Small dash layout changes as well after 2002

I am more than happy to be corrected if I am incorrect.

Cheers, Bruce

Way to dear, I just checked the valuation for you on car sales and the max trade in prive he would get is $13300. Private sale price where in the range of $15300 to $18500. Send him and email stating you have checked the valuations and if its in very good nick you will go to $19000 if all checks are OK. Remember the v8 is more economical as well paticulaly with the 5 speed auto.
Good luck Pete

After much research we chose to buy a 4.5 6cyl petrol/LPG Landcruiser, our first Toyota. Our van is over 2.5t ATM so that cuts the range down, especially as we wanted an auto trans. I have been a motor mechanic since the 60s and a TAFE teacher in Automotive Engineering since the late 70s, and still have many colleagues in the trade.

In our price range there really was only the one choice, Jeep and Landrover were discounted as they had too many reliability issues for me to be bothered with. Auto Patrols didn't have the towing capacity, and Pathfinders seemed to be developing a suspect reputation. Didn't want a 4 door ute, not much left.

I chose the 6 over the V8 LC for a number of reasons. Yes they can be thirsty, and have slightly less power and torque than the 8 (but there isn't much in it) and can cost around the same price for a good one. As a motor mechanic and one of the things I value is simplicity and the ability to do my own work when things go wrong.

The 6 has only one cylinder head (and gasket) instead of 2, 6 fuel injectors instead of 8 etc etc. Less need for special tools and more working room too. This engine has been around for a long time and was designed for the LC from the outset to take abuse if needed.

Suspension, wheel bearings etc the 105 Series (6cyl petrol) is well proven (same as 80 Series) and simpler than in the 100 Series V8 or TD (independent front suspension and different (weaker?) rear axle assembly). Check out what is involved in removing the starter motor on the V8 - inlet manifold off to start with. On the 6cyl 2 wires and 2 bolts its off - no comparison!

A big plus is that the 6 has a timing timing chain instead of a belt as on the V8 (and many other models). These need to be replaced (expensive) at regular intervals.

A possible downside is that the 6 has a shaky reputation when run on LPG due to valve seat recession and consequent burnt valves. Using a Flashlube injector system over comes this problem. I use one and have had no problems yet (230,000km). But even if you do need to have the head rebuilt you would be looking at around the $2K mark including upgrading the exhaust valve seats so the problem is fixed forever.

Compare this to cost of reconditioning a set of diesel injectors (if indeed they can be rebuilt), rebuilding an injection pump or major mechanical repairs on a diesel, or turbo replacement. None of these are uncommon. The higher servicing costs on the diesel can't be disregarded either. From my perspective, and its my opinion only, the biggest advantage of the diesel is low down torque, but for me the trade offs are too great to risk my hard earned.

We have 140l or so of petrol and an additional 70l or so of gas giving a more than acceptable range.

In 2 years the car has done nothing wrong, we have done more than 30,000km towing a 2,600kg caravan with minimal vehicle service costs. Running mostly on LPG and on long trips, oil changes can be safely extended.

Brian