Do I need an 80 Series Landcruiser?

Do I need an 80 Series Landcruiser?

Author
Discussion

sparkythecat

Original Poster:

7,961 posts

262 months

Monday 23rd July 2018
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I'm currently running a crusty old SWB Shogun Mk 3 that I use to tow my boat. It's more than adequate for my needs and does about 4k miles p.a. and owes me nothing.
I've now got the opportunity to buy an old but tidy 80 Series Landcruiser at an advantageous price.
I really fancy the idea of cruising around in a big truck for a while.
Should I bite, or am I likely to be bitten?

Jag_NE

3,100 posts

107 months

Tuesday 24th July 2018
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Probably as safe a bet as it gets for a car of the vintage but anything old will break and these will be expensive than they do. If the potential enjoyment outweighs the cost of the potential bork then go for it. At least depreciation will be minimal.

snowandrocks

1,054 posts

149 months

Tuesday 24th July 2018
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As above - about as safe as it’s possible to get for such an old truck.

Ours has survived almost 30 years of road salt and general neglect in rural Scottish daily use and still continues to be reliable with just routine maintenance.

Tyres last ages (>75k from BFG AT), genuine service parts are fairly priced and they’re easy to work on. 22 - 28 mpg from the manual.

Front axle maintenance is about the only thing to check - every ten years or so the front bearings tend to need stripped down and repacked with fresh grease and have new seals fitted. If it needs done the grease gets contaminated with diff oil and seeps out. Not a difficult/expensive job but messy and time consuming.

Worth fitting a set of fresh OEM shocks - will transform the ride and handling over the tired originals.

Good ones seem to be slowly appreciating - ours is worth more now than I paid for it in 2005!

Hdj80 01

31 posts

80 months

Tuesday 24th July 2018
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Not sure why everyone thinks they are expensive when they go wrong, in my experience 80 series parts are similar or slightly more than defender parts, but definitely cheaper than the other jap makes.

If you can get one reasonable price then snap it up, if not give me their number and i will lol.

Coming from a shogun you will be pleasantly surprised by the fuel consumption of the big engine, if its a 24 valve manual it will probably use less than the shogun but all the models would be similar to it, and they dont tend to use much more diesel with a big trailer behind them, unlike smaller engined vehicles.

Edited by Hdj80 01 on Tuesday 24th July 11:00

sparkythecat

Original Poster:

7,961 posts

262 months

Wednesday 25th July 2018
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The truck I'm looking at is a manual 24v.
My manual SWB Shogun does around 28-29mpg. Even if the Landcruiser does 5mpg less, it will, given my current annual mileage, only increase the running costs by about £6 per week and I'll save £1.20 of that in reduced VED. smile

Stonecarver

36 posts

113 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
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The best I ever got from mine was 26mpg, driving like a saint.
Typically 22mpg seemed about the average, on road, off road, towing, motorway, A roads, B roads....whatever, average was around 22mpg.
Brilliant vehicles. A few weaknesses, but only a few.

sparkythecat

Original Poster:

7,961 posts

262 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
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Thanks for the informative replies chaps.
I didn't buy it in the end. It needed far more work than I was prepared to take on.

Hdj80 01

31 posts

80 months

Friday 27th July 2018
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can you give me some info of the one for sale? im looking for a 24v manual