New Land Cruiser 79 from Belgium

[BarcelonaLewis]

I'm looking for a pickup at the moment, and prices are a bit mad in the UK so I'd revisited the idea of importing one. It's going to be used 90% off road moving stuff over a hill farm, so I've always liked the idea of a 70 series Land Cruiser.

Last time I looked there were a few options, but this one wasn't amongst them - https://www.transautomobile.com/en/toyota-land-cru...

Has anyone dealt with the company before? And does anyone know if importing one (a new one) to the UK is just a case of paying the VAT and Duty, and getting it through the IVA test? I know these 70 series LCs aren't sold in the UK or EU because of emissions, so would that be an issue on the test as it's under 10 years old? There do seem to be companies importing them, but they're a fair bit more expensive and from what I can tell the test is £100, plus a fog light, undersealing and shipping.

Any advice much appreciated.

[llcoolmac]

I was close to buying one last year because of the v8 and the fact it had a massive flatbed/proper workhorse. However, they drive like absolute dirt. They are incredibly slow and very thirsty too. You'd be lucky to get 20mpg and I think 0-60 is around 17 seconds. Crash safety is also tragic if you look up photos of 70 series after a crash. I also looked into modifying it so the shortcomings are not as annoying but you'd end up spending quite a lot, particularly if you wanted more power as the clutch can't take it.

Long story short; really wanted one but decided it was archaic and the reliability benefits South Africans get in the Bush are not worth the sacrifice here.