Land Cruiser 100/105 worth the money?

shArk · July 17, 2018

I'm really interested in buying a Land Cruiser 100 or 105 series. But even though these are 20 year old vehicles, they go for about 8 Mil to 15 Mil, which is totally not worth considering that many brand new cars cost go for that price.

Whereas in Japan or Elsewhere you could buy one for less than 2 Mil.

I know these are reliable and amazing vehicles which don't die. Just want to see what everyones opinion is. Thanks!

iRage · July 17, 2018

Well....cars are inherently expensive in SL because of our wonderful import duty structures. So obviously cars will be cheaper in countries like Japan than in SL. Also, in countries like Japan, the policies are such that people are discouraged from using old cars through increased road taxes, lesser taxes on newer cars, etc...so the market value of old cars drop significantly. Although you can buy one for less than 2mil in Japan you cannot bring them over here. So comparing prices is simply not sensible.

As for whether you want to spend this much on a Land Cruiser 100/105 depends on what you want it for. Do you want it for the "show" value of it ? or do you want to actually use it for things like pulling a trailer, off roading, road trips, etc.. ? How long do you intend to keep it for ? etc..so you really need to answer these yourself and share with us if you want any kind of input.

Then you need to start cost comparing the LC 100/105 against the likes of the Patrol or even a segment lower like the Prado and Pajero...and see if the LC 100 offers that much more for its price than the other vehicles

kmeeg · July 17, 2018

On 7/17/2018 at 10:24 AM, shArk said:

I'm really interested in buying a Land Cruiser 100 or 105 series. But even though these are 20 year old vehicles, they go for about 8 Mil to 15 Mil, which is totally not worth considering that many brand new cars cost go for that price.

Whereas in Japan or Elsewhere you could buy one for less than 2 Mil.

I know these are reliable and amazing vehicles which don't die. Just want to see what everyones opinion is. Thanks!

Expand

If you keep the price away that would be a beast if you like off-roading.

My friend owns a 97 LC of cause they have front and rear solid axels and stock came with front and rear lockable difs. Been a 97 still very easy to find parts like lift kits, skid plates, rock sliders. Frame feels extremely strong for winching and had no problems winching with one battery.

One thing I can tell you, the more you spend the more you are concerned about trail damage. In my case sometimes I ask my wife to get out of the vehicle and spot me because I m concerned about scratches. That will take away some of the fun away from your passengers.

I would really suggest to buy one with both front and rear diff locks. Fixing after market air lockers like ARB is too much trouble. I don’t know for sure the axle comes with lockers and without lockers are same or not, but you feel confident when you have those stock.

I know Land Rover lovers will hate this (I do love Land Rovers) but I feel more dependable on a Toyota and comfortable for your family if you are off-roading with family.

Having said all the good stuff want share the bad stuff too. My friends LC is petrol v8 so not the best for fuel. If you get a diesel it might help you a little on a fuel consumption dept. Also LC is a bigger vehicle and you need to pick your trails wisely because you can’t go on really narrow trails.

Update - 97 meaning 1997 model LC80 series.

I also have a friend who has LC100 series (4.7L Petrol) but does not have front solid axle (Rear solid axel and front independent) and no locking diff, it has A-Trac system.

Edited July 17, 2018 by kmeeg

Nishan.dj · July 17, 2018

On 7/17/2018 at 10:24 AM, shArk said:

I'm really interested in buying a Land Cruiser 100 or 105 series. But even though these are 20 year old vehicles, they go for about 8 Mil to 15 Mil, which is totally not worth considering that many brand new cars cost go for that price.

Whereas in Japan or Elsewhere you could buy one for less than 2 Mil.

I know these are reliable and amazing vehicles which don't die. Just want to see what everyones opinion is. Thanks!

Expand

This is exactly what I would buy...

Magnum · July 17, 2018

I'm not an expert on Land Cruiser. Aussies love the Cruiser and I see a fair number of 70 and 80 series Land Cruiser compared to the 100 series. In fact they still produce the 70 series for Aussie market.

I'm not sure of the reason why the 100 series isn't popular as the 70 series. Maybe it's due to the size as kmeeg mentioned.

kmeeg · July 17, 2018

On 7/17/2018 at 5:12 PM, Magnum said:

I'm not an expert on Land Cruiser. Aussies love the Cruiser and I see a fair number of 70 and 80 series Land Cruiser compared to the 100 series. In fact they still produce the 70 series for Aussie market.

I'm not sure of the reason why the 100 series isn't popular as the 70 series. Maybe it's due to the size as kmeeg mentioned.

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I'm not a LC expert either.. Only way I know is 2 of my buddies use LC80 and LC100.

LC200 series are the favorite of our ministers, which i think more road friendly. Has only rear solid axle.

LC70 series are the favorite with many offroading Toyota fans. It has both front and rear solid axles and default comes with many offroad goodies like locking diffs + a-trac + terrain management + crawl control.

I think one of the reason LC70 series is much popular is with its range of body configurations like troopy to truck where you can easily install roof top tent to drawer systems.

Twin Turbo · July 17, 2018

Q,..what is your budget?

The 80 is over two decades old,./take into account the usage in local cond. over that period.l

Edited July 17, 2018 by Twin Turbo

Magnum · July 18, 2018

On 7/17/2018 at 6:44 PM, kmeeg said:

I'm not a LC expert either.. Only way I know is 2 of my buddies use LC80 and LC100.

LC200 series are the favorite of our ministers, which i think more road friendly. Has only rear solid axle.

LC70 series are the favorite with many offroading Toyota fans. It has both front and rear solid axles and default comes with many offroad goodies like locking diffs + a-trac + terrain management + crawl control.

I think one of the reason LC70 series is much popular is with its range of body configurations like troopy to truck where you can easily install roof top tent to drawer systems.

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Yep probably, the 70 series double cab is popular

Edited July 18, 2018 by Magnum

vag2 · July 18, 2018

what a beauty! I think the most reliable,fun and easy to fix vehicles are from the 90s before car makers overloaded their models with Electronics and isolated the driver from the machine.( speaking from my experience with Beemers, but assume same applies to JDMs like Civic,Skyline,and LC )

iRage · July 19, 2018

On 7/18/2018 at 6:15 PM, vag2 said:

what a beauty! I think the most reliable,fun and easy to fix vehicles are from the 90s before car makers overloaded their models with Electronics and isolated the driver from the machine.( speaking from my experience with Beemers, but assume same applies to JDMs like Civic,Skyline,and LC )

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Yes....

The electronics are a necessary evil. Cars are required to be more safer by the day and the the unfortunate truth is that involves isolating the most compromisable and error-prone component in the whole system, The human.

kmeeg · July 19, 2018

On 7/19/2018 at 12:14 AM, iRage said:

Cars are required to be more safer by the day and the the unfortunate truth is that involves isolating the most compromisable and error-prone component in the whole system, The human.

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It’s disappointing that some of the unibody crossovers have better crash rating than much bigger body on frame suvs.

On the other hand I see newer cars and crossovers have many safety features from blind spot monitoring to auto braking to lane keep assist. That would definitely help human errors.

shArk · July 19, 2018

On 7/17/2018 at 12:05 PM, iRage said:

As for whether you want to spend this much on a Land Cruiser 100/105 depends on what you want it for. Do you want it for the "show" value of it ? or do you want to actually use it for things like pulling a trailer, off roading, road trips, etc.. ? How long do you intend to keep it for ? etc..so you really need to answer these yourself and share with us if you want any kind of input.

Then you need to start cost comparing the LC 100/105 against the likes of the Patrol or even a segment lower like the Prado and Pajero...and see if the LC 100 offers that much more for its price than the other vehicles

Expand

I want it for everyday use and going around the country, not so much into off roading, but I do go around the country quite a big, I love SUV's ever since my father had a 70 Prado a long time ago.

Yeah I've seen 120 Prados for cheaper and 150's for almost identical prices, I think the LC100 is ridiculously overpriced considering its age.

shArk · July 19, 2018

On 7/17/2018 at 12:54 PM, kmeeg said:

If you keep the price away that would be a beast if you like off-roading.

My friend owns a 97 LC of cause they have front and rear solid axels and stock came with front and rear lockable difs. Been a 97 still very easy to find parts like lift kits, skid plates, rock sliders. Frame feels extremely strong for winching and had no problems winching with one battery.

One thing I can tell you, the more you spend the more you are concerned about trail damage. In my case sometimes I ask my wife to get out of the vehicle and spot me because I m concerned about scratches. That will take away some of the fun away from your passengers.

I would really suggest to buy one with both front and rear diff locks. Fixing after market air lockers like ARB is too much trouble. I don’t know for sure the axle comes with lockers and without lockers are same or not, but you feel confident when you have those stock.

I know Land Rover lovers will hate this (I do love Land Rovers) but I feel more dependable on a Toyota and comfortable for your family if you are off-roading with family.

Having said all the good stuff want share the bad stuff too. My friends LC is petrol v8 so not the best for fuel. If you get a diesel it might help you a little on a fuel consumption dept. Also LC is a bigger vehicle and you need to pick your trails wisely because you can’t go on really narrow trails.

Update - 97 meaning 1997 model LC80 series.

I also have a friend who has LC100 series (4.7L Petrol) but does not have front solid axle (Rear solid axel and front independent) and no locking diff, it has A-Trac system.

Expand

Thank you for your reply. I agree with you. I'm not such a huge off road guy. Its just that driving and traveling are two big hobbies of mine, and I've loved this model for years now, it would be a dream to buy one. Yeah again fuel is a issue, even if I got a manual.

kmeeg · July 19, 2018

On 7/19/2018 at 8:57 AM, shArk said:

Thank you for your reply. I agree with you. I'm not such a huge off road guy. Its just that driving and traveling are two big hobbies of mine, and I've loved this model for years now, it would be a dream to buy one. Yeah again fuel is a issue, even if I got a manual.

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In that case I guess you don’t have to worry about locking diffs and solid axels or other off-road tech. I’ve used one with only a-trac and that thing really works. Even if a-trac is not available you can use left foot braking. Anyways all that is used only if you go off-roading and one wheel is off the ground or loose all traction on one tire.

I guess if you buy one with 2.5 diesel might help you a little bit on fuel vs the petrol engines.

Clark'sson · July 19, 2018

If you are concerned about the fuel economy and need a good SUV with road presence you should go for a mid sized alternative like the Montero or the prado.

If you have a liking towards the easy to maintainence with no useless electronics that could go wrong. Go for the 5L model prado or the 4m40 Montero. You can get a 2013 example for 10 to 12 million. Less than a LC100 of around 2000.

And if your ok with manual the manuals do in excess of 13kmpl long run and around 10kmpl in Colombo. From my experience in the 4m40 and they are very easy and cheap to maintain.

Edited July 20, 2018 by iRage

nisala4423 · July 23, 2018

Well my advise is go for a 100 if you are looking comfort and not too much offroading because the 100 series came with balloon shocks and they are expensive to maintain if you are looking for some offroad action once in a while go for 105 model i think this has a 1hz engine straight 6 non turbo which is a perfect engine.parts are actually very easy to find and very cheat to maintain (i have a 80 series which has the same engine) other models came with a 4.2 1hd turbo engine which is faster and more powerful some models came with v8 petrol... my suggestion is to avoid those v8 once.. they can be very expensive to maintain and you cant use for offroad ( you can but if u damage any sensor its game over) good luck

kmeeg · July 23, 2018

On 7/23/2018 at 3:48 PM, nisala4423 said:

Well my advise is go for a 100 if you are looking comfort and not too much offroading because the 100 series came with balloon shocks and they are expensive to maintain

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I guess not all come with Air suspension. My buddy's LC100 came with regular shocks. I just took some pics of it;

iRage · July 24, 2018

The 100 was mainly designed to be a decent all rounder whilst the 105 was configured to be slightly more favorable for off-roading. As a result the 100 had higher featured grades than the 105. In most countries the 100 came in a VX grade or above whilst the 105 were just GX-Rs, etc...(note I said MOST countries/regions). thus, the 100 were mainly classified as Wagons and the 105s as "Vans" (please note..not van in the sense of a hiace or a caravan).

Main difference was that the 100 came with IFS and 105 had a solid axle. Hard-core 4x4 fanatics swear that the sold axle is much more desirable for offroading than the 100s IFS. Because of the solid axle the axle length of the 105 was a bit larger (a few mms). The 105 had simpler electronics being lower grades with fancy bells and whistles (which the 100 had as it was a wagon and was to be more comfy). The 100 came with a turbo charged engine which was more powerful and refined and the 105 came with a more simple and rugged NA diesel engine which was slow.

The organization I used to work for got 105s for most of its field work operations and the 100 was bought for office/city based operations and the senior management. At the end of the day both were able to keep up with each other in rather rough terrain. The only difference was the 105 had a bit more comfort and it out ran the 105s on the open road. When a few of the 105s broke down (engine getting sand filled, mud filled and even water filled); the tech departments opted to upgrade the the stock NA engine to the turbo charged engines of the 100. After swapping the engine they swapped out the gearbox as well because the stock gearbox of the 105 could not handle the increased power of the Turbo charged engine....(at the end of the day the upgrade simply was not worth it for our purposes.

john cooper · July 24, 2018

Hi all,

I like the idea of using this as "touring vehicle" rather a off road, you will see lots of off roading in SL now out of control, every single town got a 4WD club and killing the mother nature and handful of nature lovers battling to keep the nature as it should while enjoying 4WD.

I am sure not all the 100's came with height adjustable suspension as kmeeg pointed above, my understanding VX grade added with the air suspension, i don't think any of the B/N imports fitted with this option.

In my idea don't worry too much about the fuel if you interested about the truck, only 4L different for 100km when compared to LC Prado 1KD engine.

Unsure if you looking for auto or manual, if you looking for AUTO try find a truck with A442F (5 speed) tranny instead A343F (4 speed)

This trucks made to last so they hold the value, i have seen few that had crossed half a mil mark but still sounds like a old clock.

good luck with your hunt but be careful as it's gamble to find a good truck in SL with genuine Km's

regards

JC