School me on 100 Series LandCruisers!

[StuntmanMike]

After going back and forth on a bunch of different rigs, I think I've settled on a 100 Series LC, whether it be a Toyota or Lexus version.

I originally thought I wanted a 3rd gen 4Runner, but I'm having a hard time finding one in good shape that I like, and after driving one I think they may be a bit small.

For what a nice lower mileage Gen3 4R costs, I noticed I'm close to LC/LX money. More space, V8 power, and I love the clamshell tailgate.

This will be a weekend offroad/camping rig that will haul my mountainbike, and perhaps a dog and one other person on long weekends. It will also see DD duties, as my current DD is not long for this world.

Is there anything in particular I should look for when purchasing one?

I actually like the look of the Lex a little better, but would those be more trouble as they may have more options to go wrong?

Is there a sweet spot in the years? I know 98/99 may have a rear locker, but also the weaker front diff. Is it easier to retrofit a locker into a later one with the improved front diff, or to upgrade the diff in the factory locked one? I don't think I'll be doing the type of wheeling that will require a locked frontend, so "ARB the front!" doesn't necessarily make sense for me. That makes me lean towards finding a later one with improved front diff.

NAV - I've been reading about first gen GX470's as well, and it seems like the factory Toyota nav is a real PITA if you want to upgrade anything. I would like to add a modern head unit with Android car play that I can sync my phone to use navigation and Spotify. I would also like to equip it with a backup cam.

Does this mean I need to find one w/out factory nav? If so, is there a particular year range that is likely to NOT have it?


My thinking with the LC is that once I spend a few bucks on backup cam, android auto, and remote start, I'll have a solid and reliable DD/rig with all the modern features I care about for about 1/8th the price of a new one.

I'm seeing a decent number of these for under 10 k with under 200k miles, so I'm thinking that as long as I find one with a good frame and good maint history, I should be good for another 200k if I take care of it. I know the fuel bill will be large, but since I won't have a car payment or (hopefully) many expensive repairs, it will be worth it. I commute mostly highway and it's fairly flat, so hopefully I'll be at the higher end range of their mpg range. I calculated that at 15mpg, it's about 20 bucks a week more than my XC70 DD. I can live with that.

All comments and suggestions are much appreciated! (feel free to tell me I'm crazy for wanting to DD a 20 y/o vehicle, lol)

 

[VCeXpedition]

LC 100 series is a good choice, you've done a lot of your homework and talked yourself into a good vehicle!

There is a change in engine spec in 2006, it has the VVTi engine with quite a bit more horsepower (2005: 235HP, 2006: 275HP), as well as more torque.
It also went from a 4 speed AT to the 5 speed AT which slightly (ever so) improves fuel economy and gear ratio feeling.
It comes with a more complicated system but most people wouldn't notice and want the extra HP.

Good luck finding a good one, these engines are capable of high mileage, there is a famous Tundra that made 1,000,000 miles with the 2UZ engine.


Dan.

 

[StuntmanMike]

LC 100 series is a good choice, you've done a lot of your homework and talked yourself into a good vehicle!

There is a change in engine spec in 2006, it has the VVTi engine with quite a bit more horsepower (2005: 235HP, 2006: 275HP), as well as more torque.
It also went from a 4 speed AT to the 5 speed AT which slightly (ever so) improves fuel economy and gear ratio feeling.
It comes with a more complicated system but most people wouldn't notice and want the extra HP.

Good luck finding a good one, these engines are capable of high mileage, there is a famous Tundra that made 1,000,000 miles with the 2UZ engine.


Dan.

Thanks for the info!

I've been looking into it more. The extra power of the VVTI motor would be much appreciated, but those 06/07's are sure up there in price compared to the earlier models. Not sure I can justify that big bump.

As far as the '03-up with the 5 speed trans, is there a noticeable difference in performance or reliability between them and the 4 speed?

At this point I am thinking I want to find an 00 or 01. Even though they have the 4 speed, they have the upgraded front diff, and can be found w/out Navigation. Also, an asking price below 10k in most cases.

I'm partial to the LX, but I'm thinking LC may be the way to go... no AHC and a better chance of finding one w/out Nav. I don't have anything against AHC per se, at least until it goes wrong. I'm thinking I'm going to lift it a few inches at some point and run 285/75/16's (which I believe will fit at stock height if I need tires before I'm ready to lift), so I suppose I'd be ripping the AHC out anyway. Not having it will make the lift install easier, I imagine.

Right now I see two '01's I'm interested in...

01 burgundy LC with 156k, new tires, brakes, stainless exhaust. Doesn't mention nav in ad, but no interior pics. $7,250 by a local private party seller.

01 beige LX with 142k, 2 owner,s, looks very clean but has nav (and prob AHC). This one is at a small dealer for $7,999.

Not sure of the service history of either, I'm going to have to look at that. The dealer has the VIN of the LX listed, so I can use that.

EDIT: Just registered on the Lexus site and looked at the history of that LX. Not impressive. No mention of a t-belt service, and 3 entries over the years stating it needs both exhaust manifolds to the tune of $2,700, and that repair was not performed. NEXT!

Like I said, I like the look of the LX's (and for some reason that gold/beige color. I think I'd call it the "Bland Cruiser, lol), but the Nav turns me off.

I'm going to contact the seller of the burgundy one and hopefully take a look at it soon.

 

[VCeXpedition]

Good to see you're on the hunt!

As far as the exhaust manifolds go, they seem to be a weak point.
A decent upgrade to those is to get the Doug Thorley headers as a replacement, they have a good sound as well as a good reputation but I don't think they bolt up directly to the stock exhaust, some additional work would have to be done.

 

[StuntmanMike]

Good to see you're on the hunt!

As far as the exhaust manifolds go, they seem to be a weak point.
A decent upgrade to those is to get the Doug Thorley headers as a replacement, they have a good sound as well as a good reputation but I don't think they bolt up directly to the stock exhaust, some additional work would have to be done.

Ah, so that explains why I've seen people mentioning them as a mod on the GX and LC forums. I thought it was kind of silly, as on an application like that headers aren't going to net very much power, but it makes sense now if they're a replacement to an inferior OEM part. Not sure I'd be able to do that,vehicle inspections are getting stricter around here .Last time I got my Firebird inspected they gave me a hard time over a Magnaflow cat-back.

Something else I learned about the 4.7 today - the starter is located under the intake between the heads. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? Who's the genius who came up with THAT? I dunno, I know people are stoked on these 4.7's, but between having a timing belt, cracking exhaust manifolds, and that goofy starter placement, it's not looking so hot to me. Then again, I was always more of a GM guy, so I tend to look down on any V8 that isn't an LS, haha.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the 100's, but I wish Toyota had made a few better design choices.

 

[v_man]

We love our 07' LX. We deleted the AHC system in favor of an OME suspension.

Starter is a pain but it will let you know when it's on it's way out.

Plenty of people have driven plenty of miles with the cracked manifold. It's not the kind of issue that will leave you stranded.

There is a slight reliability issue with the 2000 transmission if you believe anecdotal internet knowledge.

The 100 series forum on ih8mud.com has been answering all the questions you pose for decades.

Good luck with your purchase. The 100 is an incredible vehicle.

 

[StuntmanMike]

We love our 07' LX. We deleted the AHC system in favor of an OME suspension.

Starter is a pain but it will let you know when it's on it's way out.

Plenty of people have driven plenty of miles with the cracked manifold. It's not the kind of issue that will leave you stranded.

There is a slight reliability issue with the 2000 transmission if you believe anecdotal internet knowledge.

The 100 series forum on ih8mud.com has been answering all the questions you pose for decades.

Good luck with your purchase. The 100 is an incredible vehicle.

Thanks for the info! I'll check out that IH8MUD. I've seen references to it before, but I was hoping to avoid joining yet another auto forum, haha. I was thinking there'd be a lot of 100 series owners here.

I'm going to check out your build thread over there too.

Oh, and the burgundy one was already sold, the seller just never took down the ad. D'OH!

 

[Mike&Marianne]

We have two LX470. 1998 and a 2005. His and Hers! LOL We haven't had any major issues. AHC works on both. We do all the work ourselves so a Tbelt here or a starter there...not a big deal when there isn't a car payment!!! LOL Our 98 gets 14-15 mph, the 05 gets 16-17 highway. Again...that kinda sucks, but with no car payments, you can go pretty far! Both are considered stock, and we take the 98 everywhere. I will say that the good, well maintained, ones are hard to come by at a decent price. It took a good 4 or 5 months of daily looking to find the 05. Ended up driving 4 hours away to purchase it. We also use the IH8MUD forum for maintenance or repair info and buy our parts from the local toyota dealership.

 

[StuntmanMike]

We have two LX470. 1998 and a 2005. His and Hers! LOL We haven't had any major issues. AHC works on both. We do all the work ourselves so a Tbelt here or a starter there...not a big deal when there isn't a car payment!!! LOL Our 98 gets 14-15 mph, the 05 gets 16-17 highway. Again...that kinda sucks, but with no car payments, you can go pretty far! Both are considered stock, and we take the 98 everywhere. I will say that the good, well maintained, ones are hard to come by at a decent price. It took a good 4 or 5 months of daily looking to find the 05. Ended up driving 4 hours away to purchase it. We also use the IH8MUD forum for maintenance or repair info and buy our parts from the local toyota dealership.

Thanks for the info!

That's what I was thinking, if I can find one for under 10k I can pay cash, and by not having a car payment I'll have the money for repairs and fuel. A LOT of fuel, I drive about 400 miles a week.

If I have to finance a small part of a higher priced one, I'll do that, but I'd rather not.

The mileage on the '05 actually seems decent. Is it stock? I'd like to run 285's on mine when it needs tires, then maybe lift 2" or so when at a time when I need suspension work. I drive mostly highway on my commute, so 17mpg would be great. I did some calculations on fuel cost based on 15mpg in the 100 and 22mpg in my XC70. It works out to $22/week more for the 100. That's actually not bad! It's cheaper than purchasing, insuring, and maintaining a small car for commuting duties. I think I spend about 20 bucks a week at Dunkin', which I want to give up anyway, so there's my gas money, haha.

How do you find the nav on the '05? That's something I don't like about the later ones, you can't get one w/out it. I REALLY want to be able to sync my phone with it, or at least be able to have an aux port to listen to spotify and use google maps through my phone. I remember when they first started putting touchscreens and nav in cars, I was like this is cool now, but in ten years this is going to be so outdated and horrible. Same thing with cars today, I think tying any function other than the radio itself into the touchscreen is a horrible idea.

I was considering a first gen GX470, and it's the same problem with those, most of them have and you need it for climate functions.

 

[StuntmanMike]

We love our 07' LX. We deleted the AHC system in favor of an OME suspension.

Starter is a pain but it will let you know when it's on it's way out.

Plenty of people have driven plenty of miles with the cracked manifold. It's not the kind of issue that will leave you stranded.

There is a slight reliability issue with the 2000 transmission if you believe anecdotal internet knowledge.

The 100 series forum on ih8mud.com has been answering all the questions you pose for decades.

Good luck with your purchase. The 100 is an incredible vehicle.

Checked out your build thread over there...

NICE!!

You're definitely doing it right, both in terms of build and use. Looking at your thread made me almost think I don't DESERVE a LX, I don't have the skills to make the upgrades you did, nor do I really have any place to use it like you do. I live in New England, land of the "no trespassing" or "no motor vehicles allowed" signs. There's hardly anything out here, and a lot of what IS here is apparently easily accessed by slightly modded Subarus, haha.

Doesn't matter, I still want a Hundo. (Do people call them that? If not, I'm making it a thing)

 

[v_man]

Checked out your build thread over there...

NICE!!

Thanks, I think the accepted name is "hundy" lol.....that's what road trips are for...

 

[StuntmanMike]

Thanks, I think the accepted name is "hundy" lol.....that's what road trips are for...

I have some friends out in LA and San Diego, I'm starting to think I should find one out there, and drive it back while hitting Death Valley, Moab, etc on the way back. My friend in SD and her bf get out into the desert in his 80 series a lot, maybe I can enlist him to find me a good one.

 

[Mike&Marianne]

Thanks for the info!

The mileage on the '05 actually seems decent. Is it stock? I'd like to run 285's on mine when it needs tires, then maybe lift 2" or so when at a time when I need suspension work. I drive mostly highway on my commute, so 17mpg would be great.

How do you find the nav on the '05?

I was considering a first gen GX470, and it's the same problem with those, most of them have and you need it for climate functions.

Our 05 is stock. We run just the stock tires on that one because it's our long distance, travel vehicle and Marianne likes a smooth ride. The nav is mediocre at best. We have not had any luck getting a new update. No aux jacks either. I use a windshield mounted holder for my phone for directions and just use the available radio, but it is satellite capable.

Now, as far as our '98, take it to the dirt, rocks, mud and stream rig, I run 285/75/16. Not lifted because we have not had any issues with the AHC. If we ever have issues with that, I'll take it off and do an OME. I consulted Ih8mud for suggestions on tires and lift, etc and have concluded that the larger the tire and the higher the lift, will result in lower MPG.

If better MPG is the goal, I'd research the mods and tire sizes to see if that will adversely skew the MPG. If your looking for a multiuse vehicle and your ok with lower MPG, go for it! We can't say enough good things about our two LX470s. Which is why we have "his and hers" LOL

 

[StuntmanMike]

Our 05 is stock. We run just the stock tires on that one because it's our long distance, travel vehicle and Marianne likes a smooth ride. The nav is mediocre at best. We have not had any luck getting a new update. No aux jacks either. I use a windshield mounted holder for my phone for directions and just use the available radio, but it is satellite capable.

Now, as far as our '98, take it to the dirt, rocks, mud and stream rig, I run 285/75/16. Not lifted because we have not had any issues with the AHC. If we ever have issues with that, I'll take it off and do an OME. I consulted Ih8mud for suggestions on tires and lift, etc and have concluded that the larger the tire and the higher the lift, will result in lower MPG.

If better MPG is the goal, I'd research the mods and tire sizes to see if that will adversely skew the MPG. If your looking for a multiuse vehicle and your ok with lower MPG, go for it! We can't say enough good things about our two LX470s. Which is why we have "his and hers" LOL

Thanks! Yes, I know from experience messing with tire size and suspension height lowers MPG. It's finding the sweet spot where the loss is minimal compared to the capability gain. On my old Grand Cherokee, 2" of lift and 245/75/16 was that sweet spot.

The vehicle will definitely be a "do-all" vehicle, so I can justify the poor mpg if it does everything I need it to, including being comfy for a 45 min daily commute (each way). I'm recovering from a broken hip (mountainbiking injury) and I just haven't really been able to get comfortable in a car since. Even my XC70, which has awesome seats, is just not comfortable anymore. I don't know if this will get better, or if it is my new "normal", but I'm thinking a more truck like seating position will be more comfy. I rode in a friends 5th gen 4Runner, and that is too low. I'm hoping the LC has a higher seating position; it looks it in pics.

The GX470 is another option I'm exploring, I'm told the seating is a bit higher than the 4R, or if all else fails I may go with a 1st gen Sequoia or a 04-ish era Tahoe/Yukon.

I have to get out and start driving them.

I drove a 3rd gen 4Runner a few weeks ago which I liked, though I'm not confident the seating position would work. I liked the way it felt and drove though.

 

[Boort]

The GX470 is another option I'm exploring, I'm told the seating is a bit higher than the 4R, or if all else fails I may go with a 1st gen Sequoia or a 04-ish era Tahoe/Yukon.

I don't know how the GX470 could be any higher than the 4th gen 4runner. My 06 seats are so damn tall even when adjusted all the way down and back my hair brushes on the headliner and I'm only 6'. My eye line is about dead center on the rear view mirror.

The 04 Sequoia sits about 3/4" lower, putting my eyeline at the bottom of the rear view mirror.

If it's just height look for a truck with old school non-electric seats and you can have the mounts modified by a skilled fab shop to get the height just right. I did this on a couple of the custom VW bugs that I built years ago. Junk yard pull, Recaro seats with custom mounts set 0.50" lower in back and about 1.50" further back for drivers seat.

That said if you find a truck that is good for everything but the seats you can always replace the seats with new or comfortable pulls. Talk to a local upholstery shop maybe they can change out the stock padding for something like memory foam for comfort then recover your seat.

Boort

 

[Arailt]

The GX470 seats are higher than the 4Runner, probably because the roofline is much higher. The body and interior of a GX is identical to a Land Cruiser Prado, not a 4Runner. However, the front seats are interchangeable. See this thread where someone did a GX seat swap into a 4th gen T4R. Post 11.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/72379-front-seat-swap-gx.html

I owned a 2nd gen Tacoma prior to my GX470 and the GX has a much more van-like seating position. I’m 6’0”. I have the GX seat as low as it can go and it almost feels to high.

 

[StuntmanMike]

The GX470 seats are higher than the 4Runner, probably because the roofline is much higher. The body and interior of a GX is identical to a Land Cruiser Prado, not a 4Runner. However, the front seats are interchangeable. See this thread where someone did a GX seat swap into a 4th gen T4R. Post 11.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/72379-front-seat-swap-gx.html

I owned a 2nd gen Tacoma prior to my GX470 and the GX has a much more van-like seating position. I’m 6’0”. I have the GX seat as low as it can go and it almost feels to high.

Ok great, thanks for the info! Sounds like the GX may be comfy for me. I'm only 5'10, but I like that upright seating position. I haven't decided for sure GX (470) vs 100 series, but they both warrant a look. GX may be easier to find and easier on the wallet.

 

[Arailt]

The GX and LX will both be much easier on the wallet than a Cruiser.

I considered all three before pulling the trigger on my GX. Ultimately, the size and nimbleness of the GX paired with the 4.7 sold me. It helped that I love the disproportionatly tall look. On the sport shock setting, my GX handles unbelievably well, and it doesn’t even have KDSS. I hear the KDSS equipped models handle like sports cars. To me, the 100 Series felt more like a lumbering full-size domestic, even though it’s far from it.

I do sometimes regret not holding out for a reasonably priced Cruiser. I mean, in the 4x4 world, they’re about as iconic as it gets.

 

[v_man]

How do you figure an LX will be much easier on the wallet than a Land Cruiser?

If anything, the LX would be the most expensive parts wise, of the 3 vehicles. LX parts are usually 10 percent more than identical LC parts. The "Lexus tax".

 

[Arailt]

How do you figure an LX will be much easier on the wallet than a Land Cruiser?

If anything, the LX would be the most expensive parts wise, of the 3 vehicles. LX parts are usually 10 percent more than identical LC parts. The "Lexus tax".

The Lexus’ don’t seem to hold their value as well as the Toyotas do, for whatever reason. That goes for the GX v. 4Runner as well as the LX v. Cruiser. The good thing is the Lexus version is usually more lightly used. Obviously, that’s not true for new or relatively new models, but for a 10-15 year old 100 Series it sure is.

Mechanical parts cost the same. Every OEM part I buy for my GX is Toyota branded. Hell, the body has Toyota stamped all over it because it’s a just a Prado in sheeps clothing. A wood Lexus steering wheel is probably more expensive than a Toyota, but the wearable parts (engine, driveline, brakes, suspension, etc.) are all the same or interchangeable.