This is a great forum. I have found it to be a great resource. My family and I do a lot of camping and are starting to get into more off highway stuff. We have tried to venture off road with our Subaru Legacy but obviously that only gets you so far. Last trip we punched a whole in the exhaust. So we are looking at getting at a Landcruiser 80 or something similar in price and performance. Are Montero sports a good platform? We are looking at setting something up for moderate trails and being off highway for up to five or six days for four people. Ideally we would like to find something that could offer a lot of versatility and be fairly reliable which is why I have been looking at 80s. I know the 100s are also great but they are a little more than I want to spend. This would be a third vehicle for us so I don't want to spend more than eight or ten thousand. Any input?
New Expo Member Checking in with Questions
- Thread starter Josh p
- Start date
fowldarr
Explorer
I have never owned a montero, but the guys that have them, seem to be very satisfied with them. I have had an 80 though, loved it. Trading it in for a mini-van is still one of my biggest vehicle regrets. But now we have a 2nd gen tundra, and a 1st gen sequoia, so I'm not missing too much. The sequoia is a great, under appreciated alternative as well. The 80 has a lot more aftermarket support than most options as well.
nwoods
Expedition Leader
I personally feel that the 80 series is pretty small, and the Montero Sport is even smaller. The full size Montero has more room in the backseat than the 80 series, and a lot more legroom for the driver as well. Now the 100 series land cruiser is extremely roomy, more so than the full Monty. The Monty gets much better gas mileage than the 80 series as well, and also has available lockers, and can also fit 33" tires with no lift, similar to the 80 series. But the real key is that a nice Monty will be under $4k.....
Is there a certain generation of Montero's that I should be looking at? As for the 100 i do think it would be the best option for us but they all seem to be pretty high mileage for my price range. I have seen some that looked nice but for 10k they are around 200k miles. If I stumbled on one with fewer miles I would be interested. Looking around it seems like the aftermarket support for the 100 is excellent. That was one of the things that drew me to the 80 and the fact I could buy a pretty decent one if I waited.
nwoods
Expedition Leader
The Gen 2 platform was around for a while, I think from 91 to 2000 ? In 1998 the body changed with squared off fender bulges that I think make it look a bit beefy and more brawny. Up to 97 the SR package had the rear locker, and 98-2000 the "Winter Package" included the locker. Certain years had certain axle ratio's, and I think the lowest ratios are in the earlier years. The thing is, virtually all the parts across that decade are interchangeable.
Next is engines, and that's where major differences occur. I don't know much about that other than my old 94 had an underpowered 3.0L, and my 98 has a robust 3.5L that moves my 33" tires quite well (at sea level), with no other modifications made