greentruck
Adventurer
I have no experience with Mitsubishi, so can't help there.
Currently have an 80, my second LandCruiser. The first was a 1976 FJ55, so I'm impressed by the improvements between 76 and 97 that Toyota made in durability.
I drove Isuzus in between LCs, an 84 Trooper and a 93 Rodeo, both purchased new and babied by me, though wheeled pretty hard in both cases. The 93 Rodeo was sold at 147000 miles when the 97 80 was purchased last year, which had 143000 miles on it at purchase.
Getting in the used LandCruiser and driving was like driving a new vehicle compared to my long in tooth Rodeo. The LC was solid, ran well and had relatively few minor problems, easily fixable and made the investment feel good, because you could tell it was broke in but nowhere close to broken. The way it feels now, this 80 has at least as many miles left in it as it's already run.
The Rodeo was kept up to date. Very reliable, with maybe 3 days down in 16 years of ownership. I know it's not a Trooper, at least the more modern ones you indicate interest in. But the Rodeo is a substantially similar vehicle in a lot of ways to the Trooper. I'd assume one of the last years of Troopers would be as reliable as my 93 Rodeo, but also just as close to worn out -- and nothing like the fantastic build quality of the Toyota. I used to work in a heavy truck garage (doing PM scheduling and work order processing) and based on my experience with equipment life cycles, I tried to avoid putting in any more cash into the Rodeo for a while before the 80 was purchased. The Rodeo might've run another 500 miles or 50000 miles, but it wasn't worth significant further investment (to me) when I sold it.
You can easily build and equip a 95+ 80 series for less than $20000. I'll bet you could find either the Isuzu or the Mitsu for less. Shop around, the market is a little stronger than it was a year ago, but for the money you can usually find a nice 80 if you look systematically and don't mind traveling to pick a nice one up.
I'd rather have the LC for a trip like you're planning or just putting any cash into period. Just my personal experience. We paid 7500 for our 80, a very reasonable price in my book.
Currently have an 80, my second LandCruiser. The first was a 1976 FJ55, so I'm impressed by the improvements between 76 and 97 that Toyota made in durability.
I drove Isuzus in between LCs, an 84 Trooper and a 93 Rodeo, both purchased new and babied by me, though wheeled pretty hard in both cases. The 93 Rodeo was sold at 147000 miles when the 97 80 was purchased last year, which had 143000 miles on it at purchase.
Getting in the used LandCruiser and driving was like driving a new vehicle compared to my long in tooth Rodeo. The LC was solid, ran well and had relatively few minor problems, easily fixable and made the investment feel good, because you could tell it was broke in but nowhere close to broken. The way it feels now, this 80 has at least as many miles left in it as it's already run.
The Rodeo was kept up to date. Very reliable, with maybe 3 days down in 16 years of ownership. I know it's not a Trooper, at least the more modern ones you indicate interest in. But the Rodeo is a substantially similar vehicle in a lot of ways to the Trooper. I'd assume one of the last years of Troopers would be as reliable as my 93 Rodeo, but also just as close to worn out -- and nothing like the fantastic build quality of the Toyota. I used to work in a heavy truck garage (doing PM scheduling and work order processing) and based on my experience with equipment life cycles, I tried to avoid putting in any more cash into the Rodeo for a while before the 80 was purchased. The Rodeo might've run another 500 miles or 50000 miles, but it wasn't worth significant further investment (to me) when I sold it.
You can easily build and equip a 95+ 80 series for less than $20000. I'll bet you could find either the Isuzu or the Mitsu for less. Shop around, the market is a little stronger than it was a year ago, but for the money you can usually find a nice 80 if you look systematically and don't mind traveling to pick a nice one up.
I'd rather have the LC for a trip like you're planning or just putting any cash into period. Just my personal experience. We paid 7500 for our 80, a very reasonable price in my book.
