my vote is for 100 too. 80s in general are starting to be quite old...I don't even see them so much anymore being used as overlander in Africa or South America
"100 is the new 80"...
"100 is the new 80"...
(Opinion) Buying a HDJ8X or not...
- Thread starter Chris1900
- Start date
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
Alrighty then. Toyota disagrees with BOTH of us though, as they felt they had them both beat with the 200. I beg to differ! By the way, my 100 is lifted and locked, which adds to its off-road ability. I’ve also had an ‘06 LX470 and would agree that IT is much more “road worthy”.
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
"100 is the new 80"...
Word!
LandCruiserPhil
Expedition Leader
We can agree the 200 is a truly awesome vehicle having spent 1000's of miles testing in a Maltec but off road the size challenges it on many trails as does the 100 series be it fully locked or not.
LandCruiserPhil
Expedition Leader
my vote is for 100 too. 80s in general are starting to be quite old...I don't even see them so much anymore being used as overlander in Africa or South America
"100 is the new 80"...
On my recent trip to Tunisia we had 2 80 series, 60 series, several 70 series, and a 200 series (all diesel powered) but no 100 series and the only 100 series I saw in Africa was 105's. I can tell you a 100 series with IFS would not stand up in the dunes as it was tough even on 80 series front ends.
I read the same thing about IFS and I didn’t know about AHC to the extent that I should know. Thank you guys so much for all your inputs. I’m trying to be more responsible and make this a lifetime vehicle so making the best choice first is a must. One last thing, what about the 01’ discovery with a R2.8? Seems really unrealistic but if I sold my S2000 I would definitely have the funds, my uncle owns a shop as mentioned, and I’m an an engineer so I think we could definitely get it done but what’s the opinions on this? Also I know that will equate to downtime for my DD but everything I need to do is with biking distance haha. I know the reliability issues that plague the discos but it seems as if it’s mainly engine. The other “issues” people were having with discos have already been corrected so now it’s down to the engine and there’s so many discos for DIRT cheap that i could buy a spare parts vehicle far down the line.
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
And there’s a VERY good reason for that. I love the ‘03+ Discos for their looks (one of my Airstream clients has a LHD diesel Defender 110, and I spent my last visit to his house drooling over his sick [literally, as it hasn’t run in years] ‘04 Disco with lift, 33s and ARB bumper etc), but that’s where it ends. My brother in law bought his wife a mint ‘02 Disco in 2011 for $16,000. They drove it for +/- 4 years. He put close to $10,000 into it, and in the end had to sell it when it kept breaking down. He was lucky to get the $2,500 he sold it for. It was a one owner low mile rig when they bought it. $26,000 total “invested”, with $2,500 recovered. Not exactly a stellar deal. This is very typical of Discos.
My 100 series, I bought in 2014 out of the OC from its second owner with brand new 33” MTs, brand new OME suspension and 175,000 on the clock for $11,000. Bro-in-law thought I was nuts. 4+ years later I’ve done 1 ball joint and brakes. That’s it. And a mechanic at the local Toyota dealer (they were replacing the front windshield from a rock strike) offered me $11,000 for it. The old “you get what you pay for” adage lives here. I, as mentioned before love to look at Discos when they are done up a bit, but I would never sleep easy with one as my primary vehicle.
If you sell your S2000, would you just put money in to your current Disco? Or is it too unreliable? You already have the answer to this I’m sure, based on your first post about selling them both for a RELIABLE dd.
I completely realize that I’m not using the vehicle for anything TOO aggressive. I’m going to do trails but I won’t be rock climbing or running dunes like there’s no tomorrow in any vehicle that I got, 80 or not. That’s why I believe that you guys are on the mark saying the 100 will take care of all my need and more. I also just crunched a lot of numbers and found out that the gas saving cost in a LC vs something that roughly gets around 24 MPG (Tacoma) is a difference of $10 a week in gas so I think the savings wouldn’t be worth it to the same degree I thought it would before. I don’t drive much but camping road trips is where is going to make a difference. Also redtheis thank you for slapping me with some common sense and relating to make it stick. I completely love my disco as well but you are absolutely right, it’s just not a good vehicle. I needed a winter DD since my S2000 literally can’t make it out of the driveway (actually true) and I seen the disco for sale around $2000 and hopped on. I know race cars a lot more than the average person but when I got the disco I didn’t even know what a transfer case was since I never had or was interested in trucks.
nickw
Adventurer
Out of curiosity - what is your rationale on why it was tough on IFS? Seems like sand and dunes would be the perfect application for IFS unless (over) loaded...
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
You’ll note he didn’t mention how the 200 did either. LCPhil is a lover of the 80 series and makes known to all.
I love 80s as well, and frankly all “real” Land Cruisers (40, 55, 60, 80, 100 & 200). I <like> the Prado. The 100 is my favorite overall, and in this circumstance, I feel it is also the best fit for the OP.
nickw
Adventurer
I completely agree. While I like some of the older ones, for me, they are a fun novelty and I while I can appreciate the heritage, they are simply to old for most folks unless you can wrench on them yourself and have the TIME to do so. I had a FJ40, it was awesome....until it wasn't.
I think Gas / Petrol is the way to go, cheaper buy in, cheaper maintenance, cheaper rebuild if required and much easier to sources parts in the US.
nickw
Adventurer
Gas > Diesel for US based rigs. I had a diesel VW and I wasn't doing any extreme expo'ing and had a couple instances where I was sweating finding a station with the Deez. Operation costs over the life of the vehicle is generally in favor of gasoline, particularly when comparing something that is easy to get parts for vs not. What happens if you need an obscure part that you need to import? It may be rare, but I'd prefer to have a less reliable rig (in theory) with good parts supply than the other way around.
Out of curiosity, will Toyota still maintain a 80 series? It's probably getting close. Ford wouldn't touch my 96 F150 since they didn't have the parts or knowledge base to do any work on it.
Out of curiosity, will Toyota still maintain a 80 series? It's probably getting close. Ford wouldn't touch my 96 F150 since they didn't have the parts or knowledge base to do any work on it.
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nickw
Adventurer
Not to be debbie downer, but a $1000 savings is not worth the downside risk. It could easily go the other way quickly and cost you $2k the first couple years baselining it. Fuel costs are peanuts compared to all the other costs associated with owning 25 yo rig. If you are dead set on a cruiser and I can see why, buy the newest one you can afford. They hold value well, are easy to find parts for, you can drop it off at the dealer if you need to and will be much less of a headache.