What's my First Love going to be? Land Cruiser or Land Rover?

jknobler

jknobler

Observer
I'm 16, going on 17, and I'm still looking for my first vehicle. I love the outdoors, I love cars, adventure, and travel. I really would like to start getting into overlanding and expeditionary off-raoding. I'm just not sure what vehicle to purchase, or to ask for. I've heard that both the Toyota Land Cruiser and the Land Rover Defender are good for overlanding, but I'm not sure which to choose. I'm also not sure what to do if I buy a stock one of either of these vehicles. I know that I'll at least need a bull bar, some skid plates, and, unquestionably, a winch. I'd really like some guidance from people that know what they're talking about. I'm looking to spend as little money as possible on the car, but willing to put money into the vehicle once I have it. I'm also wondering if anyone has anything they can tell me on how to improve fuel consumption and which vehicle is the best. Any advice or guidance, as well as what to look for in the vehicle itself would be very helpful. Thank you guys!

Some of the Land Cruisers that I'm looking at:
http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1997_Toyota_Land+Cruiser_149130557_2
http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1992_Toyota_Land+Cruiser_143965038_7

{Also posted in Land Cruiser section}
 
David Harris

David Harris

Expedition Leader
They're are both great expedition vehicles, but have very different personalities and ownership curves. An older Land Cruiser will probably keep going given severe lack of maintenance and abuse, as they do all over the world daily, but can and do break eventually. An old example will still cost you a lot to restore it and maintain it properly, especially since these usually have extremely high miles (200K and up) and still cost a lot to buy at that mileage. A Land Rover of similar age will cost a fraction of the Land Cruiser and have much less mileage but will require putting a lot of dollars in preventive maintenance and repair along the way. After initial purchase and maintenance, the difference is in personality and personal preference. No offense to anyone out there, but my personal view is that Land Cruiser's, as with any Toyota or Honda, etc. will be most rewarding to the logical, sensible people out there who want to just go and not bother getting their hands dirty along the road of ownership. Land Rover's are most rewarding to those whose vehicles are an integral part of their spirit and who live in the realm where passion and emotion meet practicality, and are willing to pay the price for this. Beyond these views, which will no doubt be answered by some of the other forum members, I would say the best thing is to drive some of each and then decide which you like best. . .

David

P.S. See the forum sticky on Land Rover ownership for more views. . .
 
C

cationmoted

Observer
I chose the discovery b/c it had a manual tranny and solid axles. It was also very unique. I would have gone with the cruiser however it wasnt availible with a standard tranny. For your your 1st car i would definately reccomend a standard. Do some research on prices. A defender is very expensive. A disco could be substantialy upgraded with offroad accsesories with the saved up money. Also remember about gas, prices are not going down. rovers and gas stations see each other very frequently (they also use 91 octane min). Do some research on rover and yota forums. Discos are also generally easy to work on. Just make sure you baby the maintenance as they are not cruisers or patrols.
 
LtFuzz

LtFuzz

Explorer
Unless you have some money a Discovery is a terrible choice for a 16 year old.

The Land Cruiser would be a slightly better choice -- but shouldn't a 16 year old be driving a ******tbox? My first car was a 1986 Honda Civic.

I'd check the thread recently posted by a young guy that picked up a Disco... he regretted it pretty quickly.
 
jknobler

jknobler

Observer
I've been looking around. The Defenders are all over Ebay, and there's a clean looking one near some of my relatives up in Michigan, and I could ask one of them to go to take a look at. It's also going for $25k, which is most likely out of my price range. What's likely to happen is that I'll be getting a job here soon, and my father may get me some old beater or something as a car to drive around. So after working my *** off this summer I should have enough money to purchase the first Cruiser I listed up there. I mean, I'm only 17, so I still have a lot of time to own both, potentially many of both. I think that the Land Cruiser might be the better option because the gas isn't the premium stuff, they'll go for almost ever, and they're cheaper.

The only question I have on what to do if I get a Cruiser to upgrade the performance. I know the inline 6 is very reliable, but it seems to me that it lacks in power, which is very bad when you have such a heavy car. Would it be a bad idea to put in a TRD turbo or supercharger? Hell, would it be a bad idea to drop out the 6 and put in the V8 from an older Tacoma? Or would my best option be just to stick with the basic I6?
 
jknobler

jknobler

Observer
Well yeah... but my whole plan is that I'm going to work my *** off over the summer to buy the car myself.
 
David Harris

David Harris

Expedition Leader
jknobler said:
The only question I have on what to do if I get a Cruiser to upgrade the performance. I know the inline 6 is very reliable, but it seems to me that it lacks in power, which is very bad when you have such a heavy car. Would it be a bad idea to put in a TRD turbo or supercharger? Hell, would it be a bad idea to drop out the 6 and put in the V8 from an older Tacoma? Or would my best option be just to stick with the basic I6?
Click to expand...

If you have the money for a good Cruiser, go with it. Stick with the stock motor for now. The straight 6's are great and reliable motors and will get you there over and over again. Don't worry about the lack of power. It's a big utility vehicle after all. Then again, I was 16 a long time ago and I know about the power thing. . . :) Trust me, right now you don't need the power. . . Keep the Cruiser stock and just get to know it and off road it as much as possible. A stock 4x4 will teach you a lot more about off-roading than a modified one. Cruiser's do have awful mileage, just like Rovers, so other than octane you won't be ahead there though. . .

David
 
jknobler

jknobler

Observer
There are two Cruisers that I'm looking at:
http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars...er_149130557_2
http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars...er_143965038_7

The first one has everything I'd like to do to the second one, and it's more of the color I like (black). The thing about the gas is that I'd still bike a whole lot of places. With luck my father will look upon my 17th birthday as the perfect day to surprise me with some crappy old Honda Civic or something, and I'll drive that most of the time for a fuel efficient commuter and use the Cruiser as my off-road/overlanding/camping vehicle and on the day that I want to really give the "look at me" cars a run for their money, as well as in poor weather.

The gen. 4runners are another option.... but it's all if I can find one.
 
jknobler

jknobler

Observer
Sorry that the links didn't work.

The first link is to a 1997 Cruiser w/ 110k miles for $12k with about a one foot lift, snorkel, winch, brush guard, and a roof rack (which I'd just put a piece of plywood on at the beach to sit upon). It's clean looking and it's got everything on it that I'd do.

The second link it to a 1992 Cruiser w/ 142k miles for $9k. It's white, and has no extras on it yet.

I just like the way black cars look, but the only other color I'd pick would be white, so it's convenient that those are the two colors.
 
F

Fshnfvr

New member
As someone who owns a Discovery (that came home on a flatbed today) I often wish I loved Land Cruisers as much as Land Rover.
 
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