Last year, after 20 years of trouble-free ownership, I sold my tough set of wheels to a (tree) nurseryman. A few weeks ago, a colleague caught it in the nursery’s yard. Nice detail, you can see a bunch of young trees in the Mini’s side mirror.
There must be over 400,000 km (250,000 m) on the odometer by now and it also got that typical tree nursery’s respray job. The municipality over there is known for its high Land Cruiser density. They are all welcome, as long as they meet the following tree three criteria: turbodiesel, van conversion, trailer hitch. Thus, a quick and mutually satisfactory deal was made!
Is that a second one immediately in front of it? These are such an oddity to one where they were never sold in that form.
Yes, SWB Land Cruiser 90 (second gen Prado in many other parts of the world). IIRC, that’s a pre-common rail 3.0 liter turbodiesel (125 hp) and it has other wheels. When I got the picture, I recognized my former COAL by its exhaust end pipe.
As mentioned, that whole region is littered with all types of Land Cruisers.
At 250,000 miles this Land Cruiser is just getting broken in. Any issues with it when you owned it? I heard the Land Cruiser especially diesel models are together with the Hilux as being rock solid reliable.
Those baby Cruisers are a Hilux just nicely trimmed, badged Prado and Lexus here, Toyota upgraded the injectors at service time to remove some inbuilt faults of the D4D engines and they became mostly bulletproof.
No issues, the usual wear-and-tear parts (like tires and batteries) and routine maintenance at the dealership every 15,000 km. T-belt every 150,000 km.
Still the original clutch, injectors, turbo, complete exhaust, shock absorbers and -believe it or not- brake discs when I sold it. These things can do 500,000 miles with two fingers in the nose, if you know what I mean.
Regarding common rail injection: good quality diesel fuel with the correct specs (EN590 here) is crucial. Note that the diesel fuel also lubricates the injectors, so it better be good.
That looks like the Land Cruiser Prado in other markets, which (for its third and fourth gen) we’ve gotten in the US as the Lexus GX 470 and GX 460, respectively, albeit only in 5-door format.
What a neat car, though. A friend of mine has a gen. 1 RHD Prado 3-door. At one point, she was going to sell it, but it looks like she’s still got it.
Thanks Kyree. Yes, this is a second gen Prado in many other markets.
The current Prado, marketed as the Land Cruiser 150-series here (see below), is the only Japanese diesel-workhorse-SUV on our market these days. Nissan, Mitsubishi and Isuzu (once marketed as Opels) have left the building.
That’s crazy. It must not have been a profitable market for them.
I briefly had a 2021 Lexus GX 460 Premium w/ Sport Design. I miss it.
Truth is that almost all of the Japanese diesel SUVs got an aftermarket panel van conversion (like mine) to register and use them as a commercial vehicle. Both 3-door SWB and 5-door LWB. Buying/converting one with a gasoline engine, if available at all, was out of the question.
That whole niche market is now owned by Toyota, 2.8 liter D-4D turbodiesel these days. As an aside, Lexus versions of Land Cruisers -Prado included- have never been offered here.
People who want a luxurious SUV, strictly used as a passenger car, opt for the usual suspects: Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Porsche and Range Rover.