OT: Land Cruiser appreciation thread and maybe Monteros and others

[sailorboy]

Cool thread, forgot it was here but I'll be checking back now that I caught the LC bug last year. Imported both an 80 series and 95 series Prado diesel from Japan and have since sold both. Would've loved to keep them but insurance and maintenance is too much for me to handle with kids heading to college.

I have two more coming, one is a 100 series, and also trying a SWB Pajero this time around. Both slated to arrive at the port on the same boat in mid-June. That will make for a long day of trailering vehicles, but I got a couple good examples. The pajero is a VR-S trim which has most of what the EVO has but no mivec tune and some of the suspension differences. Only about 65k miles and I'll most likely keep this one if it has no major issues. The 100 series I'm getting has same mileage and scored a 4 auction grade. Pretty rare for a car that is 26 years old, so it was well-maintained. That will probably be another flip unless I can sell my DD volvo (lol). One of these days I'll get rid of my volvo and probably just drive an imported JDM car the rest of my life. Some of them are maintained with an almost pathological level of dedication.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by sailorboy

Cool thread, forgot it was here but I'll be checking back now that I caught the LC bug last year. Imported both an 80 series and 95 series Prado diesel from Japan and have since sold both. Would've loved to keep them but insurance and maintenance is too much for me to handle with kids heading to college.

I have two more coming, one is a 100 series, and also trying a SWB Pajero this time around. Both slated to arrive at the port on the same boat in mid-June. That will make for a long day of trailering vehicles, but I got a couple good examples. The pajero is a VR-S trim which has most of what the EVO has but no mivec tune and some of the suspension differences. Only about 65k miles and I'll most likely keep this one if it has no major issues. The 100 series I'm getting has same mileage and scored a 4 auction grade. Pretty rare for a car that is 26 years old, so it was well-maintained.

Nice. How is it living with a RHD vehicle? I’ve always wanted an HDJ100 with a manual transmission. Or a 70-series. But I don’t think I can live with RHD.
I had a 100-series with north of 200k miles. Fairly solid vehicle for the most part. I have a soft spot for them despite them not being an iconic or beloved by LC enthusiasts.

[AngryScientist]

I feel like working a manual trans with my left hand would be really hard to get used to, but maybe you just adapt to it?

[sailorboy]

Originally Posted by p nut

Nice. How is it living with a RHD vehicle? I’ve always wanted an HDJ100 with a manual transmission. Or a 70-series. But I don’t think I can live with RHD.
I had a 100-series with north of 200k miles. Fairly solid vehicle for the most part. I have a soft spot for them despite them not being an iconic or beloved by LC enthusiasts.

I dunno, I really don't think of it as a big deal but I'm biased. I spent 3 years in Japan with the Navy and drove there in some pretty busy places. It's a lot more of a challenge getting used to the left side of the road vice being on the R side of the car. My wife had a difficult time and never drove off base after side-swiping a parked car. The issue was with how narrow the roads are and how close people drive to each other. You just have to trust that they know what they're doing I guess!

Driving RHD here the only real issue might be toll booths and drive-thrus but I use EZ pass and it's an incentive not to get crap fast food I guess.

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

I feel like working a manual trans with my left hand would be really hard to get used to, but maybe you just adapt to it?

Yea, this is something that would take some practice. I'm not against importing a manual but the opportunity for the right vehicle hasn't happened for me yet. If it's a halo car like a diesel or vintage LC, or a Nissan skyline or sylvia, people will not only tolerate a manual but pay a premium for it.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by sailorboy

I dunno, I really don't think of it as a big deal but I'm biased. I spent 3 years in Japan with the Navy and drove there in some pretty busy places. It's a lot more of a challenge getting used to the left side of the road vice being on the R side of the car. My wife had a difficult time and never drove off base after side-swiping a parked car. The issue was with how narrow the roads are and how close people drive to each other. You just have to trust that they know what they're doing I guess!

Driving RHD here the only real issue might be toll booths and drive-thrus but I use EZ pass and it's an incentive not to get crap fast food I guess.

The actual mechanics of driving RHD even with a manual wouldn’t bother me. Just all the other minor inconveniences may start to eat at me. Dropping kids off, pulling up to talk to a neighbor, worrying how bad the 20 year old kid will grind the tranny when getting work done, etc. It’d still be fun to own for a weekend toy but I can’t justify that right now. 😆

[christian]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

I feel like working a manual trans with my left hand would be really hard to get used to, but maybe you just adapt to it?

My experience is that it takes less than 500 meters to get used to this. And that it takes a year to stop turning on the wipers when you mean to use the indicators.

It's a really funny ergonomic vs. cognitive challenge. It turns out that doing the same thing with the opposite hand (shifting) is really easy. Reprogramming your hands to do different things (wipers/blinker stalks reversed) is -really- hard.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I suspect they’ll be fine with the engines.

Someone in my townhouse development has one and I’ll eventually stop and ask how they like it. I first saw it yesterday.

From my own research I’d like the very base model with cloth seats and no sunroof and minimal other stuff or the fully kitted out one. Same basic vehicle. I like fabric seats and I love no sunroof.

Love no sunroof, but won't go back to non-heated seats. Too bad the two things are mutually exclusive in practice.