The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[danny_fitz]

My first post!

OK, everything I have read and the advice I have been offered suggests that the LC80 is the vehicle of choice when undertaking a trans Africa overland expedition. I was hoping to buy one come June/July and spend the remainder of year getting it ready for a Jan 12 departure date (London to Cape Town). However my searches to date for a vehicle have not been going well, the cheap ones are in an awful condition and the good ones cost a small kings ransom. I have also noticed that there seems to be plenty of Colorados for sale, I ignored them at first such was my fixation on finding an 80. However, I started to think, whats wrong with a Colorado? There are plenty for sale, lots of choice, less demand, as a result you seem to get more bang for your bucks, I assume they are capable vehicles, can they be preped for overland use? Can the sages of this board offer some advice with regards to the pros and cons of each series given the overlanding task in hand.

Cheers in advance.

[Google]

[jvoelcker]

It all comes down to budget and the number of people travelling.

For a couple of people travelling the Colorado would be ideal, you will get a newer one for less money than an equivalent aged 80 and it will be cheaper to baseline.

If there are more than two of you then a Colorado will be a little cramped and so an 80 may be better.

However we are finding that the average 80 is tending to cost a lot more to baseline prep than it used to be a couple of years ago - with so many being shipped abroad many of the ones left behind have been really badly looked after.

As a guide we are finding that you need to budget around £2k to baseline a Colorado so that it is suitable for a Cape Town trip and around £4k to baseline an 80 series for the same trip.  TO give you a better idea we have had some in recently that have been really good condition so take a lot less to sort but then we have seen others that have needed new disks, callipers, radiators, starter motors, power steering boxes, etc.
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Cheers,

Julian
1994 HDJ80, with loads of mods without looking too obscene
1997 KZJ95 - Gilly's - plain black and muddy on BFG ATs.

[danny_fitz]

Thanks for the feedback.

You have almost convinced me to go with the Colorado now! I guess the next question would be what year/model Colorado is best suited to overlanding in terms of ease of maintenance while on the road.

It would just be me and the girlfriend travelling. We are heading to Cape Town via the West Africa route, sticking to roads with no real intention to be doing any dune bashing or seriously hardcore offroad stuff. Looking at preparing the vehicle with a basic spec of roof rack + tent, split charge system, OME suspension upgrade, snorkel, new tyres, extended fuel tanks and a basic storage system.

[nomad]

hi danny

i'm thinking about doing the same trip next year sometime,same route

i've already bought a 80 series,it' the business but i'm not having much luck with it,guess i rushed a bit in buying it

let us know how you get on and since you are in london let us know which garage or specialist you use for prep work and sourcing bits

i am in w.london and it'll be interesting  to know