re: Anybody have experience with 100 series Landcruisers?

So, update. My buddy now says he does not want to sell his old LC after all. Said, in the end, he could r part with it and wants to keep it in the family. Some blame him. Hell, now I've gone down the damn rabbit hole on these things.

Seriously debating now on getting a 06-07 LC/LX 100 series or 2008-2010-ish LC 200/LX570.

Bort are basically within the same price range (low-mid 20s) with 150K+ miles on them.

From what I can gather, the 100 series 06-07s are actually better built than than the 200 series, but the 200s have about 100 more HP and don't have that damn timing belt that needs changing every 90K miles or so.

Either way, I figure either of these options will be a home run, but which one do yall think would be the best option for road trips, etc and a semi-daily driver.

Built better, not necessarily they are both built like tanks. For a daily i would do the 200 from owning both. For road trips the 200/lx can get on the interstate and cruise at 90 if you feel like it and not feel a damn thing. The lx has an AHC suspension which is a hydraulic based system where you can select sport/normal/soft and height changes under 20mph for what ride you want and a sensor lift will get you 2-3 inches of lift. Either way you cant go wrong. As of now i am trying to convince the wife that i need her lx and she can get something else.

There is a noice 100 for sale at Hollingsworth asking $20K:

LINK

Just want to add some personal experience of how bomb proof these are, as long as you keep up with the maintenance.

Background:
Bought my 2001 LC about a year ago from someone I know. It was higher mileage at 305k miles, but taken care of. I needed it to just putt around town, pick up kids and go camping locally. As soon as I bought it, I brought it for the timing belt, water pump and heater t replacement to a repair shop in Livingston. The mechanic took it in and had it over 2 weeks (kinda fishy) but eventually called and said everything was done.

As soon as I get it back it's got CEL and not wanting to turn over on start, eventually it would start. I kept trying to diagnose it for a couple months until I had to replace the power steering pump. I decided I would just cut my losses and not try to hash it out with the place in Livingston to fix whatever they caused.

At that point I bring it out to Jimmy's Engine outside of Ponchatoula to get the power steering taken care of, and I mention the intermittent starting and the check engine lights. He replaced the power steering, and dives into the starting problem. Figures out the place in Livingston had cut a wire to the cam sensor and tried to electric tape it back and had installed a part to the water pump backwards causing some other issue. He gets it fixed and the LC is running smooth as butter.

Until.... This week when my wife drives it, which never happens. She calls me shortly after leaving the house and says the LC is smoking and won't go when she hits the gas. I get her to cut it off and I'm on the way.

When I get there I pop the hood and instantly see that the Heater T's that were supposed to be replaced when the timing belt and water pump were done, had broke in half, throwing coolant everywhere. I have no idea how far my wife went with no coolant making it to the engine, but I conservatively guessed about 2 to 3 miles but possibly more. She never looked at the temp gauge, so who really knows.

I get the $20 heater t's ordered and replaced. I assume the head gasket is probably blown or worse. I get the LC fired up and it just purrs like a kitten, no issues, no smoke, nothing I can visibly see and nothing I can hear. I've got a few more things to check but everything seems fine so far.

All that to say, these things are tanks as long as you maintain them and do simple checks. Most importantly find a reputable repair shop that you can trust. The original place was supposed to handle the heater t's and timing belt maintenance, they failed at both. If you are on the northshore or Hammond/Ponchatoula area, I highly recommend Jimmy's Engine and auto repair.

I know the 200 series fixed the timing belt issue by using a chain, but what about the other common maintenence issues old 100 series had? Would a 200 require as much regular maintnece of water pumps, etc?

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Would a 200 require as much regular maintnece of water pumps, etc?

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Pretty sure besides the timing belt the repairs and maintenance requirements will be roughly the same since most components and their related systems didn't really change much. The advantage IMO to a 200 series is that they would be newer so in theory requiring less than an older vehicle like the 100 series.

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Just did the alternator on the lx and holy shite that was terrible.

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Funny you say that. I had to change the alternator on my 396k LX last year also. Didn't find it bad at all even with doing the job outside on my driveway cement. It took me less than 2 hours to do the job from underneath and I took my time and double checked everything as I went.

I only loosened the power steering pump and used a ratchet strap to pull it away instead of breaking the hoses to remove it. I had no issues removing the faulty original or putting the replacement in place with the radiator and radiator hoses still full and in place.

I bought a 83k OEM junkyard pull for $80 from a trusted source and brought it in for testing at my local auto electric company before installing instead of buying a Denso remanufactured part or a parts house rebuilt crapshoot part with a "lifetime" warranty.

My biggest concern was that the electrical plug would be brittle and break upon removal, so I bought a new one to have in hand in case I had to unpin the old one and change it out, but had absolutely no issues with the original connector.

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Not looking forward when the starter goes

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I will say that the starter is another whole different animal with it's location on top in the engine block valley. No way I'd recommend pulling the intake and everything else to change this as preventative maintenance unless I was already in that area to do another job and it was sitting right there in front of me.

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Two things on the maint to be though of are the starters and alternators.

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I'd be more concerned buying one knowing if one of these had been changed from the original Toyota part to a parts house reman that may have to be pulled repeatedly. Much better option to rebuild the OEM components than roll the dice at AutoZone IMO.

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I know the 200 series fixed the timing belt issue by using a chain, but what about the other common maintenence issues old 100 series had? Would a 200 require as much regular maintnece of water pumps, etc?

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I wouldn't say fixed, the timing chains do stretch and have to be replaced, along with the guides, eventually. After having done timing belt, cam seals, and water pump on a 100 series myself, it's not that big of a deal. You can buy kits with all OEM parts necessary, only need few special tools that are easy to find.

That should never be a daily driver

Who buys a LC for fuel mileage?