Any opinions on older Toyota Land Cruisers?

You will find that a lot of people in CR have older Toyotas (including LandCruisers), and it gets them around. The parts are easy to come by and you can by used or new parts, you just need to find a good mechanic that works on these vehicles and will help you in a pinch. You might want to find out how the vehicle inspection laws apply to this model & year car and verify if that car has been in a prior accident that could make the vehicle dangerous to you and your family. Usually easier to tell on these older models than on the newer ones where some stuff is not visible. Let me warn you, cars are expensive in CR and you would never pay much for one of those in the US, but I sold my 1972 LandRover quite a few years ago for $4K. They’re great for more rural areas and I was sorry when I sold that LandRover for a newer sedan. This time around I will bring my LandRover with me when I move back. Pura Vida!

Please remember that you are looking at a thirty year old vehicle! If you find parts, they will likely be from another 30 year old vehicle. The appeal of the older Landcruisers is their rugged reputation and their rugged “Safari” styling, but having owned one, I would not buy one as my primary vehicle. 300,000 miles in the USA is not the same as thirty years on the roads of CR. Some issues we had – frame rails fatigued to the point of breaking (30 year old metal!), a broken power steering line that had to come from Japan, (8 weeks without a vehicle), radiator/power steering cooler completely rotted through because it was always filled with water and not coolant.( I don’t want to know what the inside of the engine block looked like)
People can keep these vehicles running here because there are lots of older dead ones to pick the bones of. Used parts are a lot less expensive so it can make sense, but there are lots of 10 – 15 year old 4×4 s that would be more reliable.
$5000 – $7000 is a lot of money for an antique unless you just have to have one.

Alberto

I will disagree pretty much 100% with most of the above. We own a 1977 Land Cruiser and have a lot of friends that own similiar years and also Land Rovers. Parts are available and the statement that any parts you are going to find are going to be 30 years old simply is not true. We have had only minor problems with ours and new parts including a radiator, light switch, turn signal dimmer switch, etc. we were able to get new. I know of several good ones that are for sale in our area if you need some help. You will be looking at $4000 to $6000 for a good one and in my opinion it is well worth it, especially if you are going to be in a rural area. Ours is our primary vehicle and we drive it from the Pacific Coast to San Jose a couple of times a month.

My ’72 Land Rover was a great truck even if not as comfortable as a newer one, the parts were easily available used and many times I also purchased new ones and it was a much easier car to understand than much newer ones. Ticos love Toyotas and I know plenty of people that have had and have older models. I am by NO means mechanically inclined, but my mechanic showed me some of the working parts in the vehicle and on a trip to Guanacaste, in the middle of a knee deep stream with a HUGE pig nearby and my 6 year old in the back of the car, it stalled because the accelerator bar had come loose which was clearly evident when I climbed over the car & opened the hood–I was able to temporarily attached it with my hair band and drove back to SJ without a problem until I could get it fixed. Now how many other cars can be that easy to handle for a mechanically inept person as myself in the middle of no where? It’s no secret that the older the car is, the more acquainted you will become with your mechanic, I still visit mine just to say hello when I’m in CR, but the older cars were made to last much more than some of the more recent models. Just take a quick look at what the Cubans on the island still drive in today….Today I own a newer Land Rover Freelander which doesn’t suffer from the problems some of the more expensive LR models of the same year have had (those you definitely should stay away from) and that’s what I will be bringing to CR–but new or old you just need to know what you’re getting into including the car’s limitations and then take good care of it.

Like I said in my first post, just make sure you check that the car has been properly maintained, take a good mechanic with you. If you buy an older Land Rover, do not let it run out of fuel or you will have to purge the air out of the gas line–not a very tasty maneuver–When I first bought the car I wasn’t aware of this and I will forever be grateful to two wonderful Ticos that saw a lady in distress, told me what was wrong, purchased the diesel for me and purged the air out of the line so I could go on my merry way.

You might want to consider, if you’re going to be in CR for a short period, working out some sort of a “rental type” agreement with someone that has a four wheel drive car like the one you’re looking for instead of just buying it. Just a thought….

I love animals and my daughter was fascinated by this immense pig just watching us, but I guess you gathered that I wasn’t so comfortable being stuck in “un pozo” with him there and I think he wasn’t too amused either that we were interrupting his nap…. 🙂