Thread: Toyota announced big Landcruiser spec change & price drops in USA

Originally Posted by No.3

Nope. No bullshit, brought from new, no mods, dealer serviced, one clutch replaced under warranty and dealer/supplier walked away at about 120km's with the thing unuseable stating the vehicle had been serviced at a non-dealer mechanic which it hadn't (parked up in the sticks at a local supplier when it shit itself finally). Easiest solution for the owner was trade it for a different brand replacement and take the hit, just not worth the fight. Would like to say I've never seen anything like it it terms of the dealer performance but I have from two other brands so no love lost for any of them. They are all interested in just the money, not interested in people who are actually using the vehicles in day in, day out hard heavy work. It was sold with the work it was going to do stated up front, they reckoned it was perfectly suited when it wasn't. Having said that, I've seen two other 2.2 and 2L twin-turbo diesels die real young when asked to tow the full 3500Kg with a BIG parachute on the back, so it's not a particular criticism of the Toyota 2.8 engine - it's just that the smaller 4cyl engines relying on a massive amount of tech and forced induction to get the Kw and Nm figures do it at the expense of service lifespan. There just isn't any way around it or a way to beat the physics or mechanics of it - there is no replacement for displacement. (And that's the capital full stop).

I'll add an edit, I'd like to say I knew what happened to the ute after it was traded but I don't have hard facts on it - I did hear that it got a replacement out of a rollover and then sold on the lot, but I can't be sure on it. I would have loved to be there when the failed unit was pulled down - I'd have expected it to be completely choked in the intake manifold and flogged out in the bores. Smoking like it was and returning 56L/100Km off the onboard computer tells a story. And it did have a mod, an aftermarket winch bar...

There are thousands upon thousands of very hard working 1GDs out there that make your one lonely example look very much something else happened than just “couldn’t tow”!

Technology moves relentlessly forward, and big engines are yesterday’s tech.