Buying a 100 s Landcruiser
Submitted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 15:22
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Big Marty
I'm about to go around Australia with my 3 kids and oh yeah wife. I'm looking at a 100 Series Land cruiser as it has such a large back
seat, to fit 3 kids.
What should I buy, a diesel or a petrol ?
With diesel being $1.70 per litre and petrol being $1.50 per litre, on a 20,000km trip that's only about $3000 difference in fuel, but a diesel costs about $10,000 more.
Is there something more I should know ?
What would you buy ?
I intend to tow a camper trailer. !
Reply By: ben_gv3 - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 15:39
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 15:39
You can't just look at the cost of fuel. You need to look at fuel consumption as
well.
I suspect as you will be heavily loaded your petrol bill will be huge whereas the diesel bill will be pretty much constant. You could run petrol/gas but there is the issue of finding LPG out in the sticks, although it depends on where you are touring, plus you'll need to relocate the spare tyre ($$$).
You need to weigh up the extra cost of diesel/litre + purchase price as oppossed to increased consumption of petrol when towing.
In addition diesel is a lot safer then petrol (kaboom
hazard). That alone is worth a premium.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Big Marty - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 15:58
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 15:58
Thanks for your reply.
What is the Kaboom factor, arn't the petrol vehicles safe ? where is the
hazard in petrol ?
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Follow Up By: ben_gv3 - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:22
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:22
Petrol is inherently less safe then diesel. It is easier to ignite petrol, think lit match compared to blow torch.
Although one might question how relevant that is WRT travel and having a fuel leak. However if I had to carry jerry cans, I would rather them filled with diesel then petrol for safety sake.
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Follow Up By: Moose - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:28
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:28
Kaboom factor - what a load of $hit! Ignore him Marty. I've had a petrol 80 series for yonks and hasn't exploded yet. Nor have all the other millions of pertol Cruisers and cars that have been produced (ignoring accidents etc of course which can also lead to a diesel vehicle getting cooked).
Normal outback driving with a roof rack the 80 uses about 17/18 litres per 100km. The previous diesel 80 I had used about 13/14. When towing they both use more but the petrol is certainly worse. With the camper on I'm probably using about 25% more than without. The 100 will be similar.
A lot depends on the terrain - hilly, soft sandy and slow offroad are the petrol's bane. On the open highway at a sensible speed it's not that bad. $10K buys a lot of petrol. If you intend to resell upon return I doubt resale is an issue.
Cheers from the Moose
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Follow Up By: Big Marty - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:32
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:32
Okay, If petrol will blow up, does anyone actually know of a case where this has happend ?
I saw an episode of "Myth Busters" where they shot a fuel tank several times with a rifle and couldn't get it to blow up.
Big Marty
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Follow Up By: Big Marty - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:35
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:35
What's the story with petrol 4wd's and water crossing, I've read petrol vehicles are more likely to choke, but diesels can blow a head if they get water in them, what's true here ?
Confused Marty
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Follow Up By: Member - Borgy.. (SA) - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:59
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:59
"Okay, If petrol will blow up, does anyone actually know of a case where this has happend ?"
C'mon Marty ...dont you watch any american TV shows??....lol
"What's the story with petrol 4wd's and water crossing, I've read petrol vehicles are more likely to choke, but diesels can blow a head if they get water in them, what's true here ?"
Water in any motor can cause damage....
Cheers......Dave
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Follow Up By: Ken - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 18:36
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 18:36
Fellas, I don't think Ben was implying the whole vehicle was unsafe or likle yto blow up because it was petrol fuelled ! He meant handling the fuel itself in which case he is spot on; petrol is much more likely to ignite then diesel, particularly in the northern regions when humidity is much lower then down south. Static electricty and stray naked flames such as pilot lights and campfires are
well known to have triggered trip ending fires when refuelling.
As for the water in the motor many think this is only a risk for diesels due to their higher compression. Not So. As Borgy says water is bad for any engines as it can't be compressed, not even a little bit. What generally saves petrol motors is the water causes a loss of ignition voltage and the motor naturally stops before water gets into the cylinders. As a diesel has no electric igniton it keeps plugging on until the water enters and whammo 'she no compress'.
The other bit of the story not often spoken of is what happens when you get your petrol engined vehicle out of the water. You need to make sure water hasn't entered the cylinders whilst waiting for the recovery. Just drying the electrics and firing it up could have an unpleasant outcome.
PS I'd go with the diesel 100 series if you can find one.
Ken
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Follow Up By: GerryP - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:14
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:14
Agree with Ken above, however, at say 10:1 compression in a petrol, there is more of a chance it will stall without physical damage, whereas a diesel running say 22:1 the chance of breaking a rod or blowing the head is far greater. Ive had both a GQ Patrol petrol/gas and a 100 series diesel - I would pick diesel anytime.
Cheers
Gerry
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Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 17:52
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 17:52
Well I bought a 2005 TD with 58K on it cost me $57k and I couldnt be happier.
My van weighs 2.7tonne and at 100kph I get 5.9kper litre. Or just about 16l per100km.
That was on a trip where I was being naughty with the speed limit due to lateness as
well.
Have just put a DTronic chip in it and am going vanning tomorrow so will see if there is any improvement.
Unfortunately they seem to be dearer now that 12 months ago.
Look at the ex govt sales If you can get a good one there may be worthwhile.
The V8 will use more towing than the TD but costs a lot less to buy and gets a lot less on trade in as
well.
Was talking to a guy last week who has a low mileage V8 and was going to trade on a new Hilux and was offered $28,000 for it. He wont be upgrading I dont think.
Also spoke to a 200 owner who was crying at the cost of fitting electrical accessories to it and was wishing he could buy his 100series back. He was dead serious as
well.
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Follow Up By: TD100 - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:44
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:44
Graham,
do your exhaust as
well,i have all the above and it is a different vehicle.installing the d-tronic made a difference from first start,idled smoother,ran better,economy the same.exhaust will change where it spools up,much lower than with standard.and i wouldnt have anything else but my td either!!cheers Paul
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Reply By: Gazal Champion - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:36
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:36
Hi Big Marty,
I have an 80 series LC on dual fuel and so I can run on what ever is available at the time. I was reading some threads last night on the
forum about
fuel prices and even out the back of beyond, if gas was available, gas was half the price of ULP ond more than half the price of diesel. Close to 2 fifths.
Dual fuel vehicles cost less even in the dealers yards and if you get one with the spare tyre carrier already fitted you have all bases covered and you will have plenty left over for the holiday, There are several available, Ive been looking for comparison reasons.
Try looking on that carsales.com.au site and you will find plenty in
Victoria. They go in for them in a big way down there apparently.
Thems my thoughts on the matter.
Regards,
Bruce
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Follow Up By: Best Off Road - Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:58
Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 20:58
Be very careful advocating the benefits of LPG on this
forum Bruce.
Every clown and his dog will come along and discredit you with emotive, but factually unsubstantiated comments.
Some of the contributors here are more faithful to Diesel fuel than their dear old Mum. Buggered if I understand. Fuel to me is a commodity, I pay for it, I use it. I'll use the one that is most cost effective.
Jim.
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Follow Up By: nickb - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 14:51
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 14:51
"...and even out the back of beyond, if gas was available, gas was half the price of ULP ond more than half the price of diesel. Close to 2 fifths."
I crossed the Nullabor in February, ULP 181.9, LPG 120.9 at Nullabor roadhouse.(I've since found out it is the most expensive fuel on the Nullabor...) Not sure how much diesel was. And the rate my patrol uses LPG, the cost running or LPG or ULP was not much different. Around town LPG is definately worth it for me, not in the bush though.
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Reply By: Von Helga - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 09:01
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 09:01
Here is one example of the safety aspect of petrol over deisel.
I'll admit it is not related directly to the vehicle however, In 2003 I travelled to
Cape York and when we arrived at Gunshot Creek we were told of the family that had thier whole world destroyed the day before. The story goes that they had been camped there for a couple of days when they were refueling from petrol jerry cans in prep for moving on when the jerry can they were using exploded after being sparked from the pilot light of the 3 way
fridge that had been running in their camp.
Apparently the
fridge was some distance from the vehicle but there you go.
I believe there were deaths with rescue choppers called in the extract poeple etc etc
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Reply By: Tahiti Blue - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 11:09
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 11:09
Big Marty,
My wife and I, have a really nice 11/2000 GXL dual fuel 105 Series coming up for private sale soon. We have a new 200 Series on order.
It has dual batteries. elec brake controller, spare wheel carrier,HF CB, Load Rail roof rack, for a tinny, is an 8 seater, has only done 117,000 and is immaculate. We have it's full history and log books etc.
It has never been off road and never been damaged in any way. We bought it privately from a lady owner, who used it to go to tennis and Woollies (seriously) When we bought it in 2006 it had only done 88ks and we had lpg fitted straight away.
We want $30k for it, and currently use it to tow our caravan, and if you are interested, send me an email
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