Hi all - time I introduced myself formally
I have had a couple of Landcruisers ( 80 and 100 series) for the last 30 years as my tow and snow car plus every day commuter. Loved their ruggedness and reliability. Did 350000 km on the first before a friend wrote it off in accident and then 450000 km in the second until I sold it to my son as his off road / camping car recently. Only ever did routine maintenance on them which I do myself and never any other problem. I don't off road and decided to treat myself to something a bit more luxurious and did not really need something as big as the modern cruisers with the family now grown and left home and not really needing hard core off road capability but still needed something as a good tow and snow car plus daily commuter.
The smaller alternatives to a Landcruiser such as a Prado have crude, noisy 4 cylinder diesels with limited power so the V6 TDI Treg seemed the ideal for my use. When looking I discovered the V8 R line existed which looked even more ideal for my use and found a 2013 model with only 62000 km from a VW dealer in Sydney, that was the dealers wifes car I was told - certainly the dealers car as his / her name and address and that of all his friends was still in the sat nav / phone dial system! I suspect the car actually did a bit of time towing the dealers boat or caravan from the wear on the towball ! Otherwise it looked like new and had been serviced at the dealer very regularly since new on a 12 month time basis given the low Kms where I am sure it got the best possible attention from the mechanics. This was the middle of the Covid lockdowns in Australia and the used car prices had dropped so I did a very good deal and got the car shipped down to me in Melbourne after an independent inspection as I could not go to Sydney to do it myself.
Having had the car for 6 months and put 9000 kms on it my impressions are
1. An absolutely awesome diesel V8 with huge torque and perfect for my towing needs, great air suspension, extremely nice interior with all the mod cons of a top of the range 2021 car. The new 2021 R line does not have much more than a bigger infotainment screen.
2. My son has a Mk4 Golf R32 and it goes stopped and handles like a big R32 in everyday use, a real joy to drive. The 8 speed Aisin box is almost always in the right ratio, I prefer a manual but can live with this box especially as current V8 Landcruisers use the same box, so it's one thing I am confident will be reliable. haha
3. The usual issues of a new used car. e.g. only one key supplied so had to get a second one and the remote kessy keys for this model are hard to come by. I got the dealer to knock $1000 of the final negotiated price as only one key and found the only locksmith in Australia with the new spare keys and tools / knowledge to program them about 3 km from where I work
4. Spent a lot of time researching what's really needed for routine maintenance ( versus what VW tell you) and will do a complete fluids / filters change and wearing items service soon. The mechanical complexity and access challenges to components does not worry me as I am a mechanical engineer and have maintained my own Lotus race car for many many years including building my own race engines and gear boxes / diffs etc
5. Got VCDS and started teaching myself to understand the overly complex electronics systems of modern cars. A few months after I bought the car the ACC system stopped working and it was a good learning experience to sort that out (see my other posts). But frustrating that there is no default to a dumb cruise control if the ACC has a problem.
6. A pain getting snow chains to fit on the 21 inch tyres but got a Konig 12mm chain solution that works on the rear wheels fine that makes me legal going to Mt Hotham and maybe on the front which I prefer as long as I make sure they are not flapping around loose.
I still worry about the complexity of the car and resultant long term reliability and will I get 300,000 to 500,000 km trouble free with only routine maintenance over the next 15 years like my Landcruisers in the last 30 years. I hope so, and only time will tell and by then I will have to buy some plug in EV I guess to replace it.
However the joy of planting your foot at 1500 rpm and hearing the roar and feeling the acceleration of 800 Nm of twin turbo diesel V8 is worth it
cheers
Rohan
I have had a couple of Landcruisers ( 80 and 100 series) for the last 30 years as my tow and snow car plus every day commuter. Loved their ruggedness and reliability. Did 350000 km on the first before a friend wrote it off in accident and then 450000 km in the second until I sold it to my son as his off road / camping car recently. Only ever did routine maintenance on them which I do myself and never any other problem. I don't off road and decided to treat myself to something a bit more luxurious and did not really need something as big as the modern cruisers with the family now grown and left home and not really needing hard core off road capability but still needed something as a good tow and snow car plus daily commuter.
The smaller alternatives to a Landcruiser such as a Prado have crude, noisy 4 cylinder diesels with limited power so the V6 TDI Treg seemed the ideal for my use. When looking I discovered the V8 R line existed which looked even more ideal for my use and found a 2013 model with only 62000 km from a VW dealer in Sydney, that was the dealers wifes car I was told - certainly the dealers car as his / her name and address and that of all his friends was still in the sat nav / phone dial system! I suspect the car actually did a bit of time towing the dealers boat or caravan from the wear on the towball ! Otherwise it looked like new and had been serviced at the dealer very regularly since new on a 12 month time basis given the low Kms where I am sure it got the best possible attention from the mechanics. This was the middle of the Covid lockdowns in Australia and the used car prices had dropped so I did a very good deal and got the car shipped down to me in Melbourne after an independent inspection as I could not go to Sydney to do it myself.
Having had the car for 6 months and put 9000 kms on it my impressions are
1. An absolutely awesome diesel V8 with huge torque and perfect for my towing needs, great air suspension, extremely nice interior with all the mod cons of a top of the range 2021 car. The new 2021 R line does not have much more than a bigger infotainment screen.
2. My son has a Mk4 Golf R32 and it goes stopped and handles like a big R32 in everyday use, a real joy to drive. The 8 speed Aisin box is almost always in the right ratio, I prefer a manual but can live with this box especially as current V8 Landcruisers use the same box, so it's one thing I am confident will be reliable. haha
3. The usual issues of a new used car. e.g. only one key supplied so had to get a second one and the remote kessy keys for this model are hard to come by. I got the dealer to knock $1000 of the final negotiated price as only one key and found the only locksmith in Australia with the new spare keys and tools / knowledge to program them about 3 km from where I work
4. Spent a lot of time researching what's really needed for routine maintenance ( versus what VW tell you) and will do a complete fluids / filters change and wearing items service soon. The mechanical complexity and access challenges to components does not worry me as I am a mechanical engineer and have maintained my own Lotus race car for many many years including building my own race engines and gear boxes / diffs etc
5. Got VCDS and started teaching myself to understand the overly complex electronics systems of modern cars. A few months after I bought the car the ACC system stopped working and it was a good learning experience to sort that out (see my other posts). But frustrating that there is no default to a dumb cruise control if the ACC has a problem.
6. A pain getting snow chains to fit on the 21 inch tyres but got a Konig 12mm chain solution that works on the rear wheels fine that makes me legal going to Mt Hotham and maybe on the front which I prefer as long as I make sure they are not flapping around loose.
I still worry about the complexity of the car and resultant long term reliability and will I get 300,000 to 500,000 km trouble free with only routine maintenance over the next 15 years like my Landcruisers in the last 30 years. I hope so, and only time will tell and by then I will have to buy some plug in EV I guess to replace it.
However the joy of planting your foot at 1500 rpm and hearing the roar and feeling the acceleration of 800 Nm of twin turbo diesel V8 is worth it
cheers
Rohan
