Continuing the tale....
When I moved to the USA a little over 10 years ago, I decided to do the sensible thing: to buy a used and cheaper car with warranty for my wife and for me a motorcycle (a used Suzuki Vstrom DL650) to commute.
I ended up paying US$18K for a Hyundai Veloster 2012, a small coupe with great gas mileage. It was the main car of the family up until 2021, when I purchased a new Subaru Outback as reported here (
https://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,118862.0.html).
As I discussed in the above thread, I originally wanted to buy a Toyota 4Runner but the car market was just insane in 2021 due to the shortage of semi-conductors i.e. *huge* mark ups over MSRP and waiting lists over 6 months.
This year, to celebrate my newly minted American citizenship, I started working on the idea of getting back to off-roading and buying a cool 4x4 car.
I initially considered the Jeep Wrangler, since it is pretty similar to the old Troller car back in the Amazon. But a quick research revealed so many issues: spontaneous fires, lockers engaging by themselves in the highway, airbag recalls, death wobble, etc.
Pass.
So I thought about trying to get a 4Runner again. Maybe in 2024 things have improved? I called 3 Toyota dealerships and they have a waiting list of 3 months... plus mark-ups on top of the MSRP.
Not to mention quite a few issues with the new force induction Toyotas: the i-FORCE turbocharged V6 3.4L engine apparently had some machining debris left on the engine that can cause crankshaft main bearings to fail. That rules out Tundras and any new turbocharged engine. For further info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx7vEoo8WLEI gave up on buying new and decided to look for a used 4Runner.
I found a Honda dealership with a 2022 4Runner for sale with 62K miles with the old V6 aspirated engine. They were asking US$34K, but it was a rental car: it had dings/marks/etc pretty much everywhere and the Carfax showed it went for almost 20K miles with no oil changes!
Keeping in mind that my County charges +9.5% in sales taxes, so it would cost me near US$37K for an used and not well kept car. Pass again!
I decided to go old school and went to check a Land cruiser 80 series (1997): the body was fine, apparently no oil leaks, even the upholstery was fine. *But* the odometer was replaced (the current owner was pretty transparent about the issue), so no real way to know the real mileage of the car. He estimated in something around 240K miles.
It was triple locked (nice!), but he was asking US$18K for it. Finally that inline six in the 80 Series runs like an asthmatic dog. Pass!
I went to a Toyota dealership to check on two used cars: a Lexus LX570@2016 (5.7L V8) with 60K miles and a GX470@2014 (4.6L V8) with 120K miles.
There is one really cool thing about Lexus: you can create an account with 'My Lexus' and insert the VIN code and have access to the whole maintenance history of the car.
The maintenance of the LX570 was pretty good (i.e. oil changes each 8K miles) but when I tried to test the AHC (Active Height Control i.e. active suspension that allows to lower/raise the car depending on the terrain), it failed miserably.
:-(
And the GX470 maintenance was garbage: past 20K miles after initial purchase, it was no longer maintained properly.
Hard pass.
When I was about to give up and maybe wait another year, I found a LX570@2008 for sale in the high desert in SoCal. It has 150K miles, but I figured it would be worthwhile to check.
For people unfamiliar with, the LX570 is the Lexus version of the Land Cruiser 200 series. The main difference is a slightly better finish (and sound system) plus the AHC (info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V67UeB2d-Y).
It is near 400 miles drive from home, so I thought why not ride one of my motorcycles there and check the car?
The maintenance history of the car was immaculate. It had many tasteful and helpful mods (e.g. winch, ARB air compressor, LED lights, LED light bar, heavy duty steel bumpers, two gas jerry cans + one water gallon mounted on the rear bumper, high-lift jack, rear e-locker + center diff locker - stock, big tires, lights all around, vline integration, etc).
The owner even built a custom platform to mount inside the car a 4" memory foam bed, doubling as a camper of sorts. Plus, it was a California car its whole life, so no rust!
Long story short: we sealed the deal and I used the truck to bring the bike back in a uHaul motorcycle trailer.
That 5.7L V8 engine is truly amazing! You can't really tell much of a difference while hauling a motorcycle trailer. Plus the AHC suspension do wonders while towing, since it will automatically adjust when the trailer is connected to the car.
It made 11mpg while towing and it averages 12mpg in the city and 14mpg in the highway under normal circumstances.
A few photos of the rig:
a) Loading the bike in the trailer during the night was made easier due to the auxiliary rear LED lights:
b) Arrived sound and save after a near 8 hours drive during the night:
c) Front of the rig (notice the LED lights, LED bar, cool bumper, winch, plus side awning):
d) The rear has built-in the support for jerry cans, the high-lift jack and the full sized spare:
In the end, I managed to get three items out of my bucket list: finally purchased a Toyota, finally have a nice V8 truck (i.e. can tow up to 8500lbs) and now I'm back to the 4x4 world.
Now I got start planning the next adventures!
