How was the 1992 Land Cruiser. I have always heard that they are super reliable tanks, that are simple and easy to work on, kind of like our old Volvos. The reason that I ask is because I have been thinking about getting one.

 

Well, I can only speak of my experience, so yours might differ. First, let me say there's a few parallels to RWD Volvos. They're definitely sturdy-feeling and well built, down to the fasteners. That said, like a RWD Volvo, you're going to have a tough time finding one with lower miles and the ones that are will demand a premium.

There are three things I HATED about the one I got. First, no matter how many times I bled the brake system (the way Toyota intended) and changed the pads, the brake feel was very, very weak and lacking in confidence. The master cylinder was fairly new, but it always felt like there was an orange under the brake pedal (I guess this is common). Second, because its full time 4x4, there are a lot of universal joints and couplings that create a ton of slack in the drive train. It is very noisy and unrefined unless you want to spend a ton of time and money chasing down and fixing the causes of this noise. Think of it as being like a train, where the engine is the locomotive and the drive shafts, transfer case and differentials are the box cars. Starting and stopping, every time, sends a ripple through them, even if you change or grease the U joints. Third the solid front axle is unified with the steering system via birfields at each end. The birfields are a cast iron PITA to rebuild and about $400ish for parts. If you're new to it, you're looking at about 4-6 hours per side. There's no guarantee you'll get all the torque specs perfect. I threw up my hands and sold the LC after I discovered one of the birfields developed a leak not long after the rebuild and started mixing axle grease with the differential fluid.

Like I said, great styling, well built, decent access to the stuff you have to work on but not always "easy." But they are maintenance pigs and I feel that some parts of the drive train will be less forgiving on deferred care (namely front axle and t-case). Everyone has their own opinion, but it just wasn't worth it for me. The driving dynamics weren't charming, they were just crap in my experience. I'd recommend finding the best one you can at the price you can best afford with a stack of maintenance documentation and drive it thoroughly to be sure it's worth it to you.