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The Top 10 Used Overland Vehicles (for North America) · The Overland Journal Podcast

0:02
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I'm your
0:05
Speaker 1: host Scott Brady, and I am here with Matt Scott
0:09
Speaker 1: my co host. What's going on? Matt?
0:11
Speaker 2: You know what, it's just a what is today? Today's
0:13
Speaker 2: a Friday? It is so when we're recording at least, Yeah,
0:16
Speaker 2: it's it's been a really good week.
0:17
Speaker 1: So it has been a good week. I was just
0:19
Speaker 1: I was just on the land Cruiser two hundred series
0:23
Speaker 1: Heritage Edition. Ooh ooh.
0:25
Speaker 2: You know how I like black Land cruises with bronze wheels,
0:28
Speaker 2: and that's exactly what it was.
0:30
Speaker 1: I was. I was grateful for the fact that they
0:32
Speaker 1: do have a white option, so it actually something they
0:34
Speaker 1: can still have the bronze wheels. It does, it absolutely does.
0:37
Speaker 1: And then and then it comes with a like an
0:40
Speaker 1: eighty dollars Yakima rack on top.
0:42
Speaker 2: So oh yeah, that looks a little bit cheesy on
0:44
Speaker 2: a what almost one hundred thousand dollars car.
0:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, ninety thousand dollars car. Yeah, let me but chee. Yeah.
0:48
Speaker 1: They make great racks, but it seemed like it was
0:51
Speaker 1: way too small. Yeah, it was.
0:52
Speaker 2: It was just the rack that they chose as the
0:54
Speaker 2: rack that you'd see on a RAV four and yeah, yeah,
0:57
Speaker 2: ninety thousand dollars off road car.
0:58
Speaker 1: H it needed to be a larger I think for
1:00
Speaker 1: the vehicle. But what was another thing that was cool
1:02
Speaker 1: about it they were pretty mindful of it is they
1:04
Speaker 1: did a third road delete, so oh cool. It adds
1:07
Speaker 1: some additional payload. They also skipped the running boards right
1:11
Speaker 1: out of the factory, which I thought was cool. That's nice.
1:14
Speaker 1: And then their their heritage edition logo that they had
1:18
Speaker 1: on the back back the windows.
1:20
Speaker 2: Toyota land Cruz are very classic, but not it was
1:22
Speaker 2: just taken from a forty or a sixty.
1:25
Speaker 1: It was perfect. They didn't adjust it at all. It
1:28
Speaker 1: is the original logo, which I thought was really nice,
1:32
Speaker 1: and the car drove great. I didn't realize how much
1:34
Speaker 1: of a difference that eight speed made, so pairing that
1:38
Speaker 1: five to seven with an eight speed you get a
1:41
Speaker 1: lower first gear and you also have two overdrives, so
1:44
Speaker 1: I think you're going to get better fuel economy, better
1:46
Speaker 1: overall driveability. It made the vehicle feel refreshed in a
1:50
Speaker 1: lot of ways. And it's been out for a couple
1:52
Speaker 1: of years and nobody's been having any issues with them,
1:54
Speaker 1: so hearing is very important.
1:56
Speaker 2: I've only driven that particular transmission behind the VDJ two
2:01
Speaker 2: hundred with that twin turbo V eight diesel, and I
2:04
Speaker 2: can tell you that it's scoots.
2:06
Speaker 1: Yeah. So the diesel is definitely the motor of choice
2:09
Speaker 1: for anybody who wants a two hundred series, But the
2:13
Speaker 1: five seven would be I mean, I think about it
2:15
Speaker 1: often if you were going to buy one vehicle, which
2:18
Speaker 1: is what we're going to talk about today. We're going
2:19
Speaker 1: to talk about buying used over. What are the best
2:23
Speaker 1: used over vehicles that you can buy? Right now? The
2:26
Speaker 1: two hundred in North America, the two hundred is definitely
2:28
Speaker 1: something we're going to chat about here in a little bit. Yeah, definitely.
2:31
Speaker 1: And Matt, you are the king of buying used vehicles,
2:34
Speaker 1: at least as far as somebody then, you know, the
2:37
Speaker 1: self proclaimed vehicle a d D. So I I kind
2:40
Speaker 1: of I go through cars about the same right people
2:44
Speaker 1: go through shoes. Yeah, I was thinking underwear, but yeah, yeah,
2:48
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, lets you buy ex officio they
2:50
Speaker 1: last quite a while.
2:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I think you know, going into this, into
2:55
Speaker 2: buying an overland vehicle, we are really basing this on
3:00
Speaker 2: on those that intend to travel with them, right, This
3:03
Speaker 2: is no disrespect to the to the weekend crowd, but
3:05
Speaker 2: this is people who are looking to go international to
3:09
Speaker 2: do extended trips, whether they're here, whether they're driving to Alaska,
3:12
Speaker 2: Pan American Highway, whatever. So I think it's important for
3:15
Speaker 2: everybody to realize we're we're not choosing vehicles based on
3:19
Speaker 2: the fastest or the highest performing and technical train. We're
3:24
Speaker 2: really choosing things on you know, what does it cost
3:26
Speaker 2: to repair, how appropriate is the vehicle, does it have
3:29
Speaker 2: enough payload? And also is where as it sounds? You know,
3:34
Speaker 2: how much does it cost to actually upgrade these vehicles?
3:37
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, a two hundred series these days
3:41
Speaker 2: you can get in the you know, low twenties, but
3:44
Speaker 2: you're looking at four thousand dollars for a rear bumper.
3:47
Speaker 2: If you want to, let's say, at an auxiliary tank,
3:49
Speaker 2: you're looking at two to three grand. So we're really
3:53
Speaker 2: trying to kind of keep that in mind. We know
3:55
Speaker 2: that people are going to modify these vehicles, so we've
3:57
Speaker 2: tried to choose things in their respect active, low, mid
4:01
Speaker 2: and high categories that you know, that are attainable to people. Yeah,
4:06
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess we should just get going, you know,
4:09
Speaker 2: first generation Tacoma, third generation four Runner.
4:13
Speaker 1: You can't really beat them. You really can if you're
4:15
Speaker 1: looking at what do I spend that ten, twelve, fourteen
4:19
Speaker 1: thousand bucks on. Yeah, you can get those trucks. And
4:23
Speaker 1: of course any vehicle will do. I mean people have
4:26
Speaker 1: driven around the world in C class Mercedes, Sedans, yeah,
4:31
Speaker 1: Yuschevos or Fiat five hundred whatever. So we're not saying
4:35
Speaker 1: that you can't take whatever you want to take around
4:37
Speaker 1: the world, but we also don't We also don't prescribe
4:41
Speaker 1: to this idea that that's something you should recommend that
4:44
Speaker 1: someone do. It's because someone's choosing I'm going to do
4:47
Speaker 1: a stunt or this was the vehicle my dad owned
4:49
Speaker 1: and he always wanted to drive around the world, and
4:51
Speaker 1: it's this personal connection. But I definitely don't prescribe to
4:55
Speaker 1: this idea that run whatever you brung or any vehicle
4:58
Speaker 1: will do, because that's actually very short sighted and it
5:01
Speaker 1: puts the trip at risk. If the goal is to
5:05
Speaker 1: travel around the world, buy something suitable to support around
5:09
Speaker 1: the world travel or to support driving down to the
5:12
Speaker 1: end of Baha and back. And certainly it can be done,
5:15
Speaker 1: and it has been done in very obscure cars, but
5:18
Speaker 1: there are things that just do it better and that
5:20
Speaker 1: you can actually get serviced in the middle of Uzbekistan
5:24
Speaker 1: where getting that douche of o service is going to
5:26
Speaker 1: be an infamasibility.
5:27
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm all for being what I call an
5:29
Speaker 2: oval and snowflake. I have been one many times in
5:32
Speaker 2: the past, but we're kind of, I guess, trying to
5:35
Speaker 2: focus on good advice here. If you want bad advice,
5:37
Speaker 2: hit me up on Instagram exactly.
5:40
Speaker 1: And I think Matt and I we were talking about it.
5:44
Speaker 1: Instead of just focusing on the vehicles initially, it's more
5:47
Speaker 1: about focusing on the mindset. And I think one of
5:50
Speaker 1: the big mistakes that people make when it comes to
5:53
Speaker 1: vehicle based travel is they spend way more money on
5:56
Speaker 1: the truck and way more money on the gadgets than
5:59
Speaker 1: they ever spend on travel. And if we can encourage
6:03
Speaker 1: everyone listening to think about if you're going to create
6:05
Speaker 1: a budget for the year, like let's say you want
6:07
Speaker 1: to drive down to USHWAYA, make sure that you spend
6:10
Speaker 1: a lot more money on the travel itself, the experience,
6:13
Speaker 1: the shipping of the vehicle, and even if you only
6:16
Speaker 1: travel domestically, are you spending more money on those fancy
6:20
Speaker 1: shocks than you spend on gas. How many times have
6:23
Speaker 1: we seen someone by a brand new Forerunner and they
6:25
Speaker 1: lease it because they can't afford to buy it, so
6:27
Speaker 1: they lease it and then they max out their credit
6:29
Speaker 1: card on suspension and other accessories, and then they don't
6:34
Speaker 1: even have five bucks to take it on a trip.
6:37
Speaker 1: And that's really unfortunate they missed that opportunity for those experiences.
6:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, the thing that my travels have taught
6:43
Speaker 2: me is that wherever you go, and no matter what
6:45
Speaker 2: vehicle you're in, you can be in an earth Romer,
6:47
Speaker 2: you could be in a.
6:49
Speaker 1: Vespa.
6:50
Speaker 2: There's always going to be somebody local in the country
6:52
Speaker 2: that has a Toyota Corolla. So keep that in your
6:54
Speaker 2: head to eat most of the off road modifications that
6:58
Speaker 2: you're doing if you're if your focus is travel. I
7:02
Speaker 2: don't want to say that they're you know that they're
7:04
Speaker 2: not needed, because that's not what I'm trying to say.
7:06
Speaker 2: But you don't need thirty five inch tires to do
7:09
Speaker 2: the Pan American Highway. I mean it's being driven by
7:12
Speaker 2: commercial trucks and families most of the time, and.
7:16
Speaker 1: You may want to do really technical routes, and that's
7:18
Speaker 1: when you need modification.
7:19
Speaker 2: But I think be realistic and be be honest with yourself,
7:24
Speaker 2: you know, if you can, if you can step aside
7:26
Speaker 2: from the ego that is, you know a lot of
7:29
Speaker 2: automotive modification, I think you're just going to.
7:32
Speaker 1: Be better off, way better off, and then you'll actually
7:34
Speaker 1: have experiences at the end of the day that, yeah,
7:37
Speaker 1: that'll show you at the end of it. Oh, I
7:38
Speaker 1: didn't actually need that at all. And and Dan Grek
7:41
Speaker 1: again comes to mind what you are first, our first
7:43
Speaker 1: guest for the podcast, he drove around South America with
7:46
Speaker 1: a stock TJ Soft top tjah like. So, by the way,
7:53
Speaker 1: that that vehicle has kind of made our list only
7:56
Speaker 1: because of you, Yeah, exactly. So I think that's an
7:59
Speaker 1: important thing is look at your budget. Make sure that
8:02
Speaker 1: you're applying more resources towards experiences than you are towards
8:06
Speaker 1: the vehicle. And that's why we really want to focus
8:08
Speaker 1: on these very affordable vehicles first, because why not do that. Yeah,
8:14
Speaker 1: you know, I crossed the Silk Road in an eight
8:16
Speaker 1: thousand dollars Jimney Matt has driven around Southeast Asia on scooters.
8:22
Speaker 1: It's about the experience and it's important to remember that.
8:25
Speaker 1: So let's go down on our list, Matt, what you
8:27
Speaker 1: got for our first option for the low.
8:30
Speaker 2: Can you know, and I don't want to dwell on
8:32
Speaker 2: them too much, but you're going to hear a lot
8:34
Speaker 2: of recommendations from us that are Toyotas. That is, you know,
8:37
Speaker 2: I guess just based on experience. Scott and I have
8:39
Speaker 2: traveled all over the world on Toyotas. They just work.
8:44
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, if there's a Toyota four wheel drive
8:47
Speaker 2: that's in your price range, you know, there's a few
8:49
Speaker 2: exceptions with a few different motors that maybe are are
8:53
Speaker 2: less desirable.
8:54
Speaker 1: But they're going to be great.
8:56
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, if you want something, let's say,
8:58
Speaker 2: for Baja, I would have hard time steering and they're
9:01
Speaker 2: on a budget steering them anywhere but directly to a
9:04
Speaker 2: first generation to Coma, I mean, they are everywhere down there,
9:08
Speaker 2: and the same goes for the third generation for Runner.
9:10
Speaker 2: I mean some people can even sleep in them if
9:13
Speaker 2: you're not super huge. They're very reliable, they get decent
9:17
Speaker 2: fuel economy from that six cylinder. They're great vehicles. There's
9:22
Speaker 2: a lot of aftermarket opportunities that are affordable for them,
9:26
Speaker 2: you know.
9:27
Speaker 1: And it is an international platform. That's the exception with
9:31
Speaker 1: the Tacoma. A lot of people think that the Tacoma
9:34
Speaker 1: has some DNA connection to a Highlux. There's actually very little, yeah,
9:39
Speaker 1: very very little than the badge. I want to say
9:41
Speaker 1: the doors are the same or if something like that, possibly,
9:44
Speaker 1: but the frame is very different. And because of that,
9:47
Speaker 1: it has a very low payload. Most international Hilux vehicles
9:52
Speaker 1: are going to be a full metric ton that most
9:55
Speaker 1: of the Tacomas that we've got has been twelve hundred
9:58
Speaker 1: and thirteen hundred pounds payload. So it's just important to
10:01
Speaker 1: not overload any of these vehicles. Even the Forerunner based
10:04
Speaker 1: upon a Proto one twenty international chassis, you're still dealing
10:08
Speaker 1: with a vehicle with a very low payload fourteen hundred
10:11
Speaker 1: pounds approximately. So once you start adding those bumpers and
10:15
Speaker 1: sliders and everything else, you can chick up a ton of.
10:17
Speaker 2: And let's not forget that payload does not include passengers,
10:20
Speaker 2: It does not include fuel, right, you know, fourteen hundred
10:24
Speaker 2: pound payload. You put two Americans in there. Let's just
10:26
Speaker 2: let's be very nice and say two Americans is three
10:29
Speaker 2: hundred pounds and then you're talking fuel and everything. You're
10:32
Speaker 2: you know, you really have a thousand pounds of payload,
10:34
Speaker 2: and then you go from there.
10:37
Speaker 1: You know.
10:37
Speaker 2: On that subject, I think keeping things as simple and
10:40
Speaker 2: as minimal while you're if you are actually traveling, you know,
10:45
Speaker 2: that's that's also a huge, huge part of it.
10:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. I was listening to a book on the on
10:49
Speaker 1: the plane yesterday called Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. I think
10:53
Speaker 1: it actually might be the very best book ever for
10:57
Speaker 1: overlanders too, because he just digs into the fullilosophy of
11:00
Speaker 1: travel and he strips away all the gadgets. I mean,
11:03
Speaker 1: this guy, this guy traveled around the world kind of
11:06
Speaker 1: on a dare with no luggage. He left with no luggage, huh,
11:11
Speaker 1: like a pair of underwear stuck in his jacket pocket.
11:14
Speaker 1: It's pretty awesome. So it's just a reminder that keep
11:18
Speaker 1: this stuff simple. It's less to get stolen, it's less
11:21
Speaker 1: to have to maintain, it's less to have to buy initially,
11:24
Speaker 1: So that's really important. And most of our North American
11:27
Speaker 1: vehicles really can't support a lot of aftermarket accessories anyways
11:33
Speaker 1: with payload, the exception being, of course, the eighty series,
11:35
Speaker 1: which would be the sole land cruiser in this price category. Yeah,
11:39
Speaker 1: and we'll get to the eighty in a little bit.
11:41
Speaker 2: But I think let's talk about some Nissans because they
11:44
Speaker 2: are massively underrated. I mean, you see everywhere you see
11:49
Speaker 2: a high loucks, you see a Nissan Navara and here
11:53
Speaker 2: that sold as a Frontier. You know, that is actually
11:56
Speaker 2: one of you know, the few affordable you know, midsized trucks.
12:01
Speaker 2: That is a global platform. You're gonna be able to
12:04
Speaker 2: service that, you know, man, almost everywhere. I mean they're
12:07
Speaker 2: all over South America, they're all over Australia, They're all over, They'll.
12:10
Speaker 1: Over other than they even make them in Europe they do,
12:13
Speaker 1: and other than Toyota possibly or Mercedes. You're going to
12:17
Speaker 1: find more Nissan dealerships. Yeah, globally. They're just going to
12:21
Speaker 1: be available everywhere, and they're extremely popular. And the Hut.
12:25
Speaker 1: You know, we've got the Frontier as an option. We've
12:28
Speaker 1: also got the x Terra as an option. What do
12:29
Speaker 1: you think of the x Era, man?
12:30
Speaker 2: I think that Nissan is absolutely crazy for not currently
12:34
Speaker 2: making an ex Terra. I think that vehicle has always
12:38
Speaker 2: been you know, really cool. Actually, you know it had
12:41
Speaker 2: a strong drive line from from what I remember. You know,
12:44
Speaker 2: they had a lot of usable space inside of it.
12:46
Speaker 2: I remember when they transmissionnial transmission. They were even available
12:50
Speaker 2: with the supercharged motor. Justin had one of those, right,
12:54
Speaker 2: And yeah, you know why why there aren't more ex
12:57
Speaker 2: terras or the extra doesn't get more play in this
12:59
Speaker 2: can unity And I really don't know.
13:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like Nissan is so focused on the
13:04
Speaker 1: West coast. If you go to California, you see Nissans everywhere. Yeah. Yeah,
13:08
Speaker 1: but once you get the closer you get to the
13:10
Speaker 1: center of the country, they just aren't as available. But
13:14
Speaker 1: they are a great choice. And also I like they're
13:17
Speaker 1: less likely to get stolen internationally a Toyota. People that
13:20
Speaker 1: own Toyota's, they don't. A lot of people don't know this,
13:22
Speaker 1: but Toyota's gets stolen all the time. In fact that
13:25
Speaker 1: we have a mutual friend, Cyril from Guatemala, originally from
13:29
Speaker 1: France but lived in Guatemala for a long time. I
13:31
Speaker 1: asked him why he drove a range Rover Classic. He says,
13:33
Speaker 1: because nobody wants to steal and nobody can afford to
13:35
Speaker 1: maintain it. So he was actually the safest car he
13:38
Speaker 1: could drive around. That's funny than Guatemala was a range
13:41
Speaker 1: Rover Classic because nobody would want the car, whereas if
13:44
Speaker 1: you're driving around in an eighty series land Cruiser, that
13:46
Speaker 1: is highly desirable. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:50
Speaker 2: So before we get to that eighty let's talk about
13:52
Speaker 2: the Jeep Cherokee.
13:53
Speaker 1: That is my personal choice.
13:55
Speaker 2: If I was to leave tomorrow and I had, you know,
13:58
Speaker 2: five to ten thousand dollars budget to get myself on
14:00
Speaker 2: the road, it would be a Jeep. I mean, they're here,
14:04
Speaker 2: they're available, they're relatively lightweight. I'll admit I don't know
14:08
Speaker 2: what the payload necessarily is on them, but you know,
14:11
Speaker 2: you can take that vehicle, buy any one of them,
14:13
Speaker 2: take that vehicle to any mechanic is going to know
14:15
Speaker 2: how to work on to to America. Put a thousand
14:18
Speaker 2: to two thousand dollars into it, and you're going to
14:20
Speaker 2: have new breaks, You're going to have new U giints,
14:22
Speaker 2: You're going to have new alternators, starters, spark plugs, coil packs,
14:26
Speaker 2: TPMs sensors, TPS sensors. Sorry, you know, those are the
14:30
Speaker 2: things that are going to fail on an older vehicle
14:34
Speaker 2: and with the Cherokee. You know, they're pretty, they're really
14:39
Speaker 2: really affordable to you know, to fix and there you
14:42
Speaker 2: can put a roof ten on one. You can have one,
14:44
Speaker 2: you know, essentially stock like if you're not into the
14:46
Speaker 2: crazy off road thing Cherokee with the rooften and you're
14:49
Speaker 2: gonna be able to park that in parking garages when
14:51
Speaker 2: you go to cities, which is something that people often
14:53
Speaker 2: forget is actually kind of a valid thing. Yeah, and
14:58
Speaker 2: they're all over Mexico, you see Cherokee. So if Baja
15:01
Speaker 2: is your thing, yeah, it's gonna be I mean, mechanics
15:04
Speaker 2: down there, see those cars all the time, the four Leaders,
15:07
Speaker 2: super Bomber again, manual transmission option. Regularly you could get
15:12
Speaker 2: poverty package units with vinyl interior and and vinyl and
15:16
Speaker 2: rubber floor mats, so they can they can be purchased
15:19
Speaker 2: very cheap and maintained very cheaply.
15:22
Speaker 1: That's certainly a choice. I think for me, if I
15:24
Speaker 1: was to pick, my pick would probably be an early
15:27
Speaker 1: for Runner. Yeah, I think like a Gen one Gen two,
15:32
Speaker 1: maybe the Gen two with a manual transmission would be
15:35
Speaker 1: a pretty interesting a pretty interesting choice of Gen three
15:39
Speaker 1: was also available with a manual and that the rear
15:41
Speaker 1: Locker four v six that would definitely be my choice,
15:46
Speaker 1: would be probably a Gen three Transmission four Runner.
15:50
Speaker 2: You know again, it's it's so hard to beat the toyotas.
15:54
Speaker 2: I mean, they're they're available, they're they're just they work,
15:58
Speaker 2: you know, it's really do And.
16:00
Speaker 1: There certainly are land Rovers in that price range, and
16:05
Speaker 1: we've Matt and I have both owned more of them
16:07
Speaker 1: than we can count.
16:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the reason they're not on the list. Yeah,
16:11
Speaker 2: I shouldn't say that. Landover people don't hate me, but
16:15
Speaker 2: I mean, if your goal is just.
16:18
Speaker 1: There's just a better option. If it's not a brand thing,
16:21
Speaker 1: if it's a if it's a brand you love, then
16:23
Speaker 1: absolutely travel around the world in a Series one Discovery.
16:27
Speaker 1: I had one for a long time and I absolutely
16:29
Speaker 1: loved It's my first car. It's need versus once for me.
16:33
Speaker 2: I mean, if you tell me I need to have
16:36
Speaker 2: a land Rover, I'm going to tell you a million
16:38
Speaker 2: reasons why why you don't need a land Rover. I'm
16:41
Speaker 2: going to tell you a million reasons why you don't
16:42
Speaker 2: need a land Cruiser. If you say you want it,
16:45
Speaker 2: go for it, man, Just enjoy it. Yeah, just enjoy
16:47
Speaker 2: it owning, you know, you know eighty talk to me
16:51
Speaker 2: about the Okay, so the eighty is on this list
16:54
Speaker 2: with a big question mark. Now I'm a huge eighty
16:57
Speaker 2: series guy. I have a I have in particular an
17:01
Speaker 2: imported eighty Series with the turbodesel engine. Yeah, they're great
17:06
Speaker 2: if you can find one in good condition. They're heavy,
17:09
Speaker 2: they have a lot of payload, They're a little bit underpowered,
17:13
Speaker 2: they're definitely thirsty on fuel. Just starting off with the negatives,
17:18
Speaker 2: because there are a lot of positives. You know, they
17:21
Speaker 2: are very very well made vehicles. I mean, I don't
17:24
Speaker 2: know what you would think, Scott, but I would think
17:26
Speaker 2: that eighty Series and the g Wagon they just they're
17:30
Speaker 2: just mechanical machines are really.
17:31
Speaker 1: Really very robust.
17:34
Speaker 2: And I mean I'm not trying to talk people out
17:35
Speaker 2: of the eighty series, but yes, can you buy an
17:38
Speaker 2: eighty series for three grand all day long? Is it
17:41
Speaker 2: going to be a ross bucket that was never maintained?
17:43
Speaker 2: Most likely it's the maintenance that really makes me question
17:48
Speaker 2: the land Cruiser. I mean, I know from personal experience
17:51
Speaker 2: I have an emotional connection to my eighty. It's not
17:54
Speaker 2: a need thing, it's a want thing. You know, I'm
17:56
Speaker 2: a Cherokee into bushings and very basic service onto my
18:01
Speaker 2: land Cruiser using you know, factory parts, and I do
18:04
Speaker 2: a lot of my own work. You know, that's something
18:07
Speaker 2: that I think, you know, everybody says driving around the
18:09
Speaker 2: world by a land Cruiser.
18:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe, like if you're gonna be hard. They're hard
18:15
Speaker 1: to find. It's hard to find that clean and they're
18:19
Speaker 1: very expensive overseas. Yeah, you know, you're you're gonna find
18:24
Speaker 1: more affordable parts, more affordable parts for more affordable vehicles.
18:28
Speaker 1: I mean, the eighty series is a luxury vehicle, Let's
18:31
Speaker 1: be honest. You know they owst people for most people
18:33
Speaker 1: you go to I mean I almost said Venezuela. They
18:36
Speaker 1: are literally everywhere there.
18:38
Speaker 2: But you go to some poorer countries, you know, the
18:41
Speaker 2: land Cruiser are are Are you gonna readily find parts
18:45
Speaker 2: in stock?
18:46
Speaker 1: Most likely not a lot of a lot of people
18:48
Speaker 1: don't realize that even Toyota dealerships, they're going to have parts,
18:52
Speaker 1: service parts for the vehicles that everybody uses, which is
18:55
Speaker 1: going to be like a seventy series or a high
18:57
Speaker 1: lux but finding an eighty series distributor or an eighty
19:01
Speaker 1: series coil pack if you've got a later model that's
19:04
Speaker 1: gonna be very, very difficult to find internationally. And I
19:08
Speaker 1: think the biggest challenge with the eighty series is you
19:10
Speaker 1: can't find clean examples anymore. There was a period of
19:14
Speaker 1: time where it was the vehicle of choice, and anybody
19:17
Speaker 1: who could find a clean one, they bought it. They
19:20
Speaker 1: modified it to the hilt. And now they're typically not
19:22
Speaker 1: appropriate for long distance travel. They've been they've been too lifted,
19:26
Speaker 1: j heavy, or wheeled too hard for too long, and
19:31
Speaker 1: it's just so difficult to find a clean one. That's
19:33
Speaker 1: why that Forerunner is such a or a Cherokee is
19:36
Speaker 1: such a great. Yeah.
19:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I really, I really think that, you know, the
19:39
Speaker 2: eighty great vehicle. Maybe not the best vehicle if you're
19:43
Speaker 2: on a budget. If you have the money and you
19:45
Speaker 2: can put it in, they're great. I mean we took
19:47
Speaker 2: our Lancers or eighty down down Baja over the Winner.
19:51
Speaker 1: I mean it was great.
19:51
Speaker 2: We had our dog in the back, it was very comfortable,
19:54
Speaker 2: no dust got in.
19:56
Speaker 1: You know, it's great.
19:57
Speaker 2: But you know, I don't want to say how much
19:59
Speaker 2: I'm into that eighty To get it to that point.
20:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had a ninety six Heritage edition with the
20:06
Speaker 1: both tanks were oversized and you needed all of that
20:09
Speaker 1: fuel capacity to get the range out of them, because
20:11
Speaker 1: twelve miles to the gallon with thirty five's is pretty common.
20:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I see sixteen to eighteen with my diesel.
20:19
Speaker 2: You know, people on the internet like to tell me that, oh,
20:21
Speaker 2: you should be getting thirty in this. I'm like, no,
20:23
Speaker 2: they weren't ever really that efficient, to be honesty, Typically
20:27
Speaker 2: a diesel you see thirty to forty percent improvement over
20:29
Speaker 2: the GASCAR, which is exactly what your number looks like.
20:32
Speaker 2: And in some states that's exactly how much extra diesel costs.
20:36
Speaker 2: So Grand Vitara was one I didn't expect from you. Yeah,
20:41
Speaker 2: and I think it's because it's an international platform. Any
20:44
Speaker 2: of the everywhere, Yeah, any of these vehicles that were
20:47
Speaker 2: sold everywhere is something worth considering. Suzuki is still a
20:51
Speaker 2: very popular brand internationally. You'll find it in a lot
20:54
Speaker 2: of developing countries because it's affordable. They're also really small
20:58
Speaker 2: vehicles overall, but the and Vatara in particular is just
21:02
Speaker 2: big enough to be able to sleep inside. It's just
21:04
Speaker 2: big enough to be able to carry some additional equipment.
21:08
Speaker 2: There's heavy aftermarket support can Yeah, there is arb popular
21:12
Speaker 2: in Europe.
21:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, you can get differential locks, additional suspensions and they
21:17
Speaker 1: do get that closer to that twenty miles of the gallon.
21:20
Speaker 1: Very reliable motors as well. I had such good success
21:24
Speaker 1: with with the Jymney going across the Silk Road that
21:27
Speaker 1: I've never really forgotten the Suzuki as a consideration, and
21:31
Speaker 1: I think a Grand Atara would be a great fit
21:33
Speaker 1: for a lot of people. Super cheap three grand drive
21:35
Speaker 1: that sucker all the way down.
21:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean if you're not if you're not into
21:38
Speaker 2: the four wheel drive thing at all and you really
21:42
Speaker 2: just want to have experiences, I think, and you're on
21:44
Speaker 2: a budget, man, Grandvatara would be and.
21:47
Speaker 1: You're totally an option. You're totally under the radar. Yeah, yeah,
21:50
Speaker 1: and nobody's gonna mess with yeah, totally another Yeah.
21:55
Speaker 2: But yeah, So I guess this is you know where
21:57
Speaker 2: we should move on. We've kind of broken this into
21:59
Speaker 2: kind of you know, a low mid and a high
22:02
Speaker 2: budget tier. Yeah, so let's move on to the second
22:05
Speaker 2: generation Tacoma. Those can be had, I mean pretty easily.
22:09
Speaker 2: Fifteen to twenty for sure, good examples these days, huge
22:13
Speaker 2: amount of aftermarket again. You know, you're starting to creep
22:16
Speaker 2: up in terms of price in those aftermarket accessories, but
22:19
Speaker 2: there's so many of them out there, and it.
22:22
Speaker 1: Doesn't need a lot. If you buy a TRD second
22:26
Speaker 1: generation Tacoma, you've got a rear locking differential, you've got
22:30
Speaker 1: a vehicle that right out of the box doesn't doesn't
22:32
Speaker 1: require much just addressing some of the suspension issues. That
22:38
Speaker 1: vehicle had a very soft front spring rate and a
22:42
Speaker 1: relatively stiff rear spring rate, which made them handle I
22:45
Speaker 1: think pretty poorly off road. So once you address that,
22:49
Speaker 1: put a little bit better shocks on it, some nice tires,
22:51
Speaker 1: you're ready to go. It doesn't really require much more
22:54
Speaker 1: than that.
22:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, and with that second gen taco too, you're starting
22:58
Speaker 2: to open up the ability, you know, for a wedge
23:01
Speaker 2: camper on the back, or a four wheel camper or
23:05
Speaker 2: something of that sort, which you know they do. The
23:10
Speaker 2: four wheel campers in particular, I think are a good option.
23:12
Speaker 2: They they are expensive, but they maintain their value and
23:16
Speaker 2: it's kind of an all in one package, I mean,
23:18
Speaker 2: ready to go. You know, you could buy a bone
23:20
Speaker 2: stock second generation to Coma, maybe do some some suspension
23:24
Speaker 2: upgrades for the additional weight, throw a four wheel camper
23:26
Speaker 2: in the back, and you're going to be very comfortable, right.
23:30
Speaker 2: You know, you're gonna have shelter, you're gonna have heat,
23:32
Speaker 2: you're gonna have your refrigerator. Everything that that you would
23:35
Speaker 2: have to buy and maybe equip separately.
23:38
Speaker 1: You can just be done and go. And you could.
23:40
Speaker 2: You could buy a second generation Tacoma and a and
23:43
Speaker 2: a used four wheel camper, be on the road for
23:46
Speaker 2: thirty grand all day long and have everything you need
23:48
Speaker 2: to be very comfortable.
23:49
Speaker 1: You really would, And you would just have to be
23:51
Speaker 1: careful at that point about additional accessories. You'd have to
23:55
Speaker 1: leave the a ar Be bumper at home and everything else,
23:57
Speaker 1: because you're you're eight eight hundred fifty pounds into a
24:01
Speaker 1: camper model even a little bit higher. The shell models
24:04
Speaker 1: can be around five hundred to five fifty for a
24:07
Speaker 1: second gen Tacoma. But just be mindful of that payload. Again,
24:11
Speaker 1: it just starts to get starts to creep up there.
24:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you do have that that first generation Tundra
24:16
Speaker 2: as well.
24:17
Speaker 1: Another great vehicle.
24:19
Speaker 2: I mean, it's my favorite used pickup truck. They drive
24:24
Speaker 2: like a camera and I mean that in the highest
24:27
Speaker 2: to regard they drive, well, they're very reliable. Four point
24:30
Speaker 2: seven liter VA essentially essentially the same motor as the
24:33
Speaker 2: land Cruiser, essentially the same moat transmission as the land Cruiser.
24:38
Speaker 2: You know, those are really bulletproof motors. I mean, the
24:42
Speaker 2: joke always is that's what mechanics drive because they don't
24:45
Speaker 2: want to. They don't want to have to work on
24:46
Speaker 2: stuff after they're done, you know. And again one of
24:50
Speaker 2: those with a four wheel camper or something in the
24:51
Speaker 2: back would be a really great option.
24:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, some folks within Toyota years ago told me that
24:56
Speaker 1: the four point seven liter V eight is the most
24:59
Speaker 1: reliable motor they ever brought to North America. Yeah, I
25:02
Speaker 1: believe it. And they're they commonly hit five D six
25:06
Speaker 1: hundred three.
25:06
Speaker 2: I think the only the only known issues those things
25:08
Speaker 2: have is like a manifolds develop a little crack, but
25:13
Speaker 2: very you know, it's pretty rare to experience an issue
25:16
Speaker 2: with those.
25:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're super super bomber. And then of course we
25:19
Speaker 1: got fourth gen four Runner, another nice vehicle. They start
25:24
Speaker 1: to get a little bigger, a little bit bigger.
25:26
Speaker 2: You're on the Proto one twenty chassis, which is you know,
25:30
Speaker 2: again internationally serviceable all your bushings and bearings and that
25:34
Speaker 2: kind of stuff that seems to go wrong on the road.
25:37
Speaker 1: You know, very easy to do.
25:38
Speaker 2: But I don't know if I would buy a fourth
25:40
Speaker 2: generation four Runner honestly. Now that the GX four seventy,
25:43
Speaker 2: which is not only the I mean it is a
25:46
Speaker 2: proto one twenty with a few different body panels, more
25:48
Speaker 2: payload capacity, It has that V eight. They're really nice
25:52
Speaker 2: places to be inside, and I mean, what are those
25:54
Speaker 2: are approaching?
25:55
Speaker 1: Those are? Can you get those for ten now? For
25:57
Speaker 1: a higher mileage, Yeah, high mileage trucks you can get
25:59
Speaker 1: ten twelve grand I bought one a year ago for sixteen.
26:04
Speaker 1: That was a really clean truck. Yeah. But again you
26:07
Speaker 1: have that four point seven liter V eight, which is
26:09
Speaker 1: incredibly reliable in stock form. I can get nineteen miles
26:13
Speaker 1: a gallon out of it. Yeah, yeah, live speed automatic.
26:17
Speaker 1: The advantage also of the four seventy is because it
26:19
Speaker 1: was originally designed to be a seven passenger suv, it
26:23
Speaker 1: has more payload than the fore Runner, so you just
26:26
Speaker 1: and then once you pull those third row seats out,
26:28
Speaker 1: you gain that additional weight back top of you. So
26:32
Speaker 1: if you're looking to add some additional weight. You want
26:35
Speaker 1: to run drawer systems, you want to run a roof tent,
26:37
Speaker 1: you want to run some heavier bumpers and winches. A
26:40
Speaker 1: four to seventy is a much g X four seventy
26:42
Speaker 1: is a much better option than a fore Runner.
26:44
Speaker 2: I mean you're going to have some non essential stuff
26:46
Speaker 2: that may fail on a four to seventy, you know,
26:50
Speaker 2: heated seats and all kinds of crazy power luxury things.
26:54
Speaker 2: But at the core of it, that has to be
26:56
Speaker 2: one of the most reliable vehicles Toyota has released here.
26:58
Speaker 2: I mean, it has that four to seven motor. And
27:00
Speaker 2: the big thing is I've been told by several Lexus
27:05
Speaker 2: GX for seventy enthings. Yes, most of them included maintenance.
27:09
Speaker 2: You know, a lot of them were leased vehicles that
27:10
Speaker 2: were dealer service, dealer maintained, right, you know, where the fore.
27:15
Speaker 1: Runner maybe maybe not. I don't know if you have
27:18
Speaker 1: any opinions on that, but IM just you're right. I
27:20
Speaker 1: think the Toyota dealership experience is different. They're not going
27:25
Speaker 1: to get included maintenance typically and oftentimes people buy Toyota
27:29
Speaker 1: vehicles specifically because they are reliable, which means they oftentimes
27:33
Speaker 1: forget about oil changes. Yeah, that really happens with Toyota's
27:37
Speaker 1: relatively often, whereas Lexus owners probably a little more pedantic,
27:42
Speaker 1: a little more likely to take advantage of dealer included
27:45
Speaker 1: service contracts, things like that. But most importantly, it has
27:50
Speaker 1: that additional payload in the four point seven. You can't
27:52
Speaker 1: get the four point seven in the fourth gen Forerunner,
27:55
Speaker 1: but those are very difficult to find. Yeah, they're pretty expensive,
27:57
Speaker 1: and they can be more expensive than a GX. The
28:00
Speaker 1: only thing I've found on the GX is the leather
28:03
Speaker 1: is just garbage. So you tend to need to put
28:06
Speaker 1: a seat cover on it like an escape your seat
28:09
Speaker 1: cover canvas one out of something or something. But you
28:12
Speaker 1: tend to need to address the leather on the seats.
28:15
Speaker 1: But other than that, they're bomber.
28:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I guess the reason I brought up that
28:19
Speaker 2: maintenance thing is for any of these vehicles that we're
28:21
Speaker 2: talking about, you know, you have to buy the right
28:23
Speaker 2: example of it, and you know, more likely than not,
28:26
Speaker 2: the right example is going to be something that's well
28:28
Speaker 2: factory maintained.
28:30
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
28:31
Speaker 2: You know a lot of US states don't have any
28:32
Speaker 2: kind of requirements for for maintenance or servicing or registration
28:37
Speaker 2: inspections or that kind of thing. So you know, getting
28:40
Speaker 2: someone with those factory service records is going to be
28:42
Speaker 2: a really good idea.
28:43
Speaker 1: But totally I agree, we're going to be.
28:45
Speaker 2: Let's stay on that four to seven train and talk
28:47
Speaker 2: about one hundred series land Cruiser.
28:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, so.
28:52
Speaker 2: Probably one of the best choices, no question, but again,
28:56
Speaker 2: really expensive to maintain. Accessories are really expensive, I mean, and.
29:00
Speaker 1: They're difficult to find low mileage. I remember when I
29:03
Speaker 1: was looking for the GX for seventy, I was also
29:06
Speaker 1: looking for an Lex for seventy or just a land
29:09
Speaker 1: cruiser for seventy, and they were very difficult to find
29:14
Speaker 1: under three hundred thousand miles, very difficult, and if you
29:18
Speaker 1: found a low mileage which means hardly driven example, they
29:22
Speaker 1: could be twice the money. So they were very proud
29:25
Speaker 1: of a low mileage one hundred series land cruise and
29:27
Speaker 1: they get the money for it. They do, and they
29:29
Speaker 1: sell because they're great vehicles. I mean, the hundred series
29:32
Speaker 1: has been our number one recommendation in the past for
29:37
Speaker 1: a used overland vehicle. If you can find a low
29:39
Speaker 1: mileage hundred series land Cruiser, it is the right kind
29:42
Speaker 1: of vehicle to buy eighteen hundred pound factory payload, you
29:46
Speaker 1: remove the third row seats and you gain some additional
29:49
Speaker 1: payload on top of that. Extremely robust drive train, very
29:53
Speaker 1: reliable four to seven In most cases, they're a better
29:58
Speaker 1: choice than an eighty percent other than extreme terrain. They're
30:03
Speaker 1: going to handle better, they're going to stop better, they're
30:04
Speaker 1: going to accelerate better, they're going to be more reliable
30:07
Speaker 1: than an eighty In.
30:09
Speaker 2: Wier parts are easier to find. I mean, eighty series
30:11
Speaker 2: parts are getting hard to find. They are, and the
30:14
Speaker 2: one hundred series was a global platform. So if you're
30:17
Speaker 2: down in Argentina and you go to the Toyota dealership,
30:20
Speaker 2: they're going to know what one hundred series land Cruiser
30:22
Speaker 2: is and they're going to be able to get parts
30:24
Speaker 2: and service it. And that's definitely one of the advantages
30:26
Speaker 2: of a land cruiser is you just have that global
30:30
Speaker 2: dealer infrastructure to be able to support Yeah. Yeah, but
30:33
Speaker 2: they are again keep telling a really expensive or expensive
30:37
Speaker 2: expensive and modify. I mean, the fuel economy on them
30:39
Speaker 2: is pretty dismal, so you might want to look at
30:44
Speaker 2: for for certain areas where you're traveling, you may require
30:48
Speaker 2: a way to carry fuel, whether that's a rear bumper
30:52
Speaker 2: which adds quite a bit of cost, or some kind
30:53
Speaker 2: of auxiliary tank. But if you are, if you're thrifty,
30:58
Speaker 2: you can you know, there's a factory hillary tank that
31:00
Speaker 2: you can piece together from parts on the internet. You know,
31:03
Speaker 2: you can make it work.
31:04
Speaker 1: I think the thing to do with one hundred series
31:07
Speaker 1: is to avoid the standard throwing the catalog at the car.
31:11
Speaker 1: I think I think that that's a mistake. If someone
31:14
Speaker 1: buys one hundred series land Cruiser, they should just address
31:18
Speaker 1: suspension to gain a little bit of ground clearance, go
31:21
Speaker 1: with a tire size that's globally available, and then just
31:25
Speaker 1: start traveling with it just as it is. They're very
31:28
Speaker 1: capable vehicles. The only time I've ever seen an issue
31:31
Speaker 1: with one was with the center differential lock mechanism because
31:36
Speaker 1: we were doing water crossing after water crossing after water
31:39
Speaker 1: crossing in Copper Canyon in Mexico, and I just the
31:43
Speaker 1: vehicle that I traveled with a lot at that period
31:45
Speaker 1: of time owned by a friend of mine, drawn he
31:49
Speaker 1: had no issues with that car. It was extremely robust. Yeah,
31:52
Speaker 1: they're really.
31:53
Speaker 2: Well made, but there's also some American options too that
31:56
Speaker 2: are really well made, really reliable. So Chris Cardes, he's
31:59
Speaker 2: the editor of for Expedition Portal, he has a seven
32:03
Speaker 2: to three excursion that is mint so nice, it's really
32:07
Speaker 2: really nice. Now he's he's put some money into it,
32:10
Speaker 2: but he decided that that was the vehicle that he wanted.
32:14
Speaker 2: You know, the seven three diesel motor is very very
32:19
Speaker 2: very loud, but very very reliable in that same regard.
32:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you look at Gary and Monica Wescott from
32:26
Speaker 1: the Turtle Expedition, Uh, they've driven around the world a
32:29
Speaker 1: few times in seven three powered diesel forwards and they've
32:33
Speaker 1: had very very few issues. In fact, one of their
32:35
Speaker 1: vehicles that they used across Siberia in the winter, they
32:39
Speaker 1: had no mechanical failures from that drive train. So the
32:43
Speaker 1: seven three is highly desirable and because of that, they
32:46
Speaker 1: are a little more expensive. So finding a clean seven
32:49
Speaker 1: three Excursion is going to set you back twenty grand.
32:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, same with uh, you know, same with the
32:55
Speaker 2: pickup version F two fifty, f three fifty. They're they're
32:58
Speaker 2: they're sought after by a lot of people, not just
33:01
Speaker 2: in the overland community, but I mean everybody.
33:04
Speaker 1: Everybody likes those things. So it is worth mentioning.
33:07
Speaker 2: You know you can definitely, I don't want to say
33:09
Speaker 2: skip over the six to zero. I know that there's
33:11
Speaker 2: ways to make those reliable, but I don't know if
33:13
Speaker 2: that's the best way to spend your travel money. Six
33:16
Speaker 2: four gets a little bit better the six seven. I
33:18
Speaker 2: used to own one of those. It was a flawless motor,
33:20
Speaker 2: very quiet, you know, decent fuel economy. But then you
33:24
Speaker 2: start to get into the diesel, exhaust, fluid and emissions
33:27
Speaker 2: kind of systems.
33:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, I definitely think the seven to three forwards, either
33:31
Speaker 1: an excursion variant or as a pickup starts to be
33:35
Speaker 1: a global truck. It can's to be.
33:36
Speaker 2: Something, and it can handle the diesels, the different types
33:39
Speaker 2: of diesel. Some some people may not realize the diesel
33:42
Speaker 2: that we have in the United States is ultra low
33:45
Speaker 2: sulfur diesel and it has you know, they measured in
33:48
Speaker 2: parts per million of sulfur content. It's very very low,
33:52
Speaker 2: fifty parts per million. Yeah, you get into Mexic, even Mexico,
33:55
Speaker 2: like you get a five hundred parts five hundred, and
33:57
Speaker 2: these these newer engines don't necessarily like that where the
34:01
Speaker 2: older engines thrive off of it, you know, so you know,
34:05
Speaker 2: there's also the you know, the Dodge stuff. You know,
34:09
Speaker 2: I guess I've trained myself to call them rams now,
34:12
Speaker 2: but that Dodge ram twenty five hundreds and thirty five hundreds,
34:16
Speaker 2: you know, with those twelve and twenty four valve Commons motors.
34:20
Speaker 2: I mean, if there's an engine that is worshiped more
34:24
Speaker 2: than the seven to three, the only one in America
34:27
Speaker 2: would be that twelve valve Commons.
34:29
Speaker 1: I mean, they're very reliable, and they were available with
34:33
Speaker 1: a manual transmission, which addresses one of the main issues
34:36
Speaker 1: with both the Ford and the Dodge, which is weak
34:40
Speaker 1: transmissions behind all that torque. I would definitely look at
34:43
Speaker 1: finding a manual transmission Cummins Ram, and then from there
34:48
Speaker 1: you can put a four wheel camper on the back,
34:49
Speaker 1: build out your own camper. So lose huge payloads, Yeah,
34:53
Speaker 1: significant payload. You're dealing with enough payload to carry a
34:56
Speaker 1: Cherokee in the back of it three three thousand pounds
34:59
Speaker 1: plus US so well over a metric ton of capacity
35:04
Speaker 1: in those trucks, and that starts to be really meaningful
35:06
Speaker 1: when you want to get further and further afield where
35:08
Speaker 1: you need the the durability and reliability of a diesel,
35:13
Speaker 1: but then also the fuel cost reduction of that and
35:17
Speaker 1: the additional range. So I think a diesel, one of
35:20
Speaker 1: those North American spec diesels is a good choice. Yeah.
35:24
Speaker 2: I mean we all love to, you know, kind of
35:27
Speaker 2: romanticize the seventy series, but if you think in America,
35:31
Speaker 2: what is what is our seventy and it's it's it's
35:34
Speaker 2: the big American diesel trucks. You know, they are built
35:38
Speaker 2: to work, and you can you can get them dulled
35:40
Speaker 2: up to massage seats, to everything to a final bench
35:43
Speaker 2: seat depending on what you want, you know, and they're
35:48
Speaker 2: not too expensive to fix.
35:49
Speaker 1: They're really not. And and I I did a trip
35:52
Speaker 1: up to tuc Tiuktuk in the winter on the ice
35:54
Speaker 1: roads with a bunch of the AEV rams and they
35:58
Speaker 1: were nice to drive. I mean they were they were
36:00
Speaker 1: super safe, comfortable on the highway, you could carry as
36:04
Speaker 1: much stuff as you wanted out of them. They were
36:06
Speaker 1: they were really great. I think that a full size
36:10
Speaker 1: Dodge or Ford is worth considering. Now, the downside to
36:13
Speaker 1: that is most countries do not have vehicles in that
36:16
Speaker 1: size ring. Yeah, so they're going to be big going
36:19
Speaker 1: down the streets. You're going to have issues getting into
36:21
Speaker 1: these small colonial villages throughout the Americas.
36:24
Speaker 2: Particularly the older you go with those American pickups, you
36:28
Speaker 2: know you're gonna have coils or leaf springs up front
36:30
Speaker 2: on the Fords, for example. And then turning radius is
36:33
Speaker 2: likely that really, you know, not ideal for some of
36:37
Speaker 2: those smaller streets and areas.
36:40
Speaker 1: But yeah, they're certainly worth considering.
36:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly if you want to go to the camper route,
36:45
Speaker 2: I mean, can you do a camper and it's a
36:47
Speaker 2: coma one hundred percent people do it all the time.
36:49
Speaker 1: Do you want to do it right?
36:51
Speaker 2: Maybe consider there's also the F one fifty and the
36:54
Speaker 2: fifteen hundred. I mean, those things are ubiquitous, everybody knows.
36:58
Speaker 2: You also mentioned the tundra that with the force, that's
37:00
Speaker 2: another good choice. But the other thing that we really,
37:02
Speaker 2: you know, haven't spoken of is the LR four. So
37:05
Speaker 2: there was a huge stride in reliability from the l
37:09
Speaker 2: R three to the l R four. You moved from
37:12
Speaker 2: I want to say, a BMW and a motor Jaguar
37:16
Speaker 2: motor to basically what really was a Ford motor and
37:20
Speaker 2: drive line and that that five liter V eight. I
37:23
Speaker 2: mean we had one for a while. It was it
37:27
Speaker 2: was lowless, literally very comfortable. Not a single warranty claim
37:30
Speaker 2: on the car for years. I remember when I drove
37:33
Speaker 2: that thing, I would turn the air conditioned seats on
37:36
Speaker 2: and the heated steering wheel on and the heat in
37:38
Speaker 2: the morning, just because I could. And these are vehicles
37:41
Speaker 2: you can get for fifteen grand all day long. Yeah,
37:44
Speaker 2: they're very fine now, low mileage examples for twenty and
37:48
Speaker 2: they're a sixteen to eighteen hundred pound payload vehicle. They
37:52
Speaker 2: have a very high roofload rating as well, two hundred
37:55
Speaker 2: pounds plus from the factory.
37:57
Speaker 1: They're very comfortable to drive. The only issue that tends
38:00
Speaker 1: to be consistent with the l R four's is the
38:03
Speaker 1: air bag suspension. So you got to keep that up.
38:07
Speaker 1: You got to keep those serviced, you got to keep
38:08
Speaker 1: them in new condition. You might want to bring a
38:11
Speaker 1: spare compressor along. There's also some pretty cool little tit
38:15
Speaker 1: kits that allow you to have little bypasses to the airlines.
38:19
Speaker 1: You can actually manually inflate the bags on each corner.
38:22
Speaker 1: And it's a good.
38:22
Speaker 2: IDT tool that we had for that. If I recall
38:25
Speaker 2: allowed you to clear those service vaults you know, you
38:30
Speaker 2: can put all of the overseas spec stuff on the
38:32
Speaker 2: l R four, So if you want to convert it
38:34
Speaker 2: to coil springs, you can, you can, you can do
38:37
Speaker 2: all of that, you know. The thing I do caution is,
38:40
Speaker 2: I think what makes the land River so great is
38:42
Speaker 2: that air suspension. The moment you get away from the
38:45
Speaker 2: air suspension, and I'll be honest, you're driving a Subaru
38:49
Speaker 2: with low range. I mean they're you know, they're generally,
38:51
Speaker 2: especially if they're lifted on the steel suspension. You have
38:54
Speaker 2: no down travel. You know, you're sacrificing your up travel.
38:57
Speaker 1: With spring rate. It's something something to look at. Definitely
39:01
Speaker 1: the l R four or the Mark three Range Rover. Yeah,
39:05
Speaker 1: they're both great choices in this price range. But I
39:09
Speaker 1: think the one thing to caution people is you're still
39:12
Speaker 1: buying a land Rover or range Rover, which means that
39:15
Speaker 1: maintenance and service is still going to be land Rover
39:18
Speaker 1: Range Rover prices. Yes, and a lot of people don't
39:21
Speaker 1: realize the first time you take your Mark three Range
39:23
Speaker 1: Rover in for a full factory oil change in service,
39:25
Speaker 1: you're gonna spend twelve hundred bucks yep, and you're going
39:28
Speaker 1: to spend twenty bucks on a Cherokee.
39:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean again, it's a need versu
39:33
Speaker 2: want thing. If you value comfort and you're in the
39:38
Speaker 2: ten to twenty thousand dollars price range, you know. I mean,
39:42
Speaker 2: the LR four is going to get better gas mileage
39:44
Speaker 2: than one hundred series, It's going to be quieter. I've
39:48
Speaker 2: got a great little motor too, great motor, I mean,
39:50
Speaker 2: plenty of power. They're definitely worth considering if if land
39:53
Speaker 2: Rover is part of your passion, the l R four
39:57
Speaker 2: is a great choice. Personally, I would take the Mark
39:59
Speaker 2: three Range Over Over. Having owned both vehicles, yeah, I
40:03
Speaker 2: like most of them come with a factory rear locker.
40:06
Speaker 1: They do have more articulation, more suspension travel, it's a
40:09
Speaker 1: different chassis, whereas the l R four shares the chassis
40:13
Speaker 1: with the Rangeover Sport. So the Mark three is its
40:15
Speaker 1: own vehicle and it does perform better off road. It
40:18
Speaker 1: has a slightly shorter wheelbase, a better approach and departure
40:23
Speaker 1: angles overall, So I really like the Mark three Range Over.
40:26
Speaker 1: I owned one. I had no issues with it. It
40:29
Speaker 1: was a great vehicle.
40:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and particularly the twenty ten to twenty twelve. The
40:33
Speaker 2: last two years of those have the same drive line
40:36
Speaker 2: as the l R four. But definitely be concerned. You know,
40:41
Speaker 2: I don't think it would be unreasonable to see a
40:44
Speaker 2: range river get broken into and like, yeah, some you
40:48
Speaker 2: know area that maybe isn't that safe. Keep that in mind. Yeah,
40:54
Speaker 2: so I think, you know, let's let's move on to
40:57
Speaker 2: what we're considering our high price range. So you know,
41:01
Speaker 2: there's these tend to be a little bit more eccentric vehicles.
41:05
Speaker 2: There's so many great options, and they're centric because there's
41:08
Speaker 2: so many great options in that kind of low, mid,
41:13
Speaker 2: you know, price range. I mean, obviously we're we're really
41:16
Speaker 2: focusing on used cars. So some of these, you know, yeah,
41:20
Speaker 2: you could buy a new Ranger Tacoma. I mean, the Frontiers,
41:23
Speaker 2: they're blowing those things out and they're great.
41:25
Speaker 1: Reason. Now, there are.
41:26
Speaker 2: New vehicles that you can drive off the lot in
41:29
Speaker 2: this price range, but we're not focusing on new vehicles,
41:33
Speaker 2: and we're focusing on things like the two INNERD series
41:35
Speaker 2: land Cruiser, which is in the US a seventy eighty
41:38
Speaker 2: ninety thousand dollars car, and they are I mean phenomenally reliable.
41:43
Speaker 2: I mean I was once told that they were the
41:46
Speaker 2: strongest land cruiser ever made, and that might have that
41:49
Speaker 2: made have come from you for one of your discussions
41:51
Speaker 2: with the engineer.
41:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were. We were in Nagoya, Japan taking delivery
41:54
Speaker 1: of the seventy series for the Expedition seven trip, and
41:58
Speaker 1: the engineer was just interested in we chose the seventy
42:01
Speaker 1: and I said, well, it's because it's so strong and
42:02
Speaker 1: so reliable, and he's like, well, that's true, he says,
42:06
Speaker 1: but the two hundred series is the most durable land
42:09
Speaker 1: cruiser we've ever made, and if you look underneath one
42:12
Speaker 1: you can see it. In fact, the trucks that we
42:14
Speaker 1: drove across Antarctica, we would swap out the transfer case
42:17
Speaker 1: from a two hundred and swap out the rear axle
42:20
Speaker 1: from a two hundred into a high Lux because they
42:23
Speaker 1: can handle the abuse of months in low range at
42:29
Speaker 1: minus forty conditions. Incredibly durable vehicle and I would absolutely
42:34
Speaker 1: recommend the two hundred. If someone says your price really
42:36
Speaker 1: isn't an option. I want something that's going to take
42:39
Speaker 1: me around the world with little to no trouble, I
42:42
Speaker 1: would recommend you two undred series all day long. They
42:45
Speaker 1: have tons of payload, extremely robust. They have a two
42:48
Speaker 1: hundred and forty pound roofload rating. You can even convert
42:52
Speaker 1: them over to campers. That can be done in Europe.
42:54
Speaker 1: There's a couple companies that are doing that. They're also
42:58
Speaker 1: very capable, but they are big. They are a big vehicle.
43:01
Speaker 1: They're also going to be expensive to service internationally. But
43:05
Speaker 1: if you go to any country in the world, you're
43:07
Speaker 1: going to find a Toyota dealership, and you're going to
43:09
Speaker 1: find local dignitaries, local politicians. They're going to drive two
43:14
Speaker 1: hundred series land cruisers. You're going to be able to
43:16
Speaker 1: get those things serviced.
43:17
Speaker 2: And here's the cool thing with the two hundred series,
43:19
Speaker 2: I mean again going back to the eighty and the
43:21
Speaker 2: one hundred, those are I mean, the eighty is a
43:24
Speaker 2: classic car at this point. It's you know, it came
43:26
Speaker 2: out around the world in nineteen eighty nine, like it's
43:30
Speaker 2: older than me. You know, you're not going to walk
43:33
Speaker 2: into a dealership and find parts run eighty or maybe
43:36
Speaker 2: maybe a one hundred series, But you're going to walk
43:38
Speaker 2: into a dealer that knows, that has mechanics that are
43:41
Speaker 2: trained on that vehicle, that they know how to work
43:44
Speaker 2: on it. I mean the people that are working on
43:46
Speaker 2: your car right now probably like me, they're probably you know,
43:49
Speaker 2: there were kids when the eighty came out, right, they
43:52
Speaker 2: don't necessarily know how to work on that stuff. It's
43:54
Speaker 2: a completely different mindset of auto repair. That is the eighty,
43:59
Speaker 2: that is the the two hundred. So that's a huge
44:02
Speaker 2: bonus for that car. You know, you're incredibly sad been
44:05
Speaker 2: proven in every way possible. I mean how many miles
44:09
Speaker 2: you know, does Rob have on his that's now at
44:12
Speaker 2: the land Cruise Museum.
44:13
Speaker 1: I mean hundreds of thousands of kilometers off road in Australia.
44:17
Speaker 2: I mean we're talking corrugations, you know, as I say that,
44:20
Speaker 2: the size of beer cans, like they just work.
44:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. I remember driving that VDJ, that twin turbo Diesel
44:28
Speaker 1: two hundred series across Australia in twenty eleven and it
44:32
Speaker 1: was one finger on the steering wheel, ultra load driver fatigue,
44:36
Speaker 1: like very comfortable. I'd blue tooth to my phone and
44:40
Speaker 1: it would go. I mean it would easily do the
44:42
Speaker 1: Canning Stock or any or the Cape York Route, any
44:45
Speaker 1: of those technical routes you can do with a two
44:47
Speaker 1: hundred series land Cruiser but it is extremely capable, extremely durable,
44:52
Speaker 1: extremely safe to drive, multiple air bags, all of the
44:57
Speaker 1: safety equipment that you get with a modern vehicle. But
45:00
Speaker 1: it still retains that Toyota Lan Cruiser durability and reliability,
45:04
Speaker 1: and that's what makes it I think the number one
45:07
Speaker 1: choice in that price range. But there are some other
45:10
Speaker 1: cool cars.
45:10
Speaker 2: I mean, it's probably the number one choice as far
45:13
Speaker 2: as used over the vehicles go. I mean, you're gonna
45:18
Speaker 2: end up spending the same amount of money realistically on
45:20
Speaker 2: one hundred series right now as you are.
45:22
Speaker 1: On a two hundred in the cases. Yeah, you know,
45:26
Speaker 1: you know, so what else would you what would you
45:28
Speaker 1: buy in this price range? Man g Wagon.
45:33
Speaker 2: G X four sixty would be really high on my list.
45:37
Speaker 2: You know, A good buddy of mine, Brian Door from
45:39
Speaker 2: Exploring Elements, just started building one that he's debuting at
45:42
Speaker 2: SEMA and it's the first really clean one that I've seen.
45:47
Speaker 2: You know, he had a custom bumper made, forehead, a
45:50
Speaker 2: custom roof rack made specifically for his needs. They're just
45:53
Speaker 2: they're really comfortable, they're really reliable. They're a Prota one fifty.
45:56
Speaker 2: You can service them everywhere. You know, again, mechanics know
46:01
Speaker 2: what they're working on with this vehicle. It's still currently sold.
46:04
Speaker 2: It's sold. I mean, a Prada would have to be
46:08
Speaker 2: more common than a two hundred series Lankers around the world.
46:11
Speaker 2: They would have to sell more of them. They do
46:13
Speaker 2: for sure.
46:14
Speaker 1: You know you have that nice V eight. It's really quiet.
46:17
Speaker 2: Most of them have air conditioned seats and heated seats
46:20
Speaker 2: and decent payload. I think almost all of them were
46:24
Speaker 2: seven seats.
46:25
Speaker 1: They were seven seat vehicles, which you know there were
46:27
Speaker 1: five seats, but most of them were sevens. Yeah, so
46:29
Speaker 1: that's going to get you that sixteen seventeen pound payload capacity,
46:33
Speaker 1: which is going to allow you to put bumpers on it.
46:36
Speaker 2: And if you want to do the crazy suspension kind
46:38
Speaker 2: of thing because you want it, maybe you don't necessarily
46:41
Speaker 2: need it. A lot of the for runner stuff that
46:43
Speaker 2: people are developing these days, the long travel whatever you
46:46
Speaker 2: want to do it. I mean, why the GX four sixty,
46:52
Speaker 2: I mean, I think it is becoming a lot more
46:54
Speaker 2: popular than it ever has been. People are recognizing I mean,
46:58
Speaker 2: Lexus did a GX off road concept which was just
47:02
Speaker 2: a couple of months ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean,
47:05
Speaker 2: so they recognize they have something there. You know that
47:08
Speaker 2: the G five hundred Mercedes you those are they're they're
47:13
Speaker 2: interesting vehicles, right all this say that, I mean they are.
47:17
Speaker 2: I like to refer to them as like the like
47:19
Speaker 2: a camera of overland vehicles. They they're very durable, they're
47:24
Speaker 2: I mean, they're they they look able at proof. I mean,
47:27
Speaker 2: it's got you know more about the G's than I do.
47:29
Speaker 1: Well, it's the vehicle I've owned the longest of any
47:31
Speaker 1: of any vehicle. I've had my GW Wagon since two
47:36
Speaker 1: thousand and nine. Yeah, and it isn't as reliable as
47:41
Speaker 1: a Toyota, but it's a lot more reliable than a
47:43
Speaker 1: land Rover, So it's kind of it kind of gives
47:45
Speaker 1: you that eclectic feel of a Defender, but more of
47:49
Speaker 1: the reliability of a Toyota, which I think is unique.
47:53
Speaker 1: So if you're looking for a unique vehicle that has
47:55
Speaker 1: factory triple diplocks, factory solid axles, factory coil sprung suspend,
48:01
Speaker 1: mine as an eighteen hundred pound payload capacity. Yeah, so
48:05
Speaker 1: it right out of the box. They were designed to
48:07
Speaker 1: be a military vehicle. They were commissioned by the Shah
48:10
Speaker 1: of Iran in the nineteen seventies to be a military
48:13
Speaker 1: vehicle and an asset protection vehicle. So this is but
48:17
Speaker 1: they are very unique. They're different. There it's hard to
48:21
Speaker 1: find mechanics that know how to work on them. But
48:24
Speaker 1: Mercedes has a massive dealer network around the world because
48:27
Speaker 1: and they haven't changed much.
48:29
Speaker 2: I mean you can you could have a brand new
48:31
Speaker 2: g Wagon and they're going to be, you know, nearly
48:33
Speaker 2: identical to when they came out with the Shavaran. I mean,
48:37
Speaker 2: you're still going to find dealer mechanics that know how
48:39
Speaker 2: to work on that are trained on them. You know
48:41
Speaker 2: that the Mercedes parts network is it's impressive, is phenomenal.
48:46
Speaker 2: I mean they can they can have parts anywhere in
48:48
Speaker 2: the world and you know days.
48:50
Speaker 1: And one thing that's actually very cool about Mercedes that
48:53
Speaker 1: not many people know. If you were to go buy
48:55
Speaker 1: a new Mercedes g Wagon today, it comes with a
49:00
Speaker 1: twelvemonth unlimited mile international warranty. I did not know that.
49:05
Speaker 1: People do not know that you can go if you
49:08
Speaker 1: buy a brand new Mercedes, you can drive it to Europe,
49:12
Speaker 1: you can drive it down Africa. If you have any
49:14
Speaker 1: issues with any Mercedes purchased anywhere in the world. It
49:18
Speaker 1: comes with a factory twelve month unlimited mile warrant. It's
49:21
Speaker 1: pretty cool. It's very cool. So if you wanted to
49:23
Speaker 1: buy a new G Wagon, you just rock up to
49:25
Speaker 1: the dealership and say, hey, I need a new whatever.
49:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if you have a one hundred and
49:29
Speaker 2: thirty one hundred and forty grands in your pocket. But
49:31
Speaker 2: the cool thing with the G Wagon is is you
49:33
Speaker 2: know good examples of G five hundreds which have that
49:35
Speaker 2: five liter V eight that's bulletproof. You know, they're US
49:38
Speaker 2: spec vehicles. You can get those for twenty thousand dollars. Now,
49:41
Speaker 2: some of them are going to have high miles. It's
49:43
Speaker 2: pretty common for people to swap you know, newer stuff
49:46
Speaker 2: on them so they look a little bit better. You know,
49:50
Speaker 2: the sky's the limit with what you want to spend
49:52
Speaker 2: on them. They generally are not as modified as as
49:55
Speaker 2: you know some other vehicles can be. But still, you
49:59
Speaker 2: know a great I always say, like, if you the
50:02
Speaker 2: G Wagon is what you thought the defender actually was right,
50:06
Speaker 2: And there's there's imported G Wagons too. I mean, if
50:09
Speaker 2: if you want to go ex military G Wagon with
50:12
Speaker 2: you know, diesel whatever, diesel whatever, you can have them.
50:15
Speaker 2: And it was the vehicle of Tom Sheppard for it
50:18
Speaker 2: was like some time.
50:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think if you can own one car and
50:21
Speaker 1: you want something that's unique and different, the g Wagon's
50:24
Speaker 1: a great a great vehicle. Yeah, does everything relatively well
50:28
Speaker 1: all the way up to crossing the Rubicon. People have
50:32
Speaker 1: driven them across the Rubicon pretty regularly. So those are
50:34
Speaker 1: they're great choices to consider, but there's not much This
50:38
Speaker 1: is rarefied air. Once you get into that Yeah, thirty
50:41
Speaker 1: thousand dollar range. I mean you can certainly buy a
50:45
Speaker 1: trail edition for Runner that's worth considering. I would say
50:48
Speaker 1: as well, you start looking at like a twenty eighteen
50:51
Speaker 1: Dodge Ram you can still get with a manual transmission.
50:55
Speaker 1: There are some vehicles in that range that are definitely
50:57
Speaker 1: worth considering. Yeah, I don't know that the newer Tacoma
51:00
Speaker 1: would be high on my list of recommendations. It just
51:03
Speaker 1: does certainly very popular. It's extremely good reasons it's extremely popular.
51:08
Speaker 1: I just think there might be better options now.
51:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that man that it's a wonderful truck.
51:15
Speaker 2: It's made very well, it's very reliable. You can't fault
51:19
Speaker 2: Toyota for saying that they provided a consumer it's a
51:22
Speaker 2: bad truck. I just don't think that that three point
51:25
Speaker 2: five at Conston Cycle motor is my is my favorite,
51:29
Speaker 2: particularly when you pair it with that six feet automatic
51:32
Speaker 2: with a very high first and second gear. If they
51:35
Speaker 2: had geared that transmission properly, I think it would have
51:38
Speaker 2: been a completely different story. But if you look at
51:42
Speaker 2: a JL Wrangler or a Gladiator, it's a nearly five
51:45
Speaker 2: to one first gear in the transmission automatic and that
51:49
Speaker 2: makes a huge difference, whereas the Tacoma, I think, is
51:52
Speaker 2: in the high threes to one verst gear. And when
51:55
Speaker 2: you deal with a lower torque off idle engine, a
51:59
Speaker 2: lower placement engine, it just it does not keep up
52:02
Speaker 2: with the competition in that regard. Yeah, I remember there's
52:06
Speaker 2: the ARB Tacoma, right, what were you seeing? Horrible gas
52:12
Speaker 2: mileage and that and that was very modestly modified. I
52:16
Speaker 2: mean it was. It was a very tasteful vehicle and
52:18
Speaker 2: the way it was done. But I remember Bruce and
52:20
Speaker 2: I took that thing out.
52:21
Speaker 1: I know. Is they struggles of the gallon, Yeah, they
52:24
Speaker 1: really struggle, But if you regear them that helps. They're
52:27
Speaker 1: pretty good. That helps. And it's definitely we're not recommending
52:30
Speaker 1: against the Tacoma. It's it's just that with the second
52:34
Speaker 1: gen they were so compelling. First gen they were so compelling.
52:38
Speaker 1: Right now you can look at like you can buy
52:41
Speaker 1: a ZR two with a diesel front and rear differential locks,
52:45
Speaker 1: multimatic suspension. You can actually get the vehicle we've always wanted.
52:49
Speaker 1: But it does.
52:49
Speaker 2: It has a difference, even even with the diesel if
52:51
Speaker 2: you want it, Yeah, exactly, and that is a rest
52:53
Speaker 2: of the world spec vehicle.
52:55
Speaker 1: Again, it is very durable. You know.
52:57
Speaker 2: You have the Ranger that has come out hasn't been
53:01
Speaker 2: as popular as I thought it was going to be.
53:03
Speaker 2: But all of those things land in the thirty to
53:05
Speaker 2: forty they do price range. So the hundred begun, Yeah,
53:09
Speaker 2: just buy a two hundred.
53:10
Speaker 1: To be done.
53:10
Speaker 2: But if you want a new vehicle, you know, I mean, frankly,
53:13
Speaker 2: a new vehicle is probably a better choice than most
53:15
Speaker 2: of these. I do think there's one last thing before
53:18
Speaker 2: we wrap up that's worth talking about, and it is
53:20
Speaker 2: the imported trucks.
53:22
Speaker 1: For sure.
53:22
Speaker 2: Now we're putting these in the in the high end category,
53:26
Speaker 2: even though some of them you might be able to
53:27
Speaker 2: get for five to ten thousand dollars, but know that
53:30
Speaker 2: these are old vehicles that require a lot of maintenance
53:34
Speaker 2: and refurbishment. I mean, you're twenty five year old vehicles.
53:37
Speaker 2: You're not only buying something sight unseen, and you're you know,
53:39
Speaker 2: in the case of Japanese vehicles, you're buying something sight
53:42
Speaker 2: unseen from an auction in Japan in a language you
53:45
Speaker 2: have no hope of deciphering. Right, So, you know, both
53:49
Speaker 2: of the land cruises that we've had that are that
53:51
Speaker 2: are imported, we got through Steve Jackson at land Cruisers Direct.
53:55
Speaker 2: Now that guy has great relationships. He's the way to
53:57
Speaker 2: work with. Yeah, he's he's the guy to go with.
53:59
Speaker 2: I don't necessarily know if you want to import a
54:01
Speaker 2: Defender one ten. I don't know if there's a if
54:04
Speaker 2: there's a standout person that I'm sure nobody that I
54:07
Speaker 2: can think of. Yeah, there's there's people that are bringing
54:09
Speaker 2: them in and then refurbishing them fully. So like Heritage
54:13
Speaker 2: in those other brands, those are doing nice.
54:15
Speaker 1: Narconic I want to say this one that does some
54:18
Speaker 1: high end staff, but certainly on the land cruiser side,
54:21
Speaker 1: which is probably the vehicle to consider. Or a Nissan
54:23
Speaker 1: Patrol would be another good example. You can bring in
54:26
Speaker 1: those trucks or you can go over to Europe and
54:30
Speaker 1: buy that three hundred TDI manual transmission D one you've
54:33
Speaker 1: always wanted, or a g wagon. Those are all possible.
54:37
Speaker 1: And we actually talked about this when we were preparing
54:40
Speaker 1: for this podcast. Was go to Europe, buy a vehicle
54:43
Speaker 1: over there, actually go see it, Yeah, and make a
54:46
Speaker 1: vacation out of it, drive it around Europe and then
54:48
Speaker 1: stick it in a container. You're going to save a
54:50
Speaker 1: lot of money if you do it that way. I've
54:52
Speaker 1: seen Series one Discoveries with diesels low mileage for seven
54:58
Speaker 1: or eight thousand euros. How fun would that be. Go
55:01
Speaker 1: over there, do a proper vacation, take it to Morocco,
55:05
Speaker 1: then ship it home.
55:05
Speaker 2: Yeah there, I mean, and there's other places. You can
55:07
Speaker 2: do that in New Zealand. You can do that in Australia.
55:09
Speaker 2: I mean, if you don't forget the fact that you can.
55:12
Speaker 2: If you're going to be overseas, buy the vehicle overseas. Yeah,
55:15
Speaker 2: you know, as long as it's twenty five years or older,
55:17
Speaker 2: you can bring it back and honestly you'll probably save money.
55:21
Speaker 2: Well you will save money at least one way and shipping,
55:24
Speaker 2: and you'll also be able to bring back a really
55:25
Speaker 2: cool souvenir that, depending on how attached you get to it, now,
55:29
Speaker 2: you could sell it. I mean you could go to
55:31
Speaker 2: Australia right now and buy a land Cruiser troop carrier
55:35
Speaker 2: for ten grand and bring it back over here and
55:38
Speaker 2: sell for twenty five.
55:39
Speaker 1: This really is the high water mark overlanding of any
55:43
Speaker 1: time that I can think of as an overlander. So
55:45
Speaker 1: many options, there are so many options. You can bring
55:47
Speaker 1: in that Defender one to ten you've always wanted, you
55:49
Speaker 1: can bring in the seventy series you've always wanted. You
55:51
Speaker 1: can buy a used two hundred series. Now you can
55:54
Speaker 1: find a diesel powered front and root difflock domestic mid
55:58
Speaker 1: sized truck.
55:59
Speaker 2: We are in the Golden age of drives. Its the
56:01
Speaker 2: goold and age. I hope people are realizing that. I mean,
56:04
Speaker 2: I remember, I remember when people thought independent suspension, even
56:08
Speaker 2: in the front was the death of four wheel drives.
56:11
Speaker 2: Well then we then we invented the raptor, right, and
56:13
Speaker 2: everybody just forgot about that. They're like, oh, you mean
56:15
Speaker 2: I can go one hundred mile an hour off road
56:17
Speaker 2: and a factory truck, Okay, you know, I mean everything
56:20
Speaker 2: has its advantages.
56:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's so many options these days, there really is, yeah,
56:26
Speaker 1: and it's been fun to talk about it. Thank you
56:28
Speaker 1: all for listening. Remember the most important thing is when
56:31
Speaker 1: you set your budget. Emphasize the travel first, and the
56:34
Speaker 1: vehicle and the accessory second, and we will talk to
56:37
Speaker 1: you next time.