What vehicle? 200K miles of trouble free towing...

My 2002 land cruiser is at about 320K miles and the summer driving season is about to start.  Starting to think about what comes next...

The cruiser has been amazing for the last 200K miles.  Between 25K and 30K miles per year spent with 3 kids (7, 11 and 14) in the second row, hooked up to a 17' trailer (fiberglass egg, ~3200lbs wet, 350lb tongue weight) and another probably 300-400lbs of climbing gear in the cargo area.  We spend a fair bit of time in areas that require a fair bit of ground clearance and where it wouldn't be fun to call a tow truck.

It's not a lot of weight and technically there are crossovers that could handle it and deliver way more than my current 10 mpg.  But the number of miles spent loaded to the gills means something truck-ish is probably better.

I've also done all my own maintenance for 20 years, so I'd like to avoid stuff that's going to ask a lot of me.

So, $25K-$35K budget for something used...stick with Toyotas or should I look at domestic trucks?  Will any of them be anything close to as reliable as a Tundra, Sequoia or 200 series LC/LX?

If domestic truck, is there some secret configuration that I should be looking for?

Or....don't mess with a good thing and keep the beast for another hundred thousand miles?

Nothing to add, just subscribing since I have a fantasy where I can fit a similar truck into the fleet.  I've been eyeing Land Cruisers for a while, but some sort of four door truck seems like a more logical choice for towing cars to the track plus the ginormous RV trailers my wife wants.  By comparison Land Cruisers are of course expensive for their age/mileage and have relatively low towing capacities.  That said, I am a sucker for their cool factor.

Isn't 320k miles for that generation Land Cruiser more or less broken in?

With the current used car market, I would definitely plan to keep it for at least a couple more years unless something important/expensive is about to implode.

Keep it going! 

If you are in a non-rusty climate because rust will be the only thing to kill it. 

If you were to spend an extreme amount, like $10k in repairs and improvements, you'll still likely have a better rig that what $10k will buy you in the current car market.  

I wonder, what's the newest LC you can buy with 35k lol

$30,000 will buy you a REALLY nice 7.3L Excursion. Mine knocks down 21MPG unloaded.

calteg said:

$30,000 will buy you a REALLY nice 7.3L Excursion. Mine knocks down 21MPG unloaded.

Didn't need to hear this. I know where there's a 7.3 I could get for a steal, and the 9mpg empty I get from the V10 isn't very fun. 

Based on the title I came here to say Land Cruiser, so you already have the answer. 
Your budget will barely buy you the truck you already have, save your money. 

Excursion/ suburban are the. Next size up in vehicle.  It'll be a big improvement on kid space and towing ability. Off-road they are ok but big.  And need lifts for proper ground clearance. 
 

will it be as good as an lc off-road or reliability, no, but my suburban is cheap and easy to maintain.  200k on the suburban , it's needed  water pump  some injectors, intake manifold gaskets an exhaust manifold and brake lines  

Thanks to road salt it's rusting at the same rate as a land cruiser up here.  
 

one last thought. 200k of relativity trouble free miles isn't a big deal anymore in general.  You could pick just about anything newish and it'd be fine. 

7.3 getting 21 mpg? Granted I only have 2 datapoints, a friend with an excursion and one with a crew cab long bed F250 2wd, but the excursion is more like 15 and the truck knocks down 17 if he's gentle. Not that those are bad numbers, but 21 mpg sounds abnormally good.

I'm with the other guys that you might want to stick with the LC you have. I am a huge fan of tahoes and suburbans though, so that would be my recommendation. the 2500 Suburbans are already quite a bit taller than the 1500s, and I have been really impressed with mine. Downside is the 2500s are pretty stiff off road.

Only had it about 6 months so far, so this is the only picture I have of it. Been across the country with it with a trailer though, and some very mild off road.

Our Suburban has right at 350k on it. The wife just towed a 10' enclosed trailer 1400 miles to pick up some furniture from her parent's house in New Orleans. It ran as flawlessly as ever. It's paid for, repairs are cheap. It will be around for a while longer. 

I would keep what you have unless you just want another vehicle. 

Nothing to add, but I originally read "my 2002 Land Rover has 320k..."

And I was like - "teach me your magic"

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Third engine and second chassis.

Re the 7.3 - with a truck like that my question is always if the extra maintenance cost and repair cost is worth it compared to the miles you drive. In my case it most definitely isn't or isn't anymore, I'm just keeping mine because it's paid for and newer truck prices are simply $stupid.

Stock I think these run 16-17mpg, but IIRC you can improve the mpgs with a tuner.

My 6.0 would do low 20s if I drove it right. I could see a modded 7.3 getting there but not a stock one IMO 

Another vote for: I think you have the answer but may not know it.

In reply to Matt B (fs) :

It tows great on flat ground.  Last year coming back to Michigan from Wyoming, we were running from a thunderstorm for about 10 straight hours in crazy winds that had the grass laying flat all around us.  At 75 mph it might as well have been a calm day.  Drove for probably 30-40 miles wondering why the truck felt sluggish before realizing the trailer had blown a tire and eaten the wheel down to the hub.  Friggin' tank.

That said, it's working pretty hard in the mountains just towing this trailer.  Definitely not the choice for towing a gigantic RV across the country.

As for the miles, I'm just at that "just how long is this party gonna last?" stage.  It's been so reliable it seems nuts to consider swapping it out, but it's old enough to buy a beer at this point!

Time to dive in on another timing belt job I guess.  :)

I'd keep it or trade for a newer Land Cruiser. As others have said, if it serves your needs, you can't get another "devil you know" vehicle for anywhere close to what you could put into this one to keep it going another 100k.

In reply to gearheadE30 :

I can confirm. I was the previous owner of his Excursion and have done better than 21mpg at least twice on some roadtrips. 

In reply to ppdd :

The newer you go domestically the better the fuel mileage. I knock down 24 mpg with my Ford V 8 and just about 80,000 it's been flawless. 
   Whatever you buy make sure it has flex fuel. I save $20 a tank full and even figuring in 2-3 less mpg I still come out $10 a tankful ahead. 

 Not only that but the engine runs cooler on those really scorching hot 90-100 degree days on the hills going to and from Elkhart Lake.  Plus it has a really serious improvement in horsepower. 
 

I also have a 100 series Land Cruiser.  It has treated you well.  From my understanding, the 200 Land Cruiser 's pull and tow much better (and no timing belts to change).   So if you want to change, values are great for your 100 and you can put some $ on top and get into a newer model.  

I'd say sell the 100 and go for a 200 series.  You can likely find a early 200 for 35K or if you don't mind the bling look for a LX570, usually dealer serviced and never off road in their life

In reply to yupididit :

No kidding... Maybe I should have worked past my '90s Ford prejudice and considered the Excursion a bit more! With careful tuning I might get 14-15 out of the 8.1...but 21 is a big jump from that.

In reply to gearheadE30 :

It was actually 21.4 when YupIdidit delivered the Excursion to me. Did a bit of towing last weekend through the Austin hills, currently at 20.5mpg

Back of the envelope math, a full tank of diesel, let's say you get 21mpg, that's a bladder busting 900+ miles of range per tank.

In reply to calteg :

I drove from San Antonio to Duluth GA on a single tank. 

You can lease a new 2022 Ram 1500 with 5.7L Hemi for $3500 up front and under $279 per month right now. It would be very hard to beat that.

All Ram 1500s are either Quad Cab (6.5" bed) or Crew Cab (5.5" bed) and have a very smooth ride. Virtually all come with the tow package. Mine has a 12K lbs. tow capacity: when hauling my racecar on an open trailer, you can hardly tell it's back there.

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Nothing to add, but I originally read "my 2002 Land Rover has 320k..."

And I was like - "teach me your magic"

The kind of dark magic required to get a Land Rover to 320k won't cost you a penny...only your soul!!