ck90211

New to LX forum, but not new to Lexus (2 LS400's). Going to Cambodia/Vietnam for 2 years and allowed to ship a car from US to there. A few questions.

1. Are LX/Landcruisers reliable in tropical (humid, rainy and hot) climate?
2. Are there any particular year(s) that has larger/better 2nd row seats or rear entertainment? (will have a driver so I am in the back seat)
3. Any mods or upgrades I should consider for tropical duty?
4. Any particular good year (engine/tranny combo, or electrical) for maximum reliability? (I won't be towing or off roading).

I hope not to spend more than $15K (guess this eliminates most of the 2000's), because the car will see lots of salt (ocean shipping), acid (rain) and abuse (scratch and dents from super congested streets), that probably won't be covered by any insurance. Trust me, I rather take taxis or ship 1 of my LS instead of spending this $15K, but where I am going they don't have convenient good roads, taxi services or public transportations.

Thanks for your insight and help.

AKoch

IMHO and personal experience only:


1. Are LX/Landcruisers reliable in tropical (humid, rainy and hot) climate?
Yes. You might want to make all letters capital on this one.

2. Are there any particular year(s) that has larger/better 2nd row seats or rear entertainment? (will have a driver so I am in the back seat)
No. The body has remained the same, provided you are within the same generation. But if it is TLC80 vs TLC100 - the later (98+) have far better second row comfort. 1998 - 2007 - no changes in his regard.

3. Any mods or upgrades I should consider for tropical duty?
Replacing fluids before you ship the car. Not otherwise.

4. Any particular good year (engine/tranny combo, or electrical) for maximum reliability? (I won't be towing or off roading).
Not really. Somewhat different, but having owned both (98 and 2006), and actually a TLC80 1992 I am still scratching my head which one is the "better" one. So work from your budget, really.

"(I won't be towing or off roading)" - you don't need the LX450/470 then. Really.

ck90211

Thanks. Needing a SUV because not a whole lot of paved streets, and during monsoon season roads get washed out (muddy, big dips), and needing 3rd row for seats. Can't think of any better SUV with 3rd row with international parts availability and reasonable price (compare to Land Rovers and MB's) than LX.

Hoser

My advice would be to buy a 2000-2002 LC because it doesn't have the AHC suspension. I would also prefer one without the optional Navi.

ck90211

Good points. My 96 LS air struts went out ($2K for new Arnotts and labor). Just curious, on LX what go bad in AHC? (struts? valves? sensors? accumulators) and when? I know for LS it's usually 10-12th year.

Hoser

The AHC suspension has shown problems in less than 50k miles to not at all in over 150+k miles. Mine is going on 13 years w/o problems. The main failures are the sensors (corrosion) and accumulators (go flat or contamination). Overall, I do prefer the LX over the LC but there are some added cost risks... and it sounds like you are trying to minimize that.

khoa2801@y

I don't know about cambodia but in Vietnam, they don't allow importing used car older than 5 years old from the manufacturing date. So if you import to vietnam, you need to check again for your car model year. Just a quick note

V8_Fan

'99 was the first year with rear air. You will definitely want this.

lexusscturbo

iTrader: (12)

Also iirc the Asian countries that usually get the LC of this body usually have the 3.0 TD or the 2.4 TD correct?

1loudLX

no, they'd get the 4.2 TD or the 4.5L petrol engine.

Johnny Rad

Why not buy in country?

ck90211

Answering some questions.

Yes I don't want to deal with air suspension problems; having spent $2K on my LS already, I'd be happy with hydraulic system.

About age of car I can bring in. I am allowed to bring 1 (or 2) as a diplomat, so car age/models/specs are not restricted.

Why not buy there? Because they have pretty high tariffs on imports (I am talking about Cambodia now), so everything (new or used) costs more. And most used cars sold locally are "hybridized" from multiple cars (many probably stolen or chopped from elsewhere), so not the safest, reliable or most road worthy.

Rear Air is definitely a big plus, since I will be in the back seat, and it is really hot and humid there. Thanks for the suggestion.

As for the spec engine in Asia, I believe Cambodia spec Landcruisers have either 4.5 Diesel or 4.7 Gas. So a LX470 or Landcruiser with 4.7L gas should have no prob getting most parts.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

V8_Fan

Another thing that would be "nice" to have is the rear subtank. Landcruisers/LX's sold overseas (especially the mid-east, africa, australia) usually come with a 15 gal auxiliary fuel tank above the rear spare tire. None of the US vehicles have them. Some people have imported parts from overseas and installed the tanks over the spare tire for '98-02 vehicles. On US-spec '03-07 vehicles, toyota put the charcoal canister above the spare, so you can't install a subtank there w/o relocating the charcoal canister. The cruisers sold in those countries also have the cylindrical cyclonic air filter box, which filters better than the rectangular one sold in the US and Japan. You should be able to get parts for the cyclonic one overseas, if you wish. Another option if you have to drive on lots of dirt roads, especially in a convoy (i.e., dust), is to get a Safari snorkel for your LX/LC. This will also protect the engine from hydrolock if you drive through deep water (you should also extend your differential, transfer case, and transmission breather hoses higher into the engine bay if you plan to do lots of water crossings, as the stock height is something like 36"). If see landcruisers go in water up to the roof with a safari snorkel.