Hi, I am on the market for a Japanese SUV, preferably a Toyota. A manual transmission is the only thing I am looking for. I have considered the FJ60 and FJ60 Land Cruisers, but I can't find any manual FJ80s in North America. What are some 4x4 Japanese SUVs that may be reliable as a daily driver?
get a 4runner or Camry. personally i like the 3rd gen 4runners. my 97 4runner has 380,000 miles and still going strong.
Well, a 1st or 3rd Gen 4Runner would be a great choice. They both have decent transmissions and you can easily customize the vehicle to your liking. The Suzuki Samurai is also a viable choice, but it is a quite dangerous 4x4 to own.
If you can find a 4Runner with a manual, definitely get it. They're as tough as it gets. Land Cruisers are great too though, so you're on the right track. A diesel FJ60 with a manual is probably my ideal 4x4, but they're hard to find and good ones are expensive. A more obscure option (for the States anyway; it's a fairly common thing to do here) would be to consider importing. It's more time and effort and I don't know your budget, but you're more likely to find what you want. It's definitely not for everyone and it's only really viable if you live on the west coast, but I figured it was at least worth mentioning. www.tradecarview.com is good to get an idea of what's available. Here are some I found that you may be interested in (I do this for fun so I got a little carried away): Over 25 Years Old (Importable to US+Canada): 1981 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 1986 Isuzu Bighorn 1988 Isuzu Bighorn 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ70 1989 Mitsubishi Pajero 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ70 15-25 Years Old (Importable to Canada Only) 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ80 1993 Mitsubishi Pajero 1993 Nissan Safari (not something you'll see in North America) 1996 Mitsubishi Pajero 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 1997 Toyota Hilux Surf 1998 Daihatsu Terios (something completely different) 2000 Suzuki Jimny 2001 Isuzu Wizard
Thank you for all of your helpful posts, I now have a more broad idea of what to buy! Due to my limited ability of importing cars, I will only buy something that is in North America. I am confident about the third generation 4Runner, do the 4Runner suffer from serious issues caused by neglect of maintenance, or any electrical issues? Will they stand up to rust as well?
If you take care of them, they will be perfect. Just wash them regularly to prevent rust and make sure the door sills are fully dried off. Other than that, you should be fine. Simple regular servicing as well.
i would go with a fj60 turbo landcruiser theres quite a few and toyota t100 rough house tow payload its a good truck