Landcruiser brakes... [Stuff gets worse]

My arse.

The master cylinder seals cannot be replaced separately. The piston itself cannot be replaced.

In this context "cannot" means "I am the LLWS and I don't know how to do that, so I shall maintain it cannot be done".

I believe that either can be done.

However, when one tries to buy the parts, then you are told they don't exist. Waving a parts manual in their faces doesn't help.

If I order them myself from the US or Japan, then firstly there is a 50/50 chance they will get "lost" in customs, if that doesn't happen they will cost me 80% in import tax and 19% VAT, and then I will have to find someone to fit them. Bearing in mind that if LLWS doesn't want to recognise them, then the rest will be the same.

I can get it done at Toyota, £1,000 for parts and £500 labour and 1 month lead time. Which would probably turn out to be 3 months.

So in the end I have allowed LLWS's "Expert" friend to order one for £300 which LLWS will fit for £100, and the part will arrive in 10 days. Allegedly.

And believe it or not, round here that counts as a win.

The trouble is I have two Landcruisers; Mine, which is a roughty-toughty, metal, go anywhere, bounce off anything, Landcruiser which rarely goes wrong and is easy to repair if it does. Whereas this pile of plastic shit is a much more modern one, admittedly high tech, chosen by my wife and which has the robustness and manliness of a Premier League footballer at the hairdressers.

It will be sold as soon as it is roadworthy.

I will, but I expect we can both guess.....

And?



That, I'm afraid, applies to any new SUV. (unless it a big yankee only flatbed) Its a plot to deprive the TalibISL of reliable transport for jihadists and weapons

Right well after a ton of bloody hassle I finally got the master cylinder and handed it to the LLWS. It started well as I later received a phone call asking me what it was for.

[sigh]

Anyway, it finally got put on and I went to get the car, to be fair he only charged me $20,000 (£23 ish). The brakes seemed a little spongey at first, but either that was my imagination or it just went away. The brakes seem fine now, it brakes straight and evenly.

However, as I was driving home I think I felt the very slightest feedback through the pedal suggesting that feeling of warped discs was returning. I hate the bloody vehicle, I am paranoid about yet something else going wrong, and so I might be imagining it. Nonetheless its going to be driven little and sold asap.

Buying/selling cars here is an ordeal, I shall probably write a note about it, but my first challenge is to find something that I want and that'll do.

Suffice to say, large SUVs these days are school run vehicles. You might be ok driving across a field in Hampshire, but driving around the Andes is quite beyond most of them. Ironically the market seems to be open for the return of Landrover Discoveries - tough, simple,capable.

The other Landcruiser is a different world - its older you see. so it is made of metal - thick metal by and large.

The bonnet, doors, and roof of the newer one [LC1] are the only things that you can see that are metal. The wheel arches, door trims, front and rear end, and loads of other bits are all plastic. Its pretty, no doubt, but when you're banging around mountains these bits get banged and scratched on the older LC [ LC2] and break and fall off the newer LC.

For sure LC1 has climate control whereas LC2 has AC, Sat Nav vs. map, CD vs Tape, etc. etc. But LC2 is strong and butch. Its not that either is more reliable than the other, they are both pretty good. But if LC1 goes wrong you need an electronic bit shipped from a cave 8,000 miles away whereas if LC2 goes wrong you get your spanners out. LC1 has just cost me close to £800 and been unusable for two or three weeks because a seal in the master cylinder went. The same thing on LC2 would have cost me about £10 and taken half an hour.

So I am sure that a Landrover is more likely to go wrong. I'm equally sure it can be fixed quickly and easily.

For the rest, LC1 is just flat out not butch enough. It has all the toys and technology, and its probably infinitely more capable in a wet and muddy Hampshire field that LC2 would ever be. But its delicate and difficult to fix. It looks tatty as hell when compared to LC2, yet there is more than 10 years between them.

As for LLWS, in reality LC2 is beyond him. Whereas LC2 or a Landrover are right up his street. But don't think Toyota themselves are any different. When LC1 had to be repaired after my accident every required part had to be specially ordered which took 6 weeks - the plastic trim changes all the time, not just visibly, so it has to be ordered by build number / chassis number. When LC2 slipped sideways into a rock it had two new doors and a running board in less than a week, because all LC2s have the same doors and running boards.

LC1 is a superb vehicle for round town. It is comfortable, powerful, well equipped and f. big. Perfect for shopping and the school run. But if you're gonna get mucky, then you need LC2, because LC1 will break.

So, as I said earlier, don't laugh at the Yummyy Mummies on the school run in an LC, that's the market they've been designed for.

Quite right. I'm a "fix and keep" fan too.

My old petrol mower died about five years ago. Since then I've had an electric Flymo. Quite emasculating in truth. I try to use it only when others are at work or if that's not possible I avoid eye contact. At least I still have my petrol strimmer.