Toyota Lucidas are they any good?

[mikeygtt]

I'm thinking of getting one of a guy I know for about 5k

Its done 90,000ks, turbo diesel, auto, all the added extras. Its in tidy condition

Its just for work but need to know if they have any troubles that are well known as i havent had a diesel before. Plus then I will have a toyota and feel like I'm in the fold again

[bbq1988]

missus parents have one, halls arse compared to most diesel vans :p

I like the Supercharged Petrol veriant

[bbq1988]

but, also theirs is a manual Turbo Diesel

[Mr Revhead]

make sure the cooling system is in good condition
the driveshaft for the alternator etc can wear out its bushes.
rear suspension bushes wear and you need to buy complete arms to fix.
the retainers for the rear windows fall out and the window falls out

[Leon]

turbo diesel, auto

We had one that same spec as a work vehicle ... it gave a lot of very expensive engine trouble. Probably owed as much in engine rebuild receipts as the purchase cost of the car. Then it still didn't work.

This might have been a one off ... but our one was a total Lemon.

My previous employer had a petrol n/a auto, and it was trouble free other than using many petrols

[sergei]

The problem with all toyota turbo diesel is the coolant system in combination with lack of maintenance. Poor coling (lack of coolant or water instead of proper mix) will create hot spots in the head which will lead to cracking and result in very expensive repairs.
The estimas are pretty good in terms of reliability - petrols ones BTW have chain instead of cambelt - don't need to worry about that.
As people said the accessories drive shaft bushes are the most problems.

[thegreatestben]

Not particularly great for loading up with heaps of crap. Slow and boaty also, If I had to buy a van for work I'd go for mitsi l300 petrol. Great fun

[Mr Revhead]

crikey... hiace > l300



but yeah, not the best for a load carrier

[thegreatestben]

haha we have both here at work, the l300 is loads more fun to drive without a load

[fuel]

Yeah avoid the diesel estima if you can. Have heard nothing but problems with the 3C-T. I would say it's just as bad, if not worse than a Mitsi diesel.

The L300 is a good van, many couriers use them just like the Hiaces so that's gotta be a good sign.

[Mr Revhead]

i disagree wholeheartedly with the above post

[fuel]

I bet you do Mr anti-Mitsubishi.

Hey I own a Toyota *and* a Mitsubishi.. I'm sitting on the fence post here

You gotta agree there are some not so good Toyotas, like the head cracking 2L-T surfs, to the block coroding and oil sludging VZ series V6. Sadly the 3C-T is another not so reliable engine.

That applies to Mitsis too.. there are more unreliable mitsis I know.. like the GDI disaster, most the automatic transmissions, early 90s ECUs, roof rust and of course the thousands of smokey mitsis too.

No car manufacturor is perfect, but Mitsis certainly aren't as bad as they are made out to be. I've had many Mitsis and none of them have let me down. Only major I had with one was a blown head gasket, and that happened at 370,000kms on the original engine - it's stilling driving around at over 410,000kms. I've spent more on repairs on my Toyota than I have on my Mitsubishi

[Mr Revhead]

im not saying the 3CT is the be all and end all of van engines.....

but its not as bad as you say

its all down to maintance, JDM diesels all appear to be very marginal in the cooling department, a bit of neglect and hello cracked head.
if looked after properly they will last for many many miles.

the above lack of maintanence accounts for all the cracked heads and V6 sludging issue.

they only issue with the 3c is the above, other than that they are a very good reliable engine

[the fallen303]

our one out handles camry's round corners at fair amount above posted signing admitedly we have mags and tyres off our supra on it, so sticks like shit to a blanket.

only issue we have with ours (diesel turbo auto) is the aircon pump sometimes whistles when you turn it on, but thats about it, still goes nicely.

[panda_dan]

I clocked over from 999,999kms to 1,000,000kms in my family's diesel hiace on its latest trip round the south island.

Origial motor serviced every 5000kms, original gearbox

1989, bought new

hiace=good

[fuel]

im not saying the 3CT is the be all and end all of van engines.....

but its not as bad as you say

its all down to maintance, JDM diesels all appear to be very marginal in the cooling department, a bit of neglect and hello cracked head.
if looked after properly they will last for many many miles.

the above lack of maintanence accounts for all the cracked heads and V6 sludging issue.

they only issue with the 3c is the above, other than that they are a very good reliable engine

Yuh and most the same applies to Mitsis.. they are fine when serviced properly, but if neglected they tend to have problems. I would agree that they are less tolerant to abuse as the Toyotas are.

[macabre]

pfft my l300 van would piss on the 3l turbo desiel hiaces and its only a sohc 4G63. may or may not have some mods

[mikeygtt]

hahahaha you guys are funny

Ive had a L300 an wont go there again.

The lucida has had the water pump an cambelt done as well as a univresal joint for a WOF.

It also has 17" mags so goes fast

Would it be wise to get a head check thing from repco to see if it has blown the head gasket hence a new water pump?

[mikeygtt]

by the way Revhead i quoted your work last yr to strip an polish the customer toilet area, but since they wanted it done a week out from christmas i put in a huge price an didnt get it as they never rung back

[Mr Revhead]

slack bastard!


but seriously...... is this gunna be a load carrier?
as they are full of seats they not the best for it!

id go for a hiace