Buying a 200-series - what are common repairs and would you buy an extended warranty?

[Desert Nomad]

when I see posts with "$2,500 for a rusted KDSS valve replacement" I get nervous.

I think @arich was facing problems with kdss due to salt corrosion, i think as preventative maintenance he recommended applying grease to the valves every so often.

As reliability with my 200... I've hit 170k kms (105k miles) and had to put the 200 on a recovery truck once and that was due to a flat battery. I had jumper cables and another car to assist i just bloody kept attaching the positive cable to negative terminal. Aside from that torn my cv boots twice now.

I used to have a land rover defender but when it's that time of the month, call the tow truck

 

[Markuson]

I used to have a land rover defender but when it's that time of the month, call the tow truck

Lol! Wow... No love for Land Rover reliability...even from former owners...

 

[Edino]

Here in the UAE, Landcruiser's come with an unlimited mileage 5yr manufacturer warranty already. I will not buy extended warranty after the 5 years; they are rock-solid - I do not know anyone that had major problems with their LC 200; you see here LC's on the street as often as a F150 in the US

 

[linuxgod]

Here in the UAE, Landcruiser's come with an unlimited mileage 5yr manufacturer warranty already. I will not buy extended warranty after the 5 years; they are rock-solid - I do not know anyone that had major problems with their LC 200; you see here LC's on the street as often as a F150 in the US

Thanks. If I were to opt for an extended warranty, it would be because I don't trust the secondary electronics like the parking sensors, cameras, Navigation unit, etc since those parts are made by third parties like Johnson Controls or Alpine, and can get very expensive very quickly. I have little doubt the mechanical bits will last 300k miles. But so far it doesn't sound like anyone's had electronics issues, so I may just bank the money.

 

[Markuson]

Here in the UAE, Landcruiser's come with an unlimited mileage 5yr manufacturer warranty already. I will not buy extended warranty after the 5 years; they are rock-solid - I do not know anyone that had major problems with their LC 200; you see here LC's on the street as often as a F150 in the US

Wow! UNLIMITED miles and 5 years... pretty amazing.

What kind o warranty do they offer on these in the UAE?

 

[M1911]

I paid $1,400 for the 8 total year / 100k total miles Toyota Platinum Vehicle Service Agreement on my 2013 CPO. While I bought the car for its capability and reliability, spending an extra $1.5k for additional warranty (plus roadside assistance) on an $80k MSRP vehicle didn't seem like a total waste of money. Though I do look forward to be proven wrong =)

Ditto. I bought a 2013 CPO in October and paid the same for the same warranty.

The cost isn't that great and while I expect the LC to be reliable, it won't take much for the warranty to pay for itself.

My '03 4Runner needed quite a few repairs over the years, including frozen brake calipers, new heater fan (twice, IIRC), bearings, CV boots, etc.

 

[Celt Horseman]

The only money I've spent on services that may be covered by such a warranty has been on: rear kdss unit (about 1K), water pump (around 700), propeller shaft assembly for "thunk" (around 780), and the wobbly mirror fix (around 70) All those things came after 100K miles on the clock.

Most of the cash I've spent on my '08 with nearly 175K miles has been on preventative maintenance items (fluids), wearable parts/upgrades (shocks, brakes, tires). I've never had a breakdown, or any type of significant malfunction on any system that HAD to be repaired.

I am religious (kind of obsessive) about maintenance, so I've spent quite a bit on fluid changes. Also, plugs at 120K miles.

I would bet you'll be ahead without the warranty. Put the cash into some Slee step sliders and some quality window tint instead. Or, maybe a quality underbody protection considering the salt exposure (I couldn't make a specific recommendation on that, but there may be a thread on the topic).

I have to concede that I bought her with 94K on the clock, so I missed most of the first 100K, but I didn't see anything significant in the service records.

wobbly mirrors, how did you fix that? both my wobble, and to where I am use to it and not biggy. It would be nice to fix.

 

[txtortoise]

You might do the numbers on a 6 year/100k platinum (wrap-around over original warranty) vs buying the extension on the CPO to 6 yrs/100k. Both are Toyota warranties, but one starts from date of your sale and one starts from date of first sale.

I did a simple spreadsheet base on estimated annual miles and ended up with better coverage on the extended. I have a 2013 LX, but it had an early 2012 sale date. Negotiated it to $1800. Based on my experience with my 100, it was worth $300 year, particularly if you have avoid service advisor for qualifying repairs.

If doing the wraparound contract you can buy that over the phone from a dealer in Louisiana that's well known, doesn't need to be part of your sale.

 

[Desert Nomad]

Wow! UNLIMITED miles and 5 years... pretty amazing.

What kind o warranty do they offer on these in the UAE?
View attachment 1193456

I think it's a 3 or 4 year 100k kms warranty when I had my defender but even with the warranty the amount of trips to the dealers on a flat bed really put me off. Replaced output shaft, manifold cracked, trans was leaking till the gear box died. Once they handed the vehicle over with the intake boot hanging open at one end

 

[Desert Nomad]

If I were to opt for an extended warranty, it would be because I don't trust the secondary electronics

I'm sure beno should know what electronics are in house and which are secondary. I know toyota develop a lot of their tech and parts in house or by companies owned by them

 

[linuxgod]

You might do the numbers on a 6 year/100k platinum (wrap-around over original warranty) vs buying the extension on the CPO to 6 yrs/100k. Both are Toyota warranties, but one starts from date of your sale and one starts from date of first sale.

I did a simple spreadsheet base on estimated annual miles and ended up with better coverage on the extended. I have a 2013 LX, but it had an early 2012 sale date. Negotiated it to $1800. Based on my experience with my 100, it was worth $300 year, particularly if you have avoid service advisor for qualifying repairs.

If doing the wraparound contract you can buy that over the phone from a dealer in Louisiana that's well known, doesn't need to be part of your sale.

Thanks, I didn't realize there was a difference. I'll get a quote on a wrap from that dealer and see how it stacks up.

 

[carboncycles]

If you haven't bought your car and absolutely insist on an extended warranty, call around the nation. I have done this several times on cars I've purchased in the past and gotten quotes from 2500 to 900 for a full factory warranty. There is a huge mark-up and the finance department knows this...funny story: One finance manager got so pissed that he became very rude and aggressive with me while I was in the process of signing papers. I simply got up and walked out. The sales guy was absolutely shocked on what happened and I'm not sure if that finance manager still works there.

 

[INTP]

In addition to the KDSS valve rust other potential problems could be a leaky radiator or waterpump and starter contacts.

 

[M1911]

FYI, when I bought my Landcuiser the front defroster wasn't working. To fix it required four visits and replacing an a/c amplifier and the entire head unit. I suspect parts alone cost well over $2k. I'm still covered on the original warranty so it was no cost to me.

But if this happened out of warranty, it would really suck. That is why I paid for the extended warranty.

 

[Katkon]

Thanks. If I were to opt for an extended warranty, it would be because I don't trust the secondary electronics like the parking sensors, cameras, Navigation unit, etc since those parts are made by third parties like Johnson Controls or Alpine, and can get very expensive very quickly. I have little doubt the mechanical bits will last 300k miles. But so far it doesn't sound like anyone's had electronics issues, so I may just bank the money.

Agree completely. Those are the items that will fail. BMW once quoted me $7K (yes, $7K) for a 2 year extended warranty on a '10 M5. Reason for the price was electronics. To quote the Service Manager: "It's not a question if, but rather when, they fail." Same coverage minus electronics was something like $5K less. I did not buy the coverage. Ironically, I sold the car a couple of weeks later.

 

[Katkon]

I think it's a 3 or 4 year 100k kms warranty when I had my defender but even with the warranty the amount of trips to the dealers on a flat bed really put me off. Replaced output shaft, manifold cracked, trans was leaking till the gear box died. Once they handed the vehicle over with the intake boot hanging open at one end

My wife is a staunch opponent of LR, despite never having owned one. Her only exposure was a brand new LR Discovery loaned to me one weekend by a dealer, in the hopes that I might buy one. I liked it except for one thing (which freaked the heck out of my wife): it would accelerate on its own. Coming to a stop at a light, pressing the brake, and the truck continued to accelerate. Brakes unresponsive as working against torque of the engine which was revving up on its own. Threw the transmission into neutral and hammered the brakes to avoid a collision. Truck revved to the top end of the tachometer, before settling down. Happened every time the truck got above a certain RPM limit. Called a flatbed to pick it up (this is a brand new Discovery). Dealer diagnosed it as a butterfly valve getting stuck in the throttle perhaps due to improper break-in. Asked me whether we'd like to try another one. My wife replied: "If it weren't for my husband we'd all have been involved in a serious car accident. I would never have thought to stick the car in neutral when coming to a stop to be able to use the brakes. We could've died. So... no." Admittedly, this was many years ago - before even BMW got their hands on LR.

Fast forward many years later and my brother bought a Range Rover Sport - which he loved. He summed up reliability as: "The truck was rock solid. Never had a single issue. Well...except for the air suspension raising and lowering itself at times. But that aside, it was great."

There's a reason Land Rover is at the bottom of virtually every reliability survey, even to this day. A friend who works for a large chain of luxury car dealerships in the UK (including Land Rover) recommended I stay away. He suggested the inside joke in the business is that people who buy Land Rovers are loyal for a reason: They don't trade in their old LR when they buy their new one, they keep the old one for one the new one is in the shop being repaired. He did also suggest that LR owners are extremely brand loyal and have a much higher tolerance for issues than virtually any other brand. I do understand that to a degree - it's a cool brand with a strong pedigree. Heck, despite the issues listed above, I've considered an LR4 a time or two. For emotional not rational reasons. But, reliability issues and now lack of a V8 (in the new models) killed it for me.

 

[Markuson]

My wife is a staunch opponent of LR, despite never having owned one. Her only exposure was a brand new LR Discovery loaned to me one weekend by a dealer, in the hopes that I might buy one. I liked it except for one thing (which freaked the heck out of my wife): it would accelerate on its own. Coming to a stop at a light, pressing the brake, and the truck continued to accelerate. Brakes unresponsive as working against torque of the engine which was revving up on its own. Threw the transmission into neutral and hammered the brakes to avoid a collision. Truck revved to the top end of the tachometer, before settling down. Happened every time the truck got above a certain RPM limit. Called a flatbed to pick it up (this is a brand new Discovery). Dealer diagnosed it as a butterfly valve getting stuck in the throttle perhaps due to improper break-in. Asked me whether we'd like to try another one. My wife replied: "If it weren't for my husband we'd all have been involved in a serious car accident. I would never have thought to stick the car in neutral when coming to a stop to be able to use the brakes. We could've died. So... no." Admittedly, this was many years ago - before even BMW got their hands on LR.

Fast forward many years later and my brother bought a Range Rover Sport - which he loved. He summed up reliability as: "The truck was rock solid. Never had a single issue. Well...except for the air suspension raising and lowering itself at times. But that aside, it was great."

There's a reason Land Rover is at the bottom of virtually every reliability survey, even to this day. A friend who works for a large chain of luxury car dealerships in the UK (including Land Rover) recommended I stay away. He suggested the inside joke in the business is that people who buy Land Rovers are loyal for a reason: They don't trade in their old LR when they buy their new one, they keep the old one for one the new one is in the shop being repaired. He did also suggest that LR owners are extremely brand loyal and have a much higher tolerance for issues than virtually any other brand. I do understand that to a degree - it's a cool brand with a strong pedigree. Heck, despite the issues listed above, I've considered an LR4 a time or two. For emotional not rational reasons. But, reliability issues and now lack of a V8 (in the new models) killed it for me.

All of the above is, to me, the best argument for Land Cruiser in this price category. I want the vehicle most likely to get me to...and from...the boonies when alone or with the wife. That's Land Cruiser. They might require repairs occasionally, but they are EXTREMELY likely to get you there and back again. What's the point of having a badass vehicle like a LR...if the chances are good something will crap out on the trip? If my LC craps out...it will most likely be because I screw up. With the LR? -Just seems like you add an entirely new layer of random failure that is rare with the LC.

 

[Edino]

I agree that electronics are the weak part... but to compare the LC it to BMW? I have driven many years BMW, mainly 5 series; they are way more complicated that a LC. If worried about electronics... and comparing BMW with Toyota LC... its like apple to potatoes. BMW is fully computerized... to all extend, and agree there is a concern on long term ownership. But the Toyota LC, is not even at 5% of the computerization of an BMW.... that's why I would not worry so much about the electrics of an LC in the long term...

 

[Edino]

Agree completely. Those are the items that will fail. BMW once quoted me $7K (yes, $7K) for a 2 year extended warranty on a '10 M5. Reason for the price was electronics. To quote the Service Manager: "It's not a question if, but rather when, they fail." Same coverage minus electronics was something like $5K less. I did not buy the coverage. Ironically, I sold the car a couple of weeks later.

I agree that electronics are the weak part... but to compare the LC it to BMW? I have driven many years BMW, mainly 5 series; they are way more complicated that a LC. If worried about electronics... and comparing BMW with Toyota LC... its like apple to potatoes. BMW is fully computerized... to all extend, and agree there is a concern on long term ownership. But the Toyota LC, is not even at 5% of the computerization of a BMW.... that's why I would not worry so much about the electrics of an LC in the long term...


Sorry for the double post, now included with the quote.... still learning here

 

[linuxgod]

Thought I'd follow up here since my LC arrived on Friday and I picked it up today. I ended up buying the Toyota 7/100k wrap for $1340 after a bit of negotiation. Hopefully I won't need it but since I'm taking a 5 year loan it's strong piece of mind that most anything in years 2-5 will be covered.

Thanks for all the info