Buying my first 100 series - a few questions plus any other vehicles to consider?

[SMLE]

Hi Folks,

After much deliberation, a few weeks back I decided to start looking for a nice example of a 100 series as we are going to be moving more rurally next year and I wanted something more substantial (plus an 'end of the world' car would be great).

I'm in the UK, and like a lot of the more damp places in North America, rust is a killer on these it seems. After speaking with a seller on multiple occasions via phone and messages I travelled 4 1/2 hours on a train yesterday and 2 taxis to find the advertised 2003 4.2TD vehicle was absolutely rotten (they had been hugely dishonest) amongst many other big issues. I then made the same journey home so wasted £200 in travel costs and my whole day sadly.

My budget isn't huge (£9K) but there are some nice examples (at least from what the adverts say!) around my budget which is reassuring, they call them the Land Cruiser Amazon over here.

One of the big limiting factors is I require ISOFIX (child seat safety brackets in the seats) which came in around late 2002/early 2003 from the sounds of things. This has limited the pool of vehicles I can look at. This also then puts me into the territory of 5 speed auto boxes which I've been told are 'sealed for life' and aren't as reliable or rugged. Regardless of which autobox I go for, it'll be mated to the 4.2TD engine.

A few questions if I may:

• Are 5 speed auto boxes as bad as I've been told? Everywhere I read online suggests they are much nicer to use and there aren't issues with servicing/repairing/longevity.
• I briefly considered the 120 series (Prado), however rust and other issues have made me discount those. The 4runner (Hilux Surf) didn't get made past the 90s here so ISOFIX is out of the window sadly. Is there any other vehicle you compare as similar in reliability/quality to a 100 series that I should consider?

I plan to carry on searching as despite yesterday being a massive waste of my time and money, it reconfirmed I do want one.

Thanks!

 

[excessive]

There is nothing wrong with the 5 speed auto trans, there are many members on here who are approaching 300k miles on that transmission. myself and many other members on here would agree that it is the better transmission offered in the 100 series lineup. it all depends on what maintenance was done over the life of the transmission., it's not sealed -the fluid can and should be changed at least every 60-90k miles. Try to find one where the previous owner has records of the fluid being changed somewhat regularly.