Would you be concerned about taking a 100k+ mile 100 on a road trip?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

The San Diego, Ca. To Ushuaia, Argentina portion of our trip took 4.5 months, was approximately 13,000+ miles, and 13 countries. However, it took over a year for me to leave Bariloche (Patagonia) Argentina, where my wife is from.
Yup- kinda liked it!
A) Did i wish it was a diesel? No
B) Did i wish it was an 80? No
C) Did i want to trade for a 105 in Bolivia? No

But i must admit we were impressed by a twin turbo diesel,v8, 200 series that passed us going 120 m.p.h.- he had the hood up with a worried look on his face at the next service Station though.

Sounds like an epic trip. Your post made me curious about the drive to South America. I found this guys blog about it. http://drivetosouthamerica.com/photo-journal/

I had no idea about the Darien Gap, and all the hoops you must go through to make this journey possible. Since your wife is from Argentina, I'm sure that helped you considerably with regards to language barriers. So you made it down there with Zero mechanical issues?
 
My 99 is driven on regular 300-900 mile trips for company travel. I get paid mileage, so my gas is covered and I profit the remaining. That could also be called my PM or mods fund :)
 
Sounds like an epic trip. Your post made me curious about the drive to South America. I found this guys blog about it. http://drivetosouthamerica.com/photo-journal/

I had no idea about the Darien Gap, and all the hoops you must go through to make this journey possible. Since your wife is from Argentina, I'm sure that helped you considerably with regards to language barriers. So you made it down there with Zero mechanical issues?

Its really not bad! You just need to mentally prepare yourself for delays and such, while remaining completely flexible.
But yes-My wife has god an her side, is a native spanish speaker, and tends to bring out the best in everyone she meets. She quite easily facilitated the border and shipping formalities, and every seemingly sketchy exchange with officials.

Mechanical Issues on a 13,000+ mile road trip;
Upper Ball Joints in Panama City- parts available- (my fault) should've done those before we left.
Blown 100amp Alt fuse in Salar de Ununi Bolivia- (my fault) embarassing story.
Rear Brake Rotors in Patagonia Argentina-shipped from U.S.-(wifes fault)
:steer::princess: back and forth over the Andes from sea level to 16,200 ft.- to many times to count.
None of the easily avoidable issues actually prevented the vehicle from running.

I Believe this was the ultimate test for our 175,000+ mile 100 series Landcruiser.
 
Bought mine with 109k and have driven it from austin to Santa Fe twice now with a bunch of mini-trips in between. Just got back today and rolled over 118k on the way home. Not a single issue other than some dash lights needing to be replaced.
 
Its really not bad! You just need to mentally prepare yourself for delays and such, while remaining completely flexible.
But yes-My wife has god an her side, is a native spanish speaker, and tends to bring out the best in everyone she meets. She quite easily facilitated the border and shipping formalities, and every seemingly sketchy exchange with officials.

Mechanical Issues on a 13,000+ mile road trip;
Upper Ball Joints in Panama City- parts available- (my fault) should've done those before we left.
Blown 100amp Alt fuse in Salar de Ununi Bolivia- (my fault) embarassing story.
Rear Brake Rotors in Patagonia Argentina-shipped from U.S.-(wifes fault)
:steer::princess: back and forth over the Andes from sea level to 16,200 ft.- to many times to count.
None of the easily avoidable issues actually prevented the vehicle from running.

I Believe this was the ultimate test for our 175,000+ mile 100 series Landcruiser.

That really is the ultimate test for our rigs. And quite a testament to the quality these things were built with! I remember reading that the trip to South America was fraught with countless potholes. Was that your experience as well?
 
Bought a'99 with 185k on it. Did some of the things it needed at that age and got the mall kruft out it. Some mild building on the front end, new suspension and a fresh 90k maintenance. Just drove it 5k from east coast to west and halfway back. Turned 205k as I dropped it in Golden, CO for the next level of build.

Rode spectacularly and averaged 13.5 mpg using a blend of 89 and 91 octane... Not bad for a heavy truck!
 
No problem for any road.
Myself, and family are sitting here at a mall in Cartagena, Colombia.
We are on our way back to San Diego, California.
5000 ROUGH miles in the last 2 weeks, 5 countries, 172,002,299,999 semis passed,......
Our 100 sits in the parking garage with just under 203,000 miles on the clock.
Runs fabulous and still enjoy each mile driven!
 
Mine has 208k miles now, but when it had around 140k on it, four of us took a 5 week, 12,000 mile trip around the country. We essentially drove the perimeter of the United States loaded down with camping gear, etc. Encountered everything from snow in Glacier NP, to extreme heat in Death Valley, to rush hour traffic in Manhattan. Great trip and had no issues. Only maintenance was an oil and filter change in Oregon.
 
Blown 100amp Alt fuse in Salar de Ununi Bolivia- (my fault) embarassing story.
Rear Brake Rotors in Patagonia Argentina-shipped from U.S.-(wifes fault)

I would be interested in the circumstances that these failures occurred. I will be doing the same trip in a few years...I would love to hear your stories on these issues! I assume that the truck is entirely stock...am I correct?

My 100 will probably be at 130K when I do this trip...and I wouldn't hesitate to take a 100 with 200K.
 
Last edited:
Just turned 278k. Going to do my 3rd 90k service this weekend, then heading out from Ohio to Washington State, then down the coast, through Death Valley, then back home by the end of October or so. Absolutely no worries.
 
While I get that most people who ask questions like this are coming from mere girly man cars and such... I was asking the very same question almost exactly a year ago when I started looking for mine. I called about 7 cruisers and went to see 5 and bought mine w/o even test driving it. bought Jan 29 with 105xxx miles. I will make 140,000 miles before I do DC to Detroit this weekend.
I have absolutly no second thoughts about taking this trip, I am doing DC to Savannah both before and after Thanksgiving and a run to North Carolina and probably one to Tennessee before year end. If we don't move closer to work I will rack up 50,000 miles in one year without a second thought.
The title of this thread should be changed to something like "Should I be concerned about taking my 200-250k mile cruiser on a trip?"
 
The title of this thread should be changed to something like "Should I be concerned about taking my 200-250k mile cruiser on a trip?"

Or maybe the 300-350k mile cruiser. :)
 
Last edited:
From reading this, I draw one conclusion. US consumers aren't as knowledgeable or aware of the quality of the 100 series.

Part of that is the nature of US consumer tastes, and the other part is they just dont have a lot experience with auto brands that can keep a car running for 200-300k miles.

There you have it. People in the US rarely buy any vehicle and hold it willingly for 10 years, much less 15-20. Sure, we drive more, but we'd rather have a new vehicle regardless of price rather than a reliable old one. And car prices are cheap enough that customers don't see the value in holding and maintaining a vehicle.

Land Cruisers are without a doubt, unique. If you didn't buy it to run for 10-20 years, you let some value go out the door...
 
We bought ours with about 127k miles, and since then have made four trips between Seattle and Champaign Il. Each time taking a different route through our awesome country. It is the BEST for long road trips (mpg notwithstanding). One of the stretches, I drive for 20 hours straight until stopping at 4Am for a quick nap. A very comfortable and competent rig.

As long as your baselined properly, go for it.
 
No problem for any road (continued)

Well...
We're back from almost 2 years of driving around central and South America in our 100.

San Diego,Ca. USA--- to --- Ushuaia,TDF. Argentina
Around and around Patagonia,BsAs, Chile etc.
Ushuaia,Ar--- back to ---- San Diego, Ca.
24,000 miles

The long way!

1 o2 sensor
1 set of brake rotors
2/3 sets of brake pads
1 100 amp alt fuse
5 oil changes
A few air filters
1 French Mastiff puppy

Best truck ever built.
 
STill waiting for the 100 amp fuse story. ;<)

I want to do this one day in the 100.

Thanks for the feedback on an incredible truck.
 
Kind of ridiculous, but- way out in the middle of a massive inland seabed. (Salt flat)
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.
I figured it would be a good time to cross the battery jumper leads on a 600w inverter.
Zap! Dead truck. In the worst possible place imaginable.
A bus that crosses on the salt flat a few times per week, rescued us and towed us back to safety.
The old,clear plastic,sightglass on that fuse made the element look intact at a glance-complicating my troubleshooting the problem.
I finally figured it out after I relaxed and had a nice meal. BACK TO BASICS............
I did not have a spare fuse at this time and there were none available. So, I bent the two ends of the elements inward so they made contact again. I wedged a small pebble inside the fuse housing to hold it in place. Jumped started the truck and continued the adventure.
Drove like this for a couple thousand miles.
 
Back
Top Bottom