Well it had to happen eventually - just bought my first ever Toyota !

Howdy All

After 45 years of owning/driving cars in and around this big brown land I recently purchased a 2007 GXL 200 series V8 diesel Landcruiser ! Funny thing is I wasn't even in the market for a car at all - it just came up at a price that I could not refuse when a friend of mine decided to sell one of his two Landcruisers. I actually drove this very car to Darwin and back from Adelaide about 6 years ago when I got a gig as the head 4wd/bush survival guy with a Japanese film crew who did a documentary on John Mcdouall Stuart where we retraced his steps from the south of the country to the north - along with filming ads for the Toyota Landcruiser. Tough gig but someone had to do it !!

Over the years I have owned dozens of cars, mainly utes and have never been a one eyed Ford or Holden man nor a one eyed fan of any others - I just bought what I thought would suit my needs at the time and what I thought represented good value for money.

I have already clocked up 6000 k's in it since buying and I love it. I drove it from Adelaide to Canberra and return but found it nowhere near as comfortable as my PX1 Ranger and ended up with a sore back at the end of each trip. I put this down to what l think is that it still has the original shockers which are possibly stuffed as it hopped and skipped over bumps and it was hard to drive - something I will rectify asap. It had done 185,000 k's when I got it.

So far - I just love the power and low down grunt and love the cabin space but absolutely hate the keyless entry/start.

It's bog standard at the moment but that will change over the next few months with priority being an in dash GPS / bluetooth / reverse camera etc etc head unit followed by upgraded suspension, bullbar, driving lights, snorkel, roof rack and marginally larger tyres. I have already fitted a roller drawer system to help with storage.

Will have a few questions to ask on here re: this cruiser but for now would appreciate any useful tips on things I should do to make this great car even greater or anything I should be aware of that could cause me problems down the track !

Thanks and Cheers
" oh what a feeling "
Gazz