Hi folks,

A few questions from a newbie here.

We're a couple looking to buy a land cruiser and spend the next year or so getting to know the vehicle and bringing it up to as good a state of reliability as possible.

With the eventual goal of completing two overland trips, one from SA to the UK, and then a second a year or so later from the UK to Australia where we'll be moving to and so importing the vehicle to keep.

Would be interested in knowing people's thoughts about the following?

- Which series? 80 or 100, or..... We're currently inclined to find as new-ish and low miles an example as possible within a sensible budget, given this will be a lifetime ownership vehicle that we'd plan to keep and use after the trips for exploring Australia for hopefully a long time to come. Albeit, have read about the different schools of thought on modern electronics and sensitivity to dirty/poor fuel in some parts of the world. Still undecided but open to people's experiences?

- Is the newer/lower miles option the way to go here from a cost-efficiency perspective? Or is it possible that it actually makes more financial sense to find an older/higher mileage example for less money and then spend more on rebuilding? In other words, is a £5K base vehicle and £10K of servicing sometimes a better option than a £15K base vehicle and £5K worth of servicing?

- Buy a prepared overlanding vehicle or build one up from a standard vehicle? Is there rule of thumb here that it makes more sense to buy one that someone else has spent the time/money preparing, or is there little difference? We've all seen the ads that say "buy my truck for 18K, 40K spent on it"... But is this (a) true and (b) universally applicable?

- Modifications? What makes sense to do? We're not really interested in extreme off-roading, and while we're all for having a bit more off-road capability and longer range than standard and enough accessories to make life easier, in reality it'll spend most of it's life on roads of some description, albeit perhaps some very rough ones. I'm usually of the opinion that the most reliable and capable vehicles are often the ones that have as few modifications as possible, so what is genuinely helpful and adds to reliability/durability rather than subtracts from it?

- Comfort? This will be our home for a very long time. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the most comfortable options are for sleeping/cooking arrangements? Would like to keep the option of sleeping inside the vehicle if at all possible, although a roof tent would be useful for some occasions, there will be times/places/weather when we'd prefer to stay inside.

-Automatic or Manual, diesel or petrol, active or passive suspension? Bearing in mind not just the needs/compromises of these two trips, but also it's future home in Aus?

Thanks in advance and apologies if I've opened a can of worms on the choice of series debate.....