We're currently in Southern Africa, ending a trip in SA in a few weeks, planning on shipping back to the UK, but if someone is interested in buying the vehicle in SA and driving it home then let me know asap. Available in SA in September, UK in October.
Car Details:
The engine is off the shelf, 6 cylinder 4163cc 1HD-T turbo-diesel engine. It's an automatic model, Japanese import. I was looking for a manual but have found the auto really quite good. It's a very good gearbox, we’ve had no problems with it. 145,000 miles on the clock, a couple of thousand more once we've finished the trip.
I’ll list everything the sale includes, although I’m bound to miss a few things out.
Car modifications
- Long range fuel tank, the car carries +-250 litres of fuel. There is an electric pump to transfer fuel from the auxiliary to the main tank with a fuel gauge in both. The pump switch it located on the dash board.
- Three high performance Deka batteries, A 100ah auxiliary battery located in the back seat footwell for powering everything that isn’t related directly to the car, i.e. lights, compressor, inverter etc...
- 6 BF Goodrich all terrain tyres, we purchased two new and had four old ones, the old ones have been pretty pathetic, plenty of punctures and I’d recommend replacing those four! No problems with the new ones, worked perfectly.
- Ezi-Awn T-Top two man roof tent.
- Lockable roof box
- Two rear wheel carriers
- Air compressor for tyre inflation + hose with pressure gauge. The compressor is mounted under the bonnet.
- 4 Old Man Emu gas pressurised shock absorbers currently fitted, we also have 3 spares, if any die then you may receive fewer spares!
- Raised air intake
- Hannibal Safaris side awning
- Wrap around bull bars and side steps
- Front mounted spot lights
- Oil cooler
- Rear work light
- CB radio
- Radio with CD player and aux / USB / SD card input
- 60 litre water tank with pump and purifier
- Closed storage behind the back seats (Which the police have never found!)
- Engel 40 litre fridge
- Rear view camera, Image is flipped so it’s not ideal, but useful
- Bullet camera in the corner of the windscreen with video recorder
- A few security features I wont mention on a public forum
- Gear lock
- Winch
- Various auxiliary lights added to the vehicle, one in the back, one in the boot and one in the tent.
- 600w Voltage inverter for 240v power, runs of the auxiliary battery.
- Various DIN sockets added throughout the vehicle for 12v power.
- Twine water heater that runs off the engine – hot engine = hot water.
- National Luna battery management system to charge all three batteries but keep the auxiliary electrics separate so the main batteries are never run down. Gauge in the front of the vehicle to monitor battery levels with alarm.
As far as kit goes that we’ll include with the car:
- Full set of recovery gear, including various tow straps, recovery straps, high lift jack, sand ladders, air jack, shovel, jacking plate, heavy duty jump leads, pulley, shackles etc…
- Puncture repair kit
- Two 20 litre jerry cans, one water, one diesel.
- Any spares we’ve got left, currently quite a few
- Kitchen, including gas stove, pots, pans, plates, cutlery etc…
- Propane regulator with gauge
- 276c Garmin GPS with car kit and Africa maps, although you may want to update the maps. I’ll try to give the Europe maps too but Garmin lock those down quite tightly!
- Camping table (And chairs if you want them, but they may not survive the rest of this trip, let alone another one!)
- Two Land Cruiser manuals
- Various other small bits and pieces that we’ve found useful
- Sockets wired into tent for fan and light – the fan is a real luxury!
- Large spot light
- Seat covers, the original seats are very nice suede. Shame we don’t get to enjoy them but they’re worth protecting.
Other things to note about the vehicle that I believe are only on the Jap imports:
- Cool box between front seats, good for cold drinks and smuggling meat through veterinary checkpoints in Southern Africa! Can also make ice.
- Diff locks on all axels, most only include the centre and rear locks, the Japanese models have the front lock also.
And a few other things to note:
- Air conditioning – well worth having!
- Cruise control
Now I’ll give you a list of reasons not to buy the car - all the known problems are:
- Missing front fenders, we started the journey with one missing but managed to lose the other in the Congo. Just means the car gets muddier that it would otherwise.
- Crack in rear bumper, been there since we bought it.
- Damaged rear fenders, cracks and damage to both, purely cosmetic. (We may replace in South Africa depending on cost)
- Re-welded stabiliser bar on the suspension. (We will probably replace in South Africa)
As far as I can tell the car is in a pretty good condition still. Most of the problems we’ve had have been with the suspension, but nothing serious. The engine has never missed a beat, never struggled to start and never shown any signs of problems. It's an HDJ-80, their reputation goes before them.
Will get a full service done in SA and I’m planning on spending a day of my time with whoever decides to buy the vehicle to go through the whole thing in great detail + to discuss overland trips in general if required.
So as far as the price goes, we’re looking as selling it for £13,000, negotiable once we complete our trip in a few weeks. We’ll include pretty much everything with the car, I’ll be keeping most of my tools but will leave any car-specific tools with the vehicle.
Optional extra of the satellite phone if interested? I was just going to sell that on ebay as they sell like hot cakes on there!
You can see some pics of the car on
HOME - note, the 4 man tent pictured on the home page is not the tent that's on the car now. Look at the diary / photo pages for some pics. I'll try to get some more useful pics up soon.