Thread: Reliable vehicles

Originally Posted by CraigE

Toyota BJ55, absolutely bullet proof.

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You put a B engine in a 55? or you mean BJ40-2?

I think mine would have to be a 78 200b wagon. Purchased off my brother in law as he was going to scap it, rebuilt the motor and then drove it for years.
Dont know about reliable but I over heated a 186 in a HR Holden, it was night time and when the bonnet was lifted the engine bay just glowed red (ever looked at a turbo glow red, get the picture), filled it back up with water to cool it down, fixed the radiator and drove it for 12 months more. Bet ya cant do that with a modern motor
cheers
blaze

SWMBO's GU Patrol ute has just clocked over 280,000km towing horses and farm work and general run around/run everywhere vehicle and we have had to change a fuel transfer pump for the second fuel tank (under warranty) and that's it. One set of brake pads, two sets of belts (cautionary) one battery and fuel and oil.
Bloody brilliant. The GQ (petrol) was just as good, too.

I do have to change a rear axle seal when I get a chance, it's started to weep and is a pain in the backside being a semi-floater. (exxy bearing kit, etc)

Some very interesting stories in this thread

Looks like Subaru, Honda and Toyota build goos units!

I had two Subaru Sherpa's, until recently.
One for daily driving and a yellow one for future spares.
The little red one was a beast
Cheap to run, could do 120kph and was a ton of fun.

I sold it last year, then repainted the yellow one and sold it to the kid next door for a paltry $400. I noticed two weeks later that it was making horrid rattling noises, so I queried him about it. He told me that the oil light won't go off until 5 minutes of driving! (Obviously a stuck pressure relief valve)

I was horrified but obviously it was too late, the damage had been done, so I gave him the spare engine I had. It took a month of daily driving before the poor thing finally died!! The other motor is currently being reconditioned.

For those of you who have not seen a Sherpa, pics below

Cheers,
Ron

Valiants with either of the six cylinder engines. The most nearly maintenance free motor cars I ever operated either as an owner or fleet manager. The slant sixes in particular had a lower overall cost per mile than Holdens and Falcons in spite of a higher purchase price and higher fuel usage. Unfortunately the good ones left are pretty well all in collectors hands.

Originally Posted by Hucksta

I had a 98 Holden Frontera for 10 years, just recently sold it. Sad to see it go as it never once let me down, in ten years it started first time every time, only spent minimal dollars on it for general service stuff.

Hucksta

Been a couple of mentions of the Holden Frontera ( which is an Isuzu of course - so Jap engineered but built in the US ). We had one for a few years. It just "felt" dependable. I sorta miss it. The V6 petrol was thirsty however.

We had a Daihatsu Applause for many years, that thing was amazingly reliable. I loved that little car.

I have had two ripper cars for reliability - '75 RR 2 door, sold with 590,000 k's up and still going beautifully and a Series 3 Jaguar with well over 300,000 k's. Neither ever missed a beat, and neither were given a lazy life.

I have found all Jag and Land Rover products to be fabulous if properly maintained.

Originally Posted by rovercare

You put a B engine in a 55? or you mean BJ40-2?

Yep sorry was a BJ40.