Distance touring, want simple car

[Overt Hill]

Hello everyone, first post here so please go easy!

As semi retirement approaches I'm looking into cars suitable for a long tour into Central Asia where most most manufacturers are poorly represented. I'm very wary of modern cars with their built in electronic weaknesses and prefer to reduce the electric gizmos as much as possible. I had a Toyota Landcruiser 100 Series from new that had fuel, temp and oil... and I don't remember them ever being needed.

I fancy either an XC90 or V90. My question... which is the most basic spec to avoid all the senors that are only going to cause heartache and ultimately expense?

I prefer not to take a Land Rover 110 or an old Land Cruiser but if you cruise the forums all you see are senors, ecus, warning light etc... I'd prefer to stay as simple as possible.

Thanks
Richard

[nu11eaf]

You will need the old version XC90, all the new cars are full of electronics and ECU's, you would be better off with a Toyota in those parts of the world.

[Quacker]

Originally Posted by Overt Hill

Hello everyone, first post here so please go easy!

As semi retirement approaches I'm looking into cars suitable for a long tour into Central Asia where most most manufacturers are poorly represented. I'm very wary of modern cars with their built in electronic weaknesses and prefer to reduce the electric gizmos as much as possible. I had a Toyota Landcruiser 100 Series from new that had fuel, temp and oil... and I don't remember them ever being needed.

I fancy either an XC90 or V90. My question... which is the most basic spec to avoid all the senors that are only going to cause heartache and ultimately expense?

I prefer not to take a Land Rover 110 or an old Land Cruiser but if you cruise the forums all you see are senors, ecus, warning light etc... I'd prefer to stay as simple as possible.

Thanks
Richard

You are twenty years too late to find a new simple big car. They are all chock-full of safety and emissions kit these days I've just been considering a new Defender which is competitively priced with an XC90, even as a First Edition high spec model. It is an extremely complex vehicle though and I suspect it to be a very expensive long term prospect, although if you can bear the inevitable initial niggles, it may well be an outstanding short term prospect.

If you really want 'simple and reliable' the nearest you can get is probably the Hyundai/Kia or Honda CR-V. Honda is only available with a petrol engine currently. No diesel.

FWIW I've still got a 100 series LC that I bought new in 1998. It has covered 200,000 very reliable miles but finally succumbed to a failed brake servo failure that would cost about £3500 to repair, plus it needs to be converted to a standard suspension because the system dampers have failed and the potentiometers have also become unreliable. It has remained on stop on my yard for the last two years and now also needs complete new brakes and the probability that it also needs new brake pipes throughout to pass the MOT, plus the two batteries have failed. It just isn't economic to repair.

I doubt whether something modern will last much more than half the twenty years service that the LC has given me. There's just too many very very expensive to repair systems to go wrong. Mind you, if something does last that long if bought today, I'll probably not be around to drive it, having worn out and been scrapped before the machine. So at my age, and possibly yours, should we really care about the long term prospects for our vehicles?

[Overt Hill]

Thanks for your responses guys and agree the opportunity to buy a gizmo free car passed 20 years ago, however I'm trying at least to reduce to a minimum! The new Defender has 4 separate COMPUTERS on board so that's defo out! I have a pal with a 2005 (?) 110 with @200k kms on it and it's like new. He does most of his own maintenance and it's never let him down. I've had classic W111 Mercedes in the past so even a @1984 W123 300D would safely get me round and back despite it's age (the 800k+ Km taxi model...).

On the whole, roads are good enough to take quite a simple car these days (the Land Cruiser would be good for maybe 1,000kms of bad roads on the whole trip?) and cost you a fortune in extra fuel costs to offset it! I reckon if you drive carefully most sensible cars should be fine. A 90XC or V90 or even the old model V70 should be fine. Better to take the older V70 so if you ding it you can shrug it off! and fuel consumption would be way better.

The devil in me pits the challenge of taking the W123 against the luxury of a modern car...

[jonnyu]

Central Asia?
Just buy a modern Toyota or Honda. You have a lot of options there.
Forget about European cars like Range/Land Rover, Volvo, Mercedes etc.

[Overt Hill]

I agree but there is no romance in owning a modern Toyota or Honda. The journey is partly the pleasure of being in Central Asia (I lived in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in the past) and partly the enjoyment of the drive/adventure. I can't bring myself to go in a Honda...

[onyourbikenate]

i've long been dreaming of such an overland trip, i'm currently setting up my 06 XC70 as an overland / roadtrip / tourer for next summer.

The XC70 has a fair amount of computerisation in it, but its not crazy, if you carried a working laptop and vida then if you had a problem in theory you would be able to diagnose it and then arrange the part to be shipped to the next town.

Traditionally Defender or Land Cruiser 70/80 series are the way to go if you want to fit into the overland community and have the widest choice of overland/offroad mods and toys.

although i think that Merc... with loads of luggage on the roof.. perfect

suggest you join some overland groups on facebook its quite an active community, and you will get some ideas from people or be able to ask people who have recently completed similar trips. potentially even find a vehicle for sale.

[brutusmotorsport]

Mercedes 124. old skool 300d. will go on forever. carry your bits on the roof. sit back and enjoy the ride. I know off one with 300.000 miles on it. still strong as an ox. buts it not a Volvo.

[Overt Hill]

Hey guys, thanks the comments. I suspect a lot of people get caught up in the romance of building a car capable of crossing various galaxies when in reality the majority of countries have reasonable tarmac'd roads these days. The roads in the Stans are generally acceptable for a well built car and distances between towns reasonable (3-400kms usually). Of course there are known mountain 'adventure roads' that can only be driven in summer but in general unless you are actively looking for off road driving roads are ok - the USSR has a nation of Lada drivers remember. Likewise if you cross from Kazakstan into Xinjiang, NW China, the roads are fine so you can save money not having to go overboard in the rambo department.

Brutus, the W123 is the indestructible MB... I'm sorely tempted to try it. Being a low budget car if it all goes t's up you can afford to walk away!

This couple are going round central asia in a Defender 130, must have cost a fortune to put together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRvoDAcoDLg

[Quacker]

Pretty sure that my 1998 Land Cruiser has four computers on board. I know there’s a chassis, engine and transmission ones plus one for alarms and probably one for climate control as well. None of which have been the slightest bother. Maybe Defender gets away with just four but its wiring system is much simpler than of old, having a ring road sort of thing, called a CAB-bus. This uses a ring main and signalling system to actuators on each component instead of unique power lines from the switch to each and every component. This is a great advancement made over the last decade or so and saves miles of wiring per vehicle.

The complexity that concerns me most is the emissions equipment now fitted to engines, particularly diesel engines.