We have a 1980 Land Cruiser Diesel, 4 cyl, 4 speed manual, and a whopping 90hp... it's a simple vehicle that you can go anywhere in, never run out of fuel, and fix yourself in you need to with whatever MacGyver could find. we get about 10l/100kms with it (I think that's better than 25mpg) on summer diesel, a little less on winter diesel.
I heard Toyota is bringing back the Land Cruiser (not as an FJ cruiser), and it's got the Tundra V8... Advertised MPG... 14, price tag of about $80,000 (I guess if you have the money to buy it, you have the money to drive it). We have an '89 Land cruiser 6 cyl gas job as well, we always thought something was wrong with it because of how much it drank.. I guess not.
If Toyota puts a Hino 8L into a 1 ton they're crazy.. it'll kill the mileage, and be SUPER heavy by the time they get a drivetrain to hold up to the torque, especially in a 4x4. They do make good stuff, but it's become so complicated that any repair bill you'll have to re-mortgage your ranch for... Take a page from the new Fords... injectors are nearly a grand a piece, lets not talk about the auto trannies either. The second problem is that this vehicle will not have 'sibling' vehicles, and used parts are never going to be found... If you have a mid 90's dodge, you have millions of them around, you get a good used engine for $2000, sometimes with the rest of the vehicle. My truck (94 dodge dually 4x4 diesel) doesn't get great mileage, but it didn't cost me nearly as much, and I can fix what goes wrong with it, usually in a day. If my batteries die, I can roll start it with no electrical power whatsoever... That's some peace of mind if you are out in the bush. I've turned up the power a fair bit on it and my biggest worry is always the nv4500 tranny.
The last problem is that 1 ton duallies have no carrying capacity compared to their weight... Usually you have a 12,000 lb max weight, but they weigh in at 8000 or more empty.
All these new vehicles are WAY overpriced, and depreciate far too quickly over the first 5 years to make it reasonable for anyone who isn't rolling in money (and NEEDS writeoffs) to buy one
