Wer mit seinem LC200 in Ländern mit schlechtem Diesel unterwegs ist, wird dann die Sache etwas lockerer sehen - "Grünes Licht". Fazit: der Besitzer in SA fährt seinen 2008er LC200 mittlerweile 140.000km, hat wahllos 50er und 500ppm Diesel getankt. Vorsorglich hat er immer Reserve-Dieselfilter dabei.
Keine Probleme bisher.
Das sagt zumindest aus, dass der 200er der ersten Serie mit schlechtem Diesel leben kann. Ungewiss ist natürlich, wie es mit neueren Modellen ist, falls die andere Injektoren, DPF, etc. haben.
To answer your fears about the Land Cruiser, reliability and diesel....
I currently own a 2008 LandCruiser 200 Series 4.5 VX and have done >140,000 kms...Most of that mileage on long trips as I usually run around in my little Opel Corsa Bakkie because it is nippy...
I have a professionally fitted Race Chip Fitted and it works well, with no side effects.
I have used an indescriminate mixture of low and high sulphur content diesel, tanking up where I could get fuel in sub-Saharan Africa having had little or no option.....I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY ADVERSE PROBLEMS RUNNING BOTH TYPES OF DIESEL...
The secret is to carry a few spare fuel filters and know how to change them...
Zimbabwe for example, has shocking fuel and on one trip (In 2013 - 7,000 kms only) my filter went from new, to what can only be described as black treacle! *The dash warning light told me about the problem as I didn't believe their fuel was so bad! My thoughts have since changed!!
As for any excessive wear to the internals of the engine, I haven't seen any sign on this vehicle or any of my preseding 100 Series and 80 series Cruisers...
Unfortunately no salesman can ever provide accurate information on engine wear concerning low/high sulphur diesel... They are simply trying to sell the vehicle and will tell you what you want to hear.
I would also venture to say that the same goes for dealerships and even the manufacturers, because they won't be able to tell you about actual results...However they will tend to err on the side of caution and give you the safest and least line of resistance.
Availability of spare parts and Toyota service centres/ dealerships in sub-Saharan Africa: All I can report is to look at your GPS's and Tracks for Africa...You will find Toyota people all over and they have a standard to uphold.... I cannot comment on Land Rover but I have to say that on our last five trips to Namibia, Botswana x3 and Zimbabwe, I can honestly say that on each trip I saw no more than three Land Rovers on each trip.... The rest were Toyota and other Japanese makes.... Just saying...
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