Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
Yes it is a bid favourite in Australia and New Zealand. My friend and I would have bought a 200 series each but the dealer at Swansea had a demo model and we were in my 100 series heading off the 50 miles to try it when the dealer rang and said that a salesman had taken it home and his wife had gone into labour and he'd left it in the hospital car park. That cock and bull story didn't go down well and we never heard from the dealer again. He bought a new Mercedes GL and I think I eventually bought the Q7 to replace a Range Rover for a 'couldn't refuse' price to change. On second thoughts it was probably the Audi that I thought of changing for a 200, because I don't think the 200 had been launched in 2006 when I bought the Q7.LC 200 has a huge following over here...now all Sold Out awaiting the new 300 series... currently fetching a $10k premium over new.........we bought a V8 three years ago ...cost $135,000 (about 67,000 pounds).. scary money to part with..... did 55, 000 kilometres and sold it earlier in the year for another... Toyota Driveaway Price now $135k.. no haggling....paid $12k to change!... they always say buying the first one makes you feel faint....but changeover price makes you smile........show me something else that tows like the V8 and hold its value so well and I'll buy it........ even 20 year old versions with 350k on the clock are fetching $25k to 30k!!!!
By the way, the new 300 series replacement for the 200 is already in production and being shipped to selected markets worldwide in small numbers. Probably for press evaluation. The chip shortage may delay mass production and the official launch. Looks good with its 300hp and near 700Nm torque from a 3.3 litre V6 diesel through a ten speed automatic. This should run rings around the old 100 series with 4.2 straight 6 which has 200hp and 400Nm running through a four or, later, five speed automatic. Most 2.0 litre diesels can smash those figures these days. Time and tide wait for no vehicle.
It will be interesting to see what they come up with to replace the 150/Prado in a year or two's time. I'm somewhat surprised that they didn't rationalise the two models into one, running the same platform. The 150 will have been out for around 12 or 13 years before being replaced, which is prehistoric by vehicle standards, especially considering it being only a mild series of facelifts from the 120 and 90 series before that, launched if I remember correctly on the current platform around 1995. Even that was mainly a reskin of the 70 series shorty in the UK, known as the Land CruiserII if I remember correctly, which introduced the coil sprung live axles, but the 90 had independent front suspension. So it will be almost a LandRoveresque 30 years since the last really major model replacement of that platform.
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