A couple of months ago we started shopping for a car to replace our 91 Toyota 4Runner that’s been developing electrical problems. We need a 4WD vehicle for the winters around here and would prefer something that gets decent fuel economy.
We test drove a used Ford Escape Hybrid in Farmington. It’s a nice car and we would have bought it but the manager at the dealership was an obnoxious moron. He basically told my wife she was stupid for wanting a a fuel efficient vehicle instead of one of the used cars in his current inventory that got 15 – 19 MPG. We’ll never buy a car from that dealership as a result.
Later that day we hopped on Ebay looking for something else. We found a seller in British Columbia, Canada with a 1982 diesel Toyota Land Cruiser. We didn’t know that Toyota ever made a diesel Land Cruiser. It turns out that it’s one of the most popular LC models ever it just was never imported to the U.S. We decided to buy it. The picture to the right is from the Ebay auction listing.
The auction listing was a little misleading. Although the seller’s business is located in Canada, the vehicle was located in New Zealand! We were a little bummed but the shipping costs were included in the purchase price so we decided to wait and not complain. Our BJ42 was placed on a ship on October 19th in Auckland, New Zealand. In the mean time the ship has made stops in Australia, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Panama. It’s scheduled to arrive in Baltimore, MD on December 21st. With some luck it will get unloaded, clear customs and make it to us by the end of the year.
Did I mention that this truck gets 30MPG? Yep, a 1982 vehicle that gets 30 MPG. The brand new hybrid Escapes don’t even get 30MPG. (The 2WD version of the Escape gets 32MPG around town. The 4WD gets 24.) Why can’t we buy a late model vehicle in the U.S. that gets 30MPH? There are dozens of suitable models available elsewhere in the world.
Maybe there’s hope. The US Senate recently voted to raise the CAFE standards to 35 MPG by 2020. This is hugely significant. The CAFE standards haven’t been changed since the 1990 model year. 35 MPG isn’t that great but it’s a start. Hopefully someday we’ll even be able to buy a diesel Volkswagen Tiguan here in the U.S.
Tags: bj42 · land cruiser · toyota1 Comment
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