Sunday, December 11, 2005 - 12:11 pm, by: Damien Barnes(Barned01)
Hoy hoy My GF found an LX90 Chaser in good condition that she is thinking about purchasing, she has liked the look of the 4 door chaser for a while now and this is one she can afford. But it is a diesel model (hence the 'L') does anyone know if they are worth the cheaper price? obviously they aren't as powerful as the soarer but i was more wanting to know what they are like to drive on an everyday basis. Has anyone driven one and knows anything about it?
Sunday, December 11, 2005 - 04:22 pm, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
They would be pretty slow, Damien, at least off the mark, pretty good touring though, and extremely economical.
This motor is fairly old-tech diesel-wise, puts out around 72kW from 2.4 litres. It's pretty much the same motor used in the Hilux Surf until 1995.
They were fairly stressed in those big cars (Surfs) but would be OK in the much lighter Chaser. Check the waterworks, and for water in the oil- they had a reputation for blowing heads in poorly maintained and overworked Surfs.
Sunday, December 11, 2005 - 07:59 pm, by: Damien Barnes(Barned01)
yeah I already accounted for the fact they would be not quite up to soarer speeds, I've never touched a diesel before either so i don't know how hard they are to maintain. Have you ever driven in one?
Sunday, December 11, 2005 - 08:16 pm, by: Graham Dollisson(Alloyvee)
A couple of years ago I had an earlier model Cresta(about a 1990 model) as a loan car when my car was being fixed. It was a diesel and I quite liked driving it. It actually had a lot of get up and go. I wouldn't have called it slow as the engine has a lot of torque and revved well. It could have used another gear, but not bad.
Monday, December 12, 2005 - 07:25 am, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
I've not driven the Cresta or Chaser (or Mark II for that matter) but I have driven the Surf with that motor (great- felt better than 72kW) and have driven plenty of other diesels including owning one at the moment (Isuzu Wizard aka MU).
As a comfortable, economical long distance cruiser, or even as a commuter, they'd be fine.
Diesels don't cost any more than petrol engines to maintain, as long as the injectors don't need work. That gets expensive. They need more frequent oil and filter changes compared to most petrol cars, but most Soarer owners are doing theirs at 5000km anyway so no difference. You have to use different oil, which can be slightly dearer, although in my cars I use the same oil- Havoline 10W-30 because that's the only 10W-30 I can get here.
The extra cost of diesel outside Qld is easily offset by the economy. 7l/100km should be easily attainable on a run, perhaps 10 around town depending on whether it's auto or manual and how it's driven.
Most of the diesel versions of the Mk II family were auto, from the ones I've seen online.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 11:44 pm, by: Damien Barnes(Barned01)
I believe this is an automatic ( ). But she seems adamant on this so I will keep you posted on what it is like, we will most likely drive over to vic on the weekend just so she can have a look at it, One can envisage a JZX90 chaser half cut as a near future option to alleviate some of that "slow" feeling from it though I can't figure her out, why can't she just stick with 1 car for more than a 2 year period
Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 09:25 am, by: Damien Barnes(Barned01)
well we left Woodcroft at 6:00 on saturday morning and had a nice pleasant drive to Bordertown by 9:15. We had mentioned to the person earlier that we would be at melbourne by 2. I have never driven to melbourne so this was really only a guestimate but it was looking alright by that stage with about 15 minutes either side. it wasn't until about 30 minutes over the Victorian border that I realised that we instantly lost half an hour for timezone differences. the ride was quite smooth (I had also changed the oil the night before just to be sure it was nice and fresh)until we hit melbourne at about 3:00. that was one of the more frightening experiences navigating melbourne traffic. Well we arrived at the person's place at about a quarter to 4 melbourne time and my GF promptly went for a ride around the block in it (back streets where there was no traffic). The condition of the car personally I feel is quite good, It is completely stock including the rims and the interior is a nice shade of brown (not a fan). all electrics were good and it drove fine (albiet lacking a substantial amount of power compared to the soarer). It is no where near as optioned as the soarer and the interior actually looks more dated despite being a newer car. In all however i did like the smaller pillarless doors, and due to it being stock, my GF could see the potential to a splash of paint (it's currently white) lowering, body kit, wheels, and the inevitable 1jz engine transplant to regain that lost power. She will make up her mind today, but it would be a shame to see the Soarer have to go for it there is quite a bit involved at having to get it back to the standard that i am accustomed to in the soarer. Time will tell I guess. Anyway We finished up there at 4:45 melbourne time and thought we might try to make it back to bordertown to stay the night to minimise the drive the next day. We fillled the tank with Mobil Synergy 6000 (95-6 octane) at the last mobil out of town before the long hike. It was about 9:45ish SA time when we hit bordertown and decided to power on home instead of staying. Needless to say we kept going, boy by this stage was i looking forward to having a nice rest. We finally pulled into the driveway of my home at 12:45 with apparently 6 litres left in the tank (the guage reads high though) and 750KM's on the clock (so quite happy with that mileage for country driving).
Total cost of adventure: approx $240 including junk food stops
Total Kilometres travelled: around 1600 in one day
total time of adventure: 18 hours
overall satisfaction of the chaser according to GF: excited about it's potential.
overall satisfaction of the soarer: the chairs get a little uncomfortable after the 13 hour mark but otherwise it was effortless, smooth and well mannered. Couldn't wind the windows down though without the abundance of air being too noisy unfortunately.
Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 04:38 pm, by: Damien Barnes(Barned01)
LX90= $8000 JZX90= actually they don't come up too often, except in Perth which is pretty hard to get to to just look at a car. but most jzx90's that I see are around the $16000 mark.
Do you see a few for sale in sydney? her obvious preference is a Mark II tourer V but yeah the price of them seems somewhat prohibitive.
Monday, December 19, 2005 - 11:40 pm, by: Damien Barnes(Barned01)
I think it is that she doesn't want a huge initial loan. so $10K would be her preference. I have tried to make her aware of what would be required to get it to look the way she is envisaging: half cut, body kit, rims, paint job, suspension and lowering will indeed substantially add to the 8000 that the price of the car starts at. But she can save for those parts in her own time. hey Neil do you know of a page of all the different generations of mark II's (and chasers) as the ones i have seen have the rear tail lights extend all the way across the back and are thinner, but the tail lights on the site you showed me are fatter and don't go across the whole back of the boot. barnsey
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 - 12:00 pm, by: Timothy Barnes(Timmo1)
Damien the rear lights differed between models (Cresta, Chaser, MkII) on the JZX90....i Actually prefer the shape of the 90 series when compared to the newer 100 series as they appear wider and lower. There were lots of them in Japan- a nice set of wheels and an exahust on a Black coloured car and they look great. Actually I was out in Roppongi (party district in Tokyo) and we had just left the club at about 5.30 am....a Black Jzx90 Tourer V (1jz-gte powered version) started doing a bit of circle work in the middle of the main intersection.....Intersections are pretty damn busy in Tokyo and especially in a place like Roppongi so i was surprised he didnt hit anyone/thing
Previous
). But she seems adamant on this so I will keep you posted on what it is like, we will most likely drive over to vic on the weekend just so she can have a look at it, 
