It's my first cruiser, although my job involves maintaining them, I've seen them devolve from the 75 series. Lighter and lighter in manufacture, but the reputation and hype ensures a high price for what you get.
I enjoy working on them, mostly because for maintenance they are well thought out, Accessible and logical.
I'd have to say that the suspension is archaic, the engine is poorly laid out- lots of afterthoughts.
Drives nice enough- but very basic and not as well 'tuned' as say a discovery 1.

Since haven the auto fitted this vehicle it has turn into a dream to drive on road around town-highway uses and really going bush. Has dropped the fuel consumption considerably with the rpm down by 900 and not knowing why autos are not an option. We use the vehicle for touring-camping (not towing) around the out back coving 30kms a year and serviced by Toyota every 10kms. At this point there has not been any small and major problems it as I like to carry out preventive maintenance.

I bought this with 200,000km on it, I have had it for 9 years and it now has 412,000km on the original engine! This is by far the best 4x4 I have ever owned and the price of these vehicles is totally worth it, no other 4x4 comes close to the durability of the VDJ79. My mechanic showed me a comparison of suspension components from Hilux compared to my 70 series, the difference in strength is chalk and cheese. I have done basic services most of the time, this ute just goes and goes. The best thing about the VDJ 70 series is that they hold their value like no other vehicle... you can do 100,000-200,000 km and it might devalue $10k or less. Unreal.

I’ve akways owned a cruiser Ute and do just bought my new one, the cost is extortion but can’t being myself to drive anything else. Upon arrival I found they’re no longer three seater, oh well I’ll just get rid of one of my kids . Dual tanks ? Not anymore thanks fir telling me . Tyres that come as standard I wouldn’t drive through a puddle you’d get bogged, they only last 35k anyway, the rear wheel with is still 40mm smaller than the front making a three point turn a five pointer, comin Toyota it been 12 years this shape get ur crap together, next time I’ll wear a dress to the dealership cause I like to look pretty when I get screwed

I used to have only good cars in my disposal. It was Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.
I cannot say that G class Mercedes-Benz worse than Toyota VDJ76, but.... when it comes to money, I wanna say: 'yes, Toyota is a winner'. Landcruiser VDJ 76 is the same reliable, well-done and awesome 4x4 car but in 3 times cheapper. Regarding other brands... I prefer not to say, don't want to offend other car owners. I know that for someone LC is not not cheap as well, but when we talk about a good car we must be honest and clear.

My model is ute with a service body, i use it for my electrical business and my tow horse. The vehicle as standard doesnt have as much power for towing as my v6 jeep, however all other aspects of towing are better. The 4 wheel disc brakes rear leaf springs and being manual suit my towing requirements.
I had to upgrade the suspension as over time the rear springs sagged.
I would purchase a similar model if something happened to this one.

Out of 10
Comfort-4 Turning Circle-3 Fuel Economy-2 Clutch-1 Reliability-8
Needs 6 speed gearbox
Was told by Toyota after market exhaust causes clutch to slip but just a way out of warranty I think.
Have owned 4 cab chassis’s since 1988 and apart from the reliability they have not changed much in that time.

Had to have the rear brakes replaced and the rotors ground under 50,000K at my cost, the clutch is slipping under 60,000K and needs to be replaced with a heavy duty clutch and pressure plate at my cost, the brakes fail to stop the vehicle on rough gravel roads and are in my opinion dangerous, warranty void owing to after market exhaust and wheels installed. Will put another 100,000K on and trade it in on anything but a Toyota.

After looking at various vehicles decided on a dual cab cruiser . Very happy with our choice, Turnball Toyota in yarram were fantastic, Linda couldn’t have been more helpful, we went with the yarram dealership based on there after sale service, which we have found over the years to be outstanding .

This has a large engine so it has enough strength to carry a very large caravan. GPS is good but could be better with more specific details e.g. shop names, location names. There is plenty of legroom. Car is very reliable but running costs of petrol can be very high.

I picked up my 2007, 79 series V8 turbo Diesel ute around 7 years ago with 65,000kms on it. I've just hit 260,000km's. What an incredible work car it's been. Never let me down. Built like a tank, powerful engine & great to drive. Interior is basic, but suits my needs as a builder. I do things with it that shouldn't be done & drive it hard. I can't see myself changing to another ute anytime soon. The mods it had on it when purchased were a diesel chip, after market cruise control, tipper & rear airbags. I simply can't fault this car.

This is the most capable and reliable 4wd available in Oz. Yes it has a computer but still has the bare minimum electrics and a solid front axle, and doesn't yet come with a DPF and the nanny controls. The wheelbase, while longest of the 70 series, could still be a bit longer to avoid a pendulum effect with certain loads and spring rates. The motor can easily handle 50-100 extra kw via remapping etc, but handling becomes a bit of an issue then, as the rest of the car was designed in the 80's. With a campertop on fuel usage is still only 12-14 L/100 km. May the pre DPF cruisers will be spoken of in hushed voices around camp fires long after the EURO 6 other unreasonable emission control laws kill off the 70 series altogether.

I recently used this car to go camping with a caravan The car is clearly of great quality, as it hardly made any noise nor were there performance issues when it towed my very heavy caravan.

I wish that there was more legroom in the back seats.

Running costs can be high due to petrol

We had a 2014 dual cab v8 landcruiser gxl ute catch on fire in the middle of night had not been driven for 2 days prior not suspicious as we have aggressive guard dogs. Any body heard of this happening. was only 2 and a bit yrs old. Do the computers burn or are they like a black box and shouldn't burn????

very reliable car, handles all kind of road conditions just brilliantly, running costs compared or in regards of usefulness very economical, well spreaded car all over the Australian continent so able to find repair specialist anywhere, haven't had any driver complaining about hard to handle, rather the opposite, everyone seems to be convinced about how easy and comfortable the vehicle is to navigate through any traffic/road conditions