When looking for a High Mile Club gem the holy grail is the unusual car with an out-of-the-ordinary number of miles ticked off - perhaps a Ferrari or McLaren that's done more than 1,000-miles per year, for example. That's man bites dog territory, whereas a Toyota that's done a spaceship miles is dog bites man. It's the everyday. It's expected. But forgive us our sins, because we couldn't help directing your attention to this Toyota Land Cruiser, because it's done a sit-yourself-down-and-soak-it-all-in 192,000 miles. Even for a Toyota that's noteworthy. It's at least man nibbles dog.
Bringing out the old line about 'how many times around the earth' is a bit trite, I'll admit, but I've never claimed to have much depth so I'll carry on regardless: that's eight-times around the earth's circumference and only 38,000-miles short of the moon, if I've got my sums right. So it is genuinely a spaceship, other than small details like it's never entered orbit.
You might be thinking that's all well and good, but £23k for a Land Cruiser that's a mosquito's probiscis short of twice round the clock is a bit steep when you can buy similar-era Land Cruisers for less with fewer miles. That's true, but they would be - and correct me if I'm wrong, because the Land Cruiser line-up is a minefield - the less posh versions with a chugging four-cylinder diesel. This is the top-spec J200 with Toyota's 4.5-litre V8 diesel - the first V8 diesel from Toyota. It had common rail injection and produced 286hp at 3,600rpm, backed-up by a colossal 479lb ft of shove from just 1,600rpm. It also comes to you with a six-speed auto 'box (with manual override and low-range), four-wheel active height control and adaptive suspension.
What's remarkable, even for a Toyota, is how clean it looks inside and out. Admittedly the steering wheel has a cover on, so we cannot see whether it's threadbare underneath, but judging by the rest of the interior that seems unlikely. The driver's seat looks like it's showing little signs of use, as is everything else inside. Normally you'd expect to see the surface of the commonly used switches worn away, or the central armrest disintegrating just a little, but no: it's like it's led a charmed life pottering on the school run.
As much as we love Land Rovers on PH, the Land Cruiser is no lightweight when it comes to off roading, either, and even at this mileage, I'd still pick this example over something from the Midlands if I were about to head off into the hinterland. I remember a friend of mine going off on an African safari and in the party were two cars: a new Defender, which kept on breaking, and an older Land Cruiser, which never faltered.
So yes, £23k does seem like an inordinate sum to spend on a car that's done 3.4021559 x 10-8 Light Years, but, it seems, the materials they build Land Cruisers from are not of this world. And that makes it interesting, unusual and definitely worth celebrating. Welcome to the club.
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