A '94 Toyo HiAce has got me interested Dave..Frontline conversion, 2.8 Diesel & Auto. A/C. 2 way fridge. 2 burner & grill gas cooker. New microwave. House Battery and charging system. Rear enclosure similar to your machine, plus an enclosed awning along the side covering the slider. 5 Seat belts, front bed and rear kitchen...currently set up as a solo, but easily converted to a double. Also a Fiamma (spelling) roll out side awning. Mid 150 Km's. Available for 24K... You may have seen this machine on your travels as it was driven by a GM who has finished her travelling. But then again, there are hundreds out there looking very much the same. An old fella I know has a 2003 Mercedes Benz MB140D with the Dove conversion. Very neat and versatile, 5 cyl diesel, and the front wheel drive had me amazed. he gets a little over 9 litres /100km @ 95 kph. Fantastic. I was heading towards the Toyo because of their strength, reliability and parts available most towns. So what are your thoughts Dave..?
dave06 said
09:10 PM Nov 1, 2008
grizz. I dont think you could go wrong with either of those, they seem pretty good provided the service manuals and log books are up to spec. I would lean towards the toy simply because of parts, price and availability, 150 k's is not much on the diesel she would be good for another 150 at least, the mercedes is probably the better machine but breakdowns, if any, will set you back quite a bit so be carefull and finding a merc specialist in coober pedy would be a problem, one of those models, not sure which one, had a problem with the tiptronic semi auto gear box at the mates workshop, she had to be towed on to a reclaimer truck and carried to adelaide for specialist treatment, me toyota everytime but I am biased
Ole Grizzly said
04:13 PM Nov 2, 2008
Have been down town today looking at some more campervans. Shock Horror !
Pretty on the outside, not too bad on the inside, but underneath..'struth'..most look as if they have been used for clearing scrub and breaking up Mallee Roots.
On closer inspection rubbing off the gunk reveals iron ore coloured dust and some had visible stripes and unfaded paint work where sign writing had been removed..At the correct angle the names of hire companies are revealed..
Inspecting the Legal Jargon attached to the window never states those companies, but some other weird company name which is the tax haven .
Boy-O-Boy..I tried so hard to be polite to the salespersons.
dave06 said
04:51 PM Nov 2, 2008
unfortunately some people think "free camping" means automatic off roading and diligently race in to the scrub willy nilly, its a mine field grizz, when we were looking for a replacement mini motorhome we had definate needs and wants, we asked around got info and settled on a toyota because everybody said so, next trick was to find a good one, easier said than done, we must have looked at 30 or 40 of them and like you found sign writing and damage and others with shadecloth for awnings and some of the inside construction attempts were absolutely woefull, my son being an exceptionally knowledgeable bloke, was looking through carpoint and said to me "what about this one, I rang port side motors in adelaide who had it up for sale, he gave me the usual "only one owner driven to and from church" routine, I said to the dragon that I was fed up looking and I will just grab this one, if its buggered we will fix it, we bought it sight unseen cash on the knocker, and they delivered it for free, didnt have to do a damn thing, topped it up with fuel filled up with groceries, threw our clothes in and we were in kangaroo island the next day, sometimes you can be lucky other times not, be carefull check them out and if necesary get an raa report done on them
Also a Fiamma (spelling) roll out side awning. Mid 150 Km's. Available for 24K...
You may have seen this machine on your travels as it was driven by a GM who has finished her travelling. But then again, there are hundreds out there looking very much the same.
An old fella I know has a 2003 Mercedes Benz MB140D with the Dove conversion. Very neat and versatile, 5 cyl diesel, and the front wheel drive had me amazed. he gets a little over 9 litres /100km @ 95 kph. Fantastic.
I was heading towards the Toyo because of their strength, reliability and parts available most towns.
So what are your thoughts Dave..?
Pretty on the outside, not too bad on the inside, but underneath..'struth'..most look as if they have been used for clearing scrub and breaking up Mallee Roots.
On closer inspection rubbing off the gunk reveals iron ore coloured dust and some had visible stripes and unfaded paint work where sign writing had been removed..At the correct angle the names of hire companies are revealed..
Inspecting the Legal Jargon attached to the window never states those companies, but some other weird company name which is the tax haven .
Boy-O-Boy..I tried so hard to be polite to the salespersons.