Toyota L. Cruiser Colorado Dsl Sw 1996-2002

The Land Cruiser Colorado is the smaller and more luxurious version of the famous Land Cruiser series. It was one of Toyota’s first purposely built luxury 4x4s and is both spacious and comfortable inside as well as offering good off-road capabilities. It is as reliable as they come with very few problems ever cropping up. The newer diesel engine introduced in 2001 is an excellent powerplant offering both good fuel efficiency and great amounts of torque.

Pros and Cons:

• Excellent off-road capability
  Very reliability
  Good diesel engines

• Can prove to be expensive to run

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Exterior and Interior

The Land Cruiser Colorado comes in two body styles: a three-door and a five-door model. Compared to its older cousin – the classic Land Cruiser, the Colorado looks more civilian and modern and is also available in a range of bright colours. The interior is well built and spacious even if it looks a bit drab and out of date now. Both models come with plenty of room inside for five people and are accompanied with a spacious boot that is more than big enough to hold several weeks’ worth of shopping. The five-door Colorado comes with more practicality than the three-door version as there are two optional extra seats that can be unleashed into the boot to essentially turn it into an MPV. The Colorado comes with plenty of kit as standard, but the GX offers the best equipment level for your money, coming with air-con, electric windows, CD changer and much more.

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Engines

There were always only ever two engines available at one time in the Toyota Land Cruiser Colorado, but over its lifetime it was being offered with one petrol and two diesel engines. The petrol engine was a 3.4-litre V6 unit producing 176bhp. The diesels both had 3.0 litres of displacement. The original 3.0-litre TD produced 123bhp but it was replaced in 2001 by a more powerful model - the 3.0-litre D4-D that produced 161bhp. The Petrol engine only ever came as an automatic, whilst the diesels both came with an option of either automatic or manual gearbox. If you want a petrol engine, you will have to go for the five-door model as the three-door versions were equipped with diesel engines only.

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Performance and Economy

The V6 petrol engine has got a good character, going from 0-60mph in just over 11 seconds and returning a respectable 20mpg. The diesel engines are better in a way that they provide torque, which is a bonus for off-roading and towing. The newer 3.0-litre D4-D unit is better than the older one as it is quicker going from 0-60mph in 11.7 seconds which isn’t far behind what the petrol engine can offer. It is a big improvement on the older diesel that only managed the acceleration in 14.4 seconds. It also proves to be more refined, smoother and more economical, achieving 29mpg compared to the 26mpg of the pre-2001 Colorados. The "small" Land Cruiser is classified in insurance group 14 or 15, which is comparable to its rivals.

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What it's like to Drive

The Land Cruiser Colorado is renowned both for its off-road capabilities and its comfortable ride on the road. It is extremely smooth on the tarmac; it rides well and handles corners fairly proficiently. Off the road it is just as good as the world’s best off-roaders. Its low-range gearbox enables the Colorado to tackle almost everything under the sun, be it desert or mud, and with the new 3.0-litre D4-D diesel engine, it proves to be an exceptionally powerful towing vehicle even when travelling through thick sand and mud.

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Faults and Repairs

Toyotas and Land Cruisers in particular are world-renowned for their reliability and the Colorado is no different. There haven’t been any recalls and the only thing to look out for is cracked cylinder heads on the diesels and a faulty fuel safety cut-off system, which can cause misfires in the petrol engines. Service costs compare well to Colorado’s rivals. Any repairs on the other hand can prove quite expensive coming in above most other manufacturers.

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