Toyota Land Cruiser problems, reliability and years to avoid
If you are considering buying a used Toyota Land Cruiser, these are the common problems worth knowing about first. Our garage database tracks 5 known faults for this model, 3 of them rated high severity. Every one below is a repair bill a seller has good reason not to mention.
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Is the Toyota Land Cruiser reliable?
The Toyota Land Cruiser has 5 known faults in our database across 2 generations, 3 of them rated high severity. The most serious are engine (leaking fuel injector seals allowing blow-by gases to carbonise the oil) and engine (cylinder heads on the early 3.0 diesel were prone to fail, at £2,000 for a replacement). None of them makes the car a bad buy on its own; the risk is a seller who knows and says nothing.
That is a count of the faults we hold, not a reliability score. Popular cars get written about more, and a newer generation has had less time to show its faults.
Which Toyota Land Cruiser years should you avoid?
No year is a write-off on its own. What matters is which serious faults a given year and engine can have, and whether the car in front of you has had them fixed.
1997 to 20032 high severity
2 known faults, the serious ones in the engine, gearbox
2003 to 20091 high severity
3 known faults, the serious ones in the engine
Years and engines with a serious known fault
2004 to 2015, 3.0 D-4D: leaking fuel injector seals allowing blow-by gases to carbonise the oil
2000 to 2003, 3.0 diesel: cylinder heads on the early 3.0 diesel were prone to fail
2000 to 2009, Automatic gearbox, all engines: the automatic gearbox's oil cooler is built into the engine radiator
Each one is set out in full below, with the symptoms, the typical mileage and a rough repair cost.
Generation 1 of 22 known faults · 5 good notes
Toyota Land Cruiser (1997 to 2003) problems
Engine/EmissionsHigh severity📝 Editorial
Cylinder heads on the early 3.0 diesel were prone to fail, at £2,000 for a replacement; Toyota replaced many free and had cured that first fault by 1999. Later heads on the diesels could still develop hairline cracks after 70,000 to 80,000 miles, which Toyota acknowledged with a five-year warranty on heads, long since expired.
Rough guide
£2000
Typical symptoms
dirty, oily deposits in the coolant expansion tank
creamy emulsion under the oil filler cap
white smoke from the exhaust
Affected vehicles
Engines:
3.0 diesel
Typical mileage:
unknown miles
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Transmission/DrivetrainHigh severity📝 Editorial
The automatic gearbox's oil cooler is built into the engine radiator, and if it cracks, engine coolant can find its way into the transmission. Notes on both of these Land Cruiser generations say this seems to be common once the vehicle is about seven years old or more.
Typical symptoms
gearbox fluid looking pink and milky
engine coolant level falling with no outside leak
Affected vehicles
Engines:
Automatic gearbox, all engines
Typical mileage:
unknown miles
🔍 We have a specific pre-purchase check for this faultCheck an advert →
What owners like
5 notes
Toyota was rated as Britain's third most claim-free used car brand by Motor Warranty Direct in June 2001.
In 2001, Toyota vehicles, along with BMW and Ford, registered very few roadside assistance incidents with German ADAC.
Toyota achieved the fourth lowest average expense for warranty claims on cars up to ten years old in the 2002 Warranty Direct index.
The brand was joint second in the 2002 'Which?' reliability survey for cars from 2000 to 2002.
Toyota generally had the tenth lowest average warranty repair costs in the 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability index.
Generation 2 of 23 known faults · 5 owner reports
Toyota Land Cruiser (2003 to 2009) problems
Engine/EmissionsHigh severity📝 Editorial
Leaking fuel injector seals allowing blow-by gases to carbonise the oil, blocking the oil pickup strainer
Rough guide
£1500-4000
Typical symptoms
oil pressure warning light
excessive smoking
engine seizure from oil starvation
Affected vehicles
Engines:
3.0 D-4D
Typical mileage:
80000-150000 miles
1 more owner report backs this up
November 2011Engine failures occurred due to oil sludging; Toyota contributed to replacement engines and replaced copper injector seals.
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SuspensionMedium severity📝 Editorial
The rear self-levelling suspension on this Land Cruiser has given trouble. The rear height sensors were said to fail regularly, at £538 to replace, and the owner of a 2006 car needed both rear air suspension struts replaced. No mileages are given.
Rough guide
£538
Typical symptoms
rear sitting low or not level
suspension warning light on the dash
rear not rising back up when loaded
Affected vehicles
Engines:
All engines
Typical mileage:
unknown miles
🔍 We have a specific pre-purchase check for this faultCheck an advert →
OtherMedium severity📝 Editorial
The alloy pipes carrying refrigerant to the rear air conditioning are said to be prone to corroding and failing. On one vehicle the owner still faced £340 plus VAT after Toyota met 80% of the parts cost and the dealer 80% of the labour.
Typical symptoms
rear air conditioning blowing warm
air conditioning losing its gas and needing regular regassing
Affected vehicles
Engines:
All engines
Typical mileage:
unknown miles
🔍 We have a specific pre-purchase check for this faultCheck an advert →
What owners report
5 single reports, unconfirmed
One owner each, in their own words rewritten as a line, and not counted in our risk scoring. A fault joins the list above once a second report or an editorial source backs it.
Brakes · December 2019Brake callipers on a 2015 Land Cruiser corroded and required replacement at 28,000 miles, not covered by warranty.
Suspension and steering · March 2016A non-repairable puncture on a 2016 Land Cruiser required a full set of new tyres due to unavailability of matching replacements.
Gearbox and clutch · January 2016A 2014 Land Cruiser experienced difficult manual gear changes on cold mornings, even after a gearbox replacement.
Gearbox and clutch · November 2014A 2014 Land Cruiser had a stiff gearchange from new; first gear was difficult to engage, and second and fourth hummed.
Gearbox and clutch · November 2011A 'thump from behind' sensation when stopping was resolved by greasing the prop shaft.
Other years0 known faults · 3 good notes
Other Toyota Land Cruiser years: owner reports
What owners like
3 notes
This Land Cruiser model demonstrates exceptional capability when tackling demanding off-road conditions and challenging terrain.
The vehicle offers a good towing capability of 3000kg with a braked trailer.
This Land Cruiser model has demonstrated an impressive reliability record over time, providing dependable service.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
We track 12 specific phrases sellers use in adverts to soft-pedal these exact issues. Paste any Toyota Land Cruiser advert and we check it in seconds.
Recall work is done by the manufacturer, and GOV.UK says you will not usually have to pay for it. These are the 1 DVSA recall for the Land Cruiser, newest first. They do not tell you whether this particular car has had the work: for that, put the registration into the free GOV.UK MOT history check, which shows a recall status where the manufacturer shares it, or ask a franchised dealer to check the VIN.
🏛️ November 2017
Driver and/or front passenger airbag may fail to deploy as intended
An incorrect specification driver or front passenger air bag assembly may have been installed during production. As a result the airbag(s) may not deploy as intended.
Put right by: On affected vehicles replace the air bag with the correct module.
DVSA R/2017/25112 vehicles affected in the UK
Recall data published by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency under the Open Government Licence v3.0. A recall listed here may not apply to every car of this model: the build dates and the registration check are what decide it.
Repair costs are typical UK ranges, not quotes. Actual cost depends on condition and garage.Data last verified: November 2026
Toyota Land Cruiser buying questions
What are the most common Toyota Land Cruiser problems?
Three stand out. Engine: leaking fuel injector seals allowing blow-by gases to carbonise the oil (typically 80000 to 150000 miles). Engine: cylinder heads on the early 3.0 diesel were prone to fail, at £2,000 for a replacement. Gearbox: the automatic gearbox's oil cooler is built into the engine radiator, and if it cracks. The full list above is grouped by generation, with typical mileage and a rough repair cost for each.
Which Toyota Land Cruiser years should I avoid?
No Toyota Land Cruiser year is a write-off, but the Toyota Land Cruiser (1997 to 2003) carries the most serious faults: engine and gearbox. The Toyota Land Cruiser (2003 to 2009) has high-severity faults on record too. Year matters less than whether the specific car has had the known fixes, so check the history for them.
What should I check when viewing a used Toyota Land Cruiser?
Ask the seller about the engine and gearbox faults on this page and whether they have been fixed, with invoices. On the test drive watch for oil pressure warning light, dirty, oily deposits in the coolant expansion tank and gearbox fluid looking pink and milky. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories, then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against all 5 known faults before you travel. Check a Toyota Land Cruiser advert →
Are there any recalls on the Toyota Land Cruiser?
The DVSA lists 1 safety recall for the Toyota Land Cruiser issued in 2017. The most recent, from November 2017, is "Driver and/or front passenger airbag may fail to deploy as intended". Recall work is done by the manufacturer, and GOV.UK says you will not usually have to pay for it. This list is by model, so it cannot tell you whether one particular car has had the work: the free GOV.UK MOT history check shows a recall status from the registration where the manufacturer shares it, and a franchised dealer can check the VIN.
What is the real MPG of a Toyota Land Cruiser?
Owners report 27.6 mpg on average across the Toyota Land Cruiser engines with data, about 90% of the official combined figure. The gap between official and real-world economy varies a lot by engine, so the Real MPG page lists every engine and generation separately, from 182 owner submissions. Toyota Land Cruiser Real MPG by engine →
Where this Toyota Land Cruiser fault data comes from
If you used to check the Honest John “Good & Bad” section before the site closed in 2026, this page is where that information now lives. We rebuilt the Toyota Land Cruiser owner-report history from the archived Honest John dataset, added our own research, specialist and owner-club sources and DVSA recall data, and we keep it free. Each fault above is badged with its source. The same data feeds our free advert check, which reads a listing against every known fault for the exact engine and year.
Knowing what a Toyota Land Cruiser goes wrong with is half of it. The rest is reading the advert and checking the car's history before you hand any money over.