2007 Toyota LandCruiser 76 Series GXL Wagon review
November 22, 2007 by Anthony Crawford
2007 LandCruiser 70 Series GXL Wagon – review
“They don’t come any tougher than a Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series. You could drop it off a building or leave it in Baghdad for a year, and it would still go”
Test Model: LC76 4 Door 5 seat GXL wagon with a five-speed manual transmission and 4.5-litre turbocharged V8 diesel.
CarAdvice rating: 
Recommended Retail Price: $57,490
Options Fitted:
• Air Conditioning – $2640 (a necessity, but not what I would call a bargain and probably should be standard in the GXL)
• Diff Locks – $2735 (again, a must if you are using the vehicle in tough country but seems like an expensive option)
Price as Tested: $62,865
Where it sits: With kit such as floor carpet, remote central locking, power windows and power antenna, the GXL wagon is the Rolls-Royce of the series, but surprisingly, not the most expensive model. The famed Troop Carrier tops out the range.
The 70 Series range has been expanded to eight models, with three body styles. It’s a little confusing but here’s a simple model-by-model breakdown of the Series variants.
• Cab Chassis (LC79) 2-seat – Workmate ($53,490) GX ($55,490) GXL ($56,490)
• Wagon (LC76) 5-seat –Workmate ($53,990) GXL ($57,490)
• Troop Carrier (LC78) – Workmate (three-seat $58,890) Workmate (11-seat $59,990) GXL ($61,490)
You don’t mess with a LandCruiser 70 Series. When it comes to hard core mechanical workhorses, this is one of the heavyweight contenders.
Talk about staying the course. From the moment the US government asked Toyota to build one-hundred Willys-spec vehicles, in the form of the Jeep BJ in 1950, Toyota has been in the off road business.
Back then there were few competitors, but none more able than Land Rover. They had the civilian off road market cornered, despite their dodgy reliability.
Hanji Umehara, the technical director at Toyota, liked the name Land Rover too (who wouldn’t). He was desperate for a brand name, which sounded no less capable than the British marque. He came up with “Land Cruiser” and the rest as they say, is history.
J.J.T. – As you rightly say “Landrovers are strong, but thier reliability is not.” and it’s certainly the reliability factor that concerns me most.
That’s why I’m looking for information from owners of the LC70 to get it from the ‘horses mouth’ so to speak.
Regards the Prado – the D4D certainly looks the goods and I’ve not discounted it but the LC70 seems to suit my needs better. Not with standing I try to keep my eye on things about Prado too.
Blinky – outright off-road ability is not the only judgement towards a good 4×4 … reliability, dependability and durability go hand-in-hand to complete an overall package amoung other things.
Question is … do you want to visit a remote and challenging location in a strong vehicle or do you want to visit the same landscape in a strong and reliable / dependable vehicle.
Don’t get me wrong, every manufactuer and every model have thier faults but the differance is, some have more then others.
hey i like the new 70 series n like other toyotas nothing even comes close it is not a svu it is a commercial h/duty wagon with tares and gross figures no other heavy comercial has air bags ive just traded my 79 t.d cab chassis on it but unlike the so called opposition there is non on the shelf so i gotta weight like all the other tojos you want u order the supply and demand tells the story above no other like to catch all u tojo fans on the trails where others fear to tread
I think I may have found a replacement for my beloved 60 series when the old girl dies, might take another couple of decades though!!!
reckless1 can you please show me a car that makes more then 430nu @ 1200rpm’s ???? smaller motor at what crazy rpm make this torque ? and not from a dyno sheet either as the torque get’s mulitplyed on a roller dyno only an engine dyno can show true readings..
some people, if you dont know what your talking about dont post you unture facts and try and make this car look bad
haveing 430nu @ 1200rpm is a great feet, and make one good engine for 4×4 use, good torque at high rpm is useless for proper 4×4 use
I reside in small town in fnq, only people that drive these are a few farmers and mostly posers, most of em look that clean n shiny, they’ve probably neva seen a dirt road. Besides, whenever your on the road and you see camo army vehicles drive past what are they driving ? Defenders and Merc Benz trucks, why not cruisers ?? up here if you dont have a landcruiser with a toolbox in the tray or your dogs, you havent made it in rural fnq. What Im sayin is, cruisers are status symbols.
paddymelon you are 100% right i met plenty of posers in FNQ in fact everywhere i went in QLD.
I come from the Goldfields in WA and more than anything you want reliabilty in the desert.
There are more cruisers per head of capita in the golfields region than anywhere else in this country, all of the mining companies here buy and lease them, pretty much says it all.
I have just put an order in for the new wagon loved the cab chassis had it on fraser island in QLD for a week and loved it.
Metal Glove Box – OK
Small plastic air cleaner off a prado for a V8 – no good at all Toyota. In the 08 bush fires in Victoria, DSE had real issues with constant blocking up of the air cleaner, dust getting past the air cleaner element.
Also there is a problem with the weight on the front end, apparently the axel is over weight if you mount a bull bar, winch and three blokes in the front seat. Sources say that even with front bucket seats, total passenger weight restriction are 80kg’s each (total of 160 kg’s)
Real 4X4 well if you have issues with a under rated front axel, cant mount a decent bull bar, winch, driving lights, CB aerials, tow hooks, Gling hot water shower, and go on a diet then at this stage you’ll need to look else where.
Gday Guys
i think the best 4×4 to be ever made would be this V8 diesel in a Land Rover Defender. Defender is all around coils ( Real 4×4) this is coil and leaf … even the Defender Ute is all round coils … im a Toyota Fan and Land Rover … if the two came together the outcome would be mind blowing : )
cheers
Just wondering if anyone has heard or seen anything about the new dash and airbags going into the 76 series wagon, i have just ordered one and am told that after mine is delivered in Aug the new ones will have these changes
Hi Stevo, i too have just recently ordered a new VDJ79R cab-chassis 79 series and it was ordered on 10 jun only to be told mine will be an august build and sept delivery.How come yours is a august delivery when mine was ordered in june.Where and when did you oreder yours mate.Mine was ordered at torque toyota brendale on brisbanes north.I am yet to have confirmation of the so called new updates to my ordered vehicle.Can anyone add to this info.
Cheers
Hi Mate i Ordered mine start of June and should be in Perth wa on 27 of this month, you might have the upgrades on your model, i only found out my delivery date start of July after alot of phone calls, the dealer has told me he hasnt even seen the pics for the upgraded model yet
one of the mags had picks this month: 4×4 Aus. I think.
I’m a grey nomad pulling a 2.4ton caravan and would say my 76 series S/W could not be better other than requirements of a long range tank. Lacking in most modern 4 x 4’s is rear leaf springs to which I have added an extra leaf and reset. Fuel economy exceptional and don’t need to mention the pulling power. I don’t really need four wheel drive, but no car manufacturer produces a designed car for towing unfortunately.
Last year on the west coast we were hit with 60 to 80 klm head winds to which my previous Prado looked quite ill, not to mention sagging rear coils – not a real tow vehicle. The 76 series could pull the QE2 uphill if required.
Bill
hi Guys & girls
We have been looking for something to upgrade the ‘98 hilux sr5 dual cab too for a while & I must say I think we have finally found it.. & I love our old girl she hasnt missed a beat in 11years so there was a high standard to follow!
we looked at the showpony that the 200 series is & decided that it is definitely not for us! The 76 series GXL Wagon on the other hand has us so excited that we both had to do the test drive!
Just chasing how people that are owning & driving this model are finding it now they have had it for a while? we r in far nth east wa & the dealer has told us they will need a few mths to get in the colour we want, so before we do the big jump can you guys shed some feedback?
Big Thanks to Bill for his post ;)
Thanks
Jacq
BTW Big thanks to Bill for his post :)