New to Surfs - HELP!!!

[Zoot]

We are new to Hilux Surfs and need some help. We are about to embark on a 'year-out' travelling around europe. We have decided on a 3.0 ltr TD auto Surf to tow our 23ft caravan (yes, I know A CARAVAN - but its a cheap way to see everything we want to!) - but don't know the difference in specs (SSRG, SSRX, std equip on imports, options etc), what to look out for etc. We want one 7-8 yrs old (LHD would be great, but not seen one yet!) and can't afford to get ripped off, so any help from you guys (who seem to be absolute experts on everything to do with surfs!), would be greatly appreciated. I know this is a BIG subject, but we're not going til April (got to sell the house first), so have some time. Thanks in advance.

[Simon811]

I dont think there are any differences to engine or transmission between SSR-X, SSR-G etc but I think you definitely need a 3.0. A friend of mine had one for towing his stock car around and he had to fit a seperate automatic transmission cooler to stop his engine overheating as the rad cools both atf fluid and engine. Obviously if you have a manual then this isn't a problem but they are harder to find. Details here

Don't get too hung up on age, if you can find a fresh import then odds are its only done a handfull of miles, my 93 has only done 50k miles. More important to look at the checklist here.