Problem Vehicle Identification

[barney.parker]

I have been wanting to buy a surf for years now, and having recently had a baby am looking for something reliable and big enough. I have read that there are problems with some of the 2.4 surfs, but thats all i know!

Does anyone have a way of identifying an edition with these problems? can anyone tell me what the problems are?

Basically i just want to avoid buying a dud but don't really know a great deal about cars, let alone specific versions of one make/model!

any help would be great,

Thanks

[stormforce]

if you take a look on the surfs for sale there is a couple of cheap ones going on there and take a look at the faqs at the top and also do a search to answer any questions you have if you cant find what you are looking for then plenty of people here will anwer them for you

[Djandco]

First things second,
the 2.4 tend to pop the heads every 100k or so, if you buy one, look to see if it has had head resently.
If you go for the 3l, these seem to be bullet proof, even though someone will now tell me I am wrong!
Most of these cars are well over 10 years old, and you have to expect a few things to drop off, having said that, I had a frontera for almost two months, spent more on that than I did having the head done on my smurf.
Now my smurf is going strong, the frontera? Well, lets just have a moments silence for that!
Get a smurf and the world is your mollusc

[coastguard999]

First things second,
the 2.4 tend to pop the heads every 100k or so, if you buy one, look to see if it has had head resently.
:

does that mean that if I get the head replaced on mine it will go again?

[shiny]

does that mean that if I get the head replaced on mine it will go again?

mine has done 135k and the head has not gone yet, fingers crossed

[laser_jock@work]

does that mean that if I get the head replaced on mine it will go again?

All things being equal a new 2.4L shouldn't go 'pop' after 100,000 km since the new heads were re-designed by Toyota to elimate the weakness that made them fail in the first place.

Nevillef

[barney.parker]

All things being equal a new 2.4L shouldn't go 'pop' after 100,000 km since the new heads were re-designed by Toyota to elimate the weakness that made them fail in the first place.

Nevillef

how would you identify a 'new' version engine, rather than the 'old' type...and why do they go around 100,000 Km???

Also, what are the warning signs that the engine may go? above, someone said check the head has been re-seated, but how would i do that?

Thanks
Barney

[Maverick]

The only way to tell if the vehicle has a new head is the old owner showing you the receipts of work. There is no visual identification to warn you. Normally they tend to go after about a year in our country, probably something to do with our higher speed limits and yearly mileage.
Saying all that mine has just gone after nearly three years of ownership and 20,000 miles.
The best bet is to find someone from this forum who has done all the work to the vehicle allready, and if possible has the modified head from StevO (see Marky).
Alternatively go towards the 3 litre as this seems to miss the head question.

But before you buy remember this is an expensive car to run, tyres come in at about £70 - £200 each, insurance can be high, road tax is top limit, and the fuel economey is appaling (about 20mpg). But it's still (in my opinion) the best car I've owned, and I love it.

[coastguard999]

The only way to tell if the vehicle has a new head is the old owner showing you the receipts of work. There is no visual identification to warn you. Normally they tend to go after about a year in our country, probably something to do with our higher speed limits and yearly mileage.
Saying all that mine has just gone after nearly three years of ownership and 20,000 miles.
The best bet is to find someone from this forum who has done all the work to the vehicle allready, and if possible has the modified head from StevO (see Marky).
Alternatively go towards the 3 litre as this seems to miss the head question.

But before you buy remember this is an expensive car to run, tyres come in at about £70 - £200 each, insurance can be high, road tax is top limit, and the fuel economey is appaling (about 20mpg). But it's still (in my opinion) the best car I've owned, and I love it.

I had read that it was only 20% of the surfs that were affected by this?

[Maverick]

I too had read that only 20% go, and was feeling preety safe as mine had been in this country for a while. Now I'm not sure, if you look at the 2.4 area you'll notice alot of people appear to be having problems at the moment. It really appears to be a gamble with the 2.4's, and if I knew what I know now when I was buying, I'd have bought a 3 litre.