Progress

OK - we're starting to make some progress. small steps, but progress none-the-less.

Today a young man and his grandfather came to look at the car I'm selling for the second time.
They took it for a test drive and came back wrapped! There was some confusion about operating the 4WD, but after a quick demo they were stoked. It was a bit sad taking it for a drive. The sound of gravel under the tyres as it climbed up an embankment was awesome. I am going to miss being without a 4WD. The truth of the matter is, I've not used it since our Australia trip, so I can obviously live without it - but it's nice confirmation that I do enjoy it. I feel so much better that they have taken it for a good long drive and came back happy, not a quick deceptive drive around the block. He also said he showed his mum and young son and they were both excited - it feels good to know that the car is going to a good home.
After some negotiations we settled on a sum pay cash and pick it up tomorrow. Exciting times.

I've convinced myself to put the holiday savings and money from the sale of the car into a term deposit for 6 months to eliminate the impulse out of choosing another car. Hopefully 6 months gives us enough time to buy something, put 12months registration on it, fit it out and ship it over.

So far I've narrowed it down to a Toyota Land Cruiser 78 Series (Troopcarrier) - It's got to be 2000 or newer. After 1999 they introduced coil front suspension, better dash design, longer wheelbase and longer leaf springs to give better wheel travel. Wikipedia link

It would be nice to get 2007-current 78 series as they come with the v8 turbo diesel - we'll see, but I'm not holding my breath.
The perfect buying decision will somehow satisfy all of these needs:

Maybe a pop-top
We can't get a fixed high top as we can't get it in the container
If we have a look at a troopie and we think we can design the back to be usable without a pop-top, that would be best as adding the pop-top reduces resale value considerably.

Lowest KM's possible
I get mixed reports about how many KM's a car can have before you get problems. My brother has a 75 series ute with 400,000KM on it, and it's never missed a beat.
Everyone tells me that they will last forever, which is true... if you replace parts. In my experience however it seems to become a slippery downhill slope after 200,000KM. The car I'm selling now has 242,000KM and it's shagged. It's had a life of pure 4WD'ing with very little road work. When I bought it, it needed a new clutch - $1500 later. Universal joint, idler arm, wheel bearings, - wow, now that I think about it, it's not needed much else. All components are directly related to the use the vehicle has seen.
I've been fortunate enough to land free tyres through the life of the car.

One thing my dad brought to my attention years ago which is applicable here is the story of people buying ex-taxi's. The thinking is, sure they have a million (literally) kilometres on them, and probably do have new drive-train due to repairs and replacement. It's the millions of little things that add up on a car with high KM's such as wiper motors, door locks, suspension components, deteriorated electrical components, worn switches, window winders - the list goes on.
I suspect there is a seemingly obvious relationship between KM and price. I suspect the price you pay, is for how many KM between what it currently is and it's estimated lifespan. For example, you
Imagine you buy a car with 200,000KM for $20,000 and sell it a few years later for $10,000 with 300,000KM - you've paid $10,000 for 100,000KM
If you buy one with 100,000 KM on it for $25,000 and sell it for $10,000 you've only paid $15,000 for 200,000KM
I'm yet to prove this theory, but it certainly seems evident in the pricing of used cars - KM = price. I see no value in an old car with lots of features that are all worn out.
It's the cake and icing theory - you can't build a cake out of icing.

To summarise, Lowest KM should mean higher reliability and higher resale value.

Best condition
As a summary point, I want it to be cosmetically very clean an undamaged. Lower KM's is usually a good predictor for good cosmetic condition. I'm trying to get out of the mindset of buying a tool to perform a job, but rather buying something I will have for some time. Long term vision people!

Must Haves:
Dual fuel tanks (180L)

Wish List:
Look factory - I don't want someone's super customised rig; I want it plain and unmodified.
Skinny tyres - Again, same point as above. From what I understand there are some risks with these - so I need to do some research. From some reading, skinny tyres perform better in all scenarios - again yet to prove but the evidence is certainly convincing.
Bull Bar & winch
Dual wheel carrier - sounds contradictory to the 'unmodified' point, but it's one thing I do want. I've seen a few designs which have both skinny wheels on the right hand side of the door, allowing quick access through the left hand rear door.
Dual Batteries - this is surprisingly common, 90% of the NT/WA auctioned cars have them. This does qualify as a must have, but if it doesn't have it, I'll fit them.
Towbar - again very common, but sometimes they don't have them - if it doesn't have it, I'll fit it.

On an awesome side note, we won't feel so weird registering for a lap around the Nurburgring:

We had initial hesitations thinking we would be laughed off - but I think we're still going to do it!

The upside of doing the trip in reverse is that we'll have more time for stuff like this. As you can imagine, we would hesitate doing this at the start of our trip... if we broke something or crashed, that would not be cool.

There are more steps to write about but I will post these in a later post.