I’m torn between the Toyota Vanguard and the Land Cruiser Prado, which one wins?

Hello Baraza, 

I am an ardent reader of your column. I thank you for keeping us abreast with car-related information. Now I would like your advice on the following cars. 

1. Toyota Vanguard 2011/2012 4wd 2400 cc

2. Toyota Land Cruiser Prado j120 2007/2008  2700 cc petrol. I am told it can be a bit sluggish or lazy and thirsty at times.

I am planning to own either of the two car but I am torn between the two. Kindly expound on reliability, efficiency, maintenance and off-road capabilities. I intend to use it for my commute to work, which is about 70km from my home - part of this distance is rugged terrain. Also, I have a large family, so I need a 7-seater. I also plan to take off-road trips.

Your advice is highly valued.

Hello there,

The answer to your question is the Land Cruiser Prado since you say you need a 7-seater to sometimes drive on rugged terrain and go on other off-road trips. I have always insisted one uses the right tool for the right job and that right there is the right tool.

There are allegations that the 2.7 Prado is sluggish and thirsty, allegations that would be true, but driving at the point at which the vehicle feels sluggish means you are either breaking speed limits, or heading for a massive crash, or both. Take it easy, where are you running to? Once you are more circumspect with the throttle, you will then discover that the thirst also eases off significantly. The two are directly related: thrash a vehicle in the greedy belief that it needs more power and you will hurt its fuel economy.

You will also prefer the Prado's 7-seat practicality more than you will the Vanguard's equal-but-less-equal-than-others 7-seat practicality. The Prado is obviously the bigger vehicle here, and while it is not always a given, more so when you consider its Lexus LX kissing cousin, a bigger vehicle outside means a bigger vehicle inside. There is more space in the Prado, space you will come to appreciate once you start racking up the miles on a road trip and your large family starts getting antsy and restless, asking “Are we there yet?”

No need to be torn between the two cars: they're both reliable, and while the Vanguard is more efficient, the Prado will go anywhere while the elongated RAV4 will not. Maintenance should not be too painful for the Prado: the 2.7 is a sturdy little underperformer and has been known to survive in dire conditions. I know this because I was once in one of these dire conditions, when I took one into the Chalbi Desert without servicing it first and the engine nearly seized after spinning a bearing and chewing through a belt in the middle of nowhere.

It speaks a lot that we could find a replacement bearing in the wilderness and diagnose the belt as worthy of continuing the journey, tied the whole thing up and were on our way several hours later after taking the engine apart, a journey of 900km that we completed without any more mechanical drama (but there was drama of some other kind which I will narrate some other time.)

I am in search of the perfect Subaru, does one exist?

Hi Baraza,

Thanks again for your valuable advice on motoring. Thanks also for money back on being the tenth buyer of MPA magazine issue 1. Now to my question: from my research, which is not scientific, and partly through consultation with you in this column, I have come to the conclusion that the following are common Subaru problems.

1. Head gasket failure

2. Steering rack failure

3. CVT gearbox

 Is there a single Subaru model that is free of all three problems? You may have noticed that I have really been pestering you with Subaru-related questions at the risk of being declared an irritant, but this is because there are some things I find attractive in the car. One of the most admirable being the AWD drive train. I therefore wonder whether it's possible to get the Subaru's benefits without the mentioned shortcomings.

Thiga Muraya

Hello Muraya,

At first that name sounded awfully familiar, then your comment about the cash-back gift on the magazine sale confirmed that we have indeed crossed paths before. Thank you for your support and I sincerely hope you are enjoying your copy of the magazine. You are right about the three issues plaguing Subarus. While head gasket issues may seem universal, the other two issues are more model-specific. The steering problems affect the models with electric racks, but full disclosure: I did have a noisy and leaky power steering pump in the hydraulically-operated assistance setup I had in my Legacy. I was not the only one, by the way. There might be something there.

CVT problems will only affect models fitted with CVTs, it need not be said. So it is possible to have a model free of these troubles. Get one with a manual or legitimate automatic transmission. Get one with hydraulic power assistance for the steering. And, against my strongest exhortations, get one without a turbo. We are talking pre-2008 cars here, by the way, so be ready to live with a car that is nowhere near new as far as vintage and mileage are concerned.

For the Forester, that limits you to the SF and SG models which bowed out in 2008, for the Legacy, you can have your pick all the way from the pointy BC models down to the BP, again with a 2008 swansong, after which your options run out. For the Impreza, the lineup lasted a bit longer, up to the GJ platform, which premiered in 2011 with the hated electric steering and even more hated CVT gearbox.

Don't take my word as a guarantee that you won't have issues. An old Subaru means multiple previous owners, and if there was an absence of fastidiousness in their maintenance protocols, the car will suffer problems, like it or not. The best thing to do is a thorough pre-purchase inspection before diving right in, then from there stay on top of things to prevent nasty surprises further down the road.

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I’m salivating over the Golf Variant, should I go ahead and get it?

Dear Baraza,

Thank you for your informative column. I'm planning to get my first car next year, my budget is Sh1.2 million. I need a car that is fuel efficient and cheap to maintain too. I am obsessed with the Golf Variant 2014 1.4 TSI. Is it a reliable car in terms of fuel, maintenance and cost of spare parts? I will be mostly driving within Nairobi and travelling upcountry maybe once a month.

Kibet

Hi Kibet,

Sure you can buy a Golf Variant. It's a good one, my friend Tyrone will testify to that. Whether or not you want the 1.4 TSI in particular is a whole other matter, however. See, that engine is known to have a number of issues which I have documented before, matters to do with the turbo sucking in oil and expelling it as thick white fumes from the tailpipe, but let me instead focus on a more critical issue: timing.

That little engine is a landmine owing to the tensioner for the timing chain and its propensity to sometimes send itself into early retirement. Something called a tensioner does not sound critical, and a look at it - a mere pulley that doesn't even spin any component - may mislead you into thinking its death is something that can be lived with especially after simple repairs. I assure you it is not.

You see, the 1.4 is what we call an interference, best summarised as having valve travel and piston travel overlapping somewhere around top dead center of the cylinder. The reason they don't knock into each other and mangle each other in an apocalyptic wreck is because of the timing. Timing is basically synchronisation, and this synchronisation, like its swimming equivalent, keeps participants working like a well-oiled machine performing intricate maneuvers without kicking each other in the face. Once this tightly controlled synchronisation is thrown out of whack by even the smallest degree, such as the timing chain losing tension for instance, you can easily predict what the results will be: carnage.

You will hear it when it happens, by the way, because it will sound like someone threw rocks into a food blender.

There is still hope for you, though. This particular problem mostly afflicted the early 1.4 TSIs manufactured between 2009 and 2011, and still afflicts the EA888 engine family mostly used by Audis in 1.8 and 2.0-liter guise, so you may be safe with the 2014 car which apparently used a cam belt that is good for the life of the car, but I cannot make any promises. The best way to avoid this catastrophe is have regular checks to make sure things are fine. Otherwise, good car.

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At what point do I replace the timing belt in my 2012 Subaru Legacy?

Dear JM,

Through your column, I learned that only Legacies in the Subaru line up require replacement of timing belts. Initially, I thought timing belts are only used in Toyotas.

Now tell me, why timing belts, why did Subaru decide to use timing belts in Legacies only? That out of the way, I imported a 2012 Subaru Legacy with a mileage of 130,000km which, based on a review of your previous articles, is not bad for a Subaru. My dilemma is, I don't know whether it is due for a replacement of the belt. I will not sit and wait for that nasty blow, chewing, crushing and gnawing sound of metal from my engine as it happened once in my 3L. Does it give a warning? Can I do a diagnosis or should I just replace the belt and what would be the estimated cost? A belt for a 5L or 3L costs about Sh3,500. Do the sellers replace such parts before yarding them for sale? Please note I’m using the car, and the snap could happen today, tomorrow or next year. Or maybe it would have happened yesterday.

Anxious,

Dickson

Hi Dickson,

I didn't know the timing belt was specific to the Legacy only, I thought it was more like a universal thing across the range, more so given that these cars sometimes share engines. Who'd have thought?

Timing belts are preferred because of their precision, smoothness and wide rpm range. There is also more obvious stuff like they don't rust, they need no lubrication, they weigh little and they don't need to be hidden under covers, which makes them ideal from an accounting perspective once the engineers are done. They are also very efficient and suffer few mechanical losses. (Mechanical losses fall under energy wasted either as heat or through having to spin heavy components that reduce the final output figure). It's easy to justify their use.

What is not easy to justify is their failure, which is why you need to listen very carefully. Have a very thorough inspection done of the timing belt because sometimes failure can be predetermined using a keen eye. If it is still new, then swap at the next 100,000km mark assuming that it was replaced at the previous 100,000km mark. However, someone said assumption is the mother of all (redacted) so the best advice would be to absolutely play it safe and change it, then keep changing it every 100,000km from that point, but with regular checks in between. Sometimes disaster strikes ahead of schedule.