Toyota Mastersurf. Any good ????

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Tue 25 Jun 2002 18:01
Toyota Mastersurf. Any good ???? - MartinB
Does anyone have any first hand experience of one of these ?
1994 'L', low mileage.
It all sounds really good. 2.4 turbo diesel, 4 wheel drive (switchable), air con, swivel seats, seats 8, comes with a warranty etc...
Or are there any known troublespots with these.
Any advice would be most grateful.
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Tue 25 Jun 2002 19:07
Toyota Mastersurf. Any good ???? - Andrew Moorey (Tune-Up)
Have come across several with headgasket and overheating problems. Parts not difficult to get hold of now.Take care over mileage as to get its SVA and MOT it will have had to have work done on the speedo (Km to mph). It may have bypassed the SVA by having a sink temporarily fitted which qualifies it as a Camper van. Otherwise good value for money with lots of toys,providing they all work, even though it looks like a circus wagon.
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Wed 26 Jun 2002 18:25
Toyota Mastersurf. Any good ???? - John Davis
Martin. Yes, I have first hand experinece of these excellent vehicles and have run a Masterace for the last 14 months.It has proved to be one of the best vehicles I have ever had and, extremely good value for money. It has features which the Galaxy and Espace owners can only dream about and costs, usually, half the price of these MPV\'s with, half the mileage. Don\'t be put off by the people who say that spares are difficult. There are no problems with spares and, as it is a Toyota, they are rarely required. There have been horror stories but, Espace and Galaxy owners have those too. Andrew, rightly, mentions the \"Achilles Heel\" with these vehicles, ie cooling. However, the cooling problems are, in the main, brought about by owner neglect and an unwillingness to take a little more trouble than normal over routine maintenance. In Japan, antifreeze & corrosion inhibitors seem to be rarely used, and when the vehicles come into this country, it is essential that the entire cooling system is checked and cleaned. Because head gasket failure can be a problem, due to overheating from corrosion/sludge build up, I renewed the head gasket on my Masterace, together with the bolts, a 5 thou head skim and pressure test, thermostat, radiator flush etc etc. Result, 13,000 entirely trouble free miles. If you wanted to learn more, there is an enthusiast website with links to a \"Board of Knowledge\" where mutual help & information is abundantly available.
My vehicle is 4WD also but, is a 1990 with the 2C-T 2 litre engine. The one which you mention will have the 3C-T engine. This type has two radiators, ie, one vertically mounted in front of the in-line engine and the other, mounted horizontally, under the front of the vehicle. This extra coolant volume does give, in my opinion, a better heat transfer performance. The generic name for these vehicles is the \"Townace\" and the Masterace is the luxury version. The name, Townace, does imply, I think, what the designers intended, ie, a town vehicle. It is no motorway \"burner\" but, handled sensibly and, within the limits of a heavy vehicle, performance is excellent. If you wanted any more information, please feel free to email me but, a look at the enthusiasts website, and the links on
\" www.ukspacecruisers.co.uk/ \" will give you a lot of information.
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