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Yes. Having been in these across the Sahara they are the only model that people trust in the literal middle of nowhere. It's more than just the lack of electron

Yes. Having been in these across the Sahara they are the only model that people trust in the literal middle of nowhere. It's more than just the lack of electronics. The bearings and suspension hold up to brutal conditions such as driving across badlands for hours and sand everywhere.

mcv 4y ago
In 2006 I visited Timbuctoo. These things are ubiquitous there. All cars waiting for the ferry across the Niger were Toyota Landcruisers, with one exception: a Toyota Hilux. Leaving the city (by Landcruiser of course) across the desert, we came across other Landcruisers, as well as a single Mitsubishi 4WD that had broken down. Rumour had it that if your Landcruiser broke down in the middle of the desert, a guy on a camel would come along and he'd be able to get you parts for your Landcruiser. The rest of Mali had lots of aging Peugeots and the occasional Mercedes van, but the desert was clearly the domain of the Landcruiser.
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  You almost stumbled across the reason Toyotas are so prevalent in the third world but you missed it because it doesn't fit your biases. A running vehicle is a hot commodity in that part of the world and with cheap labor they can fix just about anything. So why was that Mitsubishi not fixed and running? Why is every other car in Brazil a Ford? Why do you pretty much never see a Hilux in Russia (much to the consternation of the fanboys who think it would fit well in a rural country like that)? Supply chain. Toyota does not make seals. They do not make bearings. They do not forge and roll their own steel. They buy the same parts everyone else in the business does. Toyota was the only major brand to pay the poor equatorial nations any attention for a long time. They were the only ones who did the hard work to establish the business relationships needed to get their service parts into the poor parts of the world. As a result of this their vehicles are the preference of the poor parts of the world, because they are the ones you can actually get the parts for.
  - mcv 4y ago
    From what I understood, different models of Landcruiser, which can sometimes look completely different, still tend to use mostly the same components. All specifically to make it easy to maintain the things. Honestly, that story about the guy on the camel is probably true. A Landcruiser that has finally broken down is still a source of parts for other Landcruisers.
  - tsomctl 4y ago
    Toyota does make seals (Koyo), bearings (Koyo again), and forgings (Aisin). Dunno if they roll their own steel, but would be surprised if they don't.
    - dsfyu404ed 4y ago
      Koyo and Aisin are like the ACDelco and New Venture Gear of the far east. All the other manufacturers from that region use their assemblies.
  - smooc 4y ago
    And service network. In Africa they have service locations at many places. For other brands you can't find any.
  - yourapostasy 4y ago
    Professionals talk logistics wins again. I'd love to peer inside how Toyota made this happen at the nuts and bolts operational level. How do they deal with all the currency conversion between all the nations? What language do they transact in? How do they deal with shipping? That would be so fascinating to understand.
  - robocat 4y ago
    Toyota are more reliable AND they have a great supply chain with cheap parts. You are suggesting a cause-and-effect that is nonsense. Make an unreliable 4WD with great supply chain, and they won’t sell. Your implied assumption is that drivers in harsh environments (say outback Australia) care more about supply chain for parts than reliability - ummmm no - they have experience in what is reliable and they intelligently buy accordingly, even though Toyota is not the cheapest to buy. Toyota is one of the few brands that actually mean something about quality of reliability: https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/the-most-and-least-expensive-cars-to-maintain-by-maddy-martin https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/the-most-and-least-expe... is a 2016 article about older cars that shows reliability (Toyota doesn’t appear on the no-start list) and “Toyota’s Tacoma and Highlander are also on the low-cost leaderboard, even though the list is dominated by compact and mid-sized sedans. Toyota completely avoids the the most expensive models list.”.
ColonelBlimp 4y ago
True. And when they break it's much more likely to find spare parts or someone who knows how to fix the car.

mcv 4y ago

In 2006 I visited Timbuctoo. These things are ubiquitous there. All cars waiting for the ferry across the Niger were Toyota Landcruisers, with one exception: a Toyota Hilux. Leaving the city (by Landcruiser of course) across the desert, we came across other Landcruisers, as well as a single Mitsubishi 4WD that had broken down. Rumour had it that if your Landcruiser broke down in the middle of the desert, a guy on a camel would come along and he'd be able to get you parts for your Landcruiser. The rest of Mali had lots of aging Peugeots and the occasional Mercedes van, but the desert was clearly the domain of the Landcruiser.

dsfyu404ed 4y ago
You almost stumbled across the reason Toyotas are so prevalent in the third world but you missed it because it doesn't fit your biases. A running vehicle is a hot commodity in that part of the world and with cheap labor they can fix just about anything. So why was that Mitsubishi not fixed and running? Why is every other car in Brazil a Ford? Why do you pretty much never see a Hilux in Russia (much to the consternation of the fanboys who think it would fit well in a rural country like that)? Supply chain. Toyota does not make seals. They do not make bearings. They do not forge and roll their own steel. They buy the same parts everyone else in the business does. Toyota was the only major brand to pay the poor equatorial nations any attention for a long time. They were the only ones who did the hard work to establish the business relationships needed to get their service parts into the poor parts of the world. As a result of this their vehicles are the preference of the poor parts of the world, because they are the ones you can actually get the parts for.
- mcv 4y ago
  From what I understood, different models of Landcruiser, which can sometimes look completely different, still tend to use mostly the same components. All specifically to make it easy to maintain the things. Honestly, that story about the guy on the camel is probably true. A Landcruiser that has finally broken down is still a source of parts for other Landcruisers.
- tsomctl 4y ago
  Toyota does make seals (Koyo), bearings (Koyo again), and forgings (Aisin). Dunno if they roll their own steel, but would be surprised if they don't.
  - dsfyu404ed 4y ago
    Koyo and Aisin are like the ACDelco and New Venture Gear of the far east. All the other manufacturers from that region use their assemblies.
- smooc 4y ago
  And service network. In Africa they have service locations at many places. For other brands you can't find any.
- yourapostasy 4y ago
  Professionals talk logistics wins again. I'd love to peer inside how Toyota made this happen at the nuts and bolts operational level. How do they deal with all the currency conversion between all the nations? What language do they transact in? How do they deal with shipping? That would be so fascinating to understand.
- robocat 4y ago
  Toyota are more reliable AND they have a great supply chain with cheap parts. You are suggesting a cause-and-effect that is nonsense. Make an unreliable 4WD with great supply chain, and they won’t sell. Your implied assumption is that drivers in harsh environments (say outback Australia) care more about supply chain for parts than reliability - ummmm no - they have experience in what is reliable and they intelligently buy accordingly, even though Toyota is not the cheapest to buy. Toyota is one of the few brands that actually mean something about quality of reliability: https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/the-most-and-least-expensive-cars-to-maintain-by-maddy-martin https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/the-most-and-least-expe... is a 2016 article about older cars that shows reliability (Toyota doesn’t appear on the no-start list) and “Toyota’s Tacoma and Highlander are also on the low-cost leaderboard, even though the list is dominated by compact and mid-sized sedans. Toyota completely avoids the the most expensive models list.”.

ColonelBlimp 4y ago

True. And when they break it's much more likely to find spare parts or someone who knows how to fix the car.