More about me - Faz

1997 Land cruiser AMAZON GX HDJ82 (UK spec 24v 4.2 Turbo Diesel manual 3x difflocks)

I am Faz Chaudhary, a devoted enthusiast and fan of 4x4 vehicles especially older Toyota and Nissan 4x4s, although I do love cars in general and "petrol head" is a term that may well be justified here. This business started off and to an extent it still is a hobby, a hobby which I love. Having lost interest in my previous driving job and wanting to build a business which I would enjoy, I decided to turn my attention to 4x4 vehicle sales. 4x4 offroad driving was a hobby of mine combined with knowledge of the UK used vehicle industry, which I had built up over the last 15 years mainly through helping friends and family with their used car searches, I decided to setup www.4x4xfaz.co.uk to supply a range of the best used 4x4 vehicles available in the UK. I source my stock mainly from individual sellers from accross the UK, most of which have owned the vehicle for several years which helps ascertain the quality of the vehicle.

More about me

I left school in 1992 and started an apprenticeship at a diesel workshop in the early nineties where I spent 4 years learning about the mechanical aspects of various types of vehicles, most of which were diesel and a lot of them were Ford Transit vans. The boss at the garage was extremely talented with rebuilding diesel engines as well as general servicing of petrol and diesel vehicles. He would often convert petrol vehicles to diesel power and sometimes would cut out vans and build them into minibuses, my father actually bought one of his converted minibuses for an overland trip to the Middle East ... Overland trip in a 4 years old Ford Transit minibus ....that was a trip which I can never forget. I had an extremely good understanding of map reading and working out routes and so was given the "navigator" role, no we had no SATNAV devices back then. We drove through various European countries, having crossed the English channel, we arrived at Ostend Belgium, the route I had planned was through Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and finally Saudi Arabia (where we found the worst policemen who were a total nightmare). This journey was very enjoyable and educating as I saw and experienced a lot of different cultures and their way of life. Our Journey in the then 4 years old Ford Transit was amazingly trouble free and without a single break down, during the nearly 10,000 kilometer return journey we did not have any mechanical problem not even a tyre puncture. In the Arab countries I saw many Toyota vehicles cruising through the immense heat of the sandy desserts, my first real exposure to the Landcruiser was in the Arab countries where we traveled to local sites of religious interest in groups of 10 people in old HJ60s..... yes 10 people in a HJ60 not the use intended in the design of a 60 series Landcruiser but it worked out there.

My ownership of 4x4 vehicles started with a cheap old Toyota Hilux pickup truck which we bought to clear our garden with, as we had some building renovation work going on and a lot of junk sort of accumulated in the garden, this old blue MK3 with the 2.4 diesel engine proved to be very versatile, a lot of fun and extremely reliable for the few months we had it, its the same type of vehicle which was infamously "tortured" by a Mr. Clarkson on the BBC Top Gear program, in which several attempts were made to "kill" the Hilux....to no avail. Quite surprised at having seen the indestructible Hilux being but through some gruesome tests I decided to take my Hilux on an "offroad" drive to figure out what the little 4x4 lever and locking wheel hubs were meant do.

I joined a local 4x4 enthusiasts club and went with them on one of their 4x4 play days at t an old quarry near Banbury Oxfordshire. This site provided a playground, not for children but grown men who had several different types of 4x4 vehicles - mostly of the Land Rover heritage. Anyway there I was with my old shabby looking Hilux pickup which got a few strange looks from the experienced crowd of Land Rover people, I spent a few minutes looking around at what the others were doing and soon decided to engage the hub locks and find out if they worked. I drove through a few inches of mud which was being flung into the air by all 4 wheels... the 4x4 system was working! :-) My first experience of 4x4 offroad driving was good fun. I later climbed a steepish looking incline and drove down the other side which was slightly scary to be honest as I had never done anything like this before. Anyway I spent a few hours at this site building my trust and interest in 4x4 vehicles. I later bought my first Toyota Land cruiser for my family transport, it was and old LJ 78 which provided enough seating and luggage space for our family of 6. I have owned a few 70 and 80 series over the last few years mainly due personal finance issues prompting the sale of my vehicles and then as soon as I had scraped together enough to buy the cheapest Landcruiser in the country I would hunt one down. I can honestly say that the Toyota Landcruiser 70 and 80 series are excellent vehicles and best buy for on or off road use, after all Toyota has proven and trusted reliability which is enjoyed by millions of people in the extremest of conditions and terrain around the world.