3VZFE or 1MZ?

[Martin Maxwell]

I probably need to replace the 3VZFE in my 92 Lexus. One well known and pretty knowledgable guy I have talked to on the forums says the 1MZ sucks. A pretty well known mechanic that works on lots of Lexus and Toyota and other foreign higher end cars (BMW, Mercedes etc.) says 1MZ to replace a 3VZ. But, you have to change the trans also.

If you had it to do, which would YOU choose? Money IS a factor!

How do members of this group feel about Ebay JDM engines? They all say the same thing, 40-60000 mi. How do I KNOW that? Just because they say so doesn't make it true. And why are there SO many available in Japan at that mileage? Something doesn't smell right.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks!

[ShiningArcanine]

I have a 1995 Toyota Avalon XLS, which has a 1MZ-FE engine. It is a great engine and I really like it. I do not see why that guy said that it was bad. Have you asked him to elaborate on what he meant?

By the way, Toyota's MZ-FE series of engines was the sucessor to its VZ-FE series of engines so I doubt that a 3VZ-FE would be inferior to the 1MZ-FE. Just read for yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_VZ_engine#3VZ-FE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_MZ_engine#1MZ-FE