A used V8 Land Cruiser asks about 12% more than the V6. In the same trim, it is half that.

If you are shopping for a Land Cruiser from before 2022, you have a choice that is no longer on offer new: a six-cylinder or a V8. The question we hear is whether the V8 is worth paying for second-hand, and whether you get the money back when you sell. We looked at what Qatar's sellers are asking for each today.

The headline gap

There are 1,504 used Land Cruisers live on BuMotar today, and 834 of them state a cylinder count. Among the 2008 to 2021 cars that do, the V8 is the common one: 321 cars against 185 V6s, or 63%.

Comparing those two groups directly would mislead, because they are not the same mix of years and mileages. So we grouped cars by model year and mileage band (under 50,000 km, 50,000 to 100,000, 100,000 to 200,000, and over 200,000), removed obvious duplicates, and kept only groups with at least three of each engine. That leaves 21 groups and 462 cars, from model years 2006 to 2021.

In 19 of the 21 groups the V8 asks more. The median premium is 12%, or QAR 8,000 at the middle. It is not the same at every age:

• 2014 to 2021 — 13 groups, 269 cars. The V8 asks a median 16% more, about QAR 19,000, and it is dearer in all 13.
• 2006 to 2013 — 8 groups, 193 cars. The premium falls to 9%, about QAR 5,000, and the V8 is dearer in 6 of the 8.

Most of it is the trim, again

The V8 and the V6 were not sold as the same car with a different engine. The V6 came mostly as a GXR or lower. The V8 came as a GXR and as the VXR, the top trim. So a plain V8 against V6 comparison is partly a VXR against GXR comparison, and the VXR asks more for its own reasons.

The clean test is GXR against GXR. Only some sellers name the trim, so the groups are small: 12 year and mileage groups with at least two cars of each engine, 132 cars in all, 36 of them V6 and 96 V8. In those, the V8 asks more in 8 of the 12. The median premium is 6%, or QAR 5,500.

GXR against GXR, the V8 asks a median 6% more than the V6. Half of the headline engine premium is really the VXR badge.

Three groups show how close it gets. A 2015 GXR with over 200,000 km asks a middle QAR 74,000 as a V6 (5 cars) and QAR 78,000 as a V8 (15 cars). A 2019 GXR between 100,000 and 200,000 km asks QAR 152,000 as a V6 (4 cars) and QAR 147,500 as a V8 (8 cars), so the V6 is the dearer one there. A 2021 GXR in the same mileage band asks QAR 148,000 as a V6 (5 cars) and QAR 167,500 as a V8, though only 2 V8s are listed.

Fuel takes some of it back

The V8 costs more to run as well as to buy. Our listings do not carry fuel consumption, so this part is an assumption: say the V8 burns 3 litres per 100 km more than the V6 in Doha driving. At 20,000 km a year that is 600 litres. At QatarEnergy's October price for Premium 91, QAR 1.95 a litre, it comes to QAR 1,170 a year, or about QAR 5,850 over five years.

Put that next to the price gap. On a GXR the extra asking price is about QAR 5,500. Five years of extra fuel is about the same again. Paying for the V8 roughly doubles what it costs you over the V6, before you count anything you get back when you sell.

Whether you get it back

The age pattern above gives a rough answer. On a 2014 to 2021 car the V8 premium is about QAR 19,000. On a 2006 to 2013 car it is about QAR 5,000. If today's older cars are a guide to where today's newer ones are going, much of the premium you pay now will not be there when you sell. That is a comparison between different cars at one moment, not the same car followed over time, so treat it as a direction rather than a forecast.

There is one thing pulling the other way. From model year 2022, our listings are almost all six-cylinder: 260 of the 264 used 2022 to 2026 Land Cruisers that state a cylinder count, with just one claiming a V8. No new V8s are joining the used market. Whether that props up older V8 values is something the listings cannot show yet.

Not every model works this way

On a Range Rover the engine matters more. Across 7 matched year and mileage groups, 115 cars, the V8 asks a median 20% more than the six and is dearer in 5 of the 7. Among 2022 and newer Range Rovers, though, the middle asking price is QAR 449,500 for a six (22 cars) and QAR 450,000 for a V8 (39 cars). The gap closes on the newest cars.

The Nissan Patrol shows why matching matters. Unmatched, 2014 to 2021 Patrols with six cylinders ask a middle QAR 87,000 (64 cars) and V8s only QAR 59,000 (113 cars), which suggests the V8 is worth less. But the sixes are a median 2019 car with 137,000 km and the V8s a 2015 car with 197,000 km. In the two groups where we can match year and mileage, the V8 asks 13% and 25% more. Two groups is too few to give a figure, but enough to show the raw number is backwards.

What to do with this

• If you are buying — Compare V8 with V6 within the same trim, year and mileage band, not across the model. On a GXR, a V8 asking much more than about 6% over a matching V6 is priced above the market. Then add the extra fuel for the years you plan to keep it, and decide whether the engine is worth that to you.
• If you are selling — Say the engine and the trim in the listing. The V8 premium is real on Land Cruisers, but most buyers will only pay it if they can see it is a V8 GXR or a VXR rather than a car of unknown spec.
• If you are holding — A V8 that is keeping its premium today is likely to lose part of it as the car ages, going by the gap on older cars. If you plan to sell anyway, sooner keeps more of it than later.

What we do not know, and what would change the answer. These are asking prices, not sale prices, and the V8 premium may be smaller or larger at the point of sale. The cylinder count and the trim are filled in by sellers: 670 of the 1,504 used Land Cruisers give no cylinder count and 701 give no trim, so the GXR comparison rests on small groups, some with only two cars of one engine. Our duplicate check misses a car listed from two phone numbers. The fuel figure is an assumption, not a measurement, and assumes Premium 91 at the October price; it moves every month. The age pattern compares different cars today, not one car over time. None of this sees condition, accident history or service records.

Read next

• The same used car is listed 44% apart in Qatar. About half of that gap is a trim nobody wrote down.
• Dealers do not charge more for the same car. The cheapest 'private' sellers are not private.