Agree, but you have to pick the right auto trans for heavy towing, and they need a good quality cooler on them. AU Falcon auto and Adventra autos are not great boxes. The Landcruiser you have would have got the same tranny as my Hilux ie A750F if it had been an auto, unfotunately the Hilux diesel gets a dodgy baby Thai made 4spd auto that you wouldn't want to tow with, the over-temp light comes on these when in 4WD not towing. The Hilux manual would do it in low range too, but as it doesn't have freewheeling hubs it is automatically in 4WD in low range, and that is a big no-no on a twisting concrete uphill driveway with full load on it. Auto does it so much easier. As far as average cars towing today with a manual, i'd forget that with any decent load, the dual mass flywheels are not up to the task. Holden even used to heavily de-rate the manual versions because of the clutches eg VU-VY utes.