Thread: Urgent Advice - Would you buy this 4WD?

They are great to drive in, but as mentioned already said, it is a soft-roader, designed to get people to the mall in air conditioned, power steered comfort without too much in the way of drama. The engine is small though, and straining it won't take too much effort when packed full of gear. There are definitely worse options out there though! They are also not the roomiest vehicles out there... A big consideration when living out of one!

Originally Posted by mimms2

It's 2.8
Yeah, with a bigger hairdryer bolted on. Higher stresses on smaller parts (and metallurgy hasn't come -that- far; stoichiometry and the efficiency of the otto cycle haven't changed in a hundred years)
It'll be interesting to see how many, or rather, if any modern vehicles are still running in 30, 40, 60 years. My money is on fuckall.

As a rough guide I'll generally rate an engine/vehicle at 100,000km/litre displacement until it should need work (beyond normal maintenance) so a 2lt should see 200,000, a 4lt 400,000 etc

-edit-
And with an auto trans you basically "sacrifice a cylinder" just to stir that porridge. So a 2.8 4 cyl gets counted as a 2.1, 4.2 6cyl = 3.5

How do you get 2.8???

The 1KZ-T is a version of the KZ series engine that used a fully mechanical injector pump instead, 3.0 L (2,982 cc), 4 cylinders, SOHC, 2 valve per cylinder turbo diesel engine.

Hey guys,

THANK YOU!!!

Your quick and detailed responses have possibly saved me and my fiance from making a dumb decision. We aren’t made of money so a good decision here REALLY counts for us.

Thanks again. If you have any other recommendations for a better option, let me know. Reliability and capability is everything, and if you put a gun to my head, I’d say we would go as high as 35k.

To the guys that gave a good thumbs up testimonial, don’t think that didn’t sink in either. I read them all carefully. I would just rather see a higher ratio of thumbs up overall to pull the trigger on this.

Thanks again…seriously. Ill go ahead with the vehicle inspection anyway for shits and giggles, but at this stage I’m backing away.


Cheers!!!!
Mitch

Nice feedback, we have one here at 150,000 and wanting $21 but it has girly tyres and no snorkel and not and never been lifted at all so I’d agree nothing is the last bargain out there.
Basically a girly one and extremely tidy.


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Ive been extremely happy with my '96. Ive had a great run out of it thus far, but i only paid 10.5k for it, i certainly wouldn't be happy about paying $20k let alone $27k for a vehicle of that age. Its madness.

Yes, looking at that money, possibly go a Patrol with a TD42 and join the half mil club with just oil and filter changes. Easy to never get speeding tickets then

Fair enough… will have a look around for Patrols.

FYI it was an auto too…


Cheers,
Mitch

Originally Posted by Danny

Nice feedback, we have one here at 150,000 and wanting $21 but it has girly tyres and no snorkel and not and never been lifted at all so I’d agree nothing is the last bargain out there.
Basically a girly one and extremely tidy.


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Sounds exactly like the one I was looking at. Would have felt like a mug if I’d parted with 27k after reading that!!

Originally Posted by Mitcho

Fair enough… will have a look around for Patrols.

FYI it was an auto too…


Cheers,
Mitch

Mines an Auto too (theyre only a 3 speed auto) But in my opinion the ratios and the auto box is very well matched to the 1KZTE 3.0L engine, i wouldnt want a manual one.

@Mitcho

The best guys to talk to are the guys who have owned and run these vehicles for years. Like @GWH for example. Get in touch with him via private message and have a proper conversation. Some of the comments in this thread so far are spot on about there’s also some crap.

The overriding view that the vehicle you were looking at was overpriced was 100% correct. Overpriced by about 100%!

I’ve run the mid- to late- 2000s 120 series Prado in Australia, both V6 4.0 petrol (1GR-FE motor) and 4-cyl 3.0 diesel (1KD-FTV). I did massive kilometres fully laden in hard-core outback conditions, often towing a 1.5t camper. Conditions way rougher than 95% of what you would encounter here.

The V6 petrol is the best truck I have ever had and absolutely bulletproof. They do massive kilometres in Australia. For instance the railway inspectors ran the V6 petrol Prados for track inspection, racking up half a million km in three years give or take. Nearly all those kilometres were on rough as guts outback railway roads most of which was closed to the public.

The 4-cyl diesel engine appeared in the 120 series in 2006 and is the same as the 2005-2014 Hilux. The early ones (‘06 to ‘09) had the iffy injectors and injector seals that was eventually sorted. Personally I would avoid one of the early 1KD engines.

Real world (combined) fuel consumption: V6 petrol 16L/100km, 4-cyl diesel 12L/100km. We had to keep logbooks and I had access to the fleet data (150 Toyota LVs) - these numbers are the real deal.

If I were you I would do some searches for a 2006-2010 Prado. Have a look at the mileage vs price. Long story short I have put two very good friends into Prado V6 petrols and both mates are stoked with their vehicles and have run them now for four-ish years. The running cost of the petrol is the same overall as the diesel when you factor in servicing, RUC. And it is a far, far nicer drive.

You would be paying give or take $20k cash for a ‘07 or ‘08 with ~200,000km, which is not even halfway mileage to a top end overhaul for the V6 petrol. They don’t have any of the injection or cracking head problems of the diesels, there’s no turbo to shit itself and they are run in a detuned state for longevity.

Brilliant… thanks Flyblown, that is really really helpful.


Cheers,
Mitch

Originally Posted by Mauser308

If you are going to live out of it, are prepared to put up with the restricted set of capabilities over what a Safari/Patrol or 70 series Landcrab will do in terms of 4wd 'toughness' - seriously consider a L300/Delica van. These run on the Pajero 4wd running gear, which is passably good with the usual caveats on cooling system, ball joints/front hub joints and transmission longevity.

Worst issue with them is they stopped making the 4wd versions.

Avoid the 4wd Toyota vans, back into a rubbish can and they are a write off. The Toyota Dyna is a different story, but is a COF/light truck which is a different headache.

Thanks Mauser.

The plan re living out of it is to go the tent on the ground… but will be setti g it uo with full solar, hot water etc. Regarding the Delica… hiw capable would they be with the right mods? We want to be able to go off road where others cant… if necessary. Not all the time, but we want to know we have the guts to do it when the mood/need strikes.

Cheers,
Mitch

27k wooow you can have my old patrol for that,just kidding.Listen to a few prado guys on here and save yr self 10k or 15k.

Originally Posted by GWH

Ive been extremely happy with my '96. Ive had a great run out of it thus far, but i only paid 10.5k for it, i certainly wouldn't be happy about paying $20k let alone $27k for a vehicle of that age. Its madness.

My road going tow and town jobbie is a 99 3.0 T/D manual, 350 on the clock, 100 of that mine, oil, filter and tyres is it so far. Paid 10k. Happy as.

My river and track truck is a 97LWB Pajero 3.5 petrol auto with a locker and some external bits are hiding in rivers about the place.... goes bloody anywhere but hard on gas. Had it near on 20yrs, just petrol, oil and tyres and a lift kit is all it's ever had, it's wanting an engine rebuild now, but just won't actually quit. Be quite pleased if I could get back what it cost.....

Originally Posted by Flyblown

@Mitcho

The best guys to talk to are the guys who have owned and run these vehicles for years. Like @GWH for example. Get in touch with him via private message and have a proper conversation. Some of the comments in this thread so far are spot on about there’s also some crap.

The overriding view that the vehicle you were looking at was overpriced was 100% correct. Overpriced by about 100%!

I’ve run the mid- to late- 2000s 120 series Prado in Australia, both V6 4.0 petrol (1GR-FE motor) and 4-cyl 3.0 diesel (1KD-FTV). I did massive kilometres fully laden in hard-core outback conditions, often towing a 1.5t camper. Conditions way rougher than 95% of what you would encounter here.

The V6 petrol is the best truck I have ever had and absolutely bulletproof. They do massive kilometres in Australia. For instance the railway inspectors ran the V6 petrol Prados for track inspection, racking up half a million km in three years give or take. Nearly all those kilometres were on rough as guts outback railway roads most of which was closed to the public.

The 4-cyl diesel engine appeared in the 120 series in 2006 and is the same as the 2005-2014 Hilux. The early ones (‘06 to ‘09) had the iffy injectors and injector seals that was eventually sorted. Personally I would avoid one of the early 1KD engines.

Real world (combined) fuel consumption: V6 petrol 16L/100km, 4-cyl diesel 12L/100km. We had to keep logbooks and I had access to the fleet data (150 Toyota LVs) - these numbers are the real deal.

If I were you I would do some searches for a 2006-2010 Prado. Have a look at the mileage vs price. Long story short I have put two very good friends into Prado V6 petrols and both mates are stoked with their vehicles and have run them now for four-ish years. The running cost of the petrol is the same overall as the diesel when you factor in servicing, RUC. And it is a far, far nicer drive.

You would be paying give or take $20k cash for a ‘07 or ‘08 with ~200,000km, which is not even halfway mileage to a top end overhaul for the V6 petrol. They don’t have any of the injection or cracking head problems of the diesels, there’s no turbo to shit itself and they are run in a detuned state for longevity.

FYI we are now locked in to view a 2007 Prado… petrol, auto, 100k kms on the clock. Feeling WAY better about that. And theyre only asking for 24k. Also checking out a ‘05 Patrol with 189k on the clock, although they want a bit more for that bad-boy at 35k.

Cheers,
Mitch