Thread: Prado vs Surf

over the moon with my 96 surf, the way i looked at it is generally the surfs cost a little bit less, have the same engine(kzn185 in my case) with less electronics, you could say the prado has the better body i still like the surf, keep in mind im not a mechanic i just drive the thing

Liked the fact I could fold down the rear seats and sleep in the back of my old surf,not enough room in the tray of the ranger for a comfy stretch out on the quick overnighters.

Well I was considering this group of vehicles with a hilux included but in the petrol V6 versions.
Whilst looking I've noticed diesel Surfs are fecking dear. Same model surf vs the prado and its more expensive usually.
As for petrol bugger all 4.0 surfs, a miniscule higher percentage of hiluxs usually with plenty thousand ks.
But quite a few Prados.
Would prefer the hilux over the surf ute wise but the surf has way better suspension than lux.
Surf is more road oriented than the prado and slightly better on fuel as its not a full time 4wd.
Not gonna happen for a bit as money is starting to get tight again after the mortgage went up.
Ah well

thanks boys, i have been looking at this one here https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/4275513008 will see how we go

just make sure it hasn't been a boat launcher..

oh right cool will do

Originally Posted by jobasa

thanks boys, i have been looking at this one here https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/4275513008 will see how we go

Don't!
It's a non intercooler 130. And waaaaay overpriced.
Look for kzn185 intercooled surf if you're looking at surfs.

there's a few 1995 180s around but not many. like cambo said, thats quite a bit for a 130.

I was tossing up surf vs prado as well. have driven mate's surfs a lot so knew how they feel. prados had a nice ride but all felt heavy. surf is easier to sleep in the back of. if you hold on to it for a long time, i reckon surfs will be a bit more a classic and collectable than the prados.

i wanted to keep mine pretty standard so stayed away from the lifted, snorkled ones out there, also lots of them have real sus amount of kms and will have switches. things to look out for:
- try to avoid sunroof: they generally dont work, leak, and result in rust
- get it checked by someone who knows what they're doing. lots of them drive well but the turbos are buggered, 4wd occasionally has issues, or there's something else going on. generally if you can find any excess oil in the engine bay, thats not ideal (though can also be pretty benign too)
- check the roof rails for bubbling paint. if it's bad it'll be a couple grand to get sorted. the bolts will be rusted in so you could try to take them off but you might break something which will be annoying for you and the seller.
- they all need bushings replaced, steering racks done in the 250/300k mark. if that's done already that's a bonus.

here's a good list of things to check too: https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....sel-4x4-17430/

okay cool i may have to adjust my expectations here haha, is there an amount of kms that would make you lads go shy? i was kinda looking for something that had already had head work done with reasonably lowish kms

Yeah something like this you lads would reccomend? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/c...ing/4287961941

Never trust a Toyota speedo

Just gonna throw this out there , for half the price u can get a pajero...

The Pajero mods from around 2003 with the 3.2 Di motor are crackers. Auto preferred.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by longrange308

Never trust a Toyota speedo

Never trust any diesel speedo in NZ, better to judge milage by the gear knob and steering wheel (and drivers seat), seen plenty of shiny smooth ones on "150,000km" cars.

@Dicko as long as you get to around the 2006 mark and get away from the hybrid electric/manual fuel pump. They have an onboard ecu and aren't very robust.
May only get 100000k out of them and cost 5-6k to rebuild. After 2006 they went to a more normal ecu in the body loom