Thread: Seeking collective wisdom

Hey team.
Just am seeking the forums collective wisdom around my vehicle. I have an ‘09 Suzuki Escudo with 150k on it that does the job. I am on the fence around flicking it on and getting something more reliable. In my ownership I have replaced the motor (70k less than the rest of the car), the transmission and the computer. Most of that has been under mechanical breakdown insurance, but I have still forked out about $4k in excess and shipping etc. also the motor swap was more than the max claim allowance. It has not been a reliable vehicle, and I have used up the insurance max.

The fuel gauge has recently been playing up. The dial will drop to zero and the fuel light will flash. This lasts about 5 mins, then will revert back to normal. At my last fill up the dial did not show full for about half an hour, normally it goes up full right away.

My confidence in the car has dropped. I am on the fence about just getting rid of it and starting again, or keeping it due to having spent so much money on it. I’m even thinking about just buying something with a very basic 4wd that will get me up the mountain, but not anything serious off-road.

My original plan was to put a lift in this to give it more clearance, but if I do that I’m keeping it.

Should I just suck it up and drive it till it dies? Sell and buy an older diesel Ute or suv? These will have their own issues as everything in my budget will be 20+ years old and be 250k+I would love a prado or something with 7sears for my growing family.

Or do away with it and buy something more modern that won’t survive anything more than a gravel road. Most of my hunting blocks don’t require 4wd to get to, but I really love to have the ability to get more places than a standard car can go to.

I keep flip flopping between all options going round and round in circles!

Sorry for the rant. Advice welcomed

budget budget budget - your fuel problem may just be the sender unit in the tank - serious 4x4 need some work to make them serious - snorkels if river crossing - decent tyres etc - many 4x4 are immitation i.e the RAV 4 I have permanent 4x4 and really only good for gravel roads - of the earlier 4x4 that have a good reputation the Mitsubishi Pajero could be worth a look as would the Prado Toyota -

what size motor I got a 08 2.4 had a minor fault but now ok get a konnwei kw850 obd reader from ali about $90 nz delivered and you can do some trouble shooting . Many readers dont connect to suzuki as they run a propriety system but the konnwei logs in perfectly . worth a try . sounds like dirty earth etc connection .

Was just going to say that - sounds like a dirty earth or loom connection problem...

As far as reliability, you can go brand new and get a lemon - in reality how much more major stuff is there to go wrong on the vehicle you have? And to look at it another way, you could get a stick and not worry about the fuel gauge at all (worked for decades).

Buy a newer Suzuki vitara and keep hunting

Buy an oldish Nissan patrol 4.2 petrol with lowish ks.Youl be only paying for petrol.Nothing else will break.Just got a wof for my patrol yesterday,nothing needed fixed.Did 17943ks since last yrs wof,just payed for fuel n rucs.Patrol done 599960 ks now,runs sweet as.

Like any vehicle, sooner or later you'll need to upgrade.
Trout's Nissan is the exception cos its older than he is , along with a few old Landcruisers.
Its a a bit like an old axe: by the time you put 2 new heads and 5 new handles on it you could he bought a new one.

Originally Posted by Trout

Buy an oldish Nissan patrol 4.2 petrol with lowish ks.Youl be only paying for petrol.Nothing else will break.Just got a wof for my patrol yesterday,nothing needed fixed.Did 17943ks since last yrs wof,just payed for fuel n rucs.Patrol done 599960 ks now,runs sweet as.

Eventually you'll need to start doing things to it - problem is no one will know how to and you won't be able to buy parts... 17943 in a year is feck all though, missus does that in her car around town chasing the kids.

Originally Posted by No.3

Eventually you'll need to start doing things to it - problem is no one will know how to and you won't be able to buy parts... 17943 in a year is feck all though, missus does that in her car around town chasing the kids.

Might be fk all ks,but 14k of that is chasing deer.So I'm happy.Theres plenty of new parts around between here and auzzie.Patrols are one of the easier vehicles to fix.Theres plenty of diesel mechanics around 30yrs my junior who knows how to repair patrols including my son in law.Just a few more years il be in the mid 70s,I wont be too worried about the patrol.It will last longer then me.lols

you say only paying for petrol but what sort of mileage would you get from a 4.2 petrol in a big bus like a Patrol? pretty scoffy?
I am in a similar position. My 2.8 pajero, which i have been keeping going for 8 years has finally shit the bed. what looks like a fuel starvation problem that has also coincided with an extremely low oil pressure problem.
I too am looking at budget 4wd vehicles or even possibly a bloody cheap beater car until i can get sorted.

Find something else... You summed it up when said you've lost confidence/faith it it.

Had this patrol 19 years now,should get a few more out of it.

We are all hanging out to see a picture of the dash as she ticks over 600,000kms

Originally Posted by XR500

We are all hanging out to see a picture of the dash as she ticks over 600,000kms

Next week,just put some new feet on her yesterday,bfg's 265/16/70 Ats with a wheel alignment.Not big tyers,a nice balance with engine revs cruising along the high way,smooth as.

My South African 2002 Suzuki escudo 2l petrol is still ticking along at 180000km, just changed the clutch (2.5k). The one I had before was a 2004 model and I took it to 240000. If it was not for the heater box that let me down I would have probably kept it a bit longer.
Despite all the annual expenses, it is still cheaper than if I was running a big 3l+ diesel/petrol Ute .( just look at the price of tyres for each vehicle).