Thread: Thinking about a new to me 4x4. Ute VW. Anything to watch out for

A Toyota Prius is looking good

Originally Posted by Maca49

A Toyota Prius is looking good

i was at an intersection in christchurch last week and herd the "wop wop wop" sound of a rotary, looked around and it was coming out of a prius. faith in humanity restored !

Originally Posted by 40mm

id not call that solder, Iv never heard of that crap before!
sounds like the euro cars have gone full inbred.

its not just cars either that use the crap. my father in law often brings me controllers out of access equipment which i have to then resolder/ reflow.
i recently spent 2 hours resoldering the engine management computer from an audi car. i swear there were more bad soldering joints than good ones. unfortunately even a 2nd hand replacement was $650 and i hate to think the cost of a new one

Originally Posted by gonetropo

i was at an intersection in christchurch last week and herd the "wop wop wop" sound of a rotary, looked around and it was coming out of a prius. faith in humanity restored !

Are you saying someone has repowered a prius with a rotary? Now that sounds like a practical person...... I wonder what else they have tried. Would be interesting to talk to I expect.

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

Thanks Guy's
The other option is a new wider trailer and a side x side. Current trailer is about 4'3" inside.
I know what you mean re servicing costs. 50,000km service for my subie turbo including pollen and air filter was just over $600. Thought that was pricey. Then we got the bill for a my wife's Golf GTI service at 25,000km, it was over $900 !!!!

OK, if you are going down that track, Suzuki Farmworker would be worth a peek before you get the side by side. Same prize ish, bigger, and a heater and windscreen....

Or rather than the trailer, get the bigger vehicle for towing the trailer on the road that is cheaper to run / repair and get a Vitara or Jimney or similar for a hunting vehicle. The Jimnay is $20k BRAND NEW so plenty of life there, and they are very capable for hunting vehicles. Older 413s are easier to fix (but more likely to need repair / service due to age)

This way when Towing you have the right vehicle fo rthe job and when out hunting you have the right vehicle for the job. You dont end up on a tight narrow track with a large ute squeezing through that is carrying a lot of spare capacity that you didnt need to take.

Originally Posted by timattalon

Are you saying someone has repowered a prius with a rotary? Now that sounds like a practical person...... I wonder what else they have tried. Would be interesting to talk to I expect.

yep, rear drive too. by the sound of it i would say it had been ported too and had at least one turbo as the blowoff valve could be heard as it took off.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

yep, rear drive too. by the sound of it i would say it had been ported too and had at least one turbo as the blowoff valve could be heard as it took off.

Could be the best prius in the country.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

i was at an intersection in christchurch last week and herd the "wop wop wop" sound of a rotary, looked around and it was coming out of a prius. faith in humanity restored !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmy6gh4fvUc

Originally Posted by JoshC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmy6gh4fvUc

Better choice than a Rotary!!!

Originally Posted by berg243

just buy a 20k car and get a 4x4 for hunting like a terrano or Isuzu bighorn.that way you have a nice on road and if ( when ) there is a whoopsy out off roading missus wont be going on about how you wrecked the good vehicle in ten or twenty years time and you wont have to clean it at the end of the weekend after hunting.

+1 but let her keep the VW golf cut down to a 4 day week and go bush!

Originally Posted by berg243

yeh I like my swb bighorn the only problem the quad doesn't fit in the back only reason I am looking for a cheap 4wd ute.

Buy a trailer sorted

Flag the Amarok , they are a heap of shit once they have a couple of k's on them.
Have a look around for a Hilux of around the 2012 vintage you will be happy.
Fixed.

i have yet to lay my hands on a newish hilux to sort out egr turnoff. my aim is to build mod kits for most of the major brands.
ok its for financial gain but after fitting one to our mitsi triton it pays for itself in a year or less (depending on miles driven) or for you lot that are metriculated km's

Be careful @ZQLewis mate. I’ve been a VW fan since the mid 80s, I have a 1987 Golf GTi 16v 2-door! Have always had a soft spot for GTi. But I’d never, ever go in for an out of warranty Amarok.

Several comments so far have highlighted the risks. In Aus they were a bit of a distaster once the corrugations and moisture got into them. I seriously recommend doing so Aussie research, find out a bit from those blokes. They are the kind of vehicle that if something serious goes wrong, it’ll be a big decision whether to bother fixing it or not.

You know they’re made in Argentina, right? So are several other cars, some quite good ones! But there’s lot of less than complimentary quality control comments about older Amarok though, random stuff. Also, frequent, short, cold engine journeys are not good for common rail diesels and they are bloody thirsty if you run them like that.

I’d never recommend this as an option... but seeing as how you mentioned it... our spare car that we use to carry anything, inside or on the roof, to pull down old sheds, tension fences (yes, really), go for broke in the bush, I hauled up a 600kg Hereford with it the other day... is a 1993 Toyota Surf 3.0 V6. Unbreakable. As a hunting wagon, can’t go wrong. Who gives a shit if it gets scratched, covered in blood? Love that truck, have had it 20 years.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

i have yet to lay my hands on a newish hilux to sort out egr turnoff. my aim is to build mod kits for most of the major brands.
ok its for financial gain but after fitting one to our mitsi triton it pays for itself in a year or less (depending on miles driven) or for you lot that are metriculated km's

How does turning it off pay for itself?