AnswerID: 148810 Submitted: Sunday, Jan 15, 2006 at 20:06
Rodos
replied:
The Pathfinder
forum is the place to go for into, as already mentioned. To declare my hand I spent about 6 weeks deciding between the Prado and the Pathy and went for the Nissan. Pick it up this week (after a 5 week wait!).
Suggest you work out your criteria and decide on that. Different things will be important to different people.
Depends which Prado you are comparing to. I was not comparing against the Grande as it is a not more expensive, rather the model below. For the Pathy it was the ST-L model as it has the better 4WD features and the TI does not have diesel, just nicer stuff.
They are basically the same size. However the Pardo has a higher ceiling height because the measurement for the Pathy has the roof racks included. So the Prado feels roomier when you sit in it, but this also makes it feel like a bigger car (wife did not like that as much).
The diesel engine in the Pathy is more powerful than the one in the Prado in both power and torque. Great fuel economy.
The rear seats in the Pathy fold away, but there is only two. In the Prado they fold up so they are in the way unless you pull them out. But the Prado will sit 3 in the last row (well 3 stick people).
The interior features of the Pathy are better. For example it has climate control and most important if you have children there is air into the middle seats (I could not believe the Prado did not have this!).
The build quality is better in the Prado, it feels nicer. The Pathy is a little plastic and the front seats are just passable.
Last big thing from me was the price, the Pathy is cheaper by enough to put up with some of the lesser interior quality issues.
Hope that helps. Do your research and do lots of test drives.
Reply 4 of 4
FollowupID: 404667 Submitted:
Thursday, Jan 26, 2006 at 13:53
Rodos posted:
Hi chook47. My eldest son is 12 and 5" tall (and growing fast) and he finds it comfortable. You can't move the middle seats forwards or back but that is standard. I think you can adjust the tilt. All the children like that there is no floor arch where the middle seat is like in our Commadore, much better for the middle person. The children love the rear seat, more so the younger ones. The foot well is good, our Commadore has a rear seat added and there is no well and the Prado does not have one either. We had 3 adults and 4 children in it to
stockton beach and no one complained. Its great that the children get in and out of the rear seat via the middle row (either side), much more convenient that through the rear door. The kids and pop the middle seat easily. We have been sitting two in the middle and one in the rear, reduces poking.
Road handling is hard to answer. I traded in an Audi A4 which handled great and I have never owned a 4wd before. As for reviews read a lot, I found lots that contradicted each other. Also depends on what type of driving you plan on doing.
Fuel economy was great. It got down to 10.3 l/100Km but
Stockton beach sent it up again. I expect to be able to get it lower without difficulty.
I found the cruise control great. Never had it on a manual before and it worked better than expected. At 110kph in 6th gear it went up any hill (eg North on Mooney Mooney Bridge) without needing to change down or feel under too much load. All that tourque comes in handy.
Do lots of test drives, keep going back to the dealers, take the family along. There were lots of factors in our decision and in the end you have the look at the entire package and get the best for what you can afford.
Happy hunting.
FollowUp 4 of 7
FollowupID: 404909 Submitted:
Friday, Jan 27, 2006 at 15:03
Rodos posted:
Well as for getting stuck on the beach I put 50% down to driver inexperience and 50% at tuff conditions. We took the longer track in off Lavis Lane.
Through the bush before you hit the dunes was a long sand track that was very soft and very deep. I let the tires down to 20, think it was the wrong grear and lack of momentum.
One guy got bogged behind me (he had to stop, I was in the middle of the track) amd said he had driven it 10 times and never seen it this bad or got stuck before (or on Fraser). That made me feel a little better.
Once we go out into the dunes it was fine. Even for a dune we could not make it up there was gravity to come back down and choose another way. I do my
driver training course in Feb, hope there is some sand! You would have to be kidding yourself if you thought you could pick up all of these skills straight up. I remember my first bush ride on my dirt bike, lots of mud because of the rain, I lost count of the number of times I fell off and I think my mates spend more time waiting for me than riding. A few years later there was little that could stop me.
The best place for ongoing Pathy information is the PCoA but the
forum is still down! I hope once the holidays are over it gets fixed!
Glad you enjoyed the test drive. Its a different ride to my old car but I also know its a different type of car built for a different purpose. I find it better to drive though and put up with the bit of extra noise and other things. The kids like the extra space.
FollowUp 7 of 7
