Joe replied:

Steve,

None of the Patrols or Nissans have any serious faults (except for whispers about the clutch on the 3 litre diesel Patrols which seem to indicate that it is a little fragile), but if you were a little more specific about your intended use and any preferences you might have it would help the rest of us help you.

For example, do you have a diesel or petrol preference?

Do you want the truck to mostly cruise city streets or are you planning to build something for outback touring?

Cheers

Joe

Joe replied:

Sounds like you are heading towards the Nissan in a big way.

The 4.2 TD is an excellent vehicle and is tougher than the Toyota as well as being significantly cheaper.

I don't know of any problems with this model.

The 3 litre TD Nissan has some question marks over the clutch, or so I hear, but is otherwise a good rig. It has a much more sophisticated fueling system than the 4.2 but while this will save you money in fuel use it is nothing like as easy to fix when outback and may prove susceptible to poor quality fuel.

Both Nissans use turbos.

The Toyota is available with the standard turbo-less diesel and is pretty tough as well. I believe that it needs more work to get it up to bush spec than the Nissan 4.2 but it really is down to personal choice.

Good luck and enjoy the trips.

Joe

johnsie replied:

Steve just a quick word Ive owned a f100 4x4 rangie hilux and driven at work triton duel cabs 80 90 100 series and have a present a 4.2 st patrol series 2. 40.000 k's in 18 months in and around alice springs western qld and sa ,to date no real dramas i've fitted a factory snorkel to helpget cooler air to turbo changed to bfg at's for a truck constucted tyre and steel bull bar and tow-bar. the air cleaner needs constant atten. because it's oil coated the rear doors leak a bit and the air con cuts out to close to the normal operating temp on a 45 c day at 130ks (no speed limits here)so maybe all that will give you a insight. in hind sight the dx would be a better buy for a tourer as its lighter.