Mike replied:

Wasa, obviously a good choice, however do yourself a favour and have a look at the Jackaroo T/D. An extremely capable vehicle at a considerably lower price, and all the Prado extras are standard. Happy trails, Mike.

Tim replied:

Andrew, some of us don't need electronic gizmos to stuff up in the bush and get trailered back to base....maybe you should look at them when you get out in the outback and realize that these lightweight '4wd' sedans are not quite the best when the fur hits the fan..Some of them are troublesome enough in the cities ...

Definate110 replied:

High Wasa (is that short for warwick.... or warren?)

I am not going to pass judgement on the type of vehicle that you inspire to purchase, just on a 4cyl TD Motor. I think that these motors are the best bloody thing that one could possibly want in a 4WD, Plenty of torque, unmatched fuel economy, excellent towing ability, reliable and very hard working in the bush... Ask yourself a few questions before you purchase ANY 4WD, Do i want to be like Mr Jones and own the same car as he/she does? What do i really want a 4WD for?
Will i actually use it to 4WD? Does it have live axles or passenger car like independant suspension? What about low range? There are a multitude of questions that go along with the... What sort of donk do i need? At the end of the day if your happy, then that's all that counts. EVERY make of 4wd has it's lemons.
(personally i hate the look of the new Pajero's and Jackeroo's but, that is just my opinion, and there is more to a car than it's looks!)

Good Luck,
Warwick.

paul replied:

If you compare the diesel Prado to the diesel jackaroo don't forget what you don't get on a rack standard jackeroo that you do get on a rack standard Prado - 245mm clearance, 159L in its fuel tanks, all wheel drive - the standard of electronics on the Prado as to the Jackeroo are gonna be the same. As well as trawling the 4WD sites for comments, also check out past magazines of the Prado diesel - in a 4WDMonthly edition a few months ago Roothy hopped in a rack standard RV Prado diesel, attached a tralier camper, popped in his family and headed to Bamega, he was sooo impressed.

I have a petrol Prado, one day would love to own a diesel.

Though if all you want is power and torque and you don't mind the look of the (puke) new pajero, they have a new 4 cylinder diesel coming out in a couple months that has more power, more torque, and reputedly better fuel economy than any other 4 cylinder diesel on the market.

good luck

Peter Gordon replied:

Wasa, I had the petrol Prado, did a lot of the outback and it didn't miss a beat. I don't want to get into comparisons here (there arn't any! hehe), but as far as your question goes about electronics, most Japanese electronics are as bullet proof as you can get! I have never stopped (or heard of anyone else stopping) to help someone with an electronics related problem. Tyres, battery's, bits falling off, fan belts, hoses for sure, but no electronics. The trick is regular maintenace and check out any rattles as they occur (it could be the ECU computer bouncing around under the dash hehe, not likely). Hope this helps. Cheers!

wasa replied:

Thank you to everbody who took the time to reply to my request The feedback was very postive and very informative. I have decided on the Prado rv manual 4cyl turbo and now its just a cause of seeing which dealer offers the best deal. Thanks Wasa

Bernie replied:

I've had my Diesel Prado for 2 years having done 30,000k's. What a great vehicle.Well built, Very reliable,economical[expect9.5-10.5l/100km].I've not given it a good dust/humdity check but it's great in hard mountain work.