Pros and cons of upgrading ?

Bob W5 you list a lot of pro's with only one con, and then answer your own question yourself at the end. Problem solved.

Bob, just my tuppence worth. I to am thinking of upgrading from an X Trail to a proper diesel 4x4 but it depends what u are trying to achieve. It will cost me $20,000 to,trade up to a secondhand vehicle.Thats a lot of cash and if you do the sums can buy a hell of a lot of Petrol with 20.000.. Given that car dealers give you nothing for your trade in its a hard one. Petrol consumption costs are insignificant when you way up the cost of interest on a loan, depreciation, loss of potential income ie 20,000 @ 6 pc say $1200 a yr, johno

I just went through the same exercise. The disco has 200k on it but still is one of the most comfortable and capable vehicles going. To get similar qualities in a new car I considered the VJD76 workmate, the Jeep Wrangler, and the Defender. Then I'd have to fit it out with all the electronics, storage, and other mods.

While it would have been painless to change to a new car ie monthly repayments of $600 a month, I decided to invest in a half-life refit for the Disco. New suspension, new auto gearbox, some chassis strengthening, and a swag of minor repairs and $7k (same as 12 months payments on a new car) later its ready for a trip to the Pilbara (via Alice) at Easter.

Time will tell if I have made the right choice.

Bob

It is interesting how people usually focus on fuel consumption when in reality it is only a minor portion of cost of vehicle ownership

Hi, I had come up with a list of 6 different vehicles that I wanted to test drive , all were turbo diesels. I tested them. Done my sums. I started out keen to upgrade, but when push came to shove I just couldn't go past my cruiser. Even my mechanic questioned why upgrade ? When I have a perfectly good vehicle. And he gave me his two bobs worth comparing the cost of repairing a diesel to a petrol etc. But the main thing he pointed out was why get rid of a good vehicle only to upgrade and have to throw a lot of money at to bring it up to the current vehicles spec ? That money will buy a lot of fuel. One day I'll have to upgrade. Just not yet. I guess we all have our reasons for upgrading our 4wds. What prompts you ?

Bob,

This journey you took in your head, it sounds like you went around in a big circle and wound up back in the same place. Going by your post the only reason you set off on this mental trip was triggered by the amount of petrol you poured in over the last adventure. Other than the mods you have done to bring your Cruiser to the point where you seem pretty happy with it (apart from the fuel consumption) why were you unhappy with the other vehicles you drove?
Nothing else pulled like your vehicle with 4.5 lt of supercharged petrol engine???
I wonder why??? (;-))

Cheers
Pop

Lets look at what we have here.

You have a 15 year old petrol / Gas Cruiser with a super charger on an well used engine, you have diff locks on well used diffs you have a lift kit on a well used chassis, this vehicle by your own admission has worked reasonable hard, so you have a trade in value at (my guess) less the $15 grand.

To fit out a newer car with all your " " off road mods that you have mentioned would cost between $6 to $8 grand depending on were you go, a newer 100 series cruiser turbo diesel between $30 to $40 grand age and mileage dependant.

I have owned a 100 series Turbo diesel and I was in a 100 series petrol V8 the other day and to me they look identical, they have the same suspension so one could assume the differences are minimal at best, you could chip a turbo diesel to get similar power out put to you petrol.

so to sum up what I am saying, you have a reasonable hard driven car with a lot of k ms on it with a stressed engine gearbox and diffs, one day one or more of these things will let go and then see how your economics come into play, or you could spend the money upgrade the vehicle and get a lot more travel time with a lot less chance of failure.

Looking at your pros and cons the only thing that stood out to me was money, the way I see it you can either spend money and up grade or you can hold onto your old car and spend good money after bad once it stops being reliable, and at that age with that much stress I can tell you from experience that wont be long.

I'm not having a go just saying it as I see it.

Phil

Quote "But in my mind I kept Complaining about my fuel consumption ! I was constantly asking other travellers what their vehicles were getting ? I was doing my own head in"

Are you comparing your fuel consumption in the quantity you have used or the cost of that fuel. I used to travel with a bloke who had a petrol/gas cruiser towing a reasonably large van. He was a bit of a pain in the A when in convoy, he had to make more fuel stops along the way. He was an even bigger pain in the A when we got to our destination. He used to boast how much less his fuel cost. I think you may be using the wrong comparison to work out your fuel usage.

Bob, we go through the same question ourselves. 1997 model 80 Series GXL Landcruiser with a Denco Diesel turbo. The vehicle has 250,00 km, runs perfectly, is comfortable, reliable, and has so much additional gear and a enough mods to make a change over (to a 200) too expensive/too much hassle. The pros just aren't compelling enough to make the switch worthwhile. The ExplorOz vehicle is therefore just about to be put in for an upgrade with the signwriter. LOL