Jackaroo (1992) is it always this noisy?

Well, there has only been one owner, and the service logs indicate that the K's are fair dinkum. The car was always serviced at Dee Why (?) Sydney.

I agree. I sold my rodeo with the same engine at 96k. It had 1 noisey tappet. At the 100k service it was due to have all clearances checked and is a very expensive service (was quoted $1400 from Holden) as its very labour intensive. They also chnge the plugs at $200 a set! I also had a leaking rear main seal. All big $$$ items to fix if you are not handy yourself but I looked at the size of the gearbox for one and I thought there's no way I want to lift that puppy out!

Leroy

Cazo,
I'm sitting at home with a sick child and have plenty of time to waste. I looked up Carsales - private sales. There is a 1997 SE II Jackaroo, 7 seater, 109,000ks, all electrics, bull bar side steps, no cruise control. $17,000 in Victoria. Its a bit hard to compare this to the 1992 you have inspected. If you don't live in Melbourne it might be worth the plane flight, if you are on the East coast.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Sick kid? Sorry to hear that, yet it does give the opportunity to do things other than work!.

Your comments are worth reading ... we were not looking at jackaroos originally as the third row seats weren't that comfortable. We have three kids, all getting bigger now that they are all, but 1, in school, the third row seating provides us with a buffer sone around each of them on long trips. Not as much of the "keep your arms and legs to yourself" and the "leave her alone, she wasn't bothering you" type parental dialogue!

The 1992 model, in question, had third row seats that looked like small front bucket seats, complete with head rests and lap-sash belts - we had not seen anything like them on other vehicles of that below $20k price-bracket. This was the main reason for coming back to have a second look at it. The more recent model Jackaroos don't seem to have the same third row seat design.

This said, the $17k 1997 one in Victoria seems like a good proposition, as we live in Canberra, my spouse wouldn't take a flight to look at it, when I'm on the verge of exams and his work-load is huge.

The 1992 LS, is being sold through a GMH Dealer, they have offered to fix anything that their NRMA pre-purchase inspection reveals, probably as there is no warranty on the vehicle as it is over 10 years old.

If it all becomes too hard, we're prepared to walk away from it, there are plenty of other vehicles out there, but we haven't seen many with the same type of third row seating style.

Thanks for taking the time to look up Carsales.com for me ... I did that too - at your suggestion- but didn't take the search out of ACT & NSW.

I hope your kid gets better and that you can spend some time playing with him/her as that is much more fun than boring computers and domestic stuff.

Cazo

Cazo,
Thanks for your kind comments. If you feel that the 92 Jack suits your needs you may want to negotiate with the dealer. The Red Book trade-in is between $8300 and $10,200. If it needs repairs they would have paid the lower end of the trade-in value. Going by another readers comments, the GMH service costs $1500 approx. You can clearly see their profit margin. My suggestion is that the dealer fixes all problems, you have another NRMA inspection and offer $15,000, or less. $17,000 is a very high price. If they won't budge on the price demand the timing belt and all oils be replaced in the price.

The 1992-95 Jacks were a strong verhicle with few generic problems. There is a magazine in the newsagents at the moment covering buying second hand 4x4s. I can't find my copy to give you its name, but it covers all the popular brands and models giving a list of problems and things to watch out for. The Jack gets a fairly good review. (Pajero got a better review.) If the ks are original, as you say, the car should last for years.

We are planning a Brisbane, The Dig Tree, Lake Eyre, Uluru, Darwin, Kakadu, Brisbane trip for next year and my mechanic gave my 1990 Jack a thorough going over and can't fault it. I was looking for a reason to buy a later model. It has only 167,000ks. I can't really justify the cost of the upgrade when the old beast is still going so strong. The Jack you are looking at should give the same level of service if all the problems are fixed.

All the best
Paul

Hi Bradley,

We agree, $17K is far too much. The dealer has sweetened the deal by offering, the ACT rego transfer from NSW, 12 months rego, new tyres, and to fix anything that the NRMA pre-purchase inspection throws up. We already know about the above listed items. If the dealer, does indeed come to the party to fix all those items, at their expense, then the vehicle may be worth it. We think that the $17K, minus $770 rego, minus $1K tyres and minus however much the mechanicals cost to repair - say $2K make the car a bit more reasonable. We are yet to be convinced - but the dealer is working hard ...

Cazo

Hi again Caz, when i was at holden they traded in a 94 jack with 150k on it in absolutely mint condition, and gave the bloke $6k , one week later after a detail and some s/h tyres they sold it quick for $13. It was mechanically perfect.

I think there is at least $ 4-5 grand worth of problems in the car, and the g/box especially is a worry. The post 98 jacks have a gear whine but that is ok, the earlier boxes were fantastic.. Think about how much they will want to spend on fixing it , i say about a grand if you are lucky, and you will only get enough done to get it out the gate, as there is no warranty.

You could look at getting a later jack and fitting the earlier 3rd row seats, as i'm 98% positive they are identical in the body from the b pillar back, and thet should bolt straight in.

I still think walk away as there are heaps of jackaroos in very good nick, and they have a fantastic record, so one showing heaps of probs is definetely one to be aware of.
Check the buisness listing for eric at wholesale cars, he is a nice bloke who may be able to point you in the right direction. Cheers, Brad

Hello Rob,

The fact that your friends have taken their '92 Jack in places we aspire to get to is nice to know about ... should we take on this vehicle with the repairs done. The noisy tappet sound was when the vehicle was cold - so we'll bear that in mind. I agree there are other vehicles out there - and we have't stopped looking.

Cazo

Rob, tapping noise only when cold is 99% the timing belt tensioner. These are a mini gas strut and the seals go hard on then and they lose pressure over time.. They should be replaced at the same time as the timing belt ( every 100k) otherwise it is very expensive to pull it all apart again to do just it..