Looking to buy a 4x4 in (or around) Cairns in the next week
Submitted: Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 12:04
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cameronqj
Hi All,
Family and I are leaving
Sydney for
Cairns on Saturday. We're hoping to score a nice kitted out 4x4. We're seeing some stuff on Gumtree, but nothing I'm super excited about yet. We've pinged some of the local 4x clubs and haven't really gotten much response. Any ideas? I know in the US at least most cool vehicles go buddy to buddy, or via forums..I've tried to register multiple times for 4wdaction.com.au but I think their captcha is broken. Any insight would be appreciated.
Ultimately we're likely looking for a LandCruiser or a Patrol. We would love to see something with drawers and a fridge on a slide, as
well a locking diffs and sliders...Not seeing much that fits the bill. Any pointers would be super appreciated!
Thanks
Reply By: skulldug - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 16:07
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 16:07
Cameronqj,
Have you tried Carsales.com.au? Brace yourself for a few "we need more information" comments.
Skull
AnswerID:
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Reply By: swampy - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 16:11
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 16:11
hi
The further north the more expensive and less choice u will find ,typically.
Considered hiring one ?
Remember unless its done under 80,000kms at least a $1500 servicing and some minor repairs will always be needed .
If buying a vehicle for a holiday reliability would be important .
All fliuds changed
all wheel bearings service regrease
all fan belts
cooling system flush ,pressure
test
Trans mission flush
brakes tires and exhaust as needed
suspension check
Wheel alignment
tappet adjust
Full
check over
At least have the vehicle checked at a RACQ [motoring body] major inspection
happy travels
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: cameronqj - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 16:15
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 16:15
We're going to be in country for ~4-5 months. Too spendy to hire for that period of time. I'm seeing some decent diesel Patrol's in the $10k range...From what I've read they're pretty bulletproof if maintained
well...
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Follow Up By: garrycol - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 17:31
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 17:31
If it is a 3 litre Nissan diesel then run far, run fast.
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Follow Up By: cameronqj - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 17:42
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 17:42
I've read a bit on the 3L. Seems 2000/2001 were the rough years. I'm kind of working on the assumption if it's make it 200KM+ that it's probably got another 10-15k km in it. That said, might be tougher to unload at the end of our travels.
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Follow Up By: swampy - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 18:08
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 18:08
hi
cameronqj
well maintained good condition vehicles don`t typically get sold that often .
Like I said FULL
check over and a MAJOR service
happy travels
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: TomH - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 21:46
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 21:46
The 2000/2001 thing is a fallacy My neighbours which was about a 2006/07 blew up bigtime for the usual reason. Got hot and melted a piston or two.
Wouldnt touch an unknown one.
You would probably have more success buying one in NSW and driving it up and selling it in the north
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Follow Up By: cameronqj - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 22:03
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 22:03
Time isn't on my side on driving it up unfortunately. I've got a 40hr weekly commitment I have to be availble for next week, and we've got to be in
Airlie Beach on the 12th..Technically we don't *need* a rig until around the first of September when we depart the north end of QLD, but I sure would like to get something sorted ahead of time. It's interesting to hear more about the 3L patrols. I would assume if they made it 200k+ km they would be 'relatively' safe...again kicking myself I didn't import my UZJ100 from US...
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Follow Up By: cameronqj - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 22:08
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 22:08
OK here's a fun hypothetical...
How about a Discovery as opposed to a Patrol. My general knowledge is to stay waaaaay away from them...but they're reasonably priced here and the wife would love an auto...
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Follow Up By: Les - PK Ranger - Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 12:48
Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 12:48
Airlie Bch ? Mackay is pretty close, and a big
population, major regional centre, plenty of cashed up mining blokes there too.
Pretty sure you'd find something there if you are base at Airlie for some weeks.
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Follow Up By: Genny - Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 20:19
Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 20:19
Mining has died in the arse rather badly around Mackay. Might be some previously cashed up ex-miners looking to sell the boys toys to put bread on the table.
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Follow Up By: Les - PK Ranger - Sunday, Aug 07, 2016 at 07:30
Sunday, Aug 07, 2016 at 07:30
True, have a nephew in town there, he's a diesel mech for one of the big operations there and thankful his job seems quite good pay and secure for now.
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Reply By: splits - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 18:54
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 18:54
If you are looking for something with locking diffs and sliders then chances are it will have had a hard time. If you intend looking for the roughest conditions you can find then you will need them. If you want to tour around and see the country then you will be able to see about 95% of it in a standard car. That includes countless mountain and central desert tracks.
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Follow Up By: cameronqj - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 20:55
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 20:55
i'm kind of wishing i would have brought my cruiser over with me instead of selling it. i agree that anything i see with locking diffs looks like a weekend toy, not necessarily something one would want to drive daily. back
home (US) people tend to just buy accessories for the vehicles and often times never end up using them.
i like the idea of lockers as
winches scare me a bit. lockers and good mud tires makes me feel pretty confident. we've got some time on fraser and stradbroke planned. as
well as a bunch of other cool tracks identified on the way down the eastern coast. a good set of mud tires and some traxx will probably suffice...
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Follow Up By: Les - PK Ranger - Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 12:52
Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 12:52
For the islands, and most 4WD tracks, you won't need lockers or a winch, nor muddies, good decent AT's in LT grade would do you fine.
A decent LSD (where the post purchase servicing comes in) checked over, new quality LSD oil, and a bit of left foot light braking will get you far.
If doing the cape when wet, and wanting to do ALL the tracks, crossings (be careful !) then muddies would help immensely.
Maxtrax or Treds would be a great idea anyway, along with a decent recovery kit.
If taking on difficult terrain you aren't confident with solo, tag along with another vehicle (on the cape etc, always someone coming along).
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Reply By: rumpig - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 21:03
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 21:03
Aswell as Carsales and Gumtree, have a look on LCOOL
forum which will have Landcruisers for sale....you'll need to join to view it. Patrol 4X4
forum also probably worth a look at I'd assume, but I've not been on it myself.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Retreat Caravans - Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 22:12
Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 22:12
This post has been read by the moderation team and has been moderated due to a breach of The Advertising/Self-Promotion Rule .
Forum Moderation Team
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Jim B8 - Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 06:52
Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 06:52
I personally wouldnt set off on a 4wd trip without having owned the vehicle for some time, it can only end in tears. No one sells a vehicle because its spot on. And there are some wild tracks up here. Perhaps reconsider?
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Reply By: Baz - The Landy - Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 08:20
Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 08:20
Buying a
well kitted vehicle that is in good order sufficient that it can be taken on “tour” immediately, especially one in the price range you are looking at ($10-15K) will be a tall order. I suspect vehicles meeting that criteria don’t last long and will be the reason you are not seeing much that fits that bill…
Something to keep in mind is that many vehicles fitting this type of description are on the back-end of their usefulness, unless fully overhauled. Especially a 4WD vehicle.
And as acknowledged by yourself, vehicles fitting this description don’t usually get advertised, but sell by word of mouth, so the difficulty you will face is sourcing a suitable (read good) one in the time-frame you have set yourself.
Putting that aside, something to consider is whether you have the resources and knowledge to rectify problems on the road. Taking a relatively older model vehicle into more remote areas without first putting it through a rigourous
check and a couple of “shake-down” runs has the potential for unforeseen problems to arise.
But perhaps that is just the cautious side in me surfacing…
You haven’t indicated specifics on where you intend to travel and for how long. Maybe you don’t actually need the vehicle you describe and that a more standard style of vehicle may fit your purpose and need. It would certainly open up a larger range of vehicles to choose from
Just thinking out aloud here, but good luck on your search and travels!
Cheers, Baz – The Landy
AnswerID:
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Reply By: cameronqj - Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 08:51
Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 08:51
I certainly appreciate the words of caution here. I will have my family with me, so of course safety is paramount. My mechanical know how is realistically on the low end of the spectrum, nor will we realistically have a bin of parts and
tools along with us.
I think our know-how coupled with comfort level will leave us to the following identified kind of areas/tracks: Fraser Island, Stradbroke Island, Noosa Heads Northshore to Sunshine Coast,
Moreton Island...
places that from my general research mean I'm not going to be the only person out there. In general we prefer to 'never go alone'. Being on a new continent, we'll be forced to leave solo, but I don't expect we'll be anywhere solo.
Thoughts on the above itinerary? Would something like a newer Mits Challenger with decent muddies be a-ok?
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Michael H9 - Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 08:39
Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 08:39
An early 2000's petrol Challenger with around 150k on it is easily in your price bracket and they are good for at least 300k on average. Those areas you are talking about don't require anything special. I wouldn't worry about muddies on sand, they just dig deeper quicker.
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Follow Up By: rumpig - Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 08:56
Saturday, Aug 06, 2016 at 08:56
All those
places you listed are easily drivable at the right tides with the right tyre pressures on any style tyre, no need for muddies. Sand driving (which is what you appear to be doing with those locations) is all about tyre pressures, people that get bogged at those
places you listed usually do so because they are either lacking the knowledge to deflate their tyres, or to scared or to lazy to lower their tyres below 20psi if the conditions require it.
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Reply By: Rangiephil - Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 11:37
Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 11:37
Unless you intend to do the
CREB track or the OTT , mud tyres and lockers would be unnecessary on any of the islands and the tyres would be a hinderance as the islands are completely sand.
My recommendation would be to approach one of the 4wd specialist used yards in
Brisbane with a view to a repurchase agreement.
Ther is a
well known one named FWD in
Brisbane.
Any stock 4wd wagon can do the islands easily . I used to do them in a VW type 3!
A set of Maxtrax and snatch strap should be all the recovery gear required .
Regards Philip A
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Rangiephil - Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 11:41
Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 11:41
Whoops looks like FWD went broke in 2015. Can someone in
Brisbane give some recent leads.
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Reply By: Rangiephil - Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 12:17
Friday, Aug 05, 2016 at 12:17
Look the simplest way would be to go into carsales.com.au and use the filters to isolate the search to
Brisbane or
cairns and the price range etc.
Carsales is the biggest new and used car search engine and listing in Australia.
Regards Philip A
AnswerID:
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