your thoughts are welcome!

Some car manufacturers recommend a reduction in towing capacity in off road conditions. With that in mind I emailed Toyota's customer information service with a few questions about my Hilux 4x4 soon after buying it. One of the things they told me was do not tow at all in soft dry sand.

If your old Cruiser did it easily then I would be looking for something the same size with at least the same amount of power and torque or maybe a little more.

How heavy is your camper trailer and what is its loaded ball weight? High weights on the tow ball combined with a fair amount of gear in the back can cause major chassis bending problems, particularly in off road conditions, on cab/chassis utes like the BT50 and just about everything else including dual cab Landcruisers.

Why wouldn't you go another 100 series.
and this time instead of the 105 petrol
go for the 100serirs 4.7v8
They are dirt cheap to buy.
plenty of power above the 4.5 but only come in auto.
price wise 18-28k should get you into a low mileage cruiser.
and again
with the budget you have, even a 1HD FTE 100 series. From 03-05 depending
On kms driven

You have not said how many k's your current car has done.
If you spent $40000 on a newer one, who knows if you will have problems in a few months or years.
If you were to spent $20000 you will have a car that is older, but you know what work has been done or will need doing.
Buy a car that is newer and you will lose several thousand a year on depreciation.
Always had a chuckle over my sister in law who told me that their car was getting expensive to repair as it needed $4000 spent on it. Instead they spent $30000 on upgrading.
If you want a newer car, go for it, but do you really need it.
Financially you may be better off spending the money on repairs.

Seriously look at the 4800 Patrols Rob.

They have significantly more power and torque , spread over a wider power band than your 2000 cruiser and are available with beautiful gearboxes in both manual/auto. I have owned several since 2001 and they significantly out perform the opposition. They use fuel though like your one.

They have really good long travel solid axles / coils all round.
A near perfect weight distribution , and can easily be converted to sleep inside (which we do for big trips).

Over 200k my manual averaged 17lt/100km and my current auto version is about 19 , but it does a lot more towing.
Including all the big tracks like Full Madigan / Canning / and hardcore Vic back country.

I recently got into a lightweight soft floor camper trailer (500kg loaded) and Patrol doesn't know it exists and extra fuel use is less than when I fit off-road 33" tyres compared to my 32" road runners.

As a car they are a degree less complex and can mostly be serviced at home.

Plenty around sub 20k.


Actually I like the 200 series and it was a close call when I got my latest 4800 (the last one made) however I banked the difference in cost and am way ahead since the petrol price crash 2 years ago.

We have a 4wd property and have tested many cars and they are seriously hard to beat !

Made from 2001 to 2011, they haven't changed much but had a pollution control power downgrade to 180kw in late 2005 and some cosmetic changes and then dropped the manual option so many feel that pick of bunch is just before the change.

when you say your motor is getting tired....do you mean blue smoke/oil usage, or low power, as if it is the later, buy a new fuel pump for the tank $180 later at repco, you may get back all the lost ponies.

Rob

If you are after a full size 4wd and you are happy to pay extra in fuel (Petrol , I personally wouldn't ) than I would have to agree with Robin with his endorsement of the 4800 petrol Patrol , they are thirsty but pretty well bullet proof , and exceptional value for money .

Cheers

Wow, thank you very much for your replies.
I will look into the patrols as suggested.
A quick search shows them with similar kms to the 200 series...
and prices close too.
Is the Nissan superior to the 200 series?
I will keep my eye you for a 100 series v8 also.
I could swap out my wheels and tyres and bits that way.
I saw a pretty good 200 series with 165k kms on it for $38k
But I am no great hurry to purchase.
And in response to my current vehicle, I was told i need the valve stem seals doing, transmission, front wheel seals (forgot the right name) and had too much play in both front and rear diffs....
It still runs nice, just blows smoke and rattles over bumps and when I back of the gas and reapply the transmission thuds...

Buy a Pajero , happy with mine .2012 nw TD . Towed camper trailer over plenty of sand , not bad on fuel either .

ok, still looking.....
dare i ask, would a jeep grand cherokee
3.0 turbo diesel be a contender,
i have read good things, but i don't know about build quality etc

Having owned a 100, a Bt50 and a 200, I would keep the constant 4wd and buy a 200, but, only a good one with service history, ensure you get it appraised by a 4wd workshop before shelling out