GU PATROL 4.2lt TD & 3lt TD pricing

Rossco,
I have been looking at both of these vehicles but am keener on the 4.2. The 4.2 TD are harder to find as it seems people want to hang onto them longer - as you said, it could be to do with the excellent history of that engine. I guess the 3.0 is still to suffering from earlier publicity.

Rick

Hi Rossco
Apart from the 8 grand theres also the servicing the 4.2 is every 5,ooo kms and the 3lt every 1o,ooo kms . Performance on paper looks the same taking both for a spin back to back might find a diffrence . They certanly sound diffrent the trims are the same and you still get the same crappy cd radio so with the 8 grand you can get a good cd player tyres bullbar winch and heaps more.
Andy.

Hey Truckster, i think you are needed.. Please Explain.......

Hi there Rossco 100 series... Toyota i guess,,, what are you trying to tell us? that you are crossing to the other side of town. to........ NISSAN???

Hi Rossco,

I too sure don't understand Nissans price strategy. I went through the same questions when I bought my GU and simply cannot justify the $8K, especially when the 3.0TD drives better and has better fuel economy.

There are obviously no R & D costs left for Nissan to justify the difference, also the manufacturing tooling would be well and truly paid for. I reckon the 4.2TD would actually be cheaper to produce than the 3.0TD, so where is the $8K difference!!!

Also, resale of both 3.0TD and 4.2TD is 67% @ 3 years, so again no price justification on resale advantage. Throw in the 5,000km vs 10,000km service intervals and only makes the 3.0TD look better again.

All I can put it down to is that they plan at some stage to bring out the 4.5TD (3.0TD + 2 cylinders) and want to keep the price roughly the same. At the moment, any 4.2TD sold is a lot of cream to Nissan IMHO.

Cheers

Captain

Rossco I've got the 3.0 & bought it privately with 15k on the clock and fully fitted out. It was at a great price and great buy. I mention this only to say that it has served me very well for touring which I think is where the two vehicles (4.2 & 3.0) would be comparable.

My only reservation with the 3.0 is in the towing department, here I have a 2tonne twin axel boat trailer that I like to pull around. Whilst the wagon does the job around Syd and say up to the central coast, I don't know that I would take it all the way to Qld. This is where the 4.2 would show its muscle, maybe that's the way I'll go some time in the future.

Rossco,

When I bought my GU TD4.2 in 1999, the choice was easy, there was a choice of 4.2 or 2.8....
A friend of mine however bought his Patrol in 2003 and asked my opinion, so we drove both the 4.2 and the 3.0, although some people say the 3.0 drives better I disagree, I would say it is different car, drives totally different.. I like the laziness of the 4.2 for bush work and the peace of mind (reliability), but the 3.0L rocks in the city as it is fast and agile compared to the lazy 4.2...
With regards to power on paper, what you have to look at which is more important than the power itself is at what rpm does the engine develop that power?
Ie: the 3.0L has a very narrow power band between 3000 to 4000 rpm it sings, but the 4.2 power band starts at 1500-1800 rpm and don't rev it above 3200 rpm because you ain't gone get anymore...
Going back to my friends purchase, we decided that for value for money (back then it was $5 grand) he should go for the 3.0L...
He did, but in a year he has had more troubles than mine in five years and mine has triple the kms....
All the problems mentioned in this forum are true, from the pulley bearings, air sensors, ECUs and engines blowing up, I have seen them all at close range... I have several close friends who bought them...
So in my opinion if the 3.0L was reliable, no problems...I like it, it goes well and it is excellent value for money... But is it value for money if it brakes down just as you are about to head off on your trip or even worse, during the trip?? And then you have to wait three weeks for the engine to be replaced?
Also, when Nissan replaces the engine (they perforate pistons) they only give you one year or 20000kms warranty, does that tell you anything??
The 4.2 on the other side, it is old technology, lazy etc but goes forever, Nissan still uses it in the civilian buses even in naturaly aspirated form....
Check the workshop manuals for both, you will find the engine tolerances on both, the 4.2 can be machined (ie head machining) exchange injectors, etc...
The 3.0L shows, no tolerances for machining, throw away and replace with a new one, no exchange injectors... etc etc....
I can't understand Nissan's pricing strategy either, but it is what suits you what matters not how much money they make...
Do you know how much money does Telstra/Optus make on each SMS??
Good luck with you choice....