Advice on Buying a Nissan Patrol

Look out for the 3.0lt. It is getting some bad deserved press.

4.2 will do you fine.

Welcome to the Patrol club :)

adlitt,
I don't know if a nissan is going to help you if a taipan bites you. LOL.
Good luck with what you choose.
Cheers,
Bros.

No disrespect to the Patrol a fine vehicle but have you considered a 3.0l turbo diesel prado from all accounts a very good car.

don't need to think.. buy the 4.2 TD.

The 3.0L had it's issues and apparently the new ones are fine.. not sure.. time will tell.

I personally bought a petrol. i was considering a 3.0L... the 4.2 was too expensive at the time.

but after a long time doing the figures. it works out cheaper for me to maintain a petrol patrol rather than a diesel. I thought this was very odd.

But when you consider maintenance cost, diesel parts and cost of diesel. It worked out more economical to drive a petrol.
Advantages i've found so far is i can budget for petrol, although i use a bit more - it's cheaper at the bowser and it becomes routine as a weekly bill.
Touch wood my vehicle has been reliable but petrol parts are just a little cheaper than diesel ones so i don't have to worry about the sudden bill for a broken diesel component.
And the engine is not as picky on contaminated fuel which has made it easier to travel with.

I know avg is 20Lt/100km. it depends on how you drive. I get 18lt avg and down to 15-16 on the highway. Not as bad as people make it out to be. Friends have the 4.2L and they average 15-16L per 100km.

For an extra 3Lt per 100km, i think it's worth driving a petrol.
My figures was worked on keeping the vehicle for about 7 yrs and driving about 25000km.

If i was to buy a new patrol tomorrow, i'll probably buy a new 4.2TD

Aaron

You may get a few other happy 3.0TDi owners chipping in on this topic. I've had my GU 3.0TDi for two years now and think it's a great car. Economical and tough. Tows the camper easily Goes even better with a Dtronic fitted.

Peter

Buy a prado or buy a lottery ticket.
If you must get a 3.0 litre at least buy a 2003 or later and opt for the extended warranty. Don't buy an ex cop or ex government one as you won't be able to get the extended warranty.
50/50 alot of happy but alot of very unhappy people with patrols. Mainly early ones up to 2002 were problems but the later ones haven't been around long enough yet. as stated early time will tell.

Addit,

You don't say if you prefer Auto, which for your use you probably would. If that's the case the 3.0Di is the only choice in Patrol Diesels. Stick to GUIII with the "clear lenses" as the engine got some reliability upgrades at this time. There are quite a few of us here that have them and are very happy with them. Also (as you have seen) quite a few here who do not have them who are unhappy...go figure.

FWIW, you can expect good power, 10-11L/100 on the highway. Extra service costs associated with old tech diesels do not apply to the 3.0Di.

As with Peter & Outbacktourer who actually own them I have a 2003 3.0 GU, have done 45,000 thus far incl. Cape York and am very happy with it.

Hi adlitt,

As with other OWNERS of GU 3.0TD's, I am very happy with my vehicle and reckon I made the right choice when upgrading my 80 series. I looked at the 4.2TD and while it too is a good vehicle, I felt the 3.0 drives much better - and thats BEFORE price was taken into account!

The 4.2TD definetley has the edge over the 3.0TD for very low down torque, but once above say 1,200 rpm the 3.0TD is much better IMHO. I chose the 3.0TD over the 4.2TD mainly for its better towing ability, but thats not a requirement of yours.

Your sure to get a variety of opinions of the 3.0TD, but as you can see from the response of other owners above, we are all happy.

Cheers

Captain

I have one of each due to the fact that I first got a 2000 3lt and had a lot of problems with it ie: air flow sensor, air con commpessor and diesel injection pump to name a few. They were all fixed under warranty, but when the diesel injection pump went on it I had enough and went out and got myself the 4.2.
So any way what I'm trying to say is the 4.2 is great and even know the 3 lt has had some problems it's still a great car so this is why I'm keeping both.
The only reson I went and got the 4.2 was that the 3lt was a 2000 mdl and from all the stuff you keep hearing about them blowing up, it plays on your mind.