nissan patrol 4500

Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 16:01
ThreadID: 21051 Views:17853 Replies:9 FollowUps:0
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Hi Everyone,
I am new to this forum and looking at buying a Nissan Patrol 4500 ST petrol. Just wondering if anyone owns one, and if they have good or bad comments about this vehicle and fuel consumption figures if possible.
Thanks
Jeff
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Reply By: pmacks - Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 16:16

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 16:16
Hi jt
i have the 4500 nissan patrol petrol but mine is a ti, normally around town i get 18.5 lt per 100ks but i never drive it for economy as it doubles for my work vehicle and i have a fuel card, towing our goldstream off road camper 19.5 lt on highway at 100klm and about 18 lt per 100 klm on good dirt road at around 70 klms/h in sand on fraser island 22 lts towing and about 21 lts normal driving mine also has 152000 klms and to say i am happy with it is an understatement i have owned it since new 1989 GU and it only went to nissan for the free service and since then servicing has been done by my mechanic at the stated intervils and we have never had a major problem or even a minor one.
pmacks
AnswerID: 101590

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 16:30

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 16:30
They have really dropped in price, down to ~$22k!!
AnswerID: 101591

Reply By: flappa - Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 17:01

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 17:01
You dont buy one looking for fuel efficency thats for sure.

I also have a Ti.

Around Canberra , about 20/100 (the missus is a bit of a lead foot), highway around 15-16/100. towing our Camper , back up to around 20/100.

Worst we had was 26/100 towing the CT along the sand.

Other then the not so great fuel economy , its an excellent vehicle. plenty of power, tows well , plenty of room.
AnswerID: 101593

Reply By: V8Diesel - Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 18:47

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 18:47
jt, I have owned a GU 4500ST for 4 years now. Apart form a recent wobble problem, which can happen to any Nissan, it has performed absolutely flawlessly as both my work vehicle and personal transport too.

I recently spent a half an hour talking to the service manager of Giant Nissan, and have also discussed this model with the spare parts departments of both Magic and Giant Nissan too. Consensus is the 4500 is as close to a 'fault free' 4x4 as you will get. RAC WA said the same. No inherent weak points to mention. Don't take my word for it, look through the archives on all the 4x4, Nissan and Toyota forums and try and find a problem with them. If well maintained, the TB45E motor should give you many hundreds of thousands of km's of cheap trouble free motoring.

They do use a bit of fuel, but I just drove 700km's (no 4x4 but heaps of gravel / dirt) last weekend and averaged 17.7l/100km's. It will happily cruise at 130 - 140km/h all day. Off road, they hoot! Heaps of torque, heaps of power. I drove side by side to Shark Bay with a new Toyota HZJ105 diesel last year and it got only 2 or 3 l/100km's better than the petrol Patrol. No contest as to which was the preferred ride with the passengers either. On low range sand driving or towing the fuel usage will certainly go right up, but you have to be honest with yourself if saving $20 or $30 is worth all the grief.

In my opinion (and the accountant's), unless regularly doing the CSR or similar, fuel consumption is a minor consideration when looked at in cold economic 'life of vehicle' costings. Saving $20 a tank in a diesel compared with an extra $10,000 purchase price, double service intervals and more expensive engine rebuilds just does not add up. Do the sums and make your own mind up is all I'm saying.

The big reliabilty / simplicity aspect of diesel is a thing of the past as well. Don't forget he new diesels are far more highly stressed, complex and dependant on computers than petrol engines.

For the record, I am not anti-diesel at all. I think big, simple diesels are the best motor you'll get ( I own a 6.5l V8 diesel Toyota too).

Truckster is right - $22,000 to $28,000 should get you into a real beauty with all the fruit that has been used for nothing more serious than taking the kids to school.
AnswerID: 101604

Reply By: Member - Rick (S.A.) - Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 21:17

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 21:17
I endorse V8 diesels' comments.

While I desire a diesel, no way does it make sense from the money angle for me. I calculated it would take about 80,000 km to break even relative to the extra costs. That is just to get to that point - it's costing 'till then. Only after 80 K do the sums favour diesel.I do not annually do many k's in the big Niss nowadays, and the 10,000 km service intervals with petrol contribute to evening the balance between diesl & petrol running costs.

My GU is a great touring wagon, truly easy to drive in rough conditions all day. Petrol engines are very forgiving to drive, but I must qualify that with the note that I am not experienced with the new t/d diesels.

With a loaded roof rack on, 3.3 tonnes weight: 20 litres/100 km at 100 to 105 kph. Crank it up to 110 to 120 kph & the fuel gobbling starts in earnest.
Empty roof rack, at 105 kph, no load inside, gets about 17 l/100km

Mind you , the greatest fuel saver is the cruise control. Had it on 6 vehicles now.
AnswerID: 101617

Reply By: mute - Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 23:44

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005 at 23:44
jt,
You can't go too far wrong with the petrol GU as long as you look past the fuel consumption. I have a '98 model which runs dual fuel (LPG & ULP). You already have enough figures on ULP, although here are the figures I get on lpg.

City: 25-26ltr/100km
Country: 19-20ltr/100km

Yes I know that I have just opened pandora's box by mentioning LPG, but someone had to do it. Due to most of my trips being day or weekend trips, I am not worried by the reduced range.

Good luck in search,
Mute
AnswerID: 101660

Reply By: Member - Melissa - Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005 at 00:41

Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005 at 00:41
Hi Jeff,

We have the 4500 ST and must concur with all the comments made above re performance (both on and offroad), reliability and fuel consumption. We've owned our GU for a bit over 3 years after purchasing it second hand but in near new condition with only 28,000 km's on the dial. Now has about 110,000km's and has not missed a beat. We do plenty of running around town, on highway and offroad and tow a campertrailer. Based on expected long term reliability our GU is going to be a long term deal...It is a superb touring wagon and having made a big investment , both in terms of time and money, we now have it (almost) setup and accessorised to suit our personal needs so it makes sense for us to keep it for another 5 years at east.

:o) Melissa
AnswerID: 101664

Reply By: flappa - Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005 at 09:01

Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005 at 09:01
Just to add , unless you specifically want a manual , rather then the ST's , have a look at the Ti's.

Not that much more expensive , but come with leather interior (easy for cleaning), climate control with dual Air con , middle seats slide , and best of all , Rear Diff lock factory fitted.
AnswerID: 101688

Reply By: jt - Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005 at 11:59

Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005 at 11:59
Thanks everyone for your comments I think this vehicle i am looking at will be a great buy.
AnswerID: 101720

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