Pajero 2005 TD

The Pajero Club of Vic has an excellent forum - although the answers will be somewhat biased! Only complaint people seem to have about the NP DiD is the engine noise, otherwise, all feedback is that they are excellent. They certainly attract a premium over petrol models in the second hand market as they are sought-after. Fuel economy for most people seems to be <10L/100km.

I had a NH petrol manual and wanted to upgrade to the same in an NP. My dealer talked me into diesel auto and it was the best advice I ever took (on both accounts).

I always thought auto 4wds were only for shopping malls until I tried climbing a very steep slope in the dealer's demo vehicle and discovered the benefits of a torque converter. Not only does it allow you to inch up or over an obstacle, it is in it's element driving in sand, where gear changes would stop a manual. With the sportstronic manual mode (or whatever it's called) you can drive it as a manual anyway - once you get used to it and get a feel for how it changes it's no different to driving a manual.

I have since driven over 30,000 km in the six months I've owned it and have never regretted the choice - in fact I don't know why anyone would buy a manual other than for money (both for price saving and slightly better fuel economy).

One bloke has complained about the torque converter not locking for highway cruising and consequential excessive fuel consumption, but that seems to be due to oversized tyres he fitted (mine locks fine).

As to the choice of Pajero, I haven't regretted that either, but I spent $16,000 on mods and accessories getting it set up the way I wanted. Main complaints are poor departure angle resulting in ripped plastic bumper and a design fault relating to the hazard light fuse - if you're not awake to it when it happens a lot of damage can be caused to electronics etc - in my case I boiled my second battery splashing acid everywhere.

Auto is the way to go...
(After driving manuals for years)

My MY05 DiD Pajero auto locks up if it's above 1100RPM
(ie it's almost idles in 5th doing 50-60km/h)

Dave
I have a 21st. Aniversary Model DiD Auto and it has been put through an array of different driving conditions - sanddunes, rocks - to mud, without any problems. The auto is definately well designed and responsive to everything that I have subjected it to. Most of the time it is used on the blacktop (80/20). The auto responds well to highway driving - esp. overtaking. Enjoy!
Cannot fault the auto!
Tom