Ripped off again

Husband works as an executive for toyota, in their 4 Wheel drive department...Dont buy the diesel prado until the next upgrade, if you can help it. Manufacturing begins in August to upgrade the current motor with the same diesel motor found in the New HiLUx as its a better common rail system. Manufacturing is due to commence in August with the new vehicle out in OCT, they expect. It will apparently make a considerable difference.

I couldnt wait until then and have since ordered the 'king' off the road cruiser instead.

The only comparasson of the cars which I believe should never be over looked, is this; about 12 mths ago I drove a brand new nissan for a while but sold it after 5 mths, it drove lovely, georgous leather, sunroof etc., but when I always slammed the door I knew I was driving a car that wasnt finished off as well. (it sounded tinny) Check it out yourself, test drive them all today and they will all feel lovely and respond as they should, they are new cars afterall, Listen to the door sound. Sometime in between visit a BMW or Merc showroom and listen to the noise made when you shut their doors, they are finished off beautifully-Thats the same sound you should expect from your new car, if you can get it. The Prado Grande we are driving around in at the moment sounds so well finished off that when we shut the doors its sounds like a machine which cost 60K + - the v6 prado is a great car. (maybe a bit small though)
Just a an idea,& I hope it helps!

VW went through the same thing when they released the MK5 golf a few years ago.
Spent a few hundred thousand marks engineering the door so it sounded solid on closing, since they knew people associate a solid sounding door closing with quality of the body.
Did you try adjusting the catches on the Nissan, may have been all it needed? Or adding some weight to the door?
Will be interesting to see if the Prado door still has the same sound after 200,000 plus K.

Sorry about having a go at you. I find it interesting how people judge quality in this desire based consumerist society, and how manufacturers 'build' quality into a product to satisfy people on thier purchase.

Yes, I know, I drive a Mitsubishi :-).

Thanks for the info GEG.

I will disagree with Oldplodder on this one - manufactureres who pick up the small things also have good quality control throughout.

Effective QA is what detracted from the earlier Landies, but seems to have improved.

Geez ! if that's the case with quality sounding doors than a few people are going to save some money by buying a Terracan !

okay...

Old plodder - I too drive a pajero currently...doors on it sound crap. Including the back door. Mind you, mitsubishi spent a lot of money on their interior looking great...cosmetically, the paj looks great on the inside!

I try my hardest not to get personal with my vehicles at all, that way the facts that present themselves to me are just a basis to research further. (oh yer, its a bit boring but, cost dictates too)

Interestingly, My brother worked for 35 years in PNG and the highways over there are made with rock boulders, he was given many 4 wheel drives to play with by his company, and found Toyota's much more reliable and lasting longer in those real tough conditions. When they can, he and all the other expats there request Toyota's for their highlands trips over the others (ill admit here I dont know if terracain is available in PNG).
One of my clients who migrated from Sth Africa, tells of a similiar story when he was trying to stop me buying the nissan...But, please do not let this sway your decision. You could however, investigate this further by asking others who live in underdeveloped areas of the world, and asking their opinions.

Back to OZ, we dont need our cars to withstand such constant bashing day after day, yet how do we differentiate between cars that are all claiming such mindboggling stats? I have just given one peculiar notion that I have picked up through my years of owning many cars...You would have to be a complete nutter to go around opening and shutting doors in car yards everywhere making that your only research in purchasing a new vehicle worth over $50k. I regretably assumed people that used this forum werent that stupid. I must apologize for that oversight!

Funnilly enough, recent stat's claim that the major influences in buying a new vehicle will be your kids...2nd major influence is female/partner!

And if you are a bloke, with no kids nor wife, then it must come down to childhood beliefs and the image thing that cars do for you...

in the end, thats what it is for us all...a large asset that potrays our image to the outside world..if the car breaks, our ego's and images start to crack too!

Good luck with the decision making process!

let me know what you decide! cheers!

Owned (or currently owning) Mrs Bitchies, Toymotas and Mercs. Mercs rate waaaaay down on my list of vehicles to buy again. The Mitsis were good, if agricultural and suffered from some warranty issues in earlier models. Currently in a LC100 and I think I might keep this one. Nissan make good motors and drive-trains (though watch the 3.0 litre diesel) and generally always have done; however bodies are not up to opposition (read Toyota) standards.

Back to Mercedes. Brother in Europe tells me that they are rated 16th there in the reliability stakes. Guess who is number 1? Toyota... Renault (Nissan) does very well there too these days. Something you don't often read in the 4WD mags - too scared of scaring away advertising revenue...

So door closing quality does not do it for me. Merc doors sound expensive - and they are too if you wanna keep one...

/viz
(the Corolla doors (the Mrs' car) sound expensive too - cheap car, can't kill it with a stick. Which is why I bought it for her birthday...)

Door noise .....what's that? Bl**dyl missus must have worn my hearing aids out jawing too much on our long trips. I don't think I'll be paying the extra thousands of $$$$$ just to have a sweet sounding door. It's the big solid and reliable engineering in that undercarriage that attracts me to the patrols not a pouncy/pretty finish.

Patrol22,

I am so very interested as to how you have come to the conclusion that the patrol has a big and solid reliable engineering in the undercarriage more so than a landcruiser for example, whose doors have been finished off with just a little more attention to detail...?

Be advised, Im not batting on either side by any means, im just suggesting that when you have 3 lovely expensive cars to choose from, when they are all as good as each other, or so your research has suggested, look into other options to decide where your money should be spent...oh never mind, you would never understand,, you would be best to go ask your misses..

Hi GEG - no I'm not going to get into a Nissan V Yota debate I was simply trying to point out that ruggedness and finish don't necessarily go hand in hand. It is generally accepted (even amongst the extreme off roaders and comp people) that the patrol running gear is second to none. Indeed if you have a look some time at the newer-looking extreme off roaders the majority seem to be running on beam axles and a bloody lot of them are running patrol undercarriages....yep even those with yota and rangie bodies.

Hmm... ladies and gentleman, you have just been reading one of toyota's new advertising campaigns codenamed......" GEG " !

Avagoodn
Pezza

Agreed. Fastest growing branch of motorsport in the US and now in Australia.

Much better than driving through 1 inch deep mud on a flat dirt road and calling it "4Wding". Thats just "softroading", and most 2wds would get through with as much ease.