Which Prado? RV-GXL-Grande

I've been checking out yards and private. RV's are going for around $17-21,000 in yards, not many for sale privately. There's a few GXL's and Grande's privately with the GXL's between $17-20 and Grande's around $20-25,000. So not a huge difference on the private market, which is another reason I can look at the upper models.

I know Prado's have very good air con., do you carry passengers in the back and do they complain on the hot days?

Thanks Phillip,

Mark.

Cheers Phil,

I also am chasing the Airbag & ABS package, pretty rare on the RV's and GXL's but I have found some. I hadn't really thought about the cost of flares and wider tyres, would be one of those things to do 'down the track'. Looks like it might work out cheaper in the long run to go the GXL/Grande way with less to add...more stuff to think about.

Thanks,

Mark.

Thanks Ivan,

There goes my worry about the kids in back seat, its good to hear 1st hand knowledge of these things. The elec window fix is a bonus.

Cheers,

Mark.

We did the window fix too - well worth it!

Re fuel consumption. Overall average for our 2000 VX auto is around 14L/100km. Rough breakdown:
- Heavy city traffic: 15-17
- Light city traffic: 14
- Flat highway with light load, 95km/h: 11-12
- Flat highway with heavy load or 100km/h: 13-14
- Hilly, windy sealed country roads with light load: 14-15
- Hilly, windy sealed country roads with heavy load/head wind: 14 - 16
- Gravel roads/tracks, high range 4WD, heavy load, lower tyre pressure: 16 - 17
- Low range 4WD, slow rocky tracks: 25+

When I said traction control (TC) doesn't come on in low range (except L1) I meant with the centre diff locked. If the centre diff is unlocked, TC will work in low range.

I sampled this accidentally on a recent trip when I forgot to lock the centre diff on a 4WD track. When the track started to climb steeply, one wheel after another started to spin, and the TC kept cutting in to regain traction (a light on the dash shows which wheel has spun and been braked by the TC). We got up the hill fine. But the real lesson was that a locked diff is better than mere TC: preferable not to spin the wheels in the first place! (Take note if you are considering models like early Disco II that rely on TC instead of locked diffs!)

TC is useful in high range when you don't want to lock the centre diff (e.g. wet bitumen).

But for us, the greatest value of TC is in low first with centre diff locked, on a steep slope. Then if a wheel spins you want the TC to control it, and are grateful when it does. This happened a few times on our high country trip (e.g. on Cobberas Trail, Ingeegoodbee Tk and Tom Groggin-Pinnibar Tk). (OK we need new tyres!) The TC then worked a treat. Sure front and rear cross-axle diff locks would be better in tough conditions (especially if using for a sustained period), but for occasional intervention TC is great. Also TC doesn't affect steering and only cuts in when necessary.

Most, if not all of the Limited Edition models (World Cup, Snowy, Kimberley, etc) were based on the RV, not the GXL. Wouldn't have airbags, might have 235 tyres rather than GXL's 265/70R16.

Is that right.

Well I was told porkies then. (how unusual from a Car Salesmen)

I was told they were upgrades from the GXL , and thats why they had dual air con.

According to my Toyota spec sheet for the Prado as at May 2000, even standard aircon was an optional extra on RV and GXL (although I don't suppose they sold many without it). (How typical of Toyota: at a time when even $13k drive-away Hyundais had a/c and airbags, you generally had to pay a few grand extra on top of the $48k or whatever to get them on a GXL Prado!)

Dual aircon with rear duct was standard on VX, TX and Grande, but not available (even as an option) on RV or GXL.

Sounds like you've been told fibs alright Flappa!

Flappa and Des,
You were both right ..... partially :-)))
The Wold Cup and Getaway models were based on the RV - I both had the 6 inch wide alloys and a few other bits like cruise control.
The Snowy and Kimberley editions were based on GXL - had a bit of extra chrome and the 7 inch wide mags.

Cheers
Phil

And no dual aircon, airbags or ABS in any of the packages! (Seems airbags and ABS were optional on Snowy and Kimberley, like other GXLs. But dual aircon wasn't.)

There was Dual Air Con on the Snowy I was shown . . . positive.

Hi Flappa,

Thats interesting because the dual air comes fitted from the factory in Japan, and I thought the Snowy was an Aussie version that was tizzied up after they landed in Aus. But I may be wrong on the latter. All other air cond was fitted by the dealers.

Cheers
Phil

In the VX, selecting low range doesn't lock the centre diff. To lock the diff you press a button on the dash, located to the right of the steering column. From looking at RVs and GXLs, I'm pretty sure they are the same. So you can have the centre diff locked or unlocked in either high range or low range. (Not like some part-time 4WDs - e.g. GU Patrols? - where selecting low range automatically locks the hubs.)

Check Phil's post up higher about Prado GXL specials - that's where the Kimberely alloys come from!

Just to confuse the issue even more, there were two sorts of alloys labelled as Kimberley. The first were the chunky 5-spoke alloys that came on the early VX and Grande. They also appeared on the GXL Snowys.

But in 2001, and for most of 2002, the GXLs were sold with "Kimberley" mags that were actually the same as ROH "Dune" mags - a 6-spoke wheel which had thin spokes. Those ROH mags were sold off at $100 each after the 90series was superseded.

I agree that Terracan and Sorento are well worth a look too. We considered these ones, and others including Jackaroo, Pathfinder, Pajero and Discovery. Don't want to start a war - all have their advantages and disadvantages and should be considered. Depends on your own needs. Plenty in archives about all of these.

With both Sorento and Terracan, you do get a lot for your money, although you would need to budget for suspension upgrade (except possibly Terracan with Trek'n'Tow pack). Diesel Terracan sounds promising. Sorento is a great-looking car, a good size if 5 seats are enough, proven Mitsubishi engine, well-equipped, good safety rating. More aftermarket accessories are becoming available for both, but not the same range as for bigger-selling models: might be hard to find snorkel, cargo barrier/drawer systems, diff locks, extra fuel tanks, etc. Reviews suggest both are quite rugged and OK off-road, but neither has anything like the ground clearance or articulation of 95-series Prado. Also query resale value.

Terracan and Sorento probably haven't sold as well as they ought to, but on the other hand good sales are a pretty fair indication that the model suits the needs of most people and is no dud. We all agree that the Prado was and is not cheap, but there are good reasons why it is remains so popular: reliable, good size, 159L fuel tanks as standard (GXL and above), 8 seats, quiet, smooth, easy to drive, good parts availability/dealer network. Most owners wouldn't know how good it is offroad: amongst mid-sized rivals, only the Disco rivals Prado's 245mm of ground clearance (GXL and above) and excellent articulation. Those are the reasons why Prados hold their resale value so well. You can say it is overpriced, Jimbo, but the market doesn't think so.

Des,
Nice level headed reply. I agree - the Prados have great resale. And depreciation is a major cost of owning a car. But I guess thats in the favour of those who are buying new.

My last Prado was a TD, and its trade-in value after almost 3 years of ownership was $7k less than the cash price I paid for it - can't complain about that.

The 159 litre tanks were standard on all V6 and TD - even the RV. It was only the 2.7 petrol and the grey imports that missed out.

Cheers
phil

Mark that's a bit out of my reach - don't know how negotiable you are and don't want to do that here in any case. Still it sounds like a nice rig, is there anywhere I could see some photo's? Or e-mail?

Cheers,

Mark.