Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 13:09
4wd Monthly had a story on used Prado's in their May '06 issue that was quite detailed for once! I used these tips just recently when I bought a '98 Grande petrol-still had a RACV
check to be sure. I wanted a diesel too but couldn't justify spending an extra $5-8 grand (that's a LOT of fuel) plus they're quite rare as people don't part with them. The market is flooded with petrol wagons at moment so you have choice and bargaining power.
My first re-fill after driving it
home sticking to 95-100km/hr and getting through
Melbourne returned 13L/100KM which I was happy with (
mine has BFG A/T and 2" lift so standard tread and height should get better). Have just finished 2 days touring around parts of the high country but haven't refilled yet, will post the results in a day or two.
The dual airbags and ABS were an option on the RV and GXL models, only the Grande have them as standard.
Mine also has the vibration thing around 2500-3000rpm which according to the above mag can be partly fixed with new exhaust rubbers and components.
Apart from usual wear and tear things to look for, some Prado specific things are:
*front inner wheel arch/firewall join, cracks if used offroad a lot.
*battery tray weld to the wheel arch also cracks if used as above.
*front and rear rubber bump stops have 'F' on top of them - you'd want these to be like new!
*head gasket leaks, particularly right hand rear.
*
check sub-tank works, click over when
test driving.
The 'usual things' are:
*tailgate shuts sweetly - can loosen with tyre on it.
*noisy water pumps.
*condition of carpet on top and below.
*odometer numbers line up.
*wear on seats, leather steering wheel and gearbox levers.
*scratches and dents underneath.
*gearbox noises manual & auto; clutch noises.
*amount of play in steering.
*some front wishbone ball joints were subject to recall.
*was another recall recently, can't remember what it was!
*gearbox/diff leaks.
*front tyre wear on outside.
*CV boots not split.
*how the car drives!
*service history.
Hope this helps.
Mark.
AnswerID:
179656
Follow Up By: Member - Stephen M (NSW) - Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 22:15
Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 22:15
Thanks for that Mark will print that up so when we go looking I will know what Im looking at/for, we will be getting an NRMA inspection done as
well but at least with those points I will know wether or not to even get an inspection arranged. Thankyou regards Steve M
FollowupID:
436150