Prado advise please :-)

G'day,

I've got a 7/96 GXL auto (one of the earliest) and a family of 6. Family of four should be fine. They are a capable, dependable vehicle, well built and nice to drive on or off road. At those kays check that the timing belt has been changed (should be written on the block or thereabouts. There were a couple of recalls for that year including a current one so check the recalls website (sorry link not handy.) Don't know how mech savvy you are but would be worth getting it properly checked out of course. It may not have even been off road so at that price you could be laughing. Any extra fruit? Tyres ok?

Check out the redbook and glass's guide for going prices but if it is sound I would go with the 96 model and save a heap. Those kays are fine if it has been looked after.

Lots of info here if you do a search in the archives or checkout lcool.org

Go the 98: full service history (must have in my books), Auto (even SWMBO can drive it!!) and alloys and lowest k's overall. Low k's, full service history and built by toyota probably still good for 500,000 km IMHO.

Barter enough and you might even get them under 20.

Ben

Jan and Wellsy

I had a 90 series Prado and loved it - the biggest trip we did in it was a double crossing of the Simpson desert - with a family of five.

They are a narrow vehicle (narrower than a commodore, and with a better turning circle) but this is all good (unless you have three growing kids across the back seat ;-)

We now have a 100 series which is better for the three kids - but if I only had two kids I would have got another 90..

There are a few differences between the 1996-1999 (series 1) 95 series prados, and the 2000-2002 (series 2) 95 series prados in the GXL spec.

Series 1 vehicles:
- Middle row seats that are one piece fold down.
- Timing belt replacement scheduled for every 100,000km
- There have been a few Toyota recalls on these vehicles. I can't remeber all the
details, but any toyota dealer should be able to tell you if the vehicle has been
affected and/or the work done by providing the VIN number of the plate in the
engine bay.

Series 2 vehicles:
- Middle row seats are a 60-40 split fold.
- Timing belt replacement scheduled for every 150,000km

General comments:
- There is often a vibration felt in the driveline between 2500 and 3100 RPM. If it feels bad, avoid the vehicle, worst should be a sorta "rumble", not an actual vibration. Can't remember the cause of it, but it's one thing I was warned of when shopping for mine.
- I've had a friend with a 1996 model that he owned till well over the 200,000km mark, which he sold to buy a 2002 model (same model but newer). Only major problem he had with the 1996, was with the auto needing work by the time he sold it. It was starting to slip as he did lots of soft sand driving (nearly weekly).
- Most people seem prefer the regular 16x7 steel wheels for offroad work as opposed to the alloys.
- Plenty of room in the rear for a family of four (depending on how much gear you bring along of course
- If you do a lot of sand driving, fitting an additional cooler for the auto transmission fluid helps avoid any overheating in our soft WA sand. It's a pretty cheap extra to get done.
- The standard tyre size is a 265x70R16. Most people upgrade to a 265x75R16 which is slightly larger (but as its a more common size, you have a larger choice of tyres, and they seem to be cheaper - go figure).
- Lots of available aftermarket acessories for these vehicles if you want them in the future. (suspension/interior fitout/bull bars/lockers, etc).

Anyhow I've got a 2000 Auto GXL and yes I like it and have a biased opinion. I'm in Perth though so feel free to contact me if you'd like to discuss more, or have a sticky-beak over mine. (No it's not for sale - might help when your insepcting those on your list though to see one used in the bush a fair bit).

john.humphrey@dli.wa.gov.au

Thanks guys great info there - were heading down Tuesday so i'll let yas know how we go:-)