VIRGIN needs assistance!!!

Petrol or diesel? If latter, turbo or naturally aspirated?

The gearbox issue would need to be checked by a competent mechanic first to see how much it's gunna cost to fix.

Hi Crazy Dog, on the surface this sounds like way too much bread for the age
& mileage to me. Have you done some research on how much 4wd $15k can
get you into ? Cheers....oldbaz.

Hi grazy Dog,
I have the same model and this is a common problem. We were going to Cape York in 2005 and felt we had to fix it before we left. Reco gear box and clutch cost $3,500.00 - done by a mechanic.
Negotiate on a price, starting at $13,000, to take into account these repairs.
The 80 series is a great off road car.

Crazy Dog

Re Gearbox - seems most 80 series of this era had this problem. Mine had the gearbox out 4 times under warranty and, with new bearings and synchros fitted each time - they never did get the second to third shift quite right. In the end we found using a racing grade gear oil like Castrol Syntrax/VMX (R) fixed the problem - this is well documented in this and other forums. I used to tow a big boat in the sand heaps up until 200000km and it got no better or worse.

One thing I found with mine and the reason I upgraded was, a vehicle of this age and type started to cost the earth to keep on the road - after, power steering pump seals, PS box seals, radiator, new brake rotors, and clutch having worked hard and bits and pieces fatiguing at this age it just was not worth it anymore.

$15K for a 15 year old truck with nearly 300000km on the clock - as mentioned above - have a good look around for better value. You are nearly in the first era of 100 series at this price

Cheers

A

I found a 96 80 series GXL in Darwin when I bought my new car, it had 165000 km it looked tidy and it was Diesel for $15500.

For an extra $ 8000, you could possibly pick up a 98/99/2000 100 series GXL with less ks on it IMOA look around a bit more.

Cheers Steve.

I bought a 97 80 series 1hz 5 speed dx last year with 142,000km for $16k. I think you could do a lot better if you look around.
Matt

First 4x4 ?

look you could spend up to 60k if you wanted to to buy a shopping cart , aka SHINNEY 4bie ( or a 4x4 that will never see dirt ) and do stupid things like adding low profile tyres ( how stupid does that look on a Patrol or a toyota landcrusher)

My advice is buy a cheapie - toyota nissan - suzuki anything - if you spend a small amount say under 5-7 k then you wont worry as much when you bend it :)
you tend to be more cautious with your vehichle if its purchase price is a considerable amount of money ( compared to your weekly pay packet )

so IMHO buy a cheapie for your first - use and abuse - learn what limitations the vehicles can and cannot achieve and by the time you step up to the larger 4bie - ( ie patrol or 80 series ) you should have some decent skills under your bum. and sending your "learning" car to the wreckers wont be to painful

Boc

Hi Crazy Dog,

I would have to agree with everyone here mate. An 80 series (even with buckets of mods) with that many kms and years behind it is way to much. RED BOOK says a 80 series 1HZ GXL Manual upper price is $10800. I would suggest looking around for something a lot newer for around $15000. You can buy a bullet proof GQ Patrol (1997) with around 250,000km in the $10,000 range. Most mods shouldn't really push up the price unless it is pretty cool. Its a buyers market so decide what you would like and search the net etc, its amazing what buys are out there if you go looking.

Happy hunting (and buy Patrol)

Cheers

Agree with everyone else, too much. What about a GQ? You could get one several years younger than that for less money and you don't have to worry about gearbox problems with them. The 4.2 diesel is an excellent donk. There's a reason why 4wd comp machines are Nissans, because the drivetrain is unbreakable.

If you really want this car, then drop the price down to market value, get a quote for the g/box repair and drop the price further. Probably would take it down to around $9-10 000. G/box repairs are expensive.

Barnesy