2003 Toyota Prado

andyroo,
best check out the Prado web site for most of your answer's.
www.pradopoint.com
cheers,
Fazz

good luck finding one.. they are rare as rocking horse poop, at least in Syd..

donks

They are a very capable 4wd vehicle. Just need better suspension for a bit more clearance.
The 1KZ-TE motor is one of the most reliable 4 cylinder diesels going around - it first came out in 1993, so its well sorted, if not the most powerful. Good torque and smooth though.
Fuel consumption is highish by current standards. About 12 l/100k. And a bit more for the auto. Not much goes wrong with them - but you can bust the rear diff if you play hard.

Excellent vehicle. Always less than 11l/100km from my auto.

I owned one for five years. Very capable off-road (within reason). Max suspension upgrade is 2". Largest tyres you can fit are 32" or 33" if you can put up with the rubbing at full lock. In standard form I got better than 10l/100km. Once modified it was 12l/100km at best. I managed to break the front diff on mine. It was covered under warranty (just). You need to change the oil every 5000k, so consider this for sevicing costs.

Hi Andyroo,

We bought an 2003 GX diesel manual 2nd hand (65,000kms old) & paid $38,000 on road, 18mth ago. Had a 2.8 hilux before so the prado is like a rocket compared to the lux.

We went for the GX, its a bit cheaper, easier to find in a manual diesel than the GXL, it doesn't have the plastic flares & bits on the doors, which come off the GXL. If you tow using mirrors that clip on the lower part of the door, they will pull off the GXL plastic trim along the bottom of the GXL doors.

The GX comes with only 6inch steel rims but you can fit 17x8inch steels (using 245/70-17 tyres) and you could get away without fitting flares. (if you don't mind a small amount of tyre sticking out from under the guard).

Offroad, I would not put a prado through what I have put the old hilux through. But having said that, I havn't broken anything on the prado but I now days I tend to travel the dirt roads instead of looking for a bog hole or really hard climb.

The GX we bought was ex Government and came with the ABS option fitted, cargo barrier and an Al bullbar. Good value and great for towing a camper.

cheers Anthony

Had mine 18 months now , faultless so far ,up to 165K's now, tows does everything as expected , very happy, but took 5 months to find one, very hard to get here in Perth, but worth the wait,
regards,
Dave

Hi Andyroo,
Have had a 2002 turbo diesel since new.Now done 170,000 km with the only major problem being a front diff bearing at 167k. As Phil says they need a suspension upgrade especially if you have bar,winch and dual battery hanging out the front. With the suspension upgrade it has taken us everywhere we wanted to go. If you can get a good one you wont regret it. Make sure it has been serviced by the book and this diesel is very long life.

Cheers

Kevin

I have a turbo deisal grande and took it to Cape york and did the OTL and Gulf area and did it no worries, there a great vehicle.

Seven

Have had my 2003 GXL for just on 5 days now and very very happy. Going to play at the beach this weekend so we will see how it goes. By the way it's a 4lltr petrol. Go for any Prado you will not regret it.