Prado true 4wd or show pony

Show Pony...

BReaks my heart to say it but its a true 4wd - reliability, clearance, wheel travel, not up to a patrol or nonIRS Cruiser but true 4wd anyways________________________________>
Fraser Island Dreaming
________________________________>

Show Pony..._____________________________________________
Countin the days till July 5th. *Cape York Trip*
_____________________________________________

Jason,
Have a look here-http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/90scool/
Nothing really wrong with the Prado, but maybe Iam biased. If you can stretch to a 2000 model, go for the T/Diesel.
Like a lot of the newer Toyotas you may find the need to upgrade the suspension, particularly the front springs-too soft if you add steel bullbar/etc.
Glenn B.

jason, looked at the prado a few years ago for work truck :- some pros & cons
good size standard fuel tanks, 3lt turbo diesel get good economy (10lt/100klm possible) reasonable towing capacity.
found the inside a bit narrow for three adults in the secons row, back seats would go first up & fit a cargo barrier. The ramaining load space was a bit light on but better than what you would be used to in a SWB.
we hired a 3.4v6 for a week, went ok but was heavy on fuel around town like most $wd's. out on the open road got about 14l/100klm(someone that owns one might have better real world cosumption figures, we where being lead foots)
as a road car it's pretty good for aprox. 2000kg of truck, brakes worked well, a work college bought one for the wife(5 kids!) after we hired the car, so far it's got 175,000 klm on it and no major problems, they seen quiet happy with it.

for a Mid sizer prado, Jackaroo, Mitsubishi would be reasonable choices.
work has a Jackaroo with 480,000 klm on the clock with original 3.2 V6 & gear box, no major problems with it either & it has been well used by all & sundry.

If you looking to lift any of the above you are limmited by the IFS on these trucks, that said they are reaonably capable off road and most can be lifted about 50mm safely within the limmits of the IFS

jason not everyone need's a big 4wd, the Die Hards will all now probably say to buy a big tojo or Nissan, Goverment departments seem to have a lot of Jackaroo's & Prado's in there fleets, if this size truck "fits" your need like a lot of other people the Prado diesel would be a resonable choice.

Jason, have a look at any number of the recent 4x4 mags. They have all done reviews of the new Prado and, surprise surprise, they have also done reviews on buying a second hand Prado. Journo consensus seems to be that it has enough off-road ability to surprise a few would-be knockers. The manuals are renowned for clutch problems and my mate has suffered the same problem. Tojo doesn't seem too interested in helping to fix it.Be good, or be quick.
Rohan (Sydney)

Jason,
Like a few of the guy's have stated, they are a bit of a show pony. I have clocked up alot of kay's offroad, and have never passed a Prado in my low range travels!! That's not to say they arne't fairly capeable off road, but your shorty GQ would blow it away when the going get's rough!! Like all Toyota's, they are well built, and are a fairly reliable unit, but they also share alot of the typicall Tojo problems, like the weak drivetrain, and ridiculous parts prices. If i was shopping for this type of vehicle, i would probably be going for a Jakaroo. They are very tough, quite capeable offroad, have good petrol, and excellent diesel motor's, and a reliable drivetrain. But best of all, you could find a simalarly aged and travelled vehicle for thousands of dollars less than a Toyota. That would leave you with a bit of money to rework the suspension, and kit it out a bit. Hope this has helped. Tristjo.

Jason we have had many away with us and to date never had a problem
deisel and petrol. I find them a very capable 4x4 .
We had one across the simpson a few years back , a petrol it got nearly the same fuel cosumption as the deisel cruisers it was a mater of about 5 lts . On the same trip there was a petrol 80 and used 90 lts more than the deisels and prado.
Jason the main thing is what are you going to do with the truck how mutch 4x4 are you going to do, dont fall into the trap of putting every extra known to man on it or seen in the mags maybe just up grade the suspension and a snorkel ,duel battery and a uhf radio use the KISS method.
All the best
Eric
www.capeyorkconnections.com.au
Peter 07 4094 1745
Eric 02 42 94 3496
Cape York Connections

Jason as an owner of a TD Prado (11lt/100Km) I can assure you they are not a show pony. With a few basic mods such as suspension lift, snorkel and quality set of A/t or M/T tyres they will go 95% of places L/C or patrol with the same basic mods. The front suspension is its only real issue if it hasnt been replaced a little too soft and under dampened. Last year 4x4 Monthly took a stock standard TD with camper trailer to the cape (including the telegraph track) and had no trouble what so ever. As for reliability I have no complaints there and mine is a manual and I am unaware of too many clutch problems other than when people abuse them which will wear any clutch out. There are other alternatives such as jackaroos and pajeros but you will be hard pressed to beat the Prados ability offroad with either of these. As mentioned before if you can stretch the budget look for a 2000 model as the diesel is a much better proposition over the V6 even if running cost are pretty even.

Cheers

If you live in Sydney mate of mine is selling his TD 99' model 3.0ltd as new condition never off road if interested let me know & i will get full details for you Regards Bob
Wish i was still here / Gulf in July

Jason have seen a couple out in the scrub and are just as good as their bigger brother .Park one next to a 60 series and compare the sizes from every corner its only from the 80 that the cruzer got big fat and heavy . work out the engine kws as a % of weight on all the vehicles your considering the higher the % the better for towing the smaller is possibly a better tourer or taxi .

Jason,
I have one, and it's served me well in all sorts of terrain. Mind you, I've upgraded suspension, tyres, unichip etc, but show me a Patrol or Cruiser who hasn't also? I hope to swap to a 100 series diesel soon, but mainly because my Prado is petrol, and I want to get into a diesel platform. I have two brothers who both have T/D Prados (one TX and one GXL) and they love them. You could do a lot worse than a Prado, but it depends what your needs and preferences are. There are lots of good vehicles out there (except Mitubishi of course......!)

Russell S.Russell S
Prado RV6

During the recent fires around Sydney we had to travel the trails by Toyota Traytops Landcruiser and Nissan Patrols and they took a battering - many of the trails were newly constructed with a dozer and the supervisor drove a Prado and it made it were the Traytops would not and where a Landcruiser wagon (older model though) could not either. I drive this car occasionally and it has seen some rough miles and over 50 000 Km has not had a mechanical problem. Asthetically it is white with grey trim - flares etc and these scratch badly - go all white, shows up the scratches less.
PS. The vehicle is a Prado Turbo Diesel 2000 model.Cheers, Beddo
Surf KZN185
<- Yengo NP, Central Coast NSW

Jason
Given that you are probably like the rest of us and prone to a little bit of modifying or accessorising then I think the Prado will prove to be a more than capable off-roader once you've set it up for what your tastes are.
cheers

What are the main differences between the pajero and prado? They both get the same writeups but there is a large difference in price. Seems that the positives in the prados do not justify the extra $$$

Jason,

You already have heaps of feedback...but I'd add my 2 bits. I went looking for one of these size in '98 and got down to the Prado and the Jack (3.5). I bought the Jack on value, nearly a 9K difference on road and less creature features in the Prado. Since then not a lot has changed.

I would be surprised if anyone who has had a Jack has come away anything but impressed.

The only thing I would add is that the Jack is surprisingly bigger inside, not much shy of the GU I have now.

Regds Billy

HI Jason, The only thing i can think of is that the middle row seat is very upright, i dont believe there is any adjustment, i travelled 6 hours in the back of one , it nearly sent me insane. VERY uncomfortable. So check that out if you have teenagers or want adults to travel in back(middle row). That was a 1997 model, maybe different after that. Regards Michael

Thanks Guys,
l appreciate the feed Back and it has all been very useful, will take it all in consideration.Plan on a suspension upgrade straight away as l do plan on using it to go bush. All 4wd need this as the original suspension is always to soft .
Regards

Jason

Its not a Patrol, and not quite a Cruiser, but they are every bit as good offroad as the Pajeros and the like.

The new ones aren't as good offroad as the older ones, but depending on what your needs are, will go 95% of places any 4wd will go.

I know of a few few guys that you would consider a bit more "hardcore" then some. Both have Prado's.