Patrol v's Prado 2004, Top of the range

"The prado is setup with a set of coopers, bull bar, uhf radio,dual batteries, niether have been off road" yeah right

I lot of gear just to make it to the shops!!!!

Cheers Stefan

Either one. The patrols are alot thirstier then the prado's. The prado is probably better for running around town. The patrol is more robust. The prado will have better resale. Really depends on what you feel comfortable driving around in. How much time off road and how much time running around town ?? For 40k you could buy a second hand GXL D4D prado and have great fuel economy as well. If your worried about reliability issues with the petrol patrol why not a 4.2TD patrol. I presume your going auto by the sounds of it (TI) which isnt available in a patrol unless its 4.5/4.8 petrol or 3Litre t'd. Auto/manual well I loved the old manual lux was brilliant in low range first compared to the petrol prado's auto, no where near it, but love the auto for the sand over the hilux. Ups and down either way you look at it. I'm aToyota person but would have either parked in my driveway.

Get out the big map of Oz and have a real good look at all the places you would to go to. If your going to be off road with a possibility of being adventurous don't worry so much about the creature comforts, think about the strength of the vehicle and it's ability to do the task for which it is built.

You want the vehicle that's going to get back with you in it.

Time now to get onto your back and get underneath the vehicles, have a real good look around and you'll soon see if they have been off-road.
Whilst underneath check the suspension type, shocks, clearance and apparent strength of what you can see.

If it's built like a truck there's a good chance it'll serve you well for many years.

Use the vehicle for which it was intended, have fun and don't worry about the resale too much. Consider it an investment in good times.

Hey thanks for the replies. The Patrol is from a friend of a friend, not much hard work on this car. The Prado is from a dealer, and this we did climb underneather, if it being hard off road it dont show, not even a scratch on under alloy front bumper.. it does look good rides great, but am always that little dubious from a dealer. I have done some of the internet searchin aint found one report of the issue it has...but I aint no expert. Patrol is a truck..

You haven't stated exactly what you want a 4wd for! Only that you won't do heavy towing. You need to decide exactly what you want to do with it.

If you want to merely drive it around town and do the occasional camping trip on dirt, then the prado would suffice.

If you are getting serious and plan on doing a lot of hard or low range off roading then the Patrol would be tougher.

Both petrols will be thirsty and with good turbo diesels available in both vehicles I honestly don't see why people buy petrols.

Barnesy

Having owned both vehicles in the Auto Diesel variant I'd go along with what Barnsey has said. The Prado is much better around town and nicer interior but I was pushing it too hard as a 4wd and things were starting to break. The Patrol is much more robust. Not as nice as a daily driver and storage space in the cabin is not as well set out. Either way you go I would look seriously at the diesel option. Things to be aware of with the Prado diesel is that the handbook states an oil change is required every 5 000 kms. I havn't driven the 4l petrol in the prado but I have heard that it is the pick of the bunch. In terms of total cost of ownership it used to be on par with the diesel, but with recent increases in fuel prices not sure what the status is.

Hmmm... I know that the Prado isn't ultimately as tough or as go-anywhere as the Patrol, but come on, everyone seems to be saying it's only capable of driving to the shops!!! We have owned a Prado (2002 TD Auto) since 2003 and still can't believe how versatile it is. Yes it can drive to the shops...it can also do long distance highway trips effortlessly... it can handle dirt roads all day long... it eats up fire trails for breakfast...it can crawl up and down low-range hills without fuss, whether they be rocky, slippery, washed out etc.. I've taken it on club trips where the Patrols and Landcruisers in front of me have radio'd at the start of a steep muddy climb to say "let me know when you get stuck and I'll come back down and snatch/tow you up" and then they see the Prado stay on their tail all the way to the top... this is all without difflocks or muddies, can't wait till the minister for finance allows me to shell for these - I reckon it'll be a weapon then.

If I was going to be hurling my 4WD at giant rock steps etc, yes I'd be wanting to be in something as tough as a Patrol or 75 series, but for the level of offroading that we do, I'm proud as punch with our Prado.. Anyone who says its only good for going to the shops needs to take their blinkers off (no offence meant)

Hi Wheelinchek

For your stated use the Patrol 4800 TI auto is the best choice.

A new Prado (diesel) is on my list for possible replacement of my manual Patrol 4800 , but the main reason for that will be lower fuel costs combined with range , as while the Patrol could be cheaper if on gas its range becomes limited.

So like all these things you need to examine your underlying reasons for the new vehicle.

Those Patrols still match even the new 200 series cruiser petrol V8's and even outperform them in some aspects and have a massively less complex control system to boot so with the exception of fuel use they are still near impossible to beat with an off the shelf product.

Do a archive search on Prado Grande and have a good read about the rear air bag suspension.

The Playdoe is a very good off road vehicle, but not the Grande in my view.
The air bag suspension as fitted to this vehicle is a very poor off road performer from a reliability point of view.