Nissan Patrol vs Pajero NP

Twandy consider the new Prado, even though it's dearer, it's a huge step up the 4WD ladder and of course top of the tree is the Cruiser.

Dude,

Go the Patrol. A much better vehicle than the Paj in every respect, except maybe on road ride comfort.

The Pajero isn't a bad truck, though. Might suit those who only intend to run around town, and do a few backroad trips every now and then.

The Patrol is a real four wheel drive, built for real four wheel driving. Tough as nails, and will go any where the average owner would ever point it.

Tristjo.

Twandy, Land Cruiser owners only delude themselves by thinking they're at the top of the tree. They are just trying to compensate for the fact that they got ripped off blind on the purchase price of their vehicle. I do not dispute they are a great 4WD, just over priced. So they might be at the top of the money tree. Use the 20 grand savings on accessories like bull bar, winch, diff locks, UHF, HF radios, etc etc and still have change.

As for the Pajero, Ive winched my brother in laws one many times over. Consider these 2 points; Monocoque chassis and Independant suspension. They are a nice vehicle though, plenty of comfort and drive well on road.

Go the Patrol, if you can afford the 4.2 diesel. The 3.0 diesel is also an excellent truck, you will never look back - trust me.

John

ps I drive both a Land Cruiser (FJ40) and a Patrol (GU Diesel). Best of both worlds!!!

Twandy,

As others have mentioned the Pajero is very nice on the tar. While they are also capable for offroad driving, you'll have a more difficult time doing any major mods. Only 50mm lift, little room under the hood for anything other than a 2nd battery, lots of plastic, plus limited availability of accessories.

Good luck!Cheers,
Stuart
- To err is human, to moo bovine -

Twandy,
it depends on what you need. The Pajero is probably the more refined vehicle and has been bred on the company's Paris Dakar commitment and success. There are few situations where modifications to a new vehicle are necessary to enable you to do camping trips anywhere in Victoria, or Australia for that matter. On the other hand most of your vehicle use will be ordinary commuting, in which role the Pajero will leave most other 4WDs for dead because of its performance, handling and economy. The Pajero has always been reliable and capable (I've had two and got 200,000 km completely worry free touring all over Oz out of them). It may not look as macho as the Patrol- which probably accounts for some of the opinions on this forum. I'd go for the TD ahead of the petrol.

Mighty NISSAN is the go buddy.
Every purist will give you the thumbs up! Keep away from Pajero or the new Cruisers, They are getting soft, very soft.
Solid metal is what we want...not rubber bellows.

Twandy,

Can't comment on the new Patrols or Paj's because I've had no first hand experience with either. But...we currently have a GU ST patrol, petrol 4.5L which we upgraded to from a NH Pajero. Also did Cape York in a SWB Pajero back in the late 80's so I am a long time fan of the Paj's.

My comments are this...a well set-up Paj, driven by an experienced offroader with a good understanding of the vehicles capabilities and limitations is an extremely capable off-roader. In the time we had ours we lived in Darwin and explored much of the Top End all year round, did the Kimberley, Pilbara, Goldfields and heaps of coastal dune driving. The real downside with Paj's is lack of clearance in the front end. As for lack of readily available accessories, we never had any trouble in this regard. We had a 50mm lift in the back-end (could have gone for 90mm), ARB roofrack, cargo barrier, dual battery system, snorkel, bug screen, spotties, H/R towbar, bullbar etc. Could have got a long range fuel tank if we'd wanted but never got around to fitting it.

Now we have a GU which is definately in a higher category. 4Wdriving capabilites are much better. Not so much in the sense that we can go different places, more that we do the same things as in the Paj with much more ease. Fuel consumption between both vehicles is fairly comparable which surprised us a little but we put it down to roof rack on Paj and none on the GU. GU is roomier but the finish is not as good as the Paj.

In short, both vehicles are very good, comfortable and capable off-roaders. For more hard core 4WD I'd take the Patrol anyday, but for general touring and off-roading the Paj would also fit the bill.

:o) Melissa

Hello Twandy

As someone who spends 80% of his time around town and on the highway, another 15% on reasonably rough tracks and barely 5% on truely tough 4wd stuff, I don't think you can go past the new DiD Pajero.

Now before all the he-man Patrol and Cruiser drivers scream, let me point out that I have owned a 60 series cruiser which was a reliable old truck and did a lot of work around the Kimberlies and the north west. I ditched it for an NH pajero which also did a lot of work and there wasn't anywhere the other guys with the Nissans and petrols went that I couldn't. In fact I ofter tow an off-road trailer and they were surprised how well it went.

I'm not into rock crawling and don't need additional reduction gears etc, but have snatched Patrols, Cruisers and Range Rovers out of trouble and been snatched out myself.

From your description of your needs you sound a lot like me without the rougher elements I do.

I have tested the new Jeeps, Prados and Pajeros over my own favourite test track and as my NH has 237,000km on it I'm spending my hard earned $ on an NP Did auto. It is easier to handle in traffic than the trucks, easier to park, retains its resale - ask Redbook- and costs a lot less to run than all the others. I can give it a 70mm suspension lift and fit any accessory including Steel bullbar and winch, snorkel, long range tank, roof racks and cargo barrier and drawers. The wife can even see over the bonnet -handy if I'm incapacitated. I also run 31" BFG ATs.

Do your homework, test drive everything. Do it all again then pay your money and enjoy. Just don't let anyone railroad you. And join a good club, not a bunch of one brand fanatics.

Good luck