new pajero v patrol v prado

Benny,

Re Pajero: not sure if you are looking at the new NT or the previous NS, but I guess it must be one of these 2 if you are looking at government auctions.

I have an NS Pajero diesel and love it. The auto diesel in particular is a real pleasure to drive. It has a variable vane turbo which means power can come on more quickly than in the fixed geometry turbo used in the manual. In real terms when you are pulling hard up hill it will hold a higher gear for longer as it can increase torque by the turbo giving more boost at the same revs - so it doesn't need to hunt to a lower gear. For offroad work the traction control system is standard on all models in the Pajero range.

The NS can tow 2.5 tonne, the NT 3 tonnes. There is some issue re the amount of weight that can be applied at the towbar on the NT which effectively limits the towing weight of the NT to less than 3 tonnes, but not needing to tow anything I am not across the issue. BUT check out the Paj Club Forum where this issue has been discussed at length.

Good Luck!

Ben

Can't comment on the latest models, but take them for a test drive.

We have a Pajero and at the time we bought (2002) it was by far the best on the bitumen.
Friends-who can afford to buy whatever they like- agree and are buying another Pajero for their Tvan.

Pajeros are built differently from Patrol and Prado: Ladder-chassis vs monocoque (Pajero).
I get car sick and noticed the very slight 'wobble' on-road with the ladder-chassis on the Prado.

We have an 08 Patrol St diesel and I would hate to tow with it as it is very thirsty. Towing a camper trailer it returns 16.6lt/100kms. As an offroad vehicle they would be the best.
We spoke to lots of happy Prado owners who all reported fuel figures of 13.5lt/100 km. This is towing vans in the weight range you talk of.
The Pajeros look the most comfortable but have left me in doubt on a few things i saw on Cape York. So owning one would defeat the purpose of using it to camp from when you wanted to explore country unreachable in a road vehicle.

Hi Benny,

I had a petrol NL Pajero for 9 years and loved it. I never had any problems with it apart from a mysterious engine 'ticking' noise, plus the oil light coming on frequently. It was investigated a few times at different dealerships (we moved across to Perth for a year), but nothing was found. We did a lot of 4WD trips plus a trip around Oz in it.
Last year I traded it for a diesel auto NS Pajero VRX, because I had such a good run with my NL. The NS has been a bit of a lemon. Apart from the DPF issues requiring it to be towed twice in the first 6 months (now resolved), it also had a couple of little problems, plus a very rough idle, sometimes to the point that if it had been a manual, I thought it would stall. After spending a week at the dealership, it was finally put down to an injector problem. One injector was replaced, which fixed the problem for about a week! I have now had all the injectors replaced (another week at the dealership), and it seems to be going ok now (fingers crossed). I'm glad that it was fixed under warranty, otherwise I would have been up for a hefty bill.
My old NL was actually bought by a guy that works in the service department at my local dealership. It's engine actually blew up after he had it for nearly a year....obviously the ticking noise and oil light was a problem. He has replaced the engine, with no further troubles.
Another issue with my NS is the wheels - 18" AT or MT's are expensive, and there is a limited choice. You can change to 17", but rims may not be legal depending on your state regulations. I have gone with mitsubishi 17" steel rims, but they are expensive.
If you want to tow a trailer, opening the back door can be difficult because the spare wheel rubs on the coupling. Our campertrailer has a treg hitch, and we can only open the rear door a couple of inches. My horse float with a normal towball hitch is not much better. There is a spare wheel lift kit you can get that will raise the spare by an inch or two, but I have not done that.
I also have a genuine bull bar, and have had driving lights fitted. There was no mount for a UHF aerial though.
I would be reluctant to hang on to this car when the warranty runs out. I would also think very hard before buying another one, although they do seem to be better value for money that the Prado, and the warranty is good.
I guess it's like any car - most would be fine, but you can be unlucky and get a bad one. Perhaps check out the 'Dog and Lemon Guide' for some more information on all the vehicles you are looking at.

Leanne

I find it curious that you eliminate the Paj due to "you cannot get the rear door open with a caravan hitched up".

Pray tell how the Prado is going to be any better? It also has a side swung door. If you're referring to the matter of spare wheel clearance then a little bit of research would have told you that there is a fix for that issue.


I'm not trying to convince you either way, though I am somewhat biased, as you have obviously made up your mind, just to me your logic is flawed or you just haven't asked the right questions. Hundreds of these things are used as caravan tugs by the grey nomad set..