New to 4WD and need some advice

Hi Steve,

If your thinking Patrol diesel, look at the 4.2TD. The 3 litres have a pretty bad rep - type in 3lt Patrol or Grenade in the search bar and it will give you lots of food for thought.....
Other than that they're all good vehicles your looking at - the 4.2TD patrol is virtually bullet proof as is the 'Cruiser but both maybe a little thirsty.
But not as thirsty as the petrol ones.........

Cheers, Keith

Steve,

Without any detail of family or if you intend to tow or camp, it is difficult to suggest a suitable vehicle. But I will throw some thoughts together.

The iconic Cruiser - Patrol is a big vehicle and you first need to consider the other 90% of the time when the vehicle is just a means of transport.

Maybe consider a Pajero - Prado sized vehicle. Some of the smaller Korean wagons can be great value as well.

Maybe a Dual Cab would suit, you can throw the camping gear in the tray and away you go.

Petrol and Diesel ---- This is a difficult area. Long term big vehicle that tows, Diesel wins. Not towing then Petrol with LPG gets closer and in some cases beats Diesel.

(Watch the thread light up now)

What i would suggest is go visit a few 4WD Clubs, have a chat and see what they have to say.

Hi, I may be treading where Angels fear to tread but I know I speak for Neville who is nearly always at work & can't type. It depends how serious you want to get. as far as size goes. Each to his own choice of 4by. We bought a second hand Toyota 80 series Diesle " standard "& it was in great shape. We go very remote & usually have to carry everything for 4 wks holz. We have it serviced and cheked by an A grade mechanic before we leave each trip..Maintainance is a must.This is just a thought for you. If you want to do trips like The Canning Stok route or The sympson Desert crossing, go for a vehicle easy enough to fix yourself with the aid of a manual & or advice from others.These computerised things. can't be fixed without being sent away. These computers can be a simple thing but stuff up big time. We've seen it. No amount of people could help, No amount of phonecalls to our Auto electition. These people were at a roadhouse with a mechanic. Imagine in the middle of the Canning, it just refused to start.They had a dog, so couldn,t get on a bus. Secondly, you don't want to be in the middle of a dust storm in the desert with your electric windows stuck down!!! We also found that a demobilizer can stop your car too so we disengage it for these trips. some of the new models, it's built in and you can't. Yes, we all know that lots of things can go wrong but we all know that and that is another story. Take care, Safe travels. Now ,watch the screen light up!!! No offence to all you blokes who may have been about to say the same thing, it's taken me ages.

Hi Steve,

I love my GU's in the 4.2 turbo variant but there is a few things to keep an eye out with the GU's. Obviously you are aware of the 3lt issues, but the 99-01 4.2's also had a gearbox mainshaft problem giving plenty an owner expensive rebuild headaches. Also the 4.2 Turbo GU is prone to running high on the temp gauge when towing or working seriously hard, they do cope with this quite well but it is nerve racking when you see it happening so be prepared for this. All this said, when you find one they are good for many many hundreds of thousand k's. I have a 2000 model with nearly 400 on the clock and there is no way I would part with it, I reckon it goes better than my 2001 with only 210 on the clock.

I had a 99 GXL diesel Cruiser before these Patrols but the gearbox kept letting me down in this vehicle plus it was seriously underpowered for the towing duties I was asking it to perform. Apart from this it was very comfortable and easy to live with.

Ultimately it is up to you and your needs, the Prado would not suit for me (towing up to 3.5T) but if it did, it would be high on my shopping cart. Massive fuel range would be most welcomed for outback touring and they are no slouch in the rough stuff if you like to play on weekends. Plenty of parts and aftermarket goodies to suit any purpose.....except towing 3.5T hehehehe and quite roomy inside for most families.

Plenty of good examples in all the vehicles you mentioned so take your time and no doubt you will come across a gem.

Regards, Trevor.

All good replies above Steve. Vehicles are a personal choice IMO. Do some homework and you'll soon develop a "feel" for the type of vehicle that will suit you. (It took me about 4 months to finally make a choice of vehicle, I own a Nissan GQ Patrol with some after market mods and accessories.)

Rather than tell you the good and bad things about a particular 4WD, (although I strongly advise you to be very wary of the Nissan 3.0L Diesel), I would prefer to suggest that you consider joining a 4WD club in your area, preferably a club that has a Driver Awareness Program in place. There's a lot of fun to be had in a 4by, but there's a LOT that can go wrong, and usually "wrong" in 4WD'ing means expensive or hurt.

There are some wonderful destinations in Australia, and a lot of places that you will see in your 4WD that the average tourist is not able to visit.

Keep us posted as to what you decide on, and good luck!

Cheers

Brian

Thanks all for your input. I should have said that i'm single and don't intend towing. No big family here. I just need the vehicle that will take my butt anywhere. My brother and I are planning the Fl;inders ranges, Lake Eyre and Simpson Desert in May. Also any advice on things to see out there that might not be common knowledge would be really appreciated.

Steve

Hi Steve,

You have had some great answers, we have a 2007 hilux diesel now but prior to that we drove a GQ Diesel Patrol to The Kimberley, Central Australia East and West , Darwin, outback QLD and NSW from Victoria it was a great 4WD vehicle.
Good luck with your 4WD travel it is a lot of fun with some amazing secenery around every corner.

Cheers Tina

The only real 4WD out there is a Land Rover. Everybody secretely knows this.
Many are afraid however, of the brain damage they'll get from their jealous mates, and go with the throng to the more basic Jap stuff.

Do yourself a favour and at least go play with a couple of T/Dies Discovery's.
Better still, drive a Land Rover, then drive something Japanese straight after it.
You will know instantly why they sometimes cost a few bucks more.

My old Grand Dad used to say, "Son.....if want quality fresh clean oats...then you pay a fair price......If, on the other hand, you are content with your oats after they have already been through the Horse........then you can save a few bucks.

Buy a Land Rover Mate.
Cheers,
Ozzie Nomad