Prado Diesel 2005 onwards

Hi Bushwackers
I had a early 2005 great vehicle towed 18 foot pop top no problem's 2150kgs.
Upgraded to 20 foot caravan 2200kg and it struggled on the hills.
Upgraded tug to D4D Prado and it handles van with ease. Both are GLX auto.
Think they went to D$D in late 2005
Hope this helps
Charlie

Hi Dave, if he can afford it get the later model D4D heaps more grunt for pulling and better on fuel, the old 1kz is a great motor and reliable but personally think it is too small for the 120 series prado's. The D4D had a couple of issues which were injected related and some known engine mount problems, not allot of them but I personally know of a few myself. The last lot of modified injectors was April 08, if its had any injector issues it would have had the latest injectors put in place. Prior to April 08 they also have a programme to re flash the computer for the injectors Toyota are not advertising it unless some one comes in with problems. Its all mainly related to cold starts. They can be really rattly/noisy, some people worry about it but seems to be fairly common with all the later injection systems, hilux's,prado's,pajero's and so on. It's not one of those things that will not leave you stranded but the vehicle will just run rough, wont go into limp mode or anything like that. Not trying to scare you off a prado (have one myself) just some thing for your brother to be aware of when looking for his vehicle but great vehicle otherwise. I would have one but don't have the extra $$ at the moment to upgrade..One mod I really think he should look at would be suspension upgrade to carry the weight and possibly some rear air bags as well to keep it all nice and level, and dual battery set up so he can run the van lights/fridge etc if need to. The list goes on depending on exactly what he intends doing. If you need to know any more about the couple of issues with the D4D send me a pm and I will give you my number and give me a buzz. Regards Steve M

We hired a 2009 model Prado(39000kms old) last weekend to drive up the Bloomfield track to Cooktown, we only had it for 3 days but I was pretty impressed with the engine and comfort of the vehicle.I was as quiet as a mouse, went like a petrol and used very little fuel.Handled on road like a car(more comfortable than most cars) and was a pleasure to drive.
Off road(well, Bloomfield track) it needed better suspension.We had 8 people in it and it bottomed badly(third row seated people got beat up bad) on smallish pot holes.The front seemed to handle it OK.And we were driving quite slowly.
Overall I was pretty impressed with the vehicle.With decent suspension in it, it would be a great tourer.

Thanks everyone, seems like they are basically a good vehicle, will just have to keep an eye open for the points that were mentioned. Also, this is good info for me personally, as I will be looking to upgrade in about 12 months, and a Prado looks to be the favourite on my list too.

Cheers, Dave