Nissan Patrol - how's this for a deal?

It is a nissan grenade - might be worth it if the dealer paid you $36,500 to take it.

Sorry buying a 3.0 l nissan would be just too much worry - always wondering when the engine is going to implode.

Garry

If you ask on his forum http://www.patrol4x4.com you might get a better idea

I'd say the previous owner was getting rid of it at about the right time!

Sounds like a lot of money to me for a 3.0 litre despite the extras. IMHO..

I know a bloke whose mate knows a mechanic whose friend said that they all blow up - that's why you never see any on the road. No other make ever has problems.
Really, paranoia and heresay are powerful persuaders - just watch TDT.
Read the results of the large survey undertaken at patrol4x4.com. Part of the result summary : "But from late 2002-2003 the failures were almost non-existent. Yes there were failures but they did not fit the profile. I am confident that the original problem is gone, yes they still have their problems but no more so than other makes. BUT unfortunately for Nissan mud sticks."
Sounds to me like a great low km vehicle kitted up and ready to go - sight unseen of course.
Cheers

Ring up a dealer describe the above vehicle and get an estimate of what he would give you for a trade. The 05 where better then the series 11 but some still go bang arround 180000ks. BUT it is preventable eg blocking EGR, catch can etc.All this info will be available on the Patrol forum. If it was a 4.2 it would be a bargain, but a 3lt mmmmm seems a bit dear to me, but you have seen it, not me.
Service history will be more importent then extras.
Good luck , let us know how you get on.
Cheers Pete

Thanks for the advice team; certainly I can see that a decent test drive, scrutiny of the log books and crossed fingers will be necessary!

Without commenting on the pros and cons of the 3lt Nissan I would be cautious about buying a vehicle with that list of extras.

From personal experience nobody puts all that gear on the 4x4 just to pick the kids up from school. It would seem that it is a one owner vehicle and the set up started when it was new, rear seats wrapped in plastic and never used.

My GQ came with a similar list and it was a great car. I bought it with 215k on the clock and it went pretty well. I did a few minor repairs, to things like the compressor, battery isolator and CB but the car itself seemed pretty good, for a while.

But when it strated to brake it was interesting what failed. The two that caused me most concern and lead to its sale were;

1, a front brake calliper fell off. The thread in the axle housing where the calliper mounting bracket bolts on stripped.

2. the drag link, steering linkeage, ball joint stripped and I lost steering.

Speaking with a trusted friend who is a motor mechanic he suggested that the car had worked very hard off road. These are things that almost never fail and two went on the one vehicle. They had obviously been stressed repeatedly as the vehicle was worked hard frequently.

There was very little to indicate that the vehicle had worked hard. No body damage, no rust, the third row seat wrapped in plastic and had not been used. Sound familiar.

So whether or not the 3lt is a risk or not I think any vehicle with that list of extras is of dubious value, no matter what make or model it is.

Well that's my thoughts anyway.

Duncs

Redbook suggests the price is not that flash!

http://www.redbook.com.au/used-cars/results.aspx?Ns=p_Make_String|0||p_ClassificationType_String|0||p_Family_String|0||p_Year_String|1||p_SequenceNum_Int32|0&N=2994+4294947575+4294843663+4294965654&TabId=1407342

A Trusted Car Dealer Its the right day for Funnies anyway
I had a 2003 that was supposed to be OK For other reasons I sold it but after reading all the troubles would have changed it anyway.


Have seen on here and other forums that later models were still detonating.


The Patrol Forum will at least give you indications of preventitive measures to take to hopefully stop it happening

A mate just traded a 3 ltr Pootrol 2002 ST 5 speed totally immaculate with 137,000km on the clock. Only extras left on it was the snorkel & tow pack. I do not know what he got for a trade in but dealer has $32,990 on it. The Nissan Pootrol owners seem to think if the vehicle has the larger sump fitted (more oil) then basically that is all that was required to fix the self destruct situation. Easy conclusion to arrive at. Look at the price that model is on Red Book add the extras on & there is a reasonable guide for example if the draw/storage system is a well known brand like Black Widow or Outback there's a $1,000. ARB Deluxe bar $2200. Air lockers another $2,000. Winch $2,000 The average motorist travels approx 20,000km per year so the mileage seems about right. If you like it buy it. It's only money & you have a vehicle that will go everywhere. Good Luck

Looks llike it is a good vehicle. Extra's are worth a lot of $$ probably around $15K without mentioning the running around. I'd take the red book on a standard vehicle, value the extra's at $7K and you would be around the money I reckon.

Then fit a boost and pyro, Tranny temp gauge too if it's an Auto.

OBT

Update: checked it out and drove it today. It has old man Emu shocks, ARB everything, drawers are black widows, it has air brakes, turbo timer, pretty much everything I want except for a satnav system, but I have a mate who can hook me up with one of those. The ex owner, who sold it on to a dealer (trade in) who then shifted it to the wholesaler (who is our mate) gave us a good run down of it's use and the condition of the vehicle certainly gives testimony to his words (not that he would need to make anything up, he'd already sold it and was happy to chat for ages). He used it to tow a trailer and a caravan and it did one WA trip where he did some desert country, but no beach or rocks or anything like that. He had one problem where he blew out something electrical by jump starting it with dodgy leads, but that was all replaced. He said he only traded it in to get a smaller car for wife and the obligatory V8 ute for himself (he's a tradie).
Having had a few Disco's I know the pain of having expensive and cataclysmic breakdowns - 5 times the Disco went home on the back of the tow truck (I love RACV; there's money well spent!) so I very much appreciate the advice and opinions here!