WHICH 4X4 TO PURCHASE

How heavy is heavy?

Hi Joy B,
A question like this could cause a bun fight on this forum.
If by heavy, I assume some thing around 24foot / 3 tonne.
Then go for at least a 4litre diesel – I have a mate that tows 3 tonne with a modern common rail 3 litre diesel and he says it struggles through the hills.
I travelled with another mate who has a 5 year old 4.2 diesel which performed well around Australia with a 3 tonne van. For $30,000 you will have to go second hand for a decent sized vehicle.

Hi Joy

There is plenty to think about when it comes to making this type of decision, and you’ll get plenty of good information from the forum but you’ll need to provide more information if you want the forum to assist you.

Guidance on where you are going, the type of driving (there is off-road, and then there is off-road – if you know what I mean), vehicle set-up etc would help.

Also, have you had a look at this article which is located on this site? It has a lot of good information that will assist you.

Which 4WD to buy

Good luck with your purchase, whatever it is (Don’t overlook a ‘Landy!)

Cheers, The Landy

Hi Joy,

I am biased, very biased.

I would recommend a 100 series Landcruiser. For 30 thousand you should be able to get e good one. They have a 3 and a half tonne towing limit.

You could even get one with the 5 speed auto gearbox and a V8 petrol ( a bit thirsty) or a turbo diesel with a few more dollars. Either are excellent vehicles for your job as you describe it..

But... as I said I am biased.

These vehicles are built tough and will last you for years and years.

Nissan Patrols are another good option, I nearly choked when I said that, (Sorry Robin).

But as I said I am very biased.

Cheers, Bruce.

Why not contact your nearest 4wd club and go along to an outing where you can ask people who drive them regularly what they think.
Then if you do join their club Driver training is usually available and you WILL learn a lot about any 4wd that you may purchase.
Most 4wd clubs have many members that tow caravans of all types.

Hi Joy, at the risk of "told you so" (LOL) from some of the regulars on the Forum, I would go a diesel Toyota Land Cruiser!! Or maybe a Prado.

We faced a similar predicament as you are talking about around four years ago, asked more or less the same question as you are asking now, got told (popular opinion) Nissan Patrol Or Toyota Cruiser & then ignored the advise given & purchased a new Mazda BT50!!

Reason we ignored the advise the Mazda we purchased was new, it is the basic "poverty Pak, not 4WD, manual, A/C power steer etc and on the road brand spanking new cost us about $30 K.

If I had my days over I would purchase a second hand Cruiser ot Prado in the price range of $30 to $40K and I would make sure it was an Auto.

Our Van fully laden, water tanks & gas all full etc, and ready to travel comes in at about 1800 to 1900 Kg.

Good luck in your search & seeing that you will soon retire I bet that twelve months out from now you will be wondering how you ever found time to go to work!! Cheers

Joy.
There are hard and easy ways of doing a loop of Aus. If you are of mature age you don't need the " mine is bigger than yours" mentality you can go for comfort and economy, I recommend you talk to motor home people who have made the mistake of getting a heavy 4x4 and a heavy van, go straight to a motor home. A lot cheaper than van and tug combined and a lot cheaper and easier to drive. Eric.

Hi Joy

Getting into the spirit of things here, I tend to agree with other posters that there are several potential canditates mostly amongst the Patrol and Lancruiser range.

But to do your question justice more needs to be know about your requirement, and perhaps also you need to know more about the scene
to be firmer on those requirements, and this may take time.

I don't know you at all, but I expect to be passing thru Yarra Glen on way to Yarck about 7:30am saturday for a day trip to our 4wd place.

It would be suitable to tag along in a 2wd car.

The requirements you have outlined "Reliable diesel auto" cut out many other fine cars and those words may have come from friends or an incomplete knowledge of the scene.

A theme I often reccomend is for a vehicle with a long wheelbase, wide track and solid chassis.

A friend of mine brought a 3lt 2002 Patrol auto diesel (they have a dark history) and towed a 3ton+ drilling rig almost constantly for work around Murrindindi shire for years till it blew up at 195,000km and then cost $6000 to repair.

He reckons that amortized over the whole life cycle that he did well.

I wouldn't reccomend that but currently there are incredible deals out with with these "auto diesels" going for mid $40's figures, and with appropriate warranties you'd have to ask the question.

I tend to go on performance based solutions (performance does'nt mean speed).

As such your ideal car might be a 100 series TD cruiser - but they tend to come in at a higher cost than the new car I reffered to above.

So I would reccomend one of the cars I have at half the cost , a petrol 4800 manual Patrol because it simplys outperforms almost all others (and I also have the same car in auto).

However, if implied, but not stated, in your requirement is low fuel consumption then I would not reccomend it.

If however your real requirement was low cost of onwership over the life cycle of the car, then that vehicle would again come back into contention.


So my advice would again be to take as much time, and do as much research as you can to firm up your requirements and plenty on this site will help.

Hi Joy,

First up, welcome to the forum. You will get a lot of useful info on here, though sometimes you just have to ignore some minor annoyances. There are also a fair few women on here too.

I can't help you with your specific question as all that we tow is a very light trailer. But I would have to say that driving our big heavy manual Troopy is actually FUN. So may I make a broader suggestion, that before you settle on a tow vehicle you might do a bit more research to pin down what you want to see and do on your trip.

You mention Kakadu and being scared of 4w driving, also that you are close to retirement. Now thats not a lot of info to go on, but John and I would be about the same vintage, so may I make a suggestion or 2.

Using Kakadu as an example, the really good bits are off the bitumen. Not hard driving but useful to use 4WD for comfort and safety. Its the same with many other marvellous places that you will come across - Lawn Hill, Bungle Bungles, Gibb River Road, many National Parks, Oodnadatta Track, the list is endless. Whatever tow vehicle you choose it will be able to do so much more for you if you are able to use it to its potential. So my first suggestion is to do a good 4WD driver training course. It will give you the confidence to get so much more pleasure and enjoyment out of your trip, and it will be one of the best investments you make in terms of travel preparation.

Also dont assume that safety lies in sticking to the bitumen. More than likely getting off the bitumen is safer if anything. Certainly in all our trips we have never had any safety issues (you can see some of the trips we have done by looking at our blogs). So my second suggestions is to buy a vehicle on the assumption that you will probably become more adventurous as your confidence grows.

Sorry if thats a bit long winded, and in the end it might not actually change the vehicle that you get, but I reckon if you are going to travel you might as well get the maximum enjoyment from it.

Good luck with finding the perfect vehicle and happy travels in your retirement.

Cheers,

Val.

Hi Joy ,We have v8 petrol auto 100 series landcruiser 200,thou ks paid $25.000 great car to drive , can be thirsty on fuel but so would a 4 cyl towing a heavy van . I would also go for patrol 6 cylinder , diesel would be best but price might be a problem . plenty of these on the road .
but dont buy something thats under powerd or to small for your needs ,it will cost you a lot to change over if you dont like it .

you might find the big 4wds to big to handle but a heavy van is going to be a problem for a light car !!

Take them for a test drive see what you like to drive ,then research that type of vehicle ,but dont rely on car yard . come back to the forum for more comments . good luck