$10K to spend but no idea what to buy.

Cheers Pete. I'm in SA so QLD is a bit far. I've found cars in SA seem to be more expensive in general for no apparent reason.

Have noted the Jack recommendation. Cheers
Fab.

I respectfully disagree with Madfisher. I bought a 2001 3.0LTD with 102,000 on the clock. I have added another 50,000 trouble free Km. My brother-in-law has the 1999 model with 180,000 trouble free km. His Jack has always been serviced by a GM dealer and mine was likewise for the first 100,000. Use the right oil (we both use Castrol Magnatec) have it serviced regularly, don't fiddle with it between services and it is as good as the next TD diesel. You can buy a lot of Jack with $10,000.
Kevin

Thanks Kevin. Appreciate the different take on it. So far that's two votes (non engine specific) for Jacks.

Doing the Carsales advanced search option and Freelanders seem to pop up with low kms and OK pricing. Don't think they are dual range. Any good though?

Fab.

On the Jack forum roughly 50% of 4jxi (3lt td Jack) where happy with their Jacks the other 50% said theirs was and absolute nightmare. Aust 4wd forum.
The older 3.1 td was an absolute jem with some covering 600000ks, although their are still reports of cracked heads, which is a repair of $3000 to $4000 .
We have three Jacks in our family , so their is not much I dont know about them.
Freelanders Fab, I remember the dog and Lemon guide quoting them as one of the greatest lemons of all time, but I believe the latest ones are much better. You will do better with Jap reliabity, but I do have a fondness for discoveries.
Cheers Pete

i also looked at the freelander but after much research the saying "if it looks to good to be true it is" applys to these cars.don't touch them with a barge pole.i agree with kevin on the jack i don't have one but a friend has and has no dramas with it.
cheers gary

Re the Freelander -it's not a real 4WD (nor is an iO). Any Freelander before 2000 should be avoided as they will seize the viscous coupling in the rear tailshaft @ about 100,000km and then destroy the front drive take-off (IRD) and / or rear diff. Very expensive to fix. Both the 1.8 and 2.5L petrols are junk with the former guaranteed to do a head gasket and drop a cylinder liner thus lunching the engine. Not a matter of if, but when. V6 is an early Kia motor - say no more.

2001 on diesels are fine as they use a BMW 2.0L common rail motor and Getrag transmission with new diff ratios that fix the coupling problem. We actually own a 2001 manual TD4 Freelander along with a 2006 DID NP Pajero. It took some sorting of Lucas electrics (how did they ever stay in business?) and a cam angle sensor but it is now a good & very economical runabout for the wife. But it has nothing on Jap build quality.

The Jacks are a good bus, but as mentioned above avoid the Unit Injection models if you can. Unit injection was actually developed by Caterpillar and even they hate it with a passion due to service longevity issues. Both the diesels and petrols are otherwise very solid. You often see the diesels for around 7 to 10k. NL Pajeros with a 2.8 would also be an option I guess but they would have a few more K's on them I'd expect.

Pat

That Kia motor was really bad news. My son had one. Cost a fortune to fix and they mostly went bad after the warranty had expired.
Kevin

Another vote for the Jack. I test this forum often by suggesting they are the best value bang for your buck if you are in the market for a budget proper 4wd. Biased??
You bet. I have put 70k on a 2000 V6..now has 150k all up, & driven most of the outback roads towing C/t. Have yet to draw a spanner except for maintenance. I was frightened off the oiler due to a bad rep, but dont regret having the V6 auto. It gives
15L/100 consistantly towing, & down to 12 not. I wont hide from the horror figures you can achieve if your throttle control is a little loose, but that applies to many. As
Pete says..a good service history is the key..they can still be found under 150k for that
$10k area. Good hunting.......oldbaz.

As an example...on Ebay from a dealer in Sydney...2001 White SE Auto, log books,
all options...80k......asking $9700. Thats worth an airfare IMHO.......oldbaz.

OK..so forget the Freelander.

I'm a bit hung up on one comment though.. the Pajero io is not a real four wheel drive? It has a transfer box with high and low range. What it doesn't have is a full sized body, so why would this not be a "real" four wheel drive?

Other than size, I see it as a pretty good package.

Fab.

Yes thats true Fab, best of road of all the little ones.
Cheers Pete

Thanks Pete ... they had actually made it onto my shortlist.
Fab.

I actually looked at one years ago and was quite impressed, but then brought a heavier boat.
Cheers Pete

Pete... I bought one (Pajero IO). Have a look at my full post further down. Bonus is that the daughter gets her licence in 2 years time and she's already eyeing it off.
By then I will be ready for something newer perhaps.

Fab.

2dr or 4dr Fab, let us know how it performs.
Cheers pete

Pete,
I went the 4 (or 5) door. Manual. I went over the thing VERY thoroughly and the thing drove really well. No vibration upto 130kmph, braked well and straight under extreme braking, the 4WD engaged easily and all windows, door locks, heating, lighting etc worked. Body is straight with no corrosion, or bird fallout stains.

Checked that everything functioned well and that it mechanically performed well too.

My list of things to fix before the final exchange were......

blown globe on front dome light
A/C was cool...but not cold (re-gas)
slight rattle from rear RHS (exhaust hanger rubber had perished)
small chip in windscreen

Under body was clean and straight and no leaks. The car, although clean, was not suspiciously clean like it had been detailed so it appeared very genuine.

Will let you know once I get a few kms on the clock.

Fab.

I missed these in my search. Not bad and seems to tick all the boxes. Thanks Shaker.
Fab.

Mine had done 400,000km when I sold & still used no oil or water & pulled like a horse.
We towed a Track Eagle camper trailer all through the High Country & the Outback with no problems.

There's one here in Adelaide not far away so I might go have a look after work. The styling on the front is a bit.....umm....interesting.
Fab.

Bull bar makes big difference, I fitted an ECB.

Hey rooster, nothing wrong with that. The ute body isn't quite what I'm after but I'm not shy of deviating away from the main players providing there's not bucket loads of negative experiences on Google or the like.
Cheers.
Fab.

G'Day Tommo.... there's a couple of Pathy's around here that don't look too bad. Have taken the details and will visit them this weekend.
Thanks....makes a difference to hear a first hand recommendation.
Cheers.
Fab.

Cheers Penchy. I haven't given up on the Patrol yet. The missus thinks it may be too big for her to drive (she'll only occasionally have to drive it). And at 4 foot 8, she might be right. She has a Captiva at the moment and she struggles to park that....mind you, it has the turning circle of Jupiter.

What attracts me to them is the availability of parts and accessories, the diesel aspect and the styling.

Will keep you all informed of what I choose....nothing worse than not knowing how the story ends and don't want anyone to feel like they've wasted their time replying.

Fab.

G'Day RedCherokee,
Yep I noticed heaps of cheap Jeeps. I was told once (not sure how reliable the info was) that Jeeps....the 4.0 litre ones are thirsty as hell and that parts are expensive.
would be nice to hear otherwise because you're right...there are plenty to choose from arond here.
Fab.

speeking of Jeeps, there are loads of deisel landrovers available as well. Not as big as a Patrol, but harder to find parts. Take your time and you will find one with front and rear bars, draws and cargo barrier. I heard it cheaper to buy parts from the UK than here, but I wouldnt know first hand.

Opps! Landrover Discovery Series 1 TDI. Regards G.T.

As I said earlier, Terrano II will do everything you need, it has one of the best small TDI diesels in Australia. Only accessory that isn't available is a snorkel, but the Ford Courier snorkel fits.

Shaker, I admire your passion and I wish I could see beyond the styling issues. I have no doubt they are a great car however, sooner or later it will be sold to upgrade (hopefully) and I can't help but think that the depreciation is going to be significantly impacted by the fact that it appears as though Ray Charles was the chief engineer in charge of Styling at Nissan, perhaps before he defected to Ford for the AU project.
Fab.

Terrano in SA with Bullbar

Congratulations Fab. They a good small 4WD. You will probably find that it will do all you want it to.
Kevin

Cheers Kevin....like I said it needs a bit of peronalisation. Brain storming already but I'm thinking..(in no particular order).

Alloy front bar with the best lights money can buy (limited holiday time means we often leave late and travel well after dark).
Towbar ...just for light stuff.
Roof Racks and roof pod.
Tinted windows.
Deep dish floor mats.
Underbody bash plates.
Fit my existing HF and UHF radios.

That'll do for now.

Fab.