Which patrol would be best out of these?

Strange you say that the Auto in the Ranger is miles ahead of the 200. I have had a BA XR8 & a BF11 Turbo 6 speed ZF and these can & will give problems with the cooling side of things. I currently have a 200 5 speed petrol Auto & although not the 6 in the Diesel has been a very good box. The only problem that was evident in the 6 speed 200 was the late change into 6th which has been corrected.

Probably should have been a bit clearer in regard to "cooling problems" ! If you have corrosion in the Heat Exchanger on the ZF & Coolant gets into the Mechatronics Module (inside the ZF gearbox) it will cost you $5,500 to replace the Module.

Last Patrol I had before it was stolen, was able to have the speedo needle go past the last number on the speedo.
I would call it quick. Not very stable at speed, but quick.
It was written off at a police estimation of 140.
14/15 year olds just do not know how to handle speed, no matter how many racing games they play on the computer.

The 3 litre Patrol engine has a poor reputation, even current models still have the same problems that make them go bang. At some point the ECU doesn't calibrate information properly,sending the wrong information onto it's reciever,which results in certain cylinders going bang. Turbo glide in Sydney wrote a very precise account of how this happens on this site a few years ago. Thats how I know of it. After all that I've read on this site and the regular complaints that I read in the Harald Suns cars guide every week for the past few years. I wouldn't buy a 3 litre. My friend has a 2007 3 litre model, 125000kms young, on holiday in kakadu the Patrol goes bang. $16000. later the Patrol was back on the road. He can't afford to sell it until he pays off the loan for the $16000, for the new engine,and he hates the thing. Good luck. Another friend has the 4.8 litre petrol on gas and he loves it. What a powerful fast 4wd...

I have owned 2 patrols , a 2004 and a 2007 model . Both weregreat units for me .If I had to make a choice I would go with the 2007 CRD , never missed a beat and I regularly managed to get approx 12lts/100km , for a 2.5 tonne truck that aint bad . I believe that those talking about the engine blow up are those that have asked too much of the motor , after all its a 4 cylinder engine , I reckon many have lost sight of this
Good Luck in your quest

I reckon Dough Boy you may have lost sight of the fact that there are many different car makers putting 4 cyl turbo diesels unde their bonnets. However none have the terrible reputation that the Patrol has. I must also add that I have read and heard great reports about the 3 litre Patrols such as yours. A good friend of mine has a similar storie as your good self. 2 x 3 litre Patrols for work in the past 6 years, without an issue.... Just saying buyer beware..

curious also though that the 3.0CRD being held up as good at 12L/100
I have a HDJ100 thats used as a family wagon and is steady at 13/100 solely around town and 115/100 highway with the family onboard (big family).
Those figures are pretty common for the HDJ I believe.

12L/100 I couldn't get near that and I know of a few others that can't either 23L/100 was what I was getting

I am surprised at the high fuel consumption of these japper diesels - my Rover TDV6 (2.7) which weighs 2.5t gets 7.5l/100km on the highway at 110kph and 10.5 around town - what more the engine does not go bang.

They go bang more than once.

Not sure why anyone would be considering one of these "grenades".

What other options are there? Fuel efficient capable 4x4?

Cruiser on lpg? Love te defender but all have very high Kms and expensive to repair..

I love the tritons (hiluxs are way to overpriced and over rated) I have had a 3ltr diesel ra rodeo before, ifs + leaf got me where I wanted to go (after some help with winches and snatches) but always managed to get hung up on the control arms, all the patrol boys sailed through...

Mate if you like the Defenders, hunt one down in good condition!. Don't be misguided by repair bills, as time goes on their no worse than anything else and actually part supply for all models is excellent as there are so many importers these days its no longer a worry.

Cheers Axle.

Defenders are not "more expensive" to repair than any other 4wd. Just think of the repair cost when your Patrol goes bang - it is not a case of if but when.

There are heaps of alternatives to the Patrol but if you are prepared to take the risk on a 3 litre patrol then go for it.

"....you could perhaps say we are biased...."

Never noticed......:)

Cheers
Greg

This Ti is advertised as a 4.5 but appears to be a 4.8. Quiet a few luxuries, no LPG though... good value for money?

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/nissan-patrol-2001-12607511?ref=Item


Nice and decked out, on gas and local (Victoria)
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/nissan-patrol-2004-12834996?ref=Item


Thoughts on these?

hi emoah 99.Ive brought a 2005 4.8 sts for less than 25,000$ more than happy with it .Looking at doing many trips in the out back .Great power and driven in a reasonable manner ,
fuel runs around 17lt/100.In saying that Ive been driving a gq 4.2 petrol for the last 10 years ,without any real problem .cheers Uppy

Hi Emosh

I almost didn't see your questions there.

The 4800 is a quite different beast to the 4500 and superior in every way and I wouldn't consider a 4500.

I see 4800 as one of the lowest cost full size wagons to own not because of fuel costs which are high but because of total life cycle costs which include typical repairs and depreciation.

Leaving out those two factors the 3lt is cheaper on a fuel and dealer servicing basis only.

The 4800 though can be serviced at home at requires very little with a low special tools requirement and these things make it a very fixable car in the outback.

The spark plugs issues you reffered to simply don't exist in cars like the 4800 since these days they are driven by individual coil packs on top of the engine at a height of 1.3m and are completely sealed.
You don't even need to check them until 100,000km.

I'm not a fan of gas for reliability issues which depend so much on the individual installation and the majority of which end up causing head issues.
However I think I mentioned that we have one in our stable and it runs well and cheaply (It had a $6000 head rebuild before we aquired it).

A 4800 GU on petrol only will take more out of your pocket each week and some people don't like this even though they win in the long term , so consider this before buying one.

The 5 speed tiptronic auto is a great gearbox well matched to the 4800 and far outperforms the old 4 speed unit used in the 3lt, it uses about 1lt more on average than the manual.

There is no real off-road performance difference between the manual and the auto in the 4800 because the great torque of the engine makes the autos advantages in sand less relevant - however this downhill braking was a real issue in my auto version until I fitted 43% reduction gears.

The auto will outrace the manual to 100kmh but the manual will go from 80-110kmh almost 2 seconds quicker than the auto as gear changes aren't required. The manuals can reach 200kmh due to near perfect
gearing.