What should i go for?

[Corvid]

Hey all,

Ive been reading these forums for years and soaking in the info.
I am in the market for a 4x4 now.
I want to spend up to $30k at an absolute max!
I want turbo diesel and it has to be auto as well (wife).
I am hovering around a gu 3.0ltr (but have heard they are crap in auto?)
also i have looked at a late hilux surf 3.0ltr as well..
Please be honest and tell me all your thoughts.. Anything else im forgeting.. Im open to all options.
Are the gu's as tuff/strong as the gq's?


Cheers,

Lyle

Thanks for all your help.

[-Scott-]

GU vs Surf? Significantly different vehicles, which appeal to different markets. For most people, the choice would be simple to make, but without understanding what you want to do, it's a little difficult to offer good advice.

GU: tough, solid, excellent offroad. Some question over the reliability of the 3.0.

Surf: Grey import, IFS can be an offroad limitation, potential parts and insurance issues - depending on who you talk to.

For serious offroad work, the GU without doubt. For more general touring work, the Surf becomes more of an option. But for that application, I'd buy a Pajero.

Scott

[mickrangie]

Land Rover Discovery II TD5 Auto..... amazing 4wd!!

get one for around 25k and spend the rest on 2" lift and some bigger rubber.... much smaller then GU (very wife friendly)

HTH

Mick

[christover1]

I'm no Nissan expert, but 2 of the 3.0L Turbo deisels I've been out with have totaly died in water crossings. Low ECU on the floor, and drive by wire fails totally when wet.
I'm sure there are solutions for this, though.

christover

[mudtoy]

GU...parts, servicing, mods, offroad ability...3.0 litre pulls well but I wouldn't want to tow with it or have it for any length of time.

[RockyF75]

Ok, 1st things 1st. What do you want to do with it?
Do you want to splash out on mods too?
Serios rockcrawling/mudding- lots mods?
Touring?
Weekend warrior, so minor mods?

[Corvid]

ok, Thanks heaps everyone for the replies.
I have heard the 3.0ltr in the gu has ??? above its reliabilty which is why im a bit hesitant to buy one i guess.
I am looking to do some touring really. I want to get up to cape york at some stage once i become more experienced. Im not looking at rock crawling. Just general 4x4ing. I have driven a few toyo's on beach etc. Mainly just trail work to get to good camp sites.

As for the dicovery, I have heard mixed reports. Its also brittish which sorta makes me shudder to be honest. With thier awesome reputation of quality build and fantastic electronics to boot :(!!!

Im open to any suggestion. Like hilux's etc.
I just dont want to tour into some red dirt and find the thing dieing in the ass in the middle of no where.


Thanks again, CHAMPIONS!



Lyle.

[bogged]

I am looking to do some touring really. I want to get up to cape york at some stage once i become more experienced. Im not looking at rock crawling. Just general 4x4ing. I have driven a few toyo's on beach etc. Mainly just trail work to get to good camp sites..

Take a look at the Jackaroo.. or if there is only 2 of you, check out some of the other utes Rodeo etc on the market.

[mickrangie]

As for the dicovery, I have heard mixed reports. Its also brittish which sorta makes me shudder to be honest. With thier awesome reputation of quality build and fantastic electronics to boot :(!!! :.

Land Rover has got there act together with anything after and including the DII also they are now owned by ford..... have a read in the Nissan and Toyota threads on this forum and you will see every manufacture has issues. The electrics on the DII are Bosch now not lucas.... There are so many Land Rovers on the road world wide that many people can't have it wrong....

Trust me go out and test drive a diesel Discovery II TD5 with ACE and you will see why!!!
What can you get with coils all round, disc brakes a powerful engine (td5 or V8) and all the mod cons that’s only 5 years old for under 30K???

Mick

[Chucky]

Have you thought about the 3lt TD prado,
My sister in law just crossed the simo without a drama, not even a flat tyre. My father in law was with her in a T/D jackaroo, towing a camper and didn't have a problem either.

[j-top paj]

pajeros are quite capable for what they are. depending on how much you want to spend on mods you could get a gen 3 with DID. or id probaly go the gen 2 with the 2.8.

[Corvid]

Thanks again for the reply's.

I have allways had a soft spot for the range/land rovers. Something about them i love.
Arnt the disco's are bit top heavy tho? they bloody look it. Ill take one for a wrap and see what i think.

As for the Prado, I also heavily considered this too, I love toyota's allways have had toyota and am more mechanically pushed towards one of those. But the prado's are IFS and all i hear is bad things about this? Whats the 1kz 3.0ltr like anyways. The new hilux t/d looks the goods with the multi valve/cam setup.
But toyota's also seem to be so overpriced.. Maybe for a reason i dont know. I was hoping someone could explain that. (maybe cause all the mums wanna drop their kids off at school in one?)

Id prefer not to get a holden anything. I know its a Izuzu and all but my mate had a MU and no end of problems so i can say id scrap that from my list.

Im surprised no one has mentioned the jeep wrangler? are these no good? my bro has one in manwell and its a nice unit off the tarmac. The interior and driving posi is like a tractor tho which is why i really havnt considered them.


Thanks again, I am reading all the replies and soaking it all up and narrowing my list.


Lyle.

[mickrangie]

Discos look top heavy but being all alloy body it doesn’t realy make any difference.... if you take one for a test drive make sure it has ACE....

Jeeps not many in diesel and I think it has IFS anyway Barby drives one


Mick

[Corvid]

What is ACE?

also, The jeep wrangler thing, i know it aint diesel but they are solid front and rear.

Not much boot space tho

[-Scott-]

As for the Prado, I also heavily considered this too, I love toyota's allways have had toyota and am more mechanically pushed towards one of those. But the prado's are IFS and all i hear is bad things about this? Whats the 1kz 3.0ltr like anyways. The new hilux t/d looks the goods with the multi valve/cam setup.
But toyota's also seem to be so overpriced.. Maybe for a reason i dont know. I was hoping someone could explain that. (maybe cause all the mums wanna drop their kids off at school in one?)

Toyota have THE name for 4wds in this country, and their marketing seems pretty effective too. That's what you're paying for - the Toyota badge on the bonnet, and you continue to pay for the Toyota emblem on every spare part you buy (genuine, that is... ) If you're concerned about IFS, scrub the Surf from your list. People here dislike IFS because it doesn't have sufficient wheel travel for real hardcore 4wding. (Be aware that what passes for "hard" on other Australian websites would barely be worth the time for most OL wheelers. ) For the driving being discussed here (Cape York, Simpson Desert) IFS is fine. In fact, the current Pajero with IFS and IRS won't have much trouble, either.

Im surprised no one has mentioned the jeep wrangler? are these no good? my bro has one in manwell and its a nice unit off the tarmac. The interior and driving posi is like a tractor tho which is why i really havnt considered them.

Wranglers are excellent offroad vehicles, but onroad they're not the best. They're also smaller than GU/Surf vehicles, so I guess everybody wrote them off as too small for your requirements. I tour in a Shorty, and it can be challenging to fit everything in. And you also have less room for extra fuel on longer trips, so be sure you really want a shorty before you buy one with touring in mind.

Cheers,

Scott

[mickrangie]

What is ACE?

also, The jeep wrangler thing, i know it aint diesel but they are solid front and rear.

Not much boot space tho

ACE - Active Cornering Enhancement

system uses accelerometers to sense cornering forces and controls hydraulic rams on the anti-roll bars to resist roll.

In plain English it makes you go fast round corners DEAD flat no body roll at all!!! It also disables itself at low speeds so you have plenty of articulation off road.... Best of both worlds.


HTH
Mick

[Loanrangie]

What is ACE?

also, The jeep wrangler thing, i know it aint diesel but they are solid front and rear.

Not much boot space tho

ACE = active cornering enhancement, makes them drive like on rails !

[fnqcairns]

Only 2 choices IMO Toyota or Nissan, while the discoverys and Jeeps even the Pajeros are nice cars and are worthy of owning under warrenty, out of warrenty they can be or will be at some point a basket case for the owner.
Is it the discovey that has 3 fuel pumps!! the cost to replace any one of them could feed an under priviaged family for 2 months.
So what I am saying is also make your choice on the cost of parts esp those that will sooner or later die regardless of the brand.

cheers fnq

[mickrangie]

Only 2 choices IMO Toyota or Nissan, while the discoverys and Jeeps even the Pajeros are nice cars and are worthy of owning under warrenty, out of warrenty they can be or will be at some point a basket case for the owner.
Is it the discovey that has 3 fuel pumps!! to replace any one of them could feed an under priviaged family for 5 months.
So what I am saying is also make your choice on the cost of parts esp those that will sooner or later die regardless of the brand.

cheers fnq

U kidding yrself..... parts for land rovers are cheaper then orig Nissan and Toyota. owning any car out of warranty is a risk.

[fnqcairns]

Crikey you were fast even beat me to my edit!

I dunno some are far far more expensive to own after warrenty, is it the discovery that has the $1000 dollar in tank fuel pump as well as the extra helpers? That's what scares me today when comparing vehicles. I would happly put up with say an IFS vehicle if I thought the other option might mean a trippling of wearable replacement parts either in number or cost.


cheers fnq

[mickrangie]

is it the discovery that has the $1000 dollar in tank fuel pump

I think u are referring to the mechanical fuel pump on the 300tdi it is worth a small fortune but Land Rover can't retire on them alone.... we can argue this all day it's getting old very quickly

OE parts are always going to be expensive some brand more then others... but it no reason not to buy any particular brand, Corvid needs to work out what he wants and what he wants to use it for and how big he needs it and who is going to drive it.... test drive a few and make up his own mind. At the end of the day i don’t care if he buys a Lada but if it suits his life style good on him...

rant over

Mick

[ludacris]

For $30 000 you will be able to pick up a more recent 3.0 GU with the better motor. I know a few people with the 3ltr and they have travelled to the cape and lots more trouble free.

LudaCris

[Corvid]

GU with the better 3.0ltr? what year did the "better motor" come in and whats the difference?

[duallux]

The "better motor" i believe arrived in late 2002 (october purhaps). Nissan acknowledged that there were problems with the type of material used on the earlier motors for the pistons, and more than a few motors were replaced. Apparently when Nissan Japan designed the motors, the metal in the no.1 piston (i think, and am open to correction) was too soft, causing excessive heat build up (it is in a fairly free spinning motor, for a diesel). This combined with poor oil supply to the upper cylinder caused melt down and no go. These issues have been addressed in the later motors.

Also, accroding to my local Nissan dealer, Valvoline have developed an oil that is specifically suited to the ZD30 motor which may be helpful.

I currently run a 2005 ZD30 patrol, 5speed, and only bought it on advice from an associate well placed in Nissan that these changes have improved the longevity of the motor.

So far i have been pleasantly surprised. The car is currently used everyday and as a weekend fun thing. Over easter and the may long weekends, we towed our camper trailer and fourbied up at cruiser park and fuel economy has been under 14l/100km. Normal driving usually sees about 11l/100km. hope this helps

Matt