Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Just after a bit of advice before I commit to buying my first 'real' 4x4. I say 'real', because my daily driver at the moment is a Suzuki Sierra, and I'm looking to upgrade to something that can do a bit of touring, be reliable, reasonably cheap on fuel and fit my 4 month old in the back snuggly and safely. Aside from the cheap to run part, the Suzuki just doesn't cut it.

So the car I'm looking at is a 91 Terrano, which I assume all carried the 27TD engine. It's an automatic with 260,xxx on the clock and the only aftermarket mod is a 2" suspension lift. I recall reading that the Terrano's don't have a lot of clearance from factory, so the 2" lift is a bonus. Claims to be reliable and in order mechanically with no major issues, but I've got a family full of diesel mechanics to rely on for that.

During my research I read that rust is common under the rear seat, particularly where the rear seatbelts bolt to the floor. Is this something that would be noticed looking at the underside of the vehicle? Or is it really a seat out, life up carpet kind of job?

Are the Terrano's just an overseas version of the Aussie Pathfinder (minus the turbo)? Are parts interchangable between the 2 models (ie. Door cards, seats, diff's, gearbox, etc.)?

Do they have reasonably good fuel consumption for a 4x4 of this age and size?

Sorry for the newby questions, I'm new to the world of 4x4's.

Thanks!

dunno about back seat rust.
put a 2.5 mANDREL EXHAUST ON IT WITH A SINGLE STRAIGH THRU MUDFFLER.
pull the plastic duct into the guard off the air filter and either put a snorkel on it or cut the section of grille out over the passengers headlight and run a duct to there.
change your air filter often and rotate it a bit... the filter is a bit small.
increase boost to abotu 10psi with an air bleed.
have a fiddle with the throttle position sensor on top of the fuel pump which varies your shift points.

with a roof rack on round town we got 8.2l per 100. when leaning on it with the camper trailer it was closer to 18 per 100.
the cooling system is marginal at best, budget for getting a decent radiator made.
make sure ALL of the radiator ducting is intact.
nice little car. beat up on it in the pilbara for years.

Thanks for the reply.

Teeing up a few cars to look at it in the same area, just never heard of the Terrano's until a week ago

4 door pathfinder basically.
watch for CV boots splitting, they are getting on a bit especially if lifted.
don't lift them too much, all that happens is you run out of droop and keep lifting a wheel up.
gas struts in the back are almost always rooted, and they are odd sizes genuine only.. see Nizzbits for some.
decent roo/bull bars for them can be hard to find.
if you cart a lot of heavy gear in them Jackaroo rear coils fit. cant remember which model.. but theres an option if the heaviest from the suspension mobs isnt good enough.

the engine is basically a 4 cylinder td42, very strong and take a lot of boost and fuel as long as you control egts. quite a few TD42 bits will fit it.
the inlet manifolds crud up with EGR poo. pull it off and wash it out. and whole youre at it plug the overpressure valve they weep sometimes.
you know what to do with the egr.
ensure all the vacuum lines are run correctly. they actually help. even that butterfly in the intake.
service the auto, you do not want to pay for an overhaul.
put auto trans fluid in the transfer if it has auto hubs.

its funny watching your drunk mates try to find the door handles. You'll see...