Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi All,
I am thinking about buying a 1999 Holden Frontera 3 door. I think its a MX.
I know nothing about the vehicle so I thought I would ask the experts, you guys that own and drive them.
I want to know what they are like in the bush, how capable they are, what the clearance is like and what common problems they have.
I am not usually that fond of holdens, are they built ok?

I am currently driving a lifted Feroza and find it capable in the bush and want to know how much better or worse the frontera would be?
thanks in advance guys,
Richard.

HI richard.

Are you nuts....

Sorry i'll get down to it. The frontera's aren't that bad. They go alright in the bush but the clearance is woeful. you'll get used to the sound of sliding over stuff pretty quickly. There are some easyish mods you can apparently do to get a bit more height but it comes down to wanting to put in the spanner time. I've found that there's a few weak points underneath, namely the body mounts and also the standard muffler would be better suited to a bus or something of similar size. As with anything i guess it all depends on what you want to do with the thing, if it's just a bit of tooling around in the bush then you won't have many hassles but if you want to be a bit more extreme i'd look for something with a solid axle up front, and more clearance from the factory!!!!

Having said all that i'm pretty pleased with mine and it still suprises me where it can go. Also the on road driving is pretty good. i haven't been able to find any probs with the build quality as such and all the creature comforts are there as well but there are a few small things that piss me off, roof rack mounts in the back tend to rust out( ) and number plates tend to dislocate themselves from the vehicle far to easily( ). i know these things are petty but i'm just a little padantic about that kind of stuff.

Hope that helps a bit. And good luck with what ever you decide to do. Any other things just ask

Cheers Will

Rich,
If the vehicle is the 2.0 litre it is built in Spain I think. Have a friend who has one and he has done his front diff twice. They are genuine only parts. If it is the 2.2lt it was built in the USA and the build quality is pretty good for my money. I would probably save some dough and get a 3.0lt diesel MU though. Better off road and pretty reliable. Made 5th pick (I think) of used trucks in the 4WD monthly mag. Standard 31'' tyres and pretty basic to work on. I understand parts aren't so bad to get either.

David

See also this thread:

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modules/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5006

Noel

The 2.0 litres are built in England. I owned one for 4 years, modified it wiht a body lift,OME susp, snorkel 31"tyres, chipped motor etc. Ended up blowing the motor resulting in an expensive rebuild. My advice, if you want to get serious about 4wd, look elsewhere like a Suzi Sierra, i have one and a Jackaroo, it shits all over it!

Guys thanks heaps for your replies so far.
I have been trying to justify spending the money on a new T Diesel Prado....and well I guess you are helping !

Still not 100% convinced on that huge cost of a prado yet, second hand ones are way too expensive as well !

Thanks.