So... those who know/drive 4x4's?

I have a VZ commodore wagon. 7 seats & purple :lol: Love it to bits!

But... its not made for the amount of driving I have to do to get anywhere around here. I drive about 200kms every week for shopping, sometimes do that trip 2 - 3 times a week. I also do about 300 - 400kms every Saturday for netball/football. I'm driving back home for christmas (WA - NSW) & back. Also 2 - 4 hours for any decent shopping.

So I'm going to sell my beloved commy & get a 4wd :(

I know the best I can get is a Landcruiser 4.2 turbo diesel.
I'm not willing to budge on the diesel, but I am wondering what other 4wd's are worth looking at?

Nissan Patrol maybe? I want a 7 - 8 seater. Not too worried if its a big 4wd or not, but its gotta be tough. Not tough as in lots of 4wding. Though there are quite a few dirt roads I travel on & my car doesn't feel very safe on them, & the odd camping trip. But I more need it to be able to do the kms I want & keep on going.

There aren't many people letting go of the cruisers at the moment & I'm only going to have a limited amount to spend.

We have a 100 series landcruiser, it has 8 seats but all of the back row comes out so you can have lots of boot space. It's easy to drive and handle but it's only a petrol so it's expensive to run.

I love our Captiva LX Diesal. Great economy to run on long streches.

We live in Alice so ours are tested. The only 4wds most people buy around here are Cruisers, Patrols and Pajeros.
We wanted a cruiser but couldn't afford the year models we wanted. Looked at the patrols but didn't love them. We bought a Pajero. Love it. It's a diesel. It's economical, hard working and comfy. It only seats 7 though.

DH lives over 250km off the tar road, and it does that trip easily

DH has a Patrol which is diesel, I've never driven it as it's a manual. I have a Pajero which is also diesel, can get about 800km to a tank depending on what kind of driving I've been doing. The Patrol's back row seats fold up, my Pajero's seats get stored underneath the floor and I don't think we've ever gotten them out so can't say how comfy they are, sorry.

There are not too many places that I couldn't drive my Pajero, so feel very safe in it :D

I'm kinda avoiding Pajero's :) Know too many people who've had bad experiences. Same with Jackaroo's.

I know Prado's are meant to be pretty good cars too.

Yeah, I looked at some Prado's. Only thing is dad says I'm better off with a 4.2Ltr diesel, the prado's only came out in a 3.0 diesel. No idea what the difference is though. Will have to ask him tomorrow.

We have the Nissan Pathfinder, it is a 7 seater, diesel and it drives really well. I like that it doesn't feel quite as big as the larger 4wd's . (cos I'm shocking at parking)

My parents are currently driving their 7th Patrol :lol: The one they have now is a turbo diesel and they're happy with it. Prior to this one, all have been duel fuel with gas/ulp. Bought this one to tow a 25ft caravan around the country for a 2 year trip.

They've also owned 2 pathfinders and mum loved them, the smaller size made them easier and less truck like to drive, but they still had some grunt.

We had a joke with friends years ago when I was a teenager. They had an old land cruiser, we had the older patrol (square looking one). Their friends got bogged trying to pull a boat out of a lake. So the landcruiser went in to pull them out. And struggled and then got bogged too. So the patrol had to step up - and pulled a boat, ute and landcruiser all out of the mud. Before that happened, the friends always told my parents to get the landcruiser. After that, it was never mentioned again :rofl:

Hi Clover!

We just bought a brand new Prado! We are totally in love. We wanted the same thing as you by the sounds of it. We wanted that 4wd capability, but still something that wasnt too bulky around the city. We have to 3.0 turbo diesel. It has plenty of guts (for a diesel 4wd) and amazing fuel economy to boot,we are still running it in atm, but it is still only using 8.6L/100km. The third row seats are great in that they fold fully beneath the floor so you have full boot space when you dont need them! We chose it because it is such a comfortable town car, yet is a capable 4wd. I also really liked it because it was the only 4wd (other than the landcruiser) that I could find with the ISOFIX child restraint system :lol:
Let me know if you want to know anything else; but this is the link for the prado's specs :)
[link removed]

Just as an edit; my parents have just sold their landcruiser and bought a patrol. Trying to find a 4.2diesel Patrol ( that they dont make anymore) is terrible. They are really rare and over priced. I didnt like driving either of the cars and found them bulky and truck-like on the road, however for the die -hard 4wd'ers they are the best tool out there.

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Just as an edit; my parents have just sold their landcruiser and bought a patrol. Trying to find a 4.2diesel Patrol ( that they dont make anymore) is terrible. They are really rare and over priced. I didnt like driving either of the cars and found them bulky and truck-like on the road, however for the die -hard 4wd'ers they are the best tool out there.

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Oh I can vouch for this too. The current model of patrol is really hard to get, think there were 5 in Oz when my parents purchased. Dealerships don't want the stock because there's a new model coming. But the new model isn't in diesel which seems very strange.

We have a 3.0 litre turbo diesel Prado, with sub tank - so can do over 1000ks round trip, and that's with gigantor Mickey Thompson mud tires. It's a skinner/slimmer 4x4 so I have no trouble parking it in big shopping centres. Great vision as well. Pulls everyone else out of bogs with ease - it has a LOT of grunt. Hard to find, we bought a 2000 model 2 years ago for over $20k however it had 100,000ks less than comparable 4x4 the same age.

Best 4x4 I have ever owned. Have done Patrol's, Pajero's, Landcruiser's. I swear by the Prado. I will never buy a different 4x4 ever again.

Jeep's are full of problems so stay away from those. Everyone I know that's had a Jeep has had major issues.

Thanks guys :) I'm thinking Prado.

We have a 100 series cruiser. petrol. exxy to run but with a few tweeks we are getting good mileage now

Have you thought about a prado or pajero? both capable for mild 4wd. possibly cheaper as a diesel and come in 7 seaters..

Just make sure you try all your kids and their seats in the prado as they are very slim. They are actually narrower seat edge to seat edge than the outlander we just sold. We couldn't fit all our seats across the back.

Clover,

If you end up looking at a Prado, we found it better value to buy brand new. Prado's are in really high demand and dont devalue much. We were looking at current model (2009 and later) here in QLD and werent finding anything decent, second hand in diesel under about $53k and we were seeing them up to $65k. We ended up finding them on sale, new, on Brissys northside, did some bargaining and playing dealerships off against each other and ended up getting a brand new GXL diesel with some very basic extras for $59900, on road. We found it was worth it as the value of the three years warranty, and toyotas capped price services, and the stamp duty to transfer a second hand car, it will probably come close to making up for the 6-7G difference, plus, its a nice new car :)

Do you want the space to carry stuff or people? If you want space for stuff the Toyota Hilux is about as tough as they get. You can get a lid with a lock for the back for security.

I thought about the Hilux... but if I get a ute/tray back, only myself & the kids will fit in the car. My mum can't come anywhere with us, or kids friends.
Ute back could be handy, but I think I need the seats.

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Yeah, I looked at some Prado's. Only thing is dad says I'm better off with a 4.2Ltr diesel, the prado's only came out in a 3.0 diesel. No idea what the difference is though. Will have to ask him tomorrow.

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Clover I think the difference is that the 3lt is a 4 cyl and the 4.2 is a 6cyl or even V8 if talking Cruiser?????

We have an 05 Prado and it's an 8 seater. The third row of seats just fold up either side and are removeable if need be.

I believe the new Prado is a 7 seater. I think they did away with the middle seat on the third row.

The Prados have the long range tanks as standard. They hold about 160lt of diesel.

Diesels are terrific if you do alot of towing as they have alot of tourque down low and that is ideal for towing.

Love Love Love my Prado.

Yes definitely check the car seats will fit across the row, it is a much slimmer 4x4.

If you have a lot of car seats or boosters. Then go the bigger 4wd. I can fit 2 car seats and a booster across the middle row of my cruiser. We not just have 1 car seat and 1 booster and no issues obviously

Plus as a long term car you need to think of growing kids and leg room. My almost 13 yr old is still comfortably in our car but he has really long legs and he has to sit in the middle of the middle row otherwise his knees hit the back of our seats.

Yes, current Prado has only two seats in the back row. And i'm pretty sure they have no ISOFIXs for the back row (but not 100% certain). There's no way a 3rd carseat will fit in the middle - unless it's a super slim one. However it's ok to sit between the two car seats in the middle row. Not sure about older models and their seat configurations.
Some earlier models of Pajero (I think) have the carseat clips in the back of the boot (secured to the floor) which is terrible if you ever need to use the boot space. Make sure the car seats clip to the back of the seat.

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Yes, current Prado has only two seats in the back row. And i'm pretty sure they have no ISOFIXs for the back row (but not 100% certain).

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Definately ISOFIX in the new Prado's! part of the reason we got our new one, other than they are awesome cars :)

ISOFIX? Feeling silly asking, but what's that mean?

ISOFIX? Feeling silly asking, but what's that mean?

Isofix is a way of attaching car seats directly to a bar behind/under the seats themselves. Used in Europe and much safer.

I didn't think Isofix was recognized yet in Australia? Although there are moves to have this changed. Don't think any of our car seats have the right attachments because of this. I hope it changes soon though.

Hi Jennifer,

Actually, alot of Australian cars do have ISOFIX. Its something we have really looked into. It is in basically all reasonably new (less than 5 year old) Toyotas, Mazdas, VW's, Audi's and Mercedes, basically most cars manufactured overseas that are big in the US or Europe. Some nissans have them as well, but some models had it removed for the Australian Market. Basically, all Holdens and Fords built here dont have it, and no, it cant be retrofitted as no-one here in Australia has designed the standards, training or testing for that (We looked into it, part of the reason we decided to get rid of our Nissan X-Trail)

ISOFIX is on track to be introduced into Australia at the start of next year..... I'm quietly hopeful that this goes ahead, because I am planning on using it anyway. Most European ISOFIX car seat allow you to use the seatbelt restraint (for cars without ISOFIX) so I will just use that as well. The only part that would be a drawbackis that would mean that you cant use the seats that use a floor prop instead of a top teather, which I think is on of ISOFIX's big advantages :)

Sorry for hijacking your thread clover :redface:

Yeah Caz, I know cars have it, we just don't have any seats to use until the Aust standard changes. I too hope that changes soon!

As an ex-4x4 mechanic shop owner, i can tell you that, in general, the land cruisers and prados have higher parts costs, and often higher purchase price whether new or second hand. Yes, the toyotas are a quality machine, but the elevated cost (from being toyota and a 4wd- rrmember extra driving wheels, more parts, bigger tyres, etc, etc, etc when compared to your commodore) is something you need to keep in mind.
The early 3.0 litre patrols were sucky, hence why we all love the 4.2 diesel (and can they haul donkey!), but have not seen any 3 litre patrols with many issues lately. A gu patrol should cover everything you need, and i would buy one (or even another gq, but only a 4.2) over a cruiser, even though we have had a beautiful 100 series here for nearly the last week. I think i mentioned the parts cost is lower for the 'trol (i'm on my phone, so is pretty impossible to scroll through what I have typed :doh:)

I know it might not be your thing, but if you don't really "need" a four wheel drive, maybe look into the all wheel drive people movers. Like tarago (and their grey import counterparts such as estima and lucida), el grande (nissan, runs on the same gear as pathfinder) and is luxury, or the grand voyager. I would avoid the toyota mini vans as we were not happy with their build quality or wearability of the seats, etc. The el grande shouldnt scare you because its a grey imort, its not a hard vehicle to service by a mechanic, and is a passenger designed vehicle, not a commercial vehicle based design. Newer grand voyagers (the squarer ones) have all wheel drive and auto doors, but i dont think they come in a diesel. We nearly bought one, just had to redirect money unfortunately.