NEW CAR: Mitsubishi Pajero OR Toyota Prado? Whats great with kids & rough roads?

[lissy]

We currently have a Navara Dual Cab 2005 model. I quite like it, its cheap to run & easy to drive but it's pretty squeezy, the suspension is pretty hard & it is SHOCKING on bad/wet roads. We live down a dirt road out of town & I swear this car bogs itself lol, so I really want something I would feel safer driving down these roads with a bub in.

I haven't driven either yet & don't know if we're looking new or used but what do you think? Whats good about them..whats bad?

[Smoke Jaguar]

If you'll be towing, go the Prado. If we hadn't run out of money after buying our steers, we would have one of these now! Will have to wait a few years, now

[Melbournemumma]

My DH is into 4wd's and he said Prado.

He said Toyota know what they're doing

[Teeki]

:yeahthat: I agree with both. Toyota's are great, well-built and will last and hold their value. You'd find very little to fault on a prado. And personally every mitsubishi I've owned has seemed very poor quality and not lasted long at all

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[~Hestia~]

We have a 2008 turbo diesel automatic Pajero and we love it. It rides very smoothly and is really comfortable on long trips. It has heaps of room, especially in the 'boot' as the back row of seats stores under the floor. I've had our 50L car fridge, two prams, two suitcases, nappy bag, a carrier plus bedding in the boot. The only downfall was when DS was rearward facing I couldn't reach him without physically moving my seat back or getting out of my seat belt and turning right around as the back seat is quite roomy too.
When we were looking at a new car DH researched and found that in our case, what we wanted on the Pajero was about $10 000 cheaper than the same on a Prado. So we found the Pajero value for money, also has a great warranty.
Just asked DH and he said that if you're constantly driving on rough roads you should upgrade the factory suspension on any 4 wheel drive, the aftermarket suspension is specially designed for Australian standards. If you want his opinion on brands, just PM me. And that the new model has a 3 ton towing capacity.
Hope that helps!

[kawazuki]

go the toyota.
can i ask why not go to the landcruiser??
more room, better engine, better suspension.

We love our cruiser, it goes everywhere, and with lots of grunt and stability

[Tinks]

Yeah go the Toyota. I also agree with kawazuki, get a Landcruiser.

[Taurean]

My parents and my sister and her hubby have Pajeros and they do a LOT of camping/traveling.

My sister and her family (DH, DS1 5yrs & DS2 2yrs) have just spent the last 4 weeks traveling from Perth to The Blue Mountains then down to Vic then back to southern WA before returning home. BIL is a school teacher so that is a 'normal' road trip for them over Xmas hols.

They go 4WDing often (so do my folks) and go to Gnaraloo at least once a year - it's a remote station about 14 hrs drive north of Perth where you need to take your own fuel and water in. You get the picture. They also did a trip to Broome and back early last year and took the scenic (remote) route. Oh, forgot to mention they tow a camper trailer and my parents towed an off road Jayco pop top van until they sold it last month.

So yeah, my vote would be a Pajero

[Rach75]

are you trying to get away from dual cabs for a reason ???

we bought a triton we went the GLXR model, we have a fantastic canopy on it heaps on boot room much more than the normal 4x4 its is so comfy to drive, the suspension si great only thing I can say it has HT tyres so for rough roads I'd upgarde to AT ones

[Smoke Jaguar]

Some dual cabs have the power and performance, but no leg room in the back!

[mzcatieboo]

We have a 2004 Toyota Prado that we brought in June 09.. i LOVE it.. its great for rough roads, easy to get in & out of and drives like a dream..

We have nearly finished paying it off then we are going to get a 2009 Prado or Landcruiser so that we have 2 cars but pretty sure ill stick with the Prado.

[Rach75]

Some dual cabs have the power and performance, but no leg room in the back!

yeah thats why we went the triton it was the only dual cab we could find that could have a R/F carseat and still be able to use the passenger seat comfortably even my 6ft 3inch hubby could squeeze in

[~Kim~]

Oooh great thread.
Our good friends have a Pajero with upgraded suspension and it's fantastic in terms of space and drive, but we hired a Prado and DH loved the drive in it, but it had next to no bootspace comparitively.
We are also looking at a 4xTriton so thanks Rach!

[lissy]

Much as I'd like one I don't think we could afford a landcruiser wagon , which is why we were looking at the Prado or the Pajero.

Ive had a few dicey situations in the wet with the Navara and just don't feel comfortable with it at all anymore. Also as Mayaness said I think a R/F car seat would be a bit squeezy with someone in the passenger seat. Its got heaps of grunt, Ive pulled our 3 horse float with it, we've got airbag suspension in it too, but its horrible to travel any distance in. We have a cruiser ute to pull the float with but I guess thats not going to be much help once bub comes is it.

Wow ladies its pretty much the same for and against isnt it? Tough decision me thinks some test drives are definately in order.

[Snacks]

They would both be a great car and both would be immensely more comfy than your current ride I would think LOL!
We have a 2000 Prado TX (diesel model) and it is a great car.
A couple of reasons why DH chose this car for us (that I know of) are, Toyota parts are easily accessible and the Prado has a bigger fuel tank (well, 2 tanks).

[Early Kids]

We have a 2005 Toyota Prado GXL, turbo diesel. We LOVE it, it takes us EVERYWHERE. We recently went camping (had to take your own food, water, etc) The area is a 4x4 access only and mostly you only see the 6 cylinder 4x4s in there (because it is very boggy and rough) we pulled our camper trailer (packed to the brim, we packed for 5 days camping) through fairly easily. Got bogged a few times, but so did the landcruiser we travelled with. Last weekend we pulled a very large boat about 1.5 hours to the river, no problems at all. Didn't even feel like we were towing We take our very back seats out (seats 8) when loading up, especially for camping and there is plenty of room with the seats removed.

ATM ours is standard, but we will most likely upgrade the shocks and put a lift kit on it so it's better for 4x4ing.

One thing we always notice in our travels is that you very rarely see a Toyota broken down on the side of the road