Looking to buy a diesel 4WD. Early days yet, but the vehicles in my price range (say, $25-30,000) seem to have about 100,000km on the clock. Now, I have never had a diesel, so is this a reasonable reading for a vehicle about 4 to 5 years old? And could I hope for, say, another 100,000km out of it before needing expensive work? I realise this question doesn't have any firm answers. Guess I'm just looking for a bit of reassurance, because I probably would not buy a petrol vehicle with that mileage. Hoping, in fact, to find one that has been used to ferry the rugrats to school, not one from a mine site. Cheers, Tony
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If you don't stand behind our troops, please feel free to stand in front of them.
The problem with judging a vehicle on mileage is you don't know if they are hard miles or if the vehicle belonged to the local church group and was killed with kindness .
200K to 300K is average for a looked after diesel . Have had a few over the years but always got new ones to ensure the warranty covered the time I expected to keep it . Currently have a Nissan Pathfinder and find it great as a tug up to 2500kg, average about 13 /100 ,a little better around town bare back .
All diesels are very expensive to work on, average engine rebuild about 5 - 6000 if you do a top line job and expect to keep the vehicle for another 3 years or more.
If you do the preventative maint on the rig, like oil changes and filters along with injector pump tune up's you will have trouble free motoring. If the vehicle seems a bit sluggish there's a good chance it's the fuel injector pump that needs looking at, surprising how a tune up of the pumps improves the performance, not cheap but worth it
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Gidday Tony, We got ours (2005 Series 100 Lcruiser 4.2 Ltr Diesel) from Westside Auto Wholesale in Bently. Make sure you only buy an ex rental not a Red Duster (Mining). Make sure what ever you buy that, it does not have a towing kit fitted or, had been fitted. (For obvious reasons) If you look and wait you will find them with, dual batteries, dual tanks, 80Ltr water tank, storage racks and snorkel.
I realise you said you were looking for a used vehicle. We did that this time last year. Went to our local dealer of the brand we wanted to purchase and started having a look. Now, it could have been the excellent sales pitch but we ended up buying a new vehicle because the deal was too good to refuse. We are not habitual new car buyers so we don't have any skills in negotiating with these people. The story is we were looking at an ex demo model selling for $46000, 17000Km, diesel with everything on it we desired, bull bar, driving lights, bonnet protector, headlight protectors, carpets, window tinting and 3 ton tow bar. The deal we ended up striking was for a new vehicle with all that plus a new Prodigy brake controller as it was easier to fit a new one than transfer the old one from our car. Registration thrown in, paid for the transfer of personlised plates, with the trade in for an AU Fairmont, $50000. Don't give up have a chat and see what you can get. We were really surprised to come away with a new vehicle.
all the best,
Terro.
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Rosemary and Terry08 Patrol, Galaxy Odyssey Pop top He who laughs last is late getting the joke!!
hi tony i bought a gq patrol diesel that had 128,000k's on the clock. it had been used by a tag along company doing a lot of out back trips ie. canning stock route ,simpson desert ,kimberleys and a lot of desert work. the vehicle was stock standard. this vehicle has now done over 450,000 k's a part from normal services and the accessories that i wanted not needed put on it i have not spent a dollar on it. beleive me this vehicle has earn't it's keep . like the song goes it's been every where. it has towed a 18ft. van about half the k's that i have done. so 100,000k's sounds to me like it has just been run in.
Hi Tonyd Good luck with your purchase of a diesel tug. The main thing to remember with a diesel motor is to keep Oil, fuel & most important the air in the motor clean, your diesel motor will run forever. If driving in dusty conditions I would change the air cleaner often. Diesel motors were made for hard work, but wont last if overloaded for long periods, bit like myself. Common rail deisel motors are new to me but had a lot to do with Perkins with Injector pumps in Massey Ferguson Tractors.
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I drive the only Prado in Australia with a talking tacho !!!!!!!
You know when your landing gear is up & locked, when it takes full power just to taxi to the terminal.........
ah thank christ al a bit of common sense, the diesel by nature is an overconstructed beastie, to ignite the diesel the compression must be higher than 500 pounds per square inch, this is an indication of an engine in reasonable condition, turn the ignition to "glow plug" or "preheat" for a second or two, turn to start, it should be pretty much instant
hard starting indicates great wear this wear will not occur before at least 500,000, even then a bit of aerostart will get her going again
it may smoke a little after first start, this is normal, smoking whilst warm and under load is normal, smoking whilst under normal driving conditions is not, it may indicate a stuffed dirty injector, black smoke is good, blue or white is unburned diesel not good
a toyota or a nissan gq or similar can easily attain 500,000 kilometres without needing any major mechanics done, I am heavily involved in mechanics and spend most of my waking day around diesel, the trucks I used to operate regularly attain a million kilometres before requiring a rebuild, barring something catastrophic
our toy landcruiser traytop has just clicked over 400,000 and going as strong as ever, not going to change her in hurry
with a "civilian" diesel expect to get a minimum of 250,000 k's before needing to look at things like injector pump or injectors, little things will start to wear at about 200,000 like alternater bearings (about $150), thrust bearings/clutch water pump at about 250,000 (possibly $200) timing chain or belt at 100,000 intervals, keep the service up to it and you will have a good mate for a long time
you will never see the need for a major rebuild, you will update it long before you wear it out
check the service history and listen for bearing noise (gearbox if city driving or centre bearing if country) if you can get a R.A.A. or similar report done on it
if you come across a regularly maintained puddlejumper that has 300,000 k's or less then you have a vehicle that will be reliable a very long time in to the future
I have seen many dirt dodgers with mileage above 300,00 and the owner having no intention of trading up
Do try to find out as much about the history of the vehicle as you can and make absolutely sure that the routine maintenance has been followed to the letter. There have been sad tales of distributors and authorised retailers not following the manufacturers schedules, presumably to make a few bucks on the side as they have still been charging the customer the full whack.
I have a hypersensitivity to diesel fuel and all things similar, so I opted for an old fashioned 4 litre petrol Landcruiser with a new LPG conversion and 218,000 km on the clock. (95l of gas and 145l of petrol should get better than 1200km on reasonable roads and/or about 700km+ on rougher tracks if the need should arise.)
It uses an horrendous amount of fuel compared to the newer diesel motors, but at less than half the price per litre for the LPG.
Other considerations are the lower cost of servicing, cheaper spares, and the fact that I can do almost all of the basic work on it myself if needed.
The motor is unlikely to last as long as a similar diesel, but it will cost significantly less to rebuild if disaster should strike.
That said, it should still do more than 400,000km in total before a rebuild and it is unlikely that I will drive more than another 200,000 in my lifetime.
I am a very slow traveller.
I love the smell of roses
-- Edited by Rolly on Wednesday 28th of October 2009 10:41:32 AM
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Old age and treachery will overcome youth and enthusiasm any day.......
My '95 80 Series diesel Cruiser cost me $20,000 5 years ago. "Rosy" now has almost 400,000kms and the only replacement was the original water pump in Eden early last year. The suspension and hubs have been overhauled to ensure my tyres last longer and the travel is straight. I'm very happy with the fuel consumption. I monitor the oil, coolant and other fluids, and she gets serviced when it's due to ensure I am driving a well-maintained, reliable vehicle. Toyota diesels are reputed to be good for half a milion kms. I'm putting that theory to the test. I'm ok at diagnosing problems, but not always able to do the repairs. I can change my own tyres though. Another source of good quality, well maintained fourbies is Government auctions. I managed the transport for Broome Health Services and the vehicle managment policy ensures they are regularly serviced, the tyres are always in good condition, and all repairs are done promptly. The dings were knocked out by a reputable crash repairer. They swap vehicles over after a set amount or kms or time, whichever comes first. Good luck with your hunt.
-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Wednesday 28th of October 2009 11:42:19 AM
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
Nothing much to add too.........main thing is to get what you can afford......look at Demo models...you can save up to $15,000...on new price.....My Paj was an ex Gov fleet vehicle.......was still covered with delivery stickers...had a H&R towbar and cargo barrier.
Mine ..NP Paj with 3.2lt turbo diesel.Had it since Feb.......has 88,000 on clock...
