4x4 buying advice

[Black XR6]

We are doing preliminary research on older 4x4's to buy as a third vehicle, for a few reasons.

We want to spend around the 10k give or take afew k's either side really. Which means we would be looking at mid to late 80's to early 90's models. Any recommendations? The only stipulation is it has to be wide enough to fit three child car seats across the middle row of seats. Which limits selection to the bigger 4x4's.

Does anybody know the wheels car of the year award winners for the 4x4 car of the year for 85-95?

I have tried locating info on the web but cant find much of use.

Thanks for any help

[Smoke Pursuit]

Either a Nissan Patrol or a Toyota Landcruiser... Pajeros are shit from that era.

[live_1991]

do u want a 4 wheel drive or a toorak tractor ????

[danege]

Patrol.

[Black XR6]

I was looking at patrols or land cruisers really.

Anything I should be looking for on these models. How does the model range go from base models to higher models in patrols and landcruisers?

[live_1991]

well it all depend are you gonna go 4 wheel driving or is it gonna stay on the road (toorak tractor )

[kiwikid]

no point buying a 4wd if your not going to use it...
they dont belong in town....imo

[Black XR6]

Well. I will be using it for mostly suburban terror. But it will go offroad if the need arises, such as holidays etc. Not that I need to justify why I want a 4x4, but it satisfies some criteria I am looking at. Such as fitting 3 child restraints across middle seats, allowing luggage or people in back. It will be able to tow another car on a car trailer, ie my xbgt if the need arises. It is versatile allowing for off road if on holidays etc.

[chippa6]

I used to own ford maverick (GQ patrol) it was 1989, 220 000 km and it was superb. It was the petrol variant rahter than diesel. - they both had their advantages - diesel would have been a bit more economical to run, but it lacks power compared to the petrol. Also on the patrol range spoke to the guy at the wreckers and he said that for the same price that you can buy a 2nd hand head for the diesel you can buy a whole complete petrol motor. Not only that but the petrol is very straightforward, strait 6 4.2 lt, did all the work ourselves - oil changes timing etc etc.

when i dont have to drive through peak hour traffic for an hour every morning on the way to work I will be getting another 4wd - and it will definately be a patrol.

Chippa

[CyberWasp]

You would be right to narrow down your search, as you have said, to either a Patrol or Landcruiser. Saying which is better is like starting a Ford v's Holden debate. I could be wrong, but I think that the Landcruiser is the wider of the two inside taking into account your seating requirements. I have onwed a Landcruiser so I can only outline what i know about them.
With the Landcruisers the base model has the barn type doors on the back with a basic no frills interior, ie vinyl. The GXL has the rear doors that open horizontally and are more car like inside and the top the range is the Sahara with all the bells and whistles.
The Landcruisers changed shapes from the 60 Series to the 80 Series around 1989-90. The main difference between the 2 is the change from Leaf Springs to Coil Springs.
Apart from this you have to weigh up which type of engine you want in your 4X4. You have Petrol or Diesel to pick from. This in itself can cause great debates inside the 4x4 fraternity as to which is better. In general the Petrol Engines from a 4X4 of that age will offer more power than a Diesel of that age and offer a cheaper purchase price You have both carbureted and fuel injected models to check out as well. On the downside they chew through ALOT more fuel than a Diesel. The Diesels have the higher compression and are loved for their ability off road to idle up and down steep slopes with ease, using the engine for its breaking. They generally have better low down torque / pulling power. Some may have a Turbo which will have the obvious benefits.
I dont think you will go wrong with either vehicle. It will probably be best to consider which one you like and which engine option you think will suit you the best. In that price range / age it is more a mater of finding one that hasn't had a hard life and circumnavigated the planet a few times, going by how many km's they seem to clock up.

[Black XR6]

Thanks for the advice chippa6.

For city driving I will have my usual daily driver. An au xr6. This will serve for atleast afew years until we have had more kids and the child seats do not fit across the back seat of this car. This is when the 4x4 will come in handy. But we are looking to buy within the next year probably.

[Black XR6]

Cyberwasp. From what I have seen I will be looking at a car atleast 250,000km's old. I have seen a few around the 10-12,000 dollar mark with less than 200,000k's on the clock, but who knows if its been around the clock or not. I guess the general condition of the car and log books etc should prove this or not.

I am thinking of petrol engine. I dont think I could stand the gutless diesel. I wont be going off road often. And if I do I more than likely wont be taking it up or down steep slopes. When we went to tassie for our honeymoon we took our ef xr6 we owned at the time. That made it a little limited on where we could go as alot of roads were logging roads and our car would not make it down them.

I have also seen afew sahara's around for sale.

Thanks for the advice

[dogbreath_48]

For 10k your looking at a good 60 series cruiser (petrol or diesel) or a GQ patrol (carby petrol or maybe diesel).
If you can go an extra 5k, you could go for an EFI GQ patrol (along with better interior etc) or an 80 series cruiser. The 80's have EFI petrol's (4.2L over 4) and a better diesel (again, 4.2L over 4, and much more flexible). With any petrol fourby, LPG is a danm good idea.

I can't see many other options. The pajero's/jackeroo's of the era were much smaller, discoveries being only slightly larger. You could have a look at a Range Rover, but reliability wouldn't be up there with the japanese cars.
Ford bronco would be cool too - 351c, mmmm!

-Stu

[xdc351]

I'd be trying to get a turbo diesel 60 series sahara if I was you. I nearly bought one a few years back and regret passing it up. They go well with the turbo, really nice interiors and nice and comfy too.

[Black XR6]

I have seen a few sahara's on carsales.com.

They look pretty good. Didnt think of a bronco. I would imagine the prices of these would be too much.

* Just had a look on carslaes.com. Seems a bronco can be had for 8k to 15k or so. So its in the price range. Did ford make 4 door bronco's?

[dogbreath_48]

Originally Posted by Black XR6

I have seen a few sahara's on carsales.com.

They look pretty good. Didnt think of a bronco. I would imagine the prices of these would be too much.

* Just had a look on carslaes.com. Seems a bronco can be had for 8k to 15k or so. So its in the price range. Did ford make 4 door bronco's?

lol i was kinda joking about the bronco, not completely practical! (no 4 door, big time guzzler). have a look at explorer's too, they're getting cheap...and at least you'd be driving a ford. probably not as unbreakable as a cruiser/patrol though.

-Stu

[MintEAFalcon]

IMO...

Go the 80 Series post-92. 1993 saw the introduction of the DOHC 4.5L petrol engine (1FZ-FE) that shat over anything else in its class at that time (158Kw and 373nm@3200rpm). Its a thirsty bugger but does a great job of moving a 2.2tonne vehicle around. The four-speed auto is a nice combo with this unit but the 5-speeds work well too and is not a chore to drive like the 60 series.

The 80's from 90-92 continued to use the ol' 3FE 4.0L petrol donk (112kw and 290nm@3000rpm) carried over from the 60/75 series and whilst it was reliable and hard working, it was a pretty gutless unit that chewed a heap of petrol.

The 1HZ 4.2L (naturally aspirated) diesel struggles to keep up with city traffic (94Kw and 271nm@2000rpm) but is frugal as all hell and brilliant in the bush, especially in manual form. Turbo diesels of the same vintage (1HD-T, 115kw and 357nm@1800rpm) can set you back about 10k more which can be hard to justify, depending on the amount of usage it might get.

The 80 series cruiser had what I believe a much better interior than the GQ Patrols. Far more car like with better ergonomics. GXL's should come with the third row seats as well.

Depending on budget, if you can get into a 1995+ model (essentially a Series III) you will find a redesigned dash with the GXL having a CD player fitted as std and newer, more modern trim colours (away from Corolla brown for example). They also inroduced the 24-valve 1HD-FT turbo diesel (125kw and 380nm@2500 rpm) in 1995.

Landcruisers are built so damn well and if serviced as per manufacturers recommendations will see the northern side of 400,000ks without too many dramas. They are popular for towing, so clutches in manuals could see less than 250,000k,s if they have hauled fairly heavy loads for much of their life.

You do pay a premium for the Toyota badge but I am a strong believer in the 'get what you pay for' philosophy.

Of course, its almost damn near impossible leaving one standard and you may wish to get acquainted with your local distributor of ARB aftermarket accessories... Time to have some fun! Good Luck!

[jspec_sti]

Have you looked into some early Ford Explorers? Not sure of their reputation but I've had one as a 2nd car (with a similar use you are intending) as well as towing a horse float around and haven't had any problems with it... I think you can pick them up around the 15K mark also.

[outback_ute]

No 4 door Broncos. I would try out whether 3 child seats fit in a GQ Patrol before getting too serious about them - they are very good but very narrow inside. If you don't want really heavy-duty off road use don't discount Pajeros or Jackeroos, perhaps even an Explorer?

[Black XR6]

Anybody tried fitting three child seats across a falcon?

I wil ljust have to get some seats and put them all in as outback ute suggested and see what fits.

[rag top]

What about a twin cab (or is it called Dual cab) Hilux??
I thought you could fit three buns across the rear seat...

[eed-250]

Originally Posted by '67

What about a twin cab (or is it called Dual cab) Hilux??
I thought you could fit three buns across the rear seat...

Im with you. ^^

You could get a 92-96 hilux dual cab with a canopy for around 10k. As you are going to be doing alot of city driving, the hilux, having 4cyl and being alot lighter will be alot better on fuel. My hilux (which i bought for 4wding) is stock at the moment and tackles alot of the 4wd tracks with ease. The only problem i see is towing your XB coupe. Being 4cyl's they are a bit gutless and will have to be revved out to get up some hills with the trailer on the back.
With hilux, check the firewall for rust, the hubs lock freely, the 4wd gears are working ok with no clunking and stiffnes to get into gear, also check the front tailshaft for play. U dont want to much play

Another option to think about is diesel vs petrol...
I found diesel uses less fuel, is more reliable, better for towing(more torque), can go through water, but more expensive for parts.
Petrol on the other hand is alot more revvier, which helps off road when u need to keep the wheels spinning, but has cheaper parts..

If you dont mind the extra fuel usage and power, my advice would be to get a Patrol. Landcruisers, especially the HJ/FJ60's rust ALOT!

[santoitaliano]

GQ patrol..

the carby models over the fuel injected models..

dad had one.. sold it at 180k... his mate owns it now, its well over 350,000 and he has just done the head on it..

lol

u cannot destroy them..

[Black XR6]

Thanks everyone for their advice so far.

I am still looking at a landcruiser or patrol.

A dealer rang me with a car that just turned up.

Its a 1990 pajero with turbo diesel, air con, power steer, over 300,000 km's but the block has been changed 30,000 ago. Price 10k. Dont think I will be going for that one.

I was going to ask whats the benefits of turbo diesel vs petrol. I was initially going for a petrol model.

Something like this is what I am after

http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsales/!cs_content.private_vehicle?vehicle_id=2004763&cur rent_rec=62&total_rec=146&sort_type=&price_max=200 00&make_id=8&model_id=28&state_id=-1&search_distance=25

[dogbreath_48]

A turbo diesel will be a hell of alot more economical than a petrol, and better for towing. An auto is often a bonus because you'll stay on boost between gearchanges (when you catch a diesel off boost when towing, you know about it!)

DANM that's a neat looking cruiser for the price!
Pick up the current issue of 4WD Monthly (has a white 80 series driving through a river on the cover). There's a buyers guide on 60 series cruisers; worth a read.

-Stu

[eed-250]

Very nice cruiser... with fairly low-average kms..
but look out for rust!
LPG option is really good, as the petrols chewwwww the juice.. which is what you expect from a 4.2ltr straight 6 and a heavy body

[BuuBox]

Prestige Motorsport have had a fair few 60 series Sahara's through that seem decent, might be an option? There site seems to be down at the moment, and there's problems with the "15 year rule", but it's worth taking a look at. Here's an example:

1989 Toyota Landcruiser VX 4WD 4.0 litre diesel turbo
Automatic
169,000 kms
Gunmetal grey
Sunroof
Front bar and fog lights
Electric winch
Aftermarket 15" wheels
SONY CD player
All power options and airconditioning
Central locking
$11,900 plus modifications and ORC's, Auction Grade 3.5

http://www.prestigemotorsport.com.au

[BuuBox]

http://www.prestigemotorsport.com.au...p?StockID=3039

You might be interested in that, if you're still looking.