Hi Greg and Janette,
agree with Prado, we are on our first trip with our Panda, and the sensar has been trouble free.
Hi Karl,
Welcome to the forum, I wouldn't worry about the Prado at all. We pull the 18 with ours and it pulls it without a worry in the world, and thats at 2.5t.
As for economy it will vary a fair bit dependant on road,weather and speed, with our van in tow, we have run between 12 (90km no wind or hills) and 19 (100-105km and headwind). There are just so many variables, again I wouldn't worry about it to much. Like yours, ours is also diesel.
you can see our options here:
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/showthread.php/2029-My-Expanda-18-57-6
we are on our first trip, and very happy with all the options, and wouldn't cross any off the list, now that we have had a chance to use the van.
So far the ones I love the most are:
Ibis Air (fantastic)
the solar pack
12v onboard
folding dining table
2x gas bayonet (great for the weber with front and back position option)
extra outside LED lights
Outside shower (boys are using this all the time)
outside table and TV/power points
We also love the 150l fridge, but it depends I guess on the size of the family, suits our family.
the only one I wish we had, but was to late to add, was the extended draw bar, would highly recommend the "outback" for extra clearance, this has already been a benefit for us. Would liked to have Simplicity Suspension but ran out of Cash and the extra weight was a Towing capacity issue with the Prado. We were at our limit.
Hope that helps, It was the other members help that helped us customise our panda and we just love it.
jas