New tow vehicle - which one? Brought a Jeep GC in the end.

relgate

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Staff member
Feb 2, 2012
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Depends on dealer and yes depends if secondhand. We had salesman come for rides and when you notice something negative they correct it with some bullcrap. ends up pissing you off.
When we brought the Land Rover it was ex fleet. We went for a drive by ourselves then said not sure it fitted in garage so they let us take it home to check around a 60+ km round trip so gone a few hours :) Needless to say we brought it.

We were test driving last year with salesman in the back. I was asking questions, including "What is the turning circle on this?" Salesman replied "GOOD!"
LOL


They always seem to come with us. I can understand it, I wouldnt let one of them drive my car without me in it!
 

Antman

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Jul 18, 2012
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Brisbane
almcrae.blogspot.com.au
I have been burnt by nissan in the past but, the possibility of a 5.0 lt V8 cummings going into the new model patrol in the next year or so excites me....

Yes, Nissan are switching to cummins engines. They can't meet emissions on their engines so made the decision to switch apparently.

However they do keep denying that the Patrol will get the diesel. Sorry @bigman0510 but i have not seen any other confirmations about the patrol?
http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2013/large-4x4/nissan/new-nissan-cummins-tdv8-not-for-patrol-38369
 

DRW

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May 29, 2013
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@seanparky I hated being an Auto Electrician for 40+ years lol
Went to the dark side about 10 years ago, sales then QA now in design and manufacture mainly chargers etc, hopefully another 5 years will do me, sick to death of travelling OS most months, just want to travel in my own back yard now. I can see your point though, everything is back to dealer now, keep doing what you are doing while you can, but I bet the being away from home also has its stressful moments.
Cheers
Dave
 

seanparky

Active Member
Jul 19, 2012
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Thanks Dave. Yeh missing out heaps on family time and now Expanda time..lol. But it pays the bills. Sounds funny I'm a FIFO but not a big fan on travelling to work. (driving to work that is.) Finding it hard to adjust to Brisbane city life as i have no clue as to where things are and where to go. Im a country boy from Alice Springs, wife is from Brisbane...

Would love to find a local job, sales etc or where i don't have to travel more than 20min to work.
So have you done an electrical engineers course. Still find electrical interesting. I learnt real quick in the 3yrs in the mines than i probably did in the real world. Unfortunately my previous employers didn't want to touch EFI and vehicle electronics so was all sent to dealer ship. Most work was accessories, alt , starters and general. My first job on a mine site was a 777F dumpy had no gears. Took me 3 days to work it but now know them like the back of my hand. I guess its what you regularly work with..
 

bigcol

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Nov 22, 2012
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Swan Valley Perth
i have read that one too but still haven't been able to find any other evidence. I have a mate who works for cummins. I will ask and see if he knows anything. :)

as Australia is a very small market for the Patrol - we will not get a Diesel,
until they probably go to either update the Y62 with Y63
or
the Arab market all of a sudden wants Diesels

sad but true
only way to get a diesel into a Y62 is to do it yourself

shame really
 

bigcol

Well-Known Member
Nov 22, 2012
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too true @Antman - largest single sales area is Gulf region, after that - Russia of all places, and they prefer Petrol as well
they sell less than 5% of what they sell in Australia to Canada
and NO Patrols in the USA (but where the Y62 was aimed at)

Australia with global 15% of all Patrol sales - we want Diesel - they only want to sell Petrol

I would love for the Cummins engine to be sold here, same as getting a shot at the V6 Diesel from Renault that was in the Pathfinder & Navara -
except they have discontinued it....... 550Nm torque....... yeah baby
not enough sales to make it worth while in Aust.

have to look for another 4x4 that is rugged and unstoppable - are they still selling the Lada Niva's I wonder.......??

cheers
 

Antman

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Jul 18, 2012
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Brisbane
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hahaha @bigcol. Mate the lada's had too many problems for our climate, they just couldn't handle the heat. My parents had a lada. Piece of crap! Poor folks done their money unfortunately. In saying that it was very mechanically sound.
 

bigcol

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Nov 22, 2012
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@Antman yeah my F i Law had one as well......
never had any problems in the 3 years he had it, was un stoppable on the beach, but he did sell it for a 4WD ATV for beach combing

hahahahahahahaha
 

Holden_man

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Aug 21, 2012
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Brisbane - Carindale
We'll peoples need to update the Kluger due to the van. Love the Klugers but unfortunately the 2T is not gunna cut it and found out today that Toyota still have the skirt on when it comes to the 2014 Kluger and keeping it at 2t.:baby:

So we looked at today and yes I have a budget due to this being my novated lease work car.
All figures are prior any discounts as we only stared looking no dealing yet,
- GXL Prado $70,000
- Grand Cherokee Limited $66,000
- New Pathfinder STL with option pack $59,000
- VRX Pajero $59,000

3 have 7 seats, 3 are diesel, 3 are genuine 4wds, 3 have leather :der:
After just today I think my current ranking is Jeep, Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi
Any thoughts are welcome as I'm still in Kluger land:lalala:

Ahhh @Neil you've opened a pandora's box with that question. There all pretty good trucks, I reckon, you won't go to wrong with any, go and drive em and buy what you like. Me, I love my Prado, ticks the boxes for our family and wouldnt easily change to anything else, but that's just me.

Now when it comes to V8 cars well there's no argument, Holden/HSV but not towing anything with that..... :)

HM
 

Neil

Active Member
Jan 30, 2014
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Ahhh @Neil you've opened a pandora's box with that question. There all pretty good trucks, I reckon, you won't go to wrong with any, go and drive em and buy what you like. Me, I love my Prado, ticks the boxes for our family and wouldnt easily change to anything else, but that's just me.

Now when it comes to V8 cars well there's no argument, Holden/HSV but not towing anything with that..... :)

HM
Don't worry told the wife that if I can't make my mind up I'll just by a maloo ute!
She said what about the kids and van and I said what about them!!
 

Neil

Active Member
Jan 30, 2014
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Newcastle
Well did drive them all on Saturday.
Drove the jeep limited first. No dealer came with us and we went for about an hour. Great ride, cosy feel inside, plenty of go. Ticks all the boxes except for 7 seats. Also boot is small compared to the others mainly because of the shape of the back hatch.
Drove a Prado next and a dealer came along, told us where to turn what streets to take. Asked him what the tow rating was and he told me 3t to which I said great but are you sure? He said maybe it's 2.7t. FAIL!
Went to drive Pajero at a nearby dealer and they were busy and we would have to wait an hour or so. FAIL!
Went to a different Pajero dealer and they let me take an exceed for a run on our own. Firm ride but nothing uncomfortable , feels very open inside, low doors big windows, plenty of go but noisy engine from inside cab. Ticks all the boxes but felt a bit primitive/dated.
Went to different Prado dealer and they let us take a GXL for a run on our own. Good ride similar to the jeep, cosy feel inside, had the least amount of go out of the three. Ticks all the boxes but lacks leather and some bells and whistles, but no doubt safe as houses in reliability and resale.
So conclusion, I like the jeep then Prado. The wife likes Prado then jeep, what a surprise that is!!
Have asked for quotes from jeep and Prado and told both the are competing against each other.