Looking to buy a 120 series not sure whether to buy a petrol or diesel? advise required

[stevenK Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevenK]

Hi guys ,

Im a newb here on the forums, I own a 90 Series 1998 gxl Petrol which I love , but I'm in the market for a 120 series.

I tow a 5.5 meter boat and a 7x5 tradies trailer from time to time.

I'm torn between a diesel and petrol , i have owned both in the past , a 2.4l Hilux diesel and the 90 series perol

I have thought of taking a diesel for a test drive , but i dont think they will like it if i hook my boat up.

What is the take off power like of the diesel and is it gutsy compared to the petrol. what are the pros and cons of each.

PS I do my own servicing , oil changes , filters ,brakes etc!

sorry if this is a silly question.

regards steve

[BiLLz0r Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close BiLLz0r]

Firstly Welcome.
My advice is search here first. This topic has been done to death. It's like a Ford vs Holden debate. Each to their own.

[ziggle Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ziggle]

Hi Steven,

I went from a manual 4.8 petrol/lpg GU Patrol to an auto 3.0 D4D 120 series. I tow a Trackabout Safari offroad camper trailer, probably not quite as heavy as the stuff you're towing, but maybe not too far off.

My experience has been that I find the 120 surprisingly good at the around town stuff and highway cruising, when the lower down torque really comes into its own, and also on windy gravel roads where you might be varying from slow up to say 80-90. (I'm not a slow driver on gravel.) I don't miss the Patrol at all for all of that, in fact mostly I prefer the Prado.

Where I do really miss the Patrol is when I'm towing and I want to overtake someone who's doing, say, 80-95. In the Patrol, drop it back to 3rd wherever there's a space in the traffic, floor it, pull out, enjoy the acceleration and let the 4.8 carry you past, then back off from the 130 or so you found yourself doing in the process. In the Prado, wait for a really long gap or an overtaking lane, floor it, pull out, speak angry words about the person who thought they should go a bit faster because now there's two lanes, realise you're making no headway against them whatsoever because most overtaking lanes are a bit uphill, pull back in in frustration, wait for the next overtaking lane, mutter to yourself how you miss your 4.8, repeat process. There's just no decent acceleration in that 80-120km/h zone that you need for that kind of overtaking.

So, bottom line for me is, how much do you care about being able to do that? It's really the only part of driving where I miss the petrol. Every other part of driving, I like the D4D just fine. I've thought about getting an ECU remap to solve the problem, but the wisdom from this forum seems to be that I might be trading reliability to do that, which I'm not keen on.

[stevenK Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevenK]

thank you Ziggle for your thoughtful response , this is the sort of info I was looking for, We do an 8 hour drive up to Tathra each year with our camping gear in the 7x5 tradies and a tinnie on top, and the 90 series petrol i have is starting to get tired 390k on the clock. I have a mate with a 120 series petrol , might do some live testing on the petrol any way.

[Hogey66 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hogey66]

Hi guys ,

Im a newb here on the forums, I own a 90 Series 1998 gxl Petrol which I love , but I'm in the market for a 120 series.

I have both and love them.

I tow a 5.5 meter boat and a 7x5 tradies trailer from time to time.

Smaller boat, smaller trailer but same same.

I'm torn between a diesel and petrol , i have owned both in the past , a 2.4l Hilux diesel and the 90 series petrol

Remember how sluggish that 2.4 was?

I have thought of taking a diesel for a test drive , but i dont think they will like it if i hook my boat up.

If they want to sell it then they can deal with it. It's what you will be using it for so you want to be sure it's up to your expectations.

What is the take off power like of the diesel and is it gutsy compared to the petrol. what are the pros and cons of each.

Blown off plenty of diesels in my petrol. See the many other threads regarding pros and cons.

PS I do my own servicing , oil changes , filters ,brakes etc!

So do I and the petrol is easy, cheap to service compared to the diesel, let alone the reliability of the petrol compared to detonating diesels. Fuel economy is slightly better than the 90 series in my case.....but it still uses plenty.

sorry if this is a silly question.

No such thing as a silly question if you don't know the answer

regards steve

Welcome to pradopoint.
Edit...it seems to have put my answers into your quote box!

[stevenK Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevenK]

Hogey66 thanks for that , good points you make , I might have to do more research on detonating diesels! And yes the 2.4 was very sluggish

[Guest Close Guest]

What does most of your driving consist of? City, Highway, Trips?

Myself I went Petrol and am happy I did seeing the low power and issues the diesels are producing..

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Which ever you choose, if you are after an auto, make sure that you get the 5 speed- post 2005? If you really want to spoil yourself get a VX which has all of the traction control, downhill assist etc. These are available in GXLs as options in the later ones but are rare.

[ziggle Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ziggle]

Which ever you choose, if you are after an auto, make sure that you get the 5 speed- post 2005? If you really want to spoil yourself get a VX which has all of the traction control, downhill assist etc. These are available in GXLs as options in the later ones but are rare.

Yup, the traction control is worth holding out for. Also available in a few GX's, with option pack 2. You can tell pretty easily by looking at the transfer case lever. If it says H-N-L it has traction control, if it says H-HL-N-LL, it doesn't.

[stevenK Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevenK]

Good advise! What the difference between the Vx and the grande? Do they both have traction control?

[ziggle Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ziggle]

Good advise! What the difference between the Vx and the grande? Do they both have traction control?

I believe so, but can't speak from personal experience on that one. The Grande certainly does, not 100% sure about the VX.

I understand that the biggest difference between the Grande and all others is that it has height-adjustable rear airbag suspension rather than coils. If you're looking at a Grande you should probably research that further on this forum. I gather there are pluses and minuses to it.

[ziggle Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ziggle]

One other thing to be aware of when hunting for 120's is that some have climate control, with ceiling aircon vents in the middle row and in the back, and some don't. The easy way to spot the difference is that the ones without climate control have three large circular dials below the stereo for controls, whereas those with climate have an electronic panel and pushbuttons. Most (maybe all? not sure?) 120's with traction control will also have the climate control.

Most that have TC (again, maybe all? not sure?) will also have side seat and curtain airbags. This is cool for safety but limits your options for fitting seat covers, and also for fitting rock sliders, depending how fussy you are about the legalities - seems to be a bit of a grey area.

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

VX has coils in rear not the air bags. It doesn't have a sunroof.I had a VX petrol 2005. Great car. Grande has more bells and whistles but I believe that those rear airbags are only good for about 8 years - lots of info on here. VX and grande more likely to have been suburban kid carriers rather than outback warriors [as mine was].

[stevenK Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevenK]

Is it an advangate to have climate control with the 120's or is it another thing that can fail?

[stevenK Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevenK]

404pug , I'm starting to think the Vx is a better option for me , air bags sound expensive to replace