Tweet
Hi Folks!
Have been bitten by the 4WD bug earlier on, I bought a 2008 Suzuki Jimny for next to nothing. Tough little monster it was, with some custom bar work, underbody protection, snorkel, 2 inch lift, Cooper ATS tyres and a quad bike winch upfront, I had great fun with it. The best bit was that it was bought without the wife's knowledge, she only found out after the built was complete and I took her and the kids out for a spin. The next thing was, the whole family got truely bitten by the 4WD bug. Mission accomplished!
Now the wife and the kids wanna come along for the ride, the little Jimny started to get a bit over crowded. The little M13A engine, already struggling with the extra metal on it, is really copping it. So time for an upgrade!
The experience with the Jimny tells me, if you wanna use your 4WD, get a a decent 2nd hand one! So the next time the sump guard cop a big whack, you just beat it back into shape and get on with it. Hate to take a brand new 200 series bush whacking and worry about the paint get scratched!
After considering everything from a Pajero to a Patrol, I settled on the Prado...mainly due to Toyota reliability and the dealer support in woop woop. Picked the 120 over the 150, because it is cheaper and I really like the touring range offered by 180 litres! Then come the choice between higher fuel consumption vs fragile cylinder heads vs vulnerable injector seals, in the end I figured the dirt cheap price of the V6 more than offsets the higher fuel consumption. I also did not wanna have a questions mark hanging over the engine...is not bullet proof reliability the reason to buy Toyota? Otherwise I could just get a ZD30 Patrol grenade...sacre bleu!
Then a stock 2005 VX V6 came up near by, just done over 100K, has a log book, some minor scratches on the body work...but who cares when more will appear very soon! After parting with 25K hard earned nickles, I now have a blank canvas. Chose the VX mainly due to the ESC and airbags, did not wanna stretch to the Grande as not big fan of leather seats and air suspension...its a bush basher!
Now all I need to do is sit down with a cuppa and browse through the fantastic Pradopoint forum. The Jimny will stay in the shed as my son has proudly claimed ownership of it, although he is hardly out of kindie...
Have been bitten by the 4WD bug earlier on, I bought a 2008 Suzuki Jimny for next to nothing. Tough little monster it was, with some custom bar work, underbody protection, snorkel, 2 inch lift, Cooper ATS tyres and a quad bike winch upfront, I had great fun with it. The best bit was that it was bought without the wife's knowledge, she only found out after the built was complete and I took her and the kids out for a spin. The next thing was, the whole family got truely bitten by the 4WD bug. Mission accomplished!
Now the wife and the kids wanna come along for the ride, the little Jimny started to get a bit over crowded. The little M13A engine, already struggling with the extra metal on it, is really copping it. So time for an upgrade!
The experience with the Jimny tells me, if you wanna use your 4WD, get a a decent 2nd hand one! So the next time the sump guard cop a big whack, you just beat it back into shape and get on with it. Hate to take a brand new 200 series bush whacking and worry about the paint get scratched!
After considering everything from a Pajero to a Patrol, I settled on the Prado...mainly due to Toyota reliability and the dealer support in woop woop. Picked the 120 over the 150, because it is cheaper and I really like the touring range offered by 180 litres! Then come the choice between higher fuel consumption vs fragile cylinder heads vs vulnerable injector seals, in the end I figured the dirt cheap price of the V6 more than offsets the higher fuel consumption. I also did not wanna have a questions mark hanging over the engine...is not bullet proof reliability the reason to buy Toyota? Otherwise I could just get a ZD30 Patrol grenade...sacre bleu!
Then a stock 2005 VX V6 came up near by, just done over 100K, has a log book, some minor scratches on the body work...but who cares when more will appear very soon! After parting with 25K hard earned nickles, I now have a blank canvas. Chose the VX mainly due to the ESC and airbags, did not wanna stretch to the Grande as not big fan of leather seats and air suspension...its a bush basher!
Now all I need to do is sit down with a cuppa and browse through the fantastic Pradopoint forum. The Jimny will stay in the shed as my son has proudly claimed ownership of it, although he is hardly out of kindie...
Comment