I bought my first Prado!

[jamster Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jamster]

Hi everyone, first post and my first Prado! Nothing special actually, as I am downgrading from 6 litres of V8 fury to a Prado 2005 GXL 4.0l with 200,000kms. I didn't want to spend too much on my first 4WD, as I may not like the 4WD experience, but I am very much doubting this however. :-)

I have booked State Roads Vehicle inspection services to inspect the vehicle Monday morning, so I am hoping for a favourable outcome on my behalf.

I'm certain the inspection will pick up some "undesirables" due to it's 7 year age and $200,000 on the clock, but hopefully nothing major. It has had servicing every 10,000kms which is good.

So my question is, what is the mechanic likely to pick up and what is acceptable and "not acceptable" that would see me pull out of the sale?

Car will be used for towing a 2 tonne boat and 4WD'ing.

Thanks!

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Firstly welcome to PP and hope you enjoy the website, I have found the info on here excellent and will pretty much cover anything you need to know. I also have a 120 05 GXL, mate top car, smooth, plenty of go (not sure you will notice it after what you have been driving lol) Unless the vehicle has been miss treated 200 thou is buggar all for any prado. I have been in a prado with 400 on it and yes had a few ratttles (especially the dash 90 series) and the steering rack was rattling but was still going well. Hows the dash ?? cracked or any signs of it cracking ?? extremely common, oil leaks are pretty rare, I doubt they will come up with to much if its a genuine car. My mate use to do NRMA inspections (still works for them but does accessing now) and he said when I bought myn that they are fairly trouble free unless been trashed or been near the salt air/or done some 4 wheeling on the beach without been washed after woods. Some of them have trouble with the clear coat peeling on the alloys some do it some dont, (mine are fine) you might find the aircon not that cold thats also an issue with some of them (mine was one of them) but can be modified to get it colder (not a big issue) if optioned up with leather some times the leather can go shitty on the edges of the seat but this is obviously some thing you can see prior. Brakes can get shuddery if the person prior was heavy with brakes, and brake dust is extremely common especially if running after market elcheapo pads. You will still get it even with toyota pads or bendix but no where near as much. If you can take it for a run at freeway speeds and just dab the pedal gently if it shudders they will need to machine the discs or replace if they will become under sized from machining (had mine machined under warranty) Make sure the gear changes are super smooth (normally no issues with auto box). You may hear like a splutter from the exhaust coming from under bonnet (more noticable with window down) unless extreme its normal nothing to worry about, its more noticable especially driving along side a barrier and with gentle throttle again with window down you will hear it. You said its been serviced every 10k so internals should be good. Dont forget to do a full check. Not sure where your located but Vic roads you can do a quick one wont cost you anything but wont cover you either but will at least tell you wether its ever been written off. You can do the REVS one which there are different ones but I always do the full history one, will show previous owners, klms on pink ticket each year, wether its ever been written off also. This will cost you but also covers you should there be an issue. Just because your buying from a car yard dont think your totally safe, they have been know to sell repairable write offs, and dont forget there were alot of flooded vehicles from QLD working there way down to Sydney/WA to be sold, and may have never had an insurance claim made against them so that wont even show up, this is where you really hope the inspector bloke/woman knows there stuff and will see anything. this is some thing you can even do yourself roughly, stick your head up under dash with flash light (take off plastic trims) make sure no bolts are rusted, dash supports anything metal, should be no signs of any rust, if there is then id walk, take the plastic panels off inside the rear cargo (the ones you can open) area look down into them for anything (tide marks) dirt and stuff, take off one of the scuff plates and check under carpet for dirt/mud crap. check in around engine bay for sand and stuff if they have said it hasnt been off road..These are just some things you can do yourself, The inspector shouls pick up any thing but depends on how good they do there job. my mate use to also work for another inspection mob here in Sydney wont say there name and my mate was barred from some dealers as they didnt like his reports, he said he didnt give a shit, if they dont like the report then dont sell shit, even his boss told him to ease up and instead of say an oil leak put down seepage. My mate no, if its leaking oil and dripping then it a leak not seapage. anyway in the end he told his boss to jam it and find some one else to do his bodgy work. He should spend at least an hour or 2 inspecting it not 1/2 hour. ......Sorry for the rambling but I really hate it when people get screwed over and end up with a piece of shit because of dodgy people.............Cheers Steve PS if your here in Sydney Im free sunday to help check it out prior to paying an inspection, if its crap then save your $$ for another inspection on another car, if its ok then proceed with getting it checked over ........

[sydneysider Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close sydneysider]

congrats!
and wish you enjoy the journey with Prado in the future!

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

Every Prado is special, they are the best 4wd around.

[Guest Close Guest]

My bro-in-law just bought an 03 model and the few things that he can check himself are:
1. Cracked inner guards in the engine bay
2. Cracked rear door welds near the hinges
3. Cracked dashboard
4. Rust on the seams under the rear door seal
5. Rust on sunroof frame (For Grande's)

The inspector should be able to pick up on the other mechanical issues.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

""Cracked rear door welds near the hinges"" this was fixed in 04. You can tell if you know what your looking for as to wether it has a new door or not. Toyota didnt do a recall but would replace even when out of warranty. Rust in sunroof I reckon is more common then people think. I looked at 5 grande's every one had rust in the sunroof (this is a 3g repair from toyota) its in the metal frame attched to the glass part under the rubber not in the roof of vehicle itself so presuming if they optioned up a GXL with a genuine roof there is a possibilty of rust in it as well. Cracked inner guards I thought was from duel batterys/and or steel bars ?? Dashboards yeah well I think there is about 55 pages on that now... Cheers Steve

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

and incase you were not aware of the dashboards cracking

[jamster Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jamster]

Thanks so much for the info guys. Very informative indeed. I didn't notice the dash cracking, I reckon it would have stood out. What courses it to crack? Left out in sun, age, or extreme 4wd'ing?

BTW - thanks for the offer Steve, but I'm in Melbourne.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Mate they just crack, there are members on here who have had dash covers since new and have cracked, the sun probably doesnt help it and may make them crack quicker but in general they juct crack. They generally start with very fine line cracks and go from there. Make sure you have a good look around the vents, centre vents, side vents for very very fine lines of cracking, also around the instrument cluster (above guages right on the edge of it) If its cracked either they want to drop it roughly $1500 or they get a new one in it for you...there is roughly 54 pages of it on here pradopoint.............Cheers Steve