90 series Prado. 3.4 litre V6 Petrol or 3 litre Turbo diesel?

[Tas90 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Tas90]

Hi everyone,

I am looking seriously at buying a 90 series Prado when the right vehicle comes along. I am open to looking at a 3.4 v6 Petrol or Diesel but wonder which one is a safer option, given that most 90 series here are in the 200,000 km- 300,000 km range. Just looking at something that will carry the family around and tow a 16ft Aluminium dinghy (don't expect it to be a perfect tow vehicle but capable).

I do have some reservations around buying a diesel given the reports of cracked heads etc but at the same time have seen a resonable 2000 model with 190,000kms on the clock that has me wondering about that option. I guess i am after everyone's opinion on the risk of a 90 series diesel with those sort of kms? Also people's opinions on the 3.4 V6 for what i would intend to use it for and are there any common problems with the petrol 3.4 V6?

Really appreciate everyone's help and experience (of which i can see there is a lot of on this site)

Regards,

Tas90.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

3.4L is a good long lasting engine. How long, I don't know yet! Mine's just past 200,000.

Timing belt requires changing every 100,000 to 150,000 (depending on model) and radiator failure is expected every 8 years / 150,000 to 200,000 km.

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

Hi Tas

I purchased my Diesel 95 series with 185,000kms on it & it has now got 243,000kms on it.
Has been faultless so far, except for some operator related issues, ie: blocking the airflow to the radiator with mud & then thermalling the thing on the sand.

I would say that if you go the Diesel, when you do the timing belt at 200k's just throw a water pump & thermostat at it whilst it's apart.
That's what i did with mine for peace of mind.
We average 13-14ltrs per 100kms around town & 10ltrs per 100kms on the open road.
My sister just sold her Petrol & it averaged 18.5 around town & 13.0 on the open road.

Whichever way you decide, just make sure it has a good service history with receipts or a good looking logbook to show it.
I was lucky with mine, it had been serviced anally every 3months/5,000kms whichever had come 1st with receipts for everything.

Regards, Jason.

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

Personally never touch diesels with over 150 000klms on them, the price difference between petrol vs diesel buys a lot of juice, if the diesel goes bang, up for big $$$, like anything though, buy a car based on individual merit, not collective opinion, The 3.4 petrol is a tough, reliable proven motor and a well maintained 1 will literally do a million kays, In the history books of "good" motors, it,s right up there.





Cheers

[Tas90 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Tas90]

Thankyou to everyone who has posted replies so far. Has been very interesting info and while a diesel would be good (if it turned out trouble free), i think i will stay on the hunt for a reasonable 3.4 V6 petrol.

Happy to hear any further thoughts.

Cheers and thanks again.

Tas90

[dakine Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dakine]

Hi mate,

I've had a Petrol V6 95 series for 9 years now. Its got 280,000 on the clock, has never missed a beat and doesn't look like it will anytime soon either. Awesome cars, awesome motors.

At no point have I ever found myself wishing that a I had of gone the diesel option. In fact, I just bought a Petrol V6 150 series after going through the petrol v diesel assessment myself.

Either way, if its a Prado, you can't go wrong regardless of what motor you choose.

p.s. I love my 95 series V6 so much that I kept it and traded in my other 2006 car when I bought the 150

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

I bought my diesel Prado new in 2000, it has done over 360.000 kms and still going strong.
The major repairs needed had been due to wear and tear:
- clutch twice (due to silly driver)
- Front CVs
- steering rack

Other than the timing belt and adding a DP Chip to the engine it is still original. No signs of slowing down

[Chriso57 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chriso57]

I went through the same situation about 6 months ago. Some close friends of ours wanted to buy a 95 series and were unsure what was the better option. In my opinion the V6 Petrol offers better dollar for dollar value. The Diesels are more expensive to buy, more services are required, and the economy difference is negligable in my opinion when you look at the price of diesel these days.

When I was looking for my friends I googled the hell out of the 5VZFE motor and struggled to find any problems with them. They really are a tough little donk. They picked up a 1999 (i think) GXL 50th anniversary with about 220k for about $13k. Has the rear A/C and some other goodies being a anniversary model.

Dont get me wrong I love the 1KZ Turbo Diesels and I had one for years. It was the last of the 95's and was brought as a run-out when the 120 was released. Never had a problem with the engine and it was a fabulous tourer.

As with anything horses for courses. If you were planning on long range touring, Diesel all the way. Plodding around town, dragging a boat and the occasional 4x4 mission I would go petrol.

HTH

Chriso

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

We have a 90 with 370,000.... no faults at all. Nothing has gone wrong with engine or transmission. Only just noticing now though, it is a real SLUG.

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

Ive had both the 90 in diesel and petrol. Yes it had the cracked head syndrome at 103k cost me 4 k to fix but you will probably find most now will have been done if they were going to go. From what I have read on the economy steaks the 1kz is a lot better in manual form (ours were both autos) both grande's. I so wanted a diesel prado so we sold the petrol to get the diesel (we did have the petrol on gas biggest mistake I personally made) I sold the diesel and wasn't sad to see it go. It was a great 4wd in general I just didn't like the 1kz but I think again this was due to it been an auto. I hated it in the sand was gutless compared to my petrol, going up hills the petrol still ate the 1kz even when towing the camper and fuel economy, ha, yes around town the petrol was 17.2L per 100 based on all stop start, short trips, bigger tyres, lift, steel winch bar etc the diesel was around the 13 with the same gear BUT on a long run the diesel used more. I averaged 12,2L per 100 in the petrol and this was crusing towing the camper (no off road). Very muggy hot humid day running aircon and trying to maintain 100k would see the 1kz jump to 15+ per 100k not even towing. Personally again I think this was due to it been an auto. I have friends with manual form in prado and hilux and do better figures then I did. I wouldn't hesitate buying the petrol in the 90's all the good points mentioned in posts above very minimal bad points.........Cheers Steve

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

My wifes got a V6 Manual 90 with over 340k now. We've done over 100k in it since we've had it and its only recently thats its needed work. In the last year have replaced the suspension, alternator, head gaskets and one head, water pump and timing belt.

To its credit we drove it knowingly with a badly cracked head for around 6 months, it would overheat occasionally in warm weather and labouring up hills but would quickly recover and keep going. Only time its ever let us down was when the alternator failed and battery went flat.

[Antman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Antman]

Hey Tas90
I have a 2001 Petrol Auto. Has 349,000km on it. I have had it 7 years and it has 229,000 on it when i bought it. It had sagging suspension when purchased so i put in bilstein shocks and king coils on the rear. Did the timing belt at that time also. Drivers side front wheel had a bearing that failed. minor issues IMHO. Regular servicing of these engines is the key i believe and mine has not skipped a beat. I have serviced it every 10,000km. And now just done the timing belt again with water pump and thermostat. Runs like a dream. 14 - 15L /100km economy. I was getting 13 - 14 L/100km before i put on the heavier light truck 10ply tyres that are now on the car.
I tow a 2 tonne van and the consumption goes up to 20 -21 L/100km so am going to got a newer diesel only for this reason as i have some big trips planned.

IMHO you really can't beat these cars.
Ants

[BMman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close BMman]

G'day Tas90. I too had a V6 petrol 90 which i sold earlier this year. Only 150,000km but worked hard mostly in the desert. Great in sand and economy okay. At the time (2000) I did not buy the diesel as it was a lot more $, servicing a killer at 5000km - and if you left it the sludge would kill it - and it appeared that the fuel consumption when loaded and travelling at 110 km/hr only marginally better. As it aged the V6 engine and gearbox (manual) where as new, however, the "ancillaries" started to fail. First was the air temp sensor which lead to lack of power when the engine wormed up. After a while I got the car plugged in and the error codes checked and $300 later all back together. Next was the spark plug leads, another $300. The a front drive shaft gave up. Luckily just here on the farm. It looked like some other issues where likely to arise, like the cooling system, so we decided to upgrade. The new 150 diesel is a better vehicle but the 90 wasn't far behind and in my opinion the 90 is no worse in the bush (once you upgrade the suspension).
Enjoy Tas90, but get those codes checked!!
david

[amec Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close amec]

Bought my 97, 90 series petrol from a workmate with shaggy suspension, crappy tyres. After changing the suspension, tyres, timing belt, water pump, radiator. And the odds and sods to make it "mine". I have a great 4x4 for under $11k that pulls my friends 4x4 out of being stuck easily. Recent blat out to Capertee saw 11.5 litre per 100k going over the Bells Line and a little bit of off roading. Scooting around the Central Coast sees between 15-17 litres per 100. Only 3 litres worse than a mates Pootrol that cost a LOT more.

[simmoktm Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close simmoktm]

Hey tas90, I have a 2001 v6, and have just done the 440,000 km service (all original drive line) which is great considering superchargers are supposed to half the life of a motor. With the charger on it I run autometer gauges to watch what the motor and auto are doing. These motors and even the autos are extremely tuff as I do not baby the right pedal, and 4x4 quite regularly .