1KZ or 4.0 V6 120

[prado2004 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close prado2004]

Oh look its a personal preference.
I find the 1kzte gutlesss for towing and the the heads crack.
Ours cracked at 240ks.
We fitted an AMC head and dont expect any more problems.
If your going to buy a 1kzte I recommend buying one that has had the head already replaced with a good quality one, not an ebay special as the problem will reoccur.
And did i mention they are gutless for towing?

yeah head cracking is still rare in the 120's though, there isn't too many. As for gutless yeah they are but they just keep pulling, I tow on the sand frequeuntly including heavy trailers on western fraser which is notorious for how hard it is to drive and the 1kz never gets bogged. I just learn to live with the power but i wouldn't change it for a petrol any day of the week.

[austin1985 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close austin1985]

I am looking to trade my 2008 v6 in over the coming weeks. In good nick has done 135k and doesnt misss a beat. Probably in your price range if you are interested.

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

My first Prado was a 90 series 3.4 auto and driving gently, 12.5 LHK. A great drive and a great engine and the 4.0 is supposed to be even better. If you are going to drive in steep country get a diesel every time. A petrol auto will be a fantastic highway vehicle but that is no good to you if you stack it in the bush screaming down slope out of control. I love that you can drive the Prado diesel with attitude and still use less than 11LPH. I would expect to use 18 if I drove a petrol like that. For less that 10k km a year, not towing, no steep stuff and a light foot, go petrol, you will love it.

[rosco5 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rosco5]

V6 4.0 for sure

Without a doubt get the V6.

My experience is as follows:
1) Originally drove the 1KZ in a 90 series. I felt it was way too underpowered in such a heavy car, so I bought a 90 Series with 3.4 V6.

2) This one got written off while parked so in 2003 I bought a new 120 Series. At the time, you could only get the 1KZ or the V6. The diesel was a dog to drive, just not enough pull so I bought the V6. Loved the car but everyone goes on and on about 4WD needing to be diesel. I fell for the con.

3) In 2006 when my lease expired I bought one of the first 120 series with the new D4D motor. It was pretty cool and I convinced myself that it was as good as the V6. I had this car for 9 years and driver it to 150,000km. Fuel economy was pretty good but coupled that with lots of regular services, timing belt, water pump, full set of injectors and the fear of the motor self-destructing, it was good but not spectacular. But she was a great car for 9 years just expensive on the servicing side.

4) In May 2015, I finally decided to sell and move to a secondhand 150 series. So this is when I decided to look long and hard at the question between choosing a D4D vs V6. Tossed up between better fuel economy with more expensive servicing and the risk of engine failure as has happened with so many D4D's versus top performance with worse fuel economy but minimal servicing costs.

Whilst you can analyse this on paper all you like here is what I finally decided.......
1) V6 will use more fuel but heck the performance is worth it. Yes, you might feel the pain a bit more at each fill-up, but the expensive services and injector bills come as a rude shock. Compared to the 1KZ, well there is no comparison.

2) The secondhand market for V6 is a buyers market. Seriously all this rubbish about diesel being better was probably true 20-30 years ago when you could only buy diesel in the bush but really this is an old mentality. With the money I saved buying a secondhand petrol, I think I will still be way in front in 5 years time and I get the super cool performance along the way. Such a pleasure to drive and no chug-a-chug sound, just deep throaty rapid acceleration when I need it.

3) The V6 is rock solid. Check this thread on engine life of the V6. I reckon that over the years it may become a legendary motor. http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...Life-of-4-0-V6 (check out the posts from AussieTDM, he has some great info on the V6's in a fleet doing over 700,000km's

4) Then just drive them both. I think you will decide pretty quickly.

Good luck.