About to buy my first Prado

[Tails83 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Tails83]

Hi everyone, I just joined up as I'm about to buy my first Prado. I'm on a bit of a tight budget and found one that I like.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/capal...gxl/1101285262

It's had a hard life in the bush/off road and it's a bit rough although the interior is quite tidy.
It has all the gear.

Does it seem like a good deal and is there anything to look out for

Cheers

Luke.

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

Mate their a great vehicle. The 4L V6 is a great engine PROVIDING it's had its regular servicing. If there is no service record then personally wouldn't touch it but that's me. To me if some one looks after their vehicle it should have full service history. There extremely capable and with diff lock/s even more so. I'd be checking the under body for any major damage. Generally people don't fit diff locks unless they intend on using them. If worried about rust check under the rear cargo door rubber at the bottom. There proned for collecting water behind the rubber here. Check dash board thoroughly (dash pad) they do crack and will, not a matter of if but when. It's a 2k replacement and drops the value heaps if there cracked. Check rear cargo door hinges as they crack around the hinge. Brake shudder if it's had a hard time, it's not a grande so rust in sunroof not an issue. It's certainly been used for what he bought it for which is fair enough and priced accordingly in my opinion. Make sure it hasn't been drowned in salt water. Check it goes into and out of 4HL and 4L with out any issues but also find some where that you can test the Low range out. Also get up to a decent speed eg110k and check for diff whine, shudders shakes etc. lastly I presume you would know but not every one does do a full check to make sure the person owns it, and doesn't owe any money on it. Remember once you hand the cash/cheque over its yours. I also these days write down the time I'm driving away with it and get them to sign n date it, who's to say they didn't get pinged by a camera just before drive away with it... Cheers

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Hi everyone, I just joined up as I'm about to buy my first Prado. I'm on a bit of a tight budget and found one that I like.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/capal...gxl/1101285262

It's had a hard life in the bush/off road and it's a bit rough although the interior is quite tidy.
It has all the gear.

Does it seem like a good deal and is there anything to look out for

Cheers

Luke.

Hey,

Plenty of nice gear on that Prado! ...11K is very cheap, even for a petrol with over 200K on it.

Early model 2004 120 petrols can have issues with head gaskets leaking, so I would double check for bubbles in the coolant overflow/radiator while engine is running.

Also check the timing cover for oil leaks on driver side near the base of the head.

Get underneath and check if there is a lot of sand blasting on the chassis, particularly around the rear lower trailing arm mounts, which will indicate it's done a bit of beach work.

Hard to know if it's a good deal or not without a thorough inspection!

Best

Mark

[Tails83 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Tails83]

Thanks for those replies, although it's body is rough, driveline seems good. No oil leaks but maybe a slight weep from the bell housing or sump area.

He said in the 5yrs he's owned it, it's never seen the beach.

It was pretty dusty under the bonnet so easy to see no visible leaks.

Before I hand over cash I'll check out what you guys said and this time get it up to speed on the highway rather than just 40km/her round town.

Cheers again.

[gspy4u Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gspy4u]

Do a securities check, costs about $39.95 i think and it will tell you straight away if any finance is owing, if it's been written off or stolen, engine specs, any history that they have on it, any insurance claims, reported milage, and will give you a ppsr certificate. Piece of mind for a few dollars.

All you need is the rego number and VIN, however the rego on the add pics according to MTA says it's a 2007 Prado with vin number JTEBU29J405001512 ??? add says 2004 so I'd be checking that first off.

[pwatt01 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pwatt01]

the PPSR (security check) shoudl only cost abour $4.. the more expensive one is for a full history. Have a look at this page https://www.ppsr.gov.au/fees

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

You may not care but is it legal with a 4 inch lift & bigger tyres? I thought a 50mm/2 inch lift was as far as you could go without engineer certificates. I imagine it is probably safe to drive but you may run into an issue with insurance/Police if something goes wrong.

You can check the VIN here - https://transact.ppsr.gov.au/ppsr/Qu...?li=False&si=1 - for $3.40. Like gspy4u says, it's a bit weird that the rego matches a 2007 car but he's advertising it as 2004...

[Tails83 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Tails83]

Thanks for the heads up guys.
Did a search on ppsr and it's all clear as the bloke said. It does say on it, it's compliance is 2004 and manufactured in 2007 so there is a mistake in the system somewhere.

I understand about the size of the lift. Legally is 2in lift/50mm tyres so I will more than likely drop it down to a 2 in lift to keep it legal. The tyres are 46mm diameter bigger than stock.

I've got a mechanic that will have a look over it and I'll pass on the points you guys have given for him to look at particularly.

Thanks.

[Guest Close Guest]

Best to ring your transport authority and verify the date. Could be just a simple mistake or could be something else that might give you issues later on.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

No bash plates underneath either.

[pwatt01 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pwatt01]

Thanks for the heads up guys.

I understand about the size of the lift. Legally is 2in lift/50mm tyres so I will more than likely drop it down to a 2 in lift to keep it legal. The tyres are 46mm diameter bigger than stock.

.

This might be legal, if signed off by an engineer. I would ask if he has that.

Also note that the legal lift is 2" max including tyres, so if you have 2" lift + 2" bigger tyres you still are 2" over
Ask him for that as he may have it. Also, i have found this page useful for these sorts of questions http://www.4wdingaustralia.com/4x4/is-your-4wd-legal/

[Tails83 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Tails83]

Ok so I decided to buy it, pick it up tommorrow.

Got it for $9500.
There is some rust under the rear door seal.
The dash has plenty of cracks
Body is rough and the fuel tank bash plate has taken a decent hit but it's not leaking.
It does need a service he said, been about 12,000km since the last one.

I though it had a bit of body roll.... Turns out there's no sway bars but in a straight line it handles fine so first thing is air con and sway bars

Thanks for the advice and what to look for.

[Guest Close Guest]

It rolls a lot without a sway bar

[6834cc Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 6834cc]

Let's us know how it goes after having a good drive of it

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Ok so I decided to buy it, pick it up tommorrow.

Got it for $9500.
There is some rust under the rear door seal.
The dash has plenty of cracks
Body is rough and the fuel tank bash plate has taken a decent hit but it's not leaking.
It does need a service he said, been about 12,000km since the last one.

I though it had a bit of body roll.... Turns out there's no sway bars but in a straight line it handles fine so first thing is air con and sway bars

Thanks for the advice and what to look for.

Hey,

If it's running a genuine 4" lift (as in the advertisement on gumtree), then it will have very long travel rear shocks, likely out to near 700mm open length. You cannot run these shocks with the swaybar in during off road conditions. With factory rear lower trailing arms, the longest extension you can put on the swaybar links is around 30mm, meaning you can push the swaybar bind out to around 645mm open length, well below the open length of the shocks you are likely inheriting.

This means if you put a swaybar back in and run it during off-road conditions, you will top-out the rear suspension on the swaybar instead of the rear shocks. Under these conditions you can snap the swaybar.

If you plan to put a rear swaybar back in to keep the Prado well mannered in on-road conditions, then if you hit the the rough and flexy tracks, you will need to disconnect the rear swaybar.

There is little gain in suspension travel on the 120 series ifs by running without the front swaybar, I would keep the front swaybar in under all conditions.

Best

Mark