Introductions

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

Hello All,
Well, after the weekend of testing various vehicles and ringing all dealers in Sydney and then some for the "best deal", we have secured a tentative 3 month wait on a new Charcoal 2008 GXL Diesel Auto "Family Wagon"...with a few accessories & a full tank of fuel...(the deal clincher)

To everyone who contributes to this forum,
I thought I should sign up and say thank you for your ideas and suggestions !

Thanks
Doug

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

Hello All,
Charcoal 2008 GXL Diesel Auto

Hi Doug,

Good luck with the new car. I wish we could have gotten the new diesel. Our lease is up in 18 months time, so I am hopeful we can get one then.

Regarding the charcoal grey. We've got that colour, and its terrible for scratches. If you are planning on doing anything off road, I couldn't recommend enough changing your colour choice to something lighter.

No matter how careful you are, charcoal is like black - it scratches really easily and is very noticeable. Just driving down dirt tracks with the odd bush down the side will leave nasty scars.

If you're not doing any off roading in it, then you'll be fine.

Cheers!

Stu

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

Well done Doug. Hope your delivery date is closer to what you've been told ... rather than the wait some guys have had ...... but I'm sure you'll enjoy it regardless.

Cheers
Chippy

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

Stu, agree, changed to Silver...(ARB winch bar too)

Chippy,
Had the chance to buy 2 on the weekend, one new, one very slightly used.
(from the same dealer !)

Getting more for less if we wait ! (different dealer 8) )

[mebbear Member Find all posts View Profile Close mebbear]

Newbie

Hi;
Been looking at the forum for a little bit,posted and asked a few questions and stuff..good to see and decent prado forum

Well this is my Prado;

"03 TD,D-Tronic,2.5in lift,33 in mudterrains,snorkel,winch,oem bullbar,garmin GPS60cx nav,dvd screens,light force spotties,gme UHF and aerial,sand dune flag,hands free car kit

Wish list; F and R air lockers,custom rock sliders/side steps,Frp body flares,custom bash plate

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

welcome mebbear!

make sure you get in on the plethora of WA cruises that the guys over there organise!

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

gday and welcome mate


joey

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

hey stu how r ya if ya keen for a blacksmiths run send me a line i grew up in that area and spend a hell ov a lot of time on blackies when i lived there, now its only 25 min away, it would be one of the softest beachs i have ever been on, great beach but

[Guest Close Guest]

Hi,

I am Lisa and live on the southside of Brisbane. We just picked up a 2004 Prado GXL last week and I am loving it! Our trade was a BA Falcon so I feel like I am sitting 'on top of the world' at the moment! Takes a bit of getting used to. Our last 4WD was a Jeep Cherokee so a bit smaller than the Prado. I am finding the Prado so much quieter than my Falcon, which really suprised me and it is so smooth!

We hope to get a camper trailer to go with it and take the kids off camping when we can, we have two boys, aged 5 and not quite 2. The only issue I have so far with the Prado is the brakes, they seem to be just not up to the same par as the Falcon - or should I be getting these checked out?? Maybe a stat warranty thing? Does anyone else remember feeling the brakes were a bit doughy when they first got their Prado?

Anyways, here are the details...
Model: 120 Series GXL (Petrol)
Year: 2004 (5 speed Auto)
Colour: White (boring but functional)
Accessories: Factory bullbar, tow bar (fitted at our request so atleast we know it hasnt towed a caravan around Australia...), factory roof racks, DVD player (great for the kids!), Tinted windows and all the normal stuff...
Wishlist: Spare Wheel Hard Cover or something similar, spotties maybe...

Hope to chat to some of you on the board soon!

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

G'day Lisa,
First of all welcome. I would recommend getting the brakes looked at. I find the brakes on my vehicle ('06 TD) to be very responsive. Do you know any of the history of the vehicle? This might give some indication of how it was treated in its previous life.

Cheers,
Kevin

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

Hi,
I am Lisa

Colour: White (boring but functional)
Wishlist: Spare Wheel Hard Cover or something similar, spotties maybe...

Hi Lisa!

Welcome to the forums! I'm new here as well but enjoying my stay.

Just a few comments. Although white is boring (as you put it), its the best colour if you want to go off road as it doesn't show up scratches like the dark ones. We have a dark grey Prado and the scratches are so obvious in it. Our next 4WD will definitely be white.

Also, the hard wheel covers look nice, but they are a waste of money. Once you put some decent wheels on, you'll find the spare wont fit properly under the hard cover (if at all). We were looking at buying a hard cover for ours, but we were glad when we fitted the Mickey's that we didn't. The deeper tread gives a larger rolling diameter which means they are about 20mm larger than the standard Dunlop AT tyres.

Hope you have heaps of fun in your Prado. It's a great car!

Stu

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

I would have to say that Falcons etc do pull up easier (less pedal pressure) but that is why we do relines every 30 to 40 k's! Also, have a read of this http://pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?t=800 but having said that, it is brakes so go get them checked and put your mind at rest. Keep in mind you are pulling up near on a ton more vehicle! My 2c

Matt

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

Hi,

I am Lisa and live on the southside of Brisbane. We just picked up a 2004 Prado GXL last week and I am loving it! Our trade was a BA Falcon so I feel like I am sitting 'on top of the world' at the moment! Takes a bit of getting used to. Our last 4WD was a Jeep Cherokee so a bit smaller than the Prado. I am finding the Prado so much quieter than my Falcon, which really suprised me and it is so smooth!

We hope to get a camper trailer to go with it and take the kids off camping when we can, we have two boys, aged 5 and not quite 2. The only issue I have so far with the Prado is the brakes, they seem to be just not up to the same par as the Falcon - or should I be getting these checked out?? Maybe a stat warranty thing? Does anyone else remember feeling the brakes were a bit doughy when they first got their Prado?

Hi Lisa, welcome aboard to the prado nut house!!!!
Having driven commodores for many years and a few falcon rental cars the brakes on the falcon are very touchy and you don't need much pressure to pull down the speed, hey a few times i have hoped from a commodore to a falcon and i almost put the falcon on it nose as the brake pedal in both cars are very different, so when getting into the prado i find the pedal no different to the commodore very soft has a lot of travel, coming from a falcon this will seem very strange.
Hey in saying all that get them checked for your own peice of mind but as time goes on you will get used to the different feel. Just remember if you drive a falcon again don't jump on the brakes too hard.

PS, how did you like the Jeep, we also had a jeep for two years, that was enough!!!!

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

Keep in mind you are pulling up near on a ton more vehicle! My 2c

Matt

Yeah exactly, pulling up my prado for the first time was an interesting experience as I was used to driving an SS with excellent brakes. I nearly soiled myself at the first intersection I came to! :shock: hehe

But of course get them checked out for sure if you think they're dodgy, I'm used to mine now and you learn to start slowing down that little bit earlier!

[Guest Close Guest]

Thanks everyone for the great welcome. I have been driving around a bit more today and feel a bit more confident with the brakes now. As most of you have said, they are not as sensitive as the Falcons but I am getting used to that now. Hubby was a bit shocked by them as well at first, he has had a bit of a look at them and there seems to be plenty of pad there, rotors might need machining perhaps. Will try and get it into a local brake place to have them checked over, just for peace of mind. If they find anything bad i will take it back to the dealer as it should be covered under the Stat Warranty I would think?

Hutch - we had a 95 Jeep Cherokee Sport Classic for about 4 years. For some reason we just love the look of the jeeps but we had a lot of dramas with it - fortunately we had an ASWN warranty and they must have forked out about $3000 fixing things over the 3 years the warranty covered. When something started going wrong with the steering at the end we said thats enough and traded it in on a Mitsubishi Challenger (forgot about that one in my original post!) We didnt have it for long tho as hubby got a car for work and it just sat around while I drove the BA. It was a nice vehicle with lots and lots of hidey holes for everything (something I find the Prado lacks) but it was a very rough bouncy ride (not coil suspension).

When we were looking at the Prado I was looking at lots of 7/8 seaters - almost bought a 06 Nissan Pathfinder, but it was so much more noisier and didnt seem up to the same quality as the Prado. We love Fords, but the new ones just dont seem to have good build quality. The old Fords are our favs...we have 2 XW's (a ute and a sedan), a Landau coupe and a P5 LTD parked in the shed ATM! :lol:

Stuart: Re. the wheel cover, yeah I am aware that they are no good if you get wider tyres, but I cant see us doing that as we spend all our money on restoring the Fords...lol :? . I think our Prado will stay pretty much standard. Has anyone got a TJM wheel cover with the stainless steel ring and black centre? I thought that might be a more affordable option...?

cheers
Lisa