I'm looking at buying a more family friendly rourby as the family have decided to move from the tent camping to camper trailer and the 1988 shorty aint going to cut it. My question is what should i consider other than Patrol or cruiser for offroad ability without $10k mods?
Are jeeps really that much trouble?
How does the Pajero rate?
Prado, is it just a poor mans cruiser?
Dual cab utes, are they much chop off road or does the leaf rear make them just a work ute essentially?
I'm looking at spending mid teens all up, under $17500.
Cheers guys
Barney Rubble.

G'day Barney I was wondering if you are interested in buying a 80 series land cruiser as I am selling mine for a fair price I believe beautiful to drive has 4 inch lift big tyres and a few more things anyway send me a message if you're interested

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I have four cruisers and one patrol (yeah I'm a freak !) and previously had two hiluxes.  My brothers have Patrols and Pajeros

Without doubt the cruiser is best (forget the Prado) but good ones are ussually top dollar and not good value for money.  Stick to the cruiser diesels as the Petrols suck even on gas.  So if you find a good cruiser at a great price then grab the bargain otherwise the Patrol is the best value car and extremely capable and reliable.  Forget all that crap about the 3l blowing up, it's one of those cases that a few have done it but as a percentage of Patrols sold it's .0001% so not really a risk to concern yourself with as long as it's been well serviced with regular oil changes.

The older duel cabs were a dog with their leaf springs but the newer ones appear to ride well nowadays but I think you have to ask yourself do you want a station wagon format or ute format as that really is the more important question 

Pajeros Ar OKish in the bush but don't hold their value like a cruiser so sometimes a litre searching can find a really good cheap one.  My nephew just picked up a 2010 diesel one with one owner 200ks never off the blacktop for $12k !!!

Good luck with your searching 

g

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Hi Barney,

For that money you will have to go for the Patrol or Landcruiser. I would not worry about the Prado/Pajero (they are ok but not same class as the patrol or landcruiser)
To be honest, for that cash you should get yourself a really good GQ or 80 series. Both are good capable vehicles but getting bit  old now.
17500K kind of puts you out of the Patrol GU or later Land cruisers.

Remeber though 50mm is the max lift for road worthy in Vic. My son just bought a Patrol GU from QLD engineered 4inch with snake racing, he still had to go back to 2inch lift and stock tires to get it through road worthy. So if you buy something already modified you risk it not getting through road worthy. Also I personally would only buy something that has been used to take kids to school, then you know it has not been bashed and thrashed.

Regards

Dave

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A Jeep Wrangler Unlimited would be a good option, straight out of the box they are one of the most capable 4wds, easy to modify and can tow a small camper without much difficulty but i think you would struggle to find one in that budget. A good condition 80 series or Gu is probably going to be the best option for that budget and a mix of offroad ability and towing capability

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Personally I wouldn't touch a jeep if you gave it to me for free !  My 4wd mechanic special workshop tells the jeep drivers don't even the. The engine off, just keep driving on by, as they refuse to touch them.  They tell me they got sick of doing something minor on them, then they get blamed for the next (and frequent) breakdown, they said they are so unreliable they don't want to get blamed for the crap so they just won't work on them.

the wrangler might look the part but when was the last time you saw one on he Canning or the Simpson ?  The Only one I've seen in five trips accross was one burnt out one on the Canning, our guess was insurance claim as to costly to recover the broken down Jeep from the Canning

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I would have a look at the Pajero, I know i might be biased because I drive one but don't take my word for it, there is an article in this months unsealed 4x4 magazine. They are really good on black top but also really capable off road. well price too I reckon. I would look at a deisel or dual fuel and they can be a little thursty especially when towing.

Hope that hepls 

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Wow Richard that is a but harsh. I own a Land Rover discovery and know lots of Jeep owners, they can be reliable and extremley good offroad, you just need to spend extra cash on them to make them do that. All cars can be reliable and all cars can be un reliable. It is a personal choice what someone chooses to use as a 4wd.

I know we all say thing like oh its a bloody land rover or its a jeep shit but at the end of the day they all can be good or bad vehicles.

Regardless of what you choose Barney at the end of the day it is your choice and you need to be happy with it.

Regards

Dave

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It all depends on the 4wding you want to do when not towing the camper, sure a patrol or cruiser will do it all but to find a decent one with reasonable km's is getting hard to do. Unless you want to go rock crawling id be looking for a good 2004 up pajero, yes they are independent suspension all round and can only be lifted 2"with 33's max but the traction control system the introduced in '04 is sensational ,they are suprisingly capable and will go just about anywhere, they will keep driving on 2 wheels if need be .
They tow better and handle heaps better on road than most of the others.
Sure they dont have the resale value of a cruiser or patrol but if you were worried about that you wouldnt take it offroad either

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