My first diesel - Prado - GX or GXL?

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

Hello all

We just sold our E53 x5 4.4 V8 and now venturing into the diesel world.

At the moment, i'm looking at a few 2010 Prado onward to be purchase as a lease vehicle but for private use. Our main reason why we're looking into the Prado because it's known to be reliable and safety.

The car will be mainly use for around town, soccer mum type of use but I will start to look into some soft off road use to really make the most of the car and it's something that i've always wanted to do.
Fishing, camping, roadtrip .....etc

Ok so at the moment, i've enquirer into 2 cars.

2010 - GX - Load with gears, low K's
2012 - GXL - Stock as a rock, also low K's

Both are fully serviced and up to date.

My dilemma is i like the "gears" that the 2010 came with but i also like the "fact" that the 2012 car is a "newer car" and there is a good chance that it would have done less off road than the other one and some extra features that the GLX comes with (multizone air con).

So my question are ...

*2012 engine is more reliable than 2010?
*2010 car done less K's than 2012 car, does this mean it's still in a "mint" condition?
*Can i easily plug an aftermarket reverse camera into the 2010? I read somewhere here and it's said that most harness has been pre-wired for options.
*Is the 3 zone climate control really make the different?
*I believe the 2012 GXL come with Toyota KDSS (??) active suspension standard while the 2010 GX comes with aftermarket ARB springs and shocks, which one should i be better off with?
*2010 GX comes with traction control?

That's all i can think of for now , thank you in advance.

Khoa

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

Forgot to say...
I test drove a VX the other day and the car somewhat feel very sluggish, didn't want to get up and get going when i have the throttle wide open. I'm saying this because last month, i also test drove an older Prado model and it was very responsive.
Anyway, the VX is now sold. Maybe the person who bought it "knew" the Prado well and the "sluggish" could be a minor issue.

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

The main reason i ruled out getting a GX over a GXL was purely the air-con. Do you know how many people always hop in the back "can you turn the air-con up its not getting us enough back here". Im knew to the Prado world but i thought the KDSS was only in VX and higher?

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

The main reason i ruled out getting a GX over a GXL was purely the air-con. Do you know how many people always hop in the back "can you turn the air-con up its not getting us enough back here". Im knew to the Prado world but i thought the KDSS was only in VX and higher?

Thanks .... thought i read somewhere that said GXL, VX and Kakadu come with KDSS standard but then again, i could be wrong.

OK so by the sound of it, the Multizone Air help alot? We had multizone Air in the X5 too but we never really use it, just one setting and off you go, maybe this is because it's a smaller car!!!

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

Also Multizone Air vs Single zone air, does this mean the GXL has more "vents" than the GX?

Thanks

[Guest Close Guest]

KDSS is only available in the VX and Kakadu.
If I was you, I would get the petrol version.

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

Agree with AMTS, for around town, short drives and stop start get the petrol. I would get the GXL out of the 2 options you mentioned, better A/C, wide wheels, less chance of heavy off road use, etc. Bar work is nice, but it sounds like you don't really need it for what your intended use is. I would suggest test drive a V6 and see what you think from there.

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

Agree with AMTS, for around town, short drives and stop start get the petrol. I would get the GXL out of the 2 options you mentioned, better A/C, wide wheels, less chance of heavy off road use, etc. Bar work is nice, but it sounds like you don't really need it for what your intended use is. I would suggest test drive a V6 and see what you think from there.

Fair call ..... but the GX has alloy, GPS, front bullbar, roof cargo carrier ....etc .

In term of petrol wise, i'm not convince only because my old x5 V8 was doing around 16ltr/100 .

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

KDSS is only available in the VX and Kakadu.
If I was you, I would get the petrol version.

Thanks.

I do see a lot of diesel Prado around town thought!!! I know what you're trying to say but i intend to do some soft offroad myself in the future.

[Guest Close Guest]

In term of petrol wise, i'm not convince only because my old x5 V8 was doing around 16ltr/100 .

It looks like the X5 has scarred you for life. Diesel is not for everyone. In your case, it is not for you. Don't just look at the fuel consumption.

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

It looks like the X5 has scarred you for life. Diesel is not for everyone. In your case, it is not for you. Don't just look at the fuel consumption.

Ok, will test drive a few petrol car to see how i like them. X5 fuel consumption didn't scare me ..... it's the electronic that did :shock:!

Thanks

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

Its the service and maintenance costs that you really need to take into consideration. Budget $2500-$3000 every 120,000-150,000 Km for injectors. As well as the normal service costs of the diesel like fuel filters, timing belt, etc. In the grand scheme of things the petrol is cheaper unless you are planning on doing big trips towing and the like, plus its usually cheaper to buy in the second hand market. But its up to you at the end of the day, I just wanted a diesel and it didn't matter.

Fair call ..... but the GX has alloy, GPS, front bullbar, roof cargo carrier ....etc .

In term of petrol wise, i'm not convince only because my old x5 V8 was doing around 16ltr/100 .

The GX has alloy wheels from factory, so unless they are aftermarket wheels they are the skinny wheels with the 245/70 tyres which don't really drive as nice as the GXL wheels with 265/65. What type of GPS, do you actually need it? What is it worth $? Say you wanted it in the GXL, a dig options one off ebay is approx $600, and are plug and play, fit yourself. Bullbar, once again depending on type, but if you go all out and put on a colour coded steel inc fitting from ARB/TJM you would be looking at approx $2400 tops. Roof rack once again depends on type but if you go for the popular rhino pioneer platform fitted would be $1000 tops. You also mentioned it had suspension, a 2" lift can be had for $1600 fitted, arguably equal or better quality than the OME.

So the GXL would be approx $5600 more, but its newer, a higher spec level (which comes with better resale) and all you accessories are new, including new suspension. Just my view on it.

Forgot to mention, the 2012 still has new car warranty, kinda a no brainier in my oppinion.

[Khoa Member Find all posts View Profile Close Khoa]

Its the service and maintenance costs that you really need to take into consideration. Budget $2500-$3000 every 120,000-150,000 Km for injectors. As well as the normal service costs of the diesel like fuel filters, timing belt, etc. In the grand scheme of things the petrol is cheaper unless you are planning on doing big trips towing and the like, plus its usually cheaper to buy in the second hand market. But its up to you at the end of the day, I just wanted a diesel and it didn't matter.



The GX has alloy wheels from factory, so unless they are aftermarket wheels they are the skinny wheels with the 245/70 tyres which don't really drive as nice as the GXL wheels with 265/65. What type of GPS, do you actually need it? What is it worth $? Say you wanted it in the GXL, a dig options one off ebay is approx $600, and are plug and play, fit yourself. Bullbar, once again depending on type, but if you go all out and put on a colour coded steel inc fitting from ARB/TJM you would be looking at approx $2400 tops. Roof rack once again depends on type but if you go for the popular rhino pioneer platform fitted would be $1000 tops. You also mentioned it had suspension, a 2" lift can be had for $1600 fitted, arguably equal or better quality than the OME.

So the GXL would be approx $5600 more, but its newer, a higher spec level (which comes with better resale) and all you accessories are new, including new suspension. Just my view on it.

Forgot to mention, the 2012 still has new car warranty, kinda a no brainier in my oppinion.

Thank you very much for these feed back, this is exactly why i registered myself on this forum.

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

No worries, if there are any other extras on the GX that would have to be taken into account, but then the other question is do you need/will you use these extras? I'm not saying either car is good/bad, you just have to weigh up all the options yourself, and work out what is right for you

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

Khoa - there are numerous threads on diesel vs petrol - refer here:

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...l=1#post476749

the general consensus is that after you factor in cost of injectors they are very similar running costs. 2500-300 is a little steep compared to what some have quoted.

Unless you do a lot of km's or tow a lot, the petrol is generally the more "reliable" option.

Having said that, diesel generally holds better resale value.