Prado keep it or sell it?

[4x4Mick Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 4x4Mick]

Hello all
First I would like to say thanks for all the help this forum has given me over a 5 weeks period of putting my Prado back on the road.

A little about myself. I have been into 4x4 all my life and have owned Hilux's, Navara's, a Range Rover, Land Rover's and Jackaroo's.

We brought our 2000 Prado 3.4 VX 8 weeks ago and have changed the motor, Shocks, Bushes, Headlights, Tyre's, rear bar and given it a 2" lift, some driving light and added some chrome.

The other 4x4 I have is a 2000 Jackaroo TD I brought after being highly impressed with my mates 3.5L version on the same car.

Now we love the look of the prado and the interior, it rides ok and the power is not so bad. It's also ok as a 4x4 but we brought it mainly as a touring car and to tow our boat.
The big problems is fuel economy: On a trip back from Sydney using the M7 and Hume HWY on cruising speeds of 100 and 106-112 it used 14.1L per 100. My mates Jacka has a trouble free 385K on the speedo and used 11.7 and my son's VT commodore v6 used 10.1. Our 5.7 V8 statesman we normally return 11.4 for the same trip.

Last weekend a trip to our fishing spot 182 Km away towing our 1.5 ton boat gave me figures of 24.2l per 100 sitting on speeds less than 100 and a lot less for steep hills. For the same trip our V8 statesman gives us 24.9L per 100 and sits on a 100Kmh all the way except in some corners. My mates Jacka gives us 20.2 with a bigger engine and more power than the Prado.

My dilemma is: I have spent many hours on this car [which is not so good to work on], love the look and interior and would like to keep it.
But I find it hard to justify keeping it when the fuel economy does not match the power, other 4x4 with a better ride have better fuel economy such as the Jackaroo, It's not as good as a 4 wheel drive as our Jackaroo, and is a real pain to work on.

The Prado seams to be very popular and there must be a reason that I'm missing why this is. Is there a fix to the fuel economy?
I love the car and very much would love to keep it if I can find a practical reason to do so.
I like the idea of having two different 4x4, but if some one can not convince me why I should keep it: It is for sale and I will get a 3.5L Jackaroo.

Thank you
Mick

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

I have 1999 TX 2.7L, well it was awful when i bought it, but after some near engine works and susspension, fuel consumption dramatically decreased, i think there must be some fix you may want to check, butane, the other forum member advised me to check for leaks in fuel line and bingo, i found out the problem, i am now a happy chap. why not you check the fuel related parts (bank, pump, fuel lines, filter etc) also O/D off means more engine work to keep speed on 3rd gear etc.

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

Thats quite a dilemma and I guess it just comes down to what works for you and how you use the vehicle.

A colleague has a low mileage 98 auto petrol Prado. He was seriously considering selling it to get a diesel 120. He tows a camper or boat about ten or twelve times a year, loaded with wife and two boys under ten. The vehicle isn't used for commuting and its in excellent condition. As part of my buying process (2005 VX petrol auto) we compared notes and crunched numbers. No matter how we did the sums it just didn't make economic sense for him to sell and buy again. The same applied to me, mostly because second hand diesel 120's really hold their value. $15k - $25k is a lot of petrol and accessories.

You sound like you do a lot of loaded up, towing miles. If this is something you're going to keep doing for years to come, changing to a more economic vehicle may be the way to go for you. As much as I have liked various cars, bikes and boats over the years, I gave up being emotionally attached to them a long time ago. Theres no point having expensive toys if you're not enjoying them and the expense gives you sleepless nights.

[4x4Mick Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 4x4Mick]

The way it drinks fuel blows me away.
It goes through as much as my mates 100 series 4.5l petrol cruiser.
Any suggestions what to replace it with or how to fix it?
Looking for a comfortable reliable tourer.
Capable 4x4
Tow a 1.5 Ton boat 300km about 6 times a year
Will cruise at 110 easy with 13.5L per 100 or less at cruising.
Between 95 and 02 models because I think these are the best years for a 4x4
No Mitsubishi or fords.
I was looking at Jeep for a change any comments on this?
Or Gu, 80 series or another Jackaroo.
Any suggestions.

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

The way it drinks fuel blows me away.
It goes through as much as my mates 100 series 4.5l petrol cruiser.
Any suggestions what to replace it with or how to fix it?
Looking for a comfortable reliable tourer.
Capable 4x4
Tow a 1.5 Ton boat 300km about 6 times a year
Will cruise at 110 easy with 13.5L per 100 or less at cruising.
Between 95 and 02 models because I think these are the best years for a 4x4
No Mitsubishi or fords.
I was looking at Jeep for a change any comments on this?
Or Gu, 80 series or another Jackaroo.
Any suggestions.

Add Jeep to your "NO" list. You reckon you have expenses now...

[baggs71 Inactive member. Find all posts View Profile Close baggs71]

Ive noticed a slight relationship between KZ engines with poor fuel economy / Power = engine rebuild / rooted.

[4x4Mick Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 4x4Mick]

I know to many people that have had problems with the KZ's there not for me. 1hd are the go

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

The way it drinks fuel blows me away.
It goes through as much as my mates 100 series 4.5l petrol cruiser.
Any suggestions what to replace it with or how to fix it?
Looking for a comfortable reliable tourer.
Capable 4x4
Tow a 1.5 Ton boat 300km about 6 times a year
Will cruise at 110 easy with 13.5L per 100 or less at cruising.
Between 95 and 02 models because I think these are the best years for a 4x4
No Mitsubishi or fords.
I was looking at Jeep for a change any comments on this?
Or Gu, 80 series or another Jackaroo.
Any suggestions.

14.1 doesn't sound too bad for the 3.4. I used to get 19 from my 3.4 Prado when it was kitted out. Your mate must have some miracle of a 100 series to be getting 14.1l/100KM from the 4.5L. My 4.5 uses at least 20L/100KM around town. Never towed with it but I can't imagine it returning much better than 30L/100KM with a 1.5T CT.

Good vs bad fuel economy seems to be pretty subjective. I wouldn't have considered 3L difference to be worth caring about when comparing vehicles but that's just me. 3L/100km will get you bragging rights, an "I took part in Earth Hour" T-shirt and that's about it.

Seems like you're a fan of the Jackaroo, I mean, they have it all over the Prado by the sound of it. Whats stopping you?

[4x4Mick Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 4x4Mick]

My Prado is around 17.5l /100 for town work. My mate gets around 14.9 on the hwy very close to what I get in the Prado.
You say 3l isn't much: Well when you doing 30000k a year that turns into nearly a 1000 liters extra a year or about $1700 extra a year for the price of petrol we pay here. or a extra $50 per our average 1000k trip we do 8 or 9 times a year. To me that's a bit of a joke for a 131kw modern v6.
Now if you have read the post right you would have seen that those figures were hwy cruising and you would have also have seen that it is no miracle 4.5. If your getting 20 around Sydney that means you would get around 15 on the hwy. Now if you were getting 19 on the hwy from a 3.4L v6 then I couldn't see how Toyota would have sold any.

Now 3l/100 might give you bragging rights and a T-shirt. For me it would get enough money in one year to buy a brand new bullbar or a few sets of light force lights or we could do a extra 6 trips a year.

Whats stopping me from buying another 4x4? There has got to be a fix for these thirsty Prado's, also I like the car and lastly I spent so many hours on it I do not want to give up on it so easy. Again I though I explained that in the first post.

I'm a fan of the 80 series, GU and Jackaroo. I see no problem in asking other peoples opinions of what else might be out there: do you?

[Steevo Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steevo]

Hi Mick gee new motor etc a bit of bad luck hey. I have a 2000 V6 petrol auto, I have just returned from a trip to Cairns and back and I think mine used (averaged over whole trip 8300km's) just under 20l/100km. Now that was towing an 18ft poptop weighing in at around the 1.5-1.6t for a fair portion of those k's. I too am very disappointed at the power of these engines, I expected a V6 to be good or better. I was reasonably happy with that mileage towing a 1978 model van though, but was imo underpowered. I have towed many vans with many 4by's over the years and can tell you 80 series cruisers (I've had 2 dual fuel 4500's, 1 x auto 1 x 5 speed) are between 25-35litres (Gas) per hundred depending on what your towing and where, worst was 40per hundred. I have towed with GQ's (3 of them) same/similar to 80. Towed with a Diesel Pajero and Disco's were very good at around 14-15 per 100km's. Had a Jeep and pulled like a tractor but had the economy to match. Now this might surprise you but I reckon the best tow vehicle I've had was a 96 Prado with the 2.7litre motor with 5 speed box. I don't know if they are all the same but mine pulled the old 18ft van we had very well with exception of hills and strong headwinds pulled it back to 80km/h. This vehicle consistently got 11.5 litres to 100km normal and around 15ish towing that van which in my book is bloody unreal for a petrol prado. Just thought this comparison might be of some interest to you. What to do, well its a matter of have you spent all that money for someone else to enjoy it or if you have just plain had enough and turn it over for something else, is a hard decision. All I can say mate is be very careful in whatever you buy between 95 and 02 model petrols as I reckon economy wise, they are on a similar par with each other. I am by no means saying any particular make/model just my 2c worth mate

[4x4Mick Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 4x4Mick]

Thanks Steevo
Those 2.7 figures are unreal. I thought they would be gutless as hell.
Now your figures with the 3.4 make me think I'm missing some thing.

Here is the history: Brought the car with 318000 on the clock. The car was totally gutless from idle to 2700 then it would have power from then on.
We changed the motor but the same thing happened. Thinking back to what I read on here about dirty air flow meter, we cleaned the meter and presto Prado we had the power I expected it to have.

Now I'm thinking is the air flow meter clean enough. It still has the original exhaust. Could the cat be clogged and too restrictive? What about the muffler?
Any help would be appreciated.
You make a good point about should some one else enjoy the money I have spent not to mention I now know the car inside out and whats been done.

[awwricecracker Member Find all posts View Profile Close awwricecracker]

Hey Mick, I had a v6 3.5 jackaroo running 14-16l/100 around town, I had a new exhaust system from the Y pipe installed and constantly got 12.5l/100 and really felt a difference in torque. I think the magical 15l/100 thereabouts is typical of the era for v6's.
My 08 120 v6 gets 15l/100 around town and 19l/100 when towing a 900kg tradies trailer. Take it against a headwind up hills with said trailer and hold 110km/h, worst it drank was 38l/100. I know there's a lot of different info there, but just trying to help you out see things from my experiences. cheers Josh

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

I had a 98 GXL petrol V6 with 5 speed. It was pretty good on fuel when not towing. However, when you hooked up something behind the beast it was really thirsty once you went past 90km/hr. The worst it got was 4 - 4.5km/litre (22 - 25L/100km) towing a Jayco outback camper but sitting on 100 - 110. It was a very capable car off-road and super reliable but I sold it in 09 when I bought my diesel 120. Now I go the same distance for half the litres.

[4x4Mick Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 4x4Mick]

Thanks Josh
I can live with what ever it drinks around town, but a v6 cruising on between 95 and 112 shouldn't drink nearly 15l/100 not even if we had all our gear in it.
Towing I think 20l to 22l/100 should be more like it not 24l+.

Now if I drove it like I do my 500Kw Torana I would expect accept the figures I'm getting or even more.
Looks like the exhaust is coming off and I'll have a look.

[Steevo Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steevo]

Hi Mick I was very surprised at my 2.7, they were almost diesel figures, it seemed to be really high torque and to get a good gauge on it each fill I used to fill it to the same spot on the filler neck just so it just overflowed the flap, but as I said I don't know if theyre all like that though. When I had it in at ARB for some work the salesman said to me geez that goes better than my 3400 V6 one which I thought was strange. 318k yeah mine has just clocked 230k and I have cleaned the sensor too. Mine seem gutless as well but when it gets around 3700-4000rpm its like a turbo has just cut in which I'm guessing must be the torque band on these motors. I thought these models were classed as commercials and didn't have a cat (so I was told). I haven't looked yet. Maybe exhaust issues could be my problem too. I have to say it seems to go into second gear too quick and therefore struggles a little. If I drive it like a manual it does go a fair bit better but............., should have got a manual!. Its hard mate I sold my D2 TD5 a while back which was a great 4by and comfortable/economical and powerful but I just got sick of putting my hand in my pocket every few weeks to keep it going. I replaced the turbo on it $2400 as well as lots of little and big things and eventually bit the bullet traded it on my current prado, so mmm yeah somebody else is enjoying my investment into the vehicle 5k in total Grrrrr. Sometimes its better the car you know as opposed to buying unknown but end of the day you have to be happy with what you have and although mine isn't over the top economy wise I am a little disappointed at its power. Mine was totally stock standard when I got it and it still then was gutless but :lol: unless I want a divorce I will have to keep it. A shame your far from me as I would have been keen to meet up and compare vehicles
Cheers Steve