Thoughts on Holden Jackaroo?

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

I realise this is a Prado forum, but I know theres a lot of collective wisdom contained herein, so I'm hoping I can get some learned opinions.

My parents have a 98 Discovery diesel. The other day it dropped a big end. They had it towed to their mechanic. He removed the sump and found "lots of metal pieces in the oil". To my way of thinking thats terminal and theres no point even entertaining the idea of rebuilding the engine or swapping a reco or another one from a wrecker.

Anyway, as much as they love their Disco and want another one, I would like to steer them into something else. Being pensioners theres not a lot of cash to splash. A quick look at carsales shows a few Holden Jackaroos for not much money. Whats the general washup on these?

The usage is that they don't drive very much but love going away regularly for a few weeks at a time, towing an old Millard caravan.

So is a 98+ Auto, Jackaroo a good suggestion in this case? Petrol or diesel?

Cheers.

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

I've never seen a problem with them personally. All cars have their issues. Jackaroo can't be that bad... it's Isuzu after all. Check out the US Isuzu Trooper for some more info on it.

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

A very under rated car. A mate has one as his high country play car and it goes well.


Steve

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

Great 4wd,very easy to live with. I loved mine, interior is well built without the rattles and squeaks common to many 4wds after off-road use. Power plant pulls like a train sold mine to a grey nomad couple in a similar position.

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

so....why are we driving Prados? lol

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

so....why are we driving Prados? lol

Because we can. I personally will never throw my hard earned at anything Holden (or Ford for that matter) again. Unless they undergo a radical change.

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

Because we can. I personally will never throw my hard earned at anything Holden (or Ford for that matter) again. Unless they undergo a radical change.

lol, I said the same until I drove my Clubsport. Love at first corner. Five years on... should've bought the Camry

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

Diesel Jackaroo's also had an issue with injectors, seals or something would fail
causing the sump to fill with diesel and get sucked from the sump via the PVC
into the intake and motors would rev till they were destroyed. I would imagine
that this would have been solved by now.

Apart form that they are a very good car, friend had one but traded up to the
Prado for the injector reason, Prados now have similar issue!

He loved the car but said he would never buy another due to the poor service
from Holden dealers, in this case as it no longer under warranty shouldn't be
an issue as long as you have a good service mob near you.

Cheers
Leigh

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

Diesel Jackaroo's also had an issue with injectors, seals or something would fail
causing the sump to fill with diesel and get sucked from the sump via the PVC
into the intake and motors would rev till they were destroyed. I would imagine
that this would have been solved by now.

Apart form that they are a very good car, friend had one but traded up to the
Prado for the injector reason, Prados now have similar issue!

He loved the car but said he would never buy another due to the poor service
from Holden dealers, in this case as it no longer under warranty shouldn't be
an issue as long as you have a good service mob near you.

Cheers
Leigh

I've seen a few advertised with "injectors replaced under Holden recall"

[awwricecracker Member Find all posts View Profile Close awwricecracker]

I've had 2 of them, both manual '99, one 3.5 v6 and the other 3.0 td.

In my experience of owning the td model for a couple of years and keeping it on the road.. don't buy one, there's a lot of info online to do with the injectors. Mine had the recall done but they still caused issues, it's a very high pressure rail, had to replace the rail twice, snapped a camshaft clean, blew a turbo.. when i went to the wreckers, all the bits i needed were already pilfered which says something.

The v6 pulls like a train, had better pickup than my 08 120 series and is actually a shared motor with the rodeos so parts are a plenty. (The diesel is similar but the critical bits are different). Unbelievable offroad ability with a 2" lift and 265/75/16's, nice and stable towing 3.2t (only rated to 2.5 i think from memory) but fairly thirsty. With fresh plugs, coilpacks, exhaust, snorkel & steady driving, it would always use 15l/100, foot down pushed up to 20. I've read about others doing better, I never changed the 02 sensors which could have been my problem.

To sum it up. Underated 4wd vehicle, very affordable 7 seater and for seldom use, an excellent choice.

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

I think the diesel jackaroo is more volatile than the D4D 120 prado.

Hutch- Prado 2012 petrol with the TJM Catologue.

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

I think the diesel jackaroo is more volatile than the D4D 120 prado.

Hutch- Prado 2012 petrol with the TJM Catologue.

The V6 Jackaroo has the same fuel consumption as Hutch's V6 Prado! I drove a V6 Prado for a year.

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

The V6 Jackaroo has the same fuel consumption as Hutch's V6 Prado! I drove a V6 Prado for a year.

that would be impressive then.

[150D4DNikki Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 150D4DNikki]

Always was told that they were a great car and the second something goes wrong, get rid of them. Friend had one for her tow vehicle (horsefloats) and wow it was good in the hills. Then it shat itself, then she got a Nissan... got rid of that quick and now has a Landcruiser and back to happy.

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

Thank you to all for the great info so far. There are some good petrol examples around for not much money.

I have found a couple going very cheap, but listed with gearbox issues. Is fixing or swapping an expensive proposition, assuming the rest of the vehicle is ok, or is it best to move on?