Hey adam.

For that price I would be looking at 80 - 100 series cruisers or GQ GU Patrol (3.5lt min) for the big wagons, Pajero - landrover for the mediums, Hilux,triton, navara for the utes.

Varies depending on what you want to do with the vehicle.

www.perth4x4.net

and www.4wdaction.com.au are great places to get started on 4x4 forums.

I have a great article in a 4x4 magazine at home. It is all about buying your first 4wd. I gives a recommendation of 10 different cars and why each one is great and how much to expect to pay. I will scan it tonight and sent it to you tomorrow if you can PM me with your e-mail address. (if your interested).

Hey mate

I just bought a manual 90 series toyota prado 3.4lt gxl for the $15g mark

Great vehicle,  not as big as the 80 or 100 series but with plenty of offroad capability.

They were looked at as a soccor mums car but have been making a mark as a good 4by

Some say better than the more expensive 120 series.

I'm just running a standard prado (no lift or mods) with 265/75/16 tires, if I drop them to 10psi I went where some of the bigger and modified 4x4's went with no problems on a recent meet up past 2 rocks.

very happy with it, good fuel economy for this kind of vehicle.

good luck :)

It's hard to beat a Toyota for reliability. Cruiser or Hilux doesn't much matter but you will usually find a Cruiser offers better 4x4 ability. Nissan Patrols are ok but the GQ is known to have quite a few problems. Anything after that is ok but earlier than that & they were pretty useless. I know several people that have had GQ's & they have all had the same kinds of problems (usually transfer case & hubs). We call them Missin Patrols back in Melbourne. My personal favourite is an old Series 2, Series 2A or Series 3 Landrover with a Holden 6cyl in it (186 preferably). The Holden engine is simple & great for reliability & the aluminum body of the Landrover saves headaches of body rust (still have to wash underneath after beach driving though). They are getting difficult to come by though so a newer Landrover might be more practical.

As for 4x4 forums, there's heaps. Try 4wdaction.com, Outerlimits4x4.com, downunder4x4.net & perth4x4.net (as mentioned byJarlaxle) as good places to start.

Dont overlook the Jeeps either. The older Cherokee's are cheap & realiable. Heaps of grunt from the 4.0 litre motor.

yep toyota all the way, ive owned hilux and older cruisers, and will definitely get a 100-200 series diesel 6cylinder or v8 petrol( dont get any 4cylinder 3ltr turbo diesel for that matter , they are farkn weak as piss and u be lucky to get 140000 trouble free kms from new! both myself with a rodeo :( and mates with the nissan 3ltrs have either blown up or lost a lot of power from wearing out quikly if thrashing them off road etc plus they cant tow heavy weight even tho they say they are rated for it blaa blaa

cant say from experience with the prado but if you get a v6  i would reckon theyd get up and boogey :)

hilux non turbo 3ltr diesel 93model onwards im pretty sure had a gd life span but very gutless

if u get a hilux i would  suggest v6 petrol instead of 3lltr diesel if u wanna keep up with traffic etc

i reckon my 3ltr diesel burns way more fuel towing heavy loads than wot a bigger petrol would eg i tow a 2500kg boat/trailer and i get 5km per litre vs nearly 7km per litre in my old boys v8 100 series on the same stretch of road. food for thought if considering towing etc 

ps if you want better ground clearance and cheaper suspension upgrades for future, get a 98 model 4500 petrol 80 series, proly near the 15k mark but has front and rear diffs still so very easy to lift it imo plus i reckon diffs with leafs are stronger than independant suspension for towing in 4wd offroad etc

i think 98 was the last of the front diffs so proly 96-98 model all gd

The front diffs died on the Cruisers about 2002 and they have had coils not leafs all round for a long time on the Wagons. Any 100 Series GXL will be pretty beaten up or have 300,000+ for $15k. I guess you need to identify what type of car you want such as dual cab or a wagon, diesel or petrol, auto or manual, which creature comforts, how old a car you are willing to buy etc. If you aren't towing a big boat the 3ltr's will do the job no worries. I have a 3ltr Toyota TD and have no power complaints, after all 4WD's weren't designed to go around race tracks! Carsales has a pretty good selection filter which allows you to narrow down the cars that fit your bill and see what takes your fancy from there.

Graeme I think you may have been misinformed on the GQ patrols, I know I have had one for 10 years now.  The last thing that will ever break on them is anything to do with gearbox,transfer case, diff and hubs.  Infact they just dont break renown as being one of the toughest 4wd's ever made and thats why the comp 4wd's are more often than not GQ's.  Go on 4wd monthly website they have covered the GQ's toughness and reliability plenty of times in articles.  The only problems GQ's have is that they are slow and probably not quite as pretty as their counterpart 80 series.  The GU 3lt diesel was the main patrol failure with the initial motors overheating cracking heads etc which is a well documented problem.  I have driven them at worksites for years and the 3lt Gu arnt actually that bad just a bit slow once again.

The GQ's 3lt diesel, 4.2 petrol and 4.2 diesel were and still are reliable motors these cars are cheap as chips now you could expect to pick up one in good nick for under $9,000.

I cant bring myself to get a new car as the mighty GQ keeps on rolling at 300,000+ k's its only had 1 new radiator, and alternator and and injector service.  They don't make them like that anymore.

Cuthbad for 15k you could get an pretty nice petrol prado, the diesels are a bit more pricey but if you dont care either way there are heaps of petrols around that price

sory i meant 80 series....bluedog

nuthin wrong with a gq but i sure as hell will never get a 3ltr again :)

also bluedog, i have 31 inch tyres with the lt longer gear ratio and it is shocking.absolutely freakn guttless truthfully.

i guess with the bigger motor u can put bigger tyres, tow harder and in general put less load on a bigger motor hense why most of the older patrols and landys are still going tuff after 300000km

i dont treat mine (rodeo 3ltr turbo diesel) lightly thats for sure but at 83000km from new, shes very tired and needs selling b4 it blows up and believe me wen i say the motor aint the only prob with my car, shes falling to bits lol....

i would put my trust in a hilux b4 a rodeo but they are pretty much the same common rail motor pushin very close to the same kw so id get a v6.

but i dont need a ute nemore so im set on a landy with the bigger block suited to my needs...

I agree with Rig on the GQ, they are renowned for being indestructable. if you are worried about the city driving cost of some of the big diesels or petrols then my mate has been driving the 2.8ltr turbo diesel GQ. Great city driver if you keep the revs down and never seen him get stuck or break down, what did turned me off the 2.8 TD GQ was the highway fuel economy when towing.

The pick of the GQ's is th 4.2 turbo diesel if you can find one for the money, when they do turn up they sell quick.

year 2000 have a space cab 2.8 turbo diesel, goes anywhere offroad well and truly in your price range, just doesnt like towing anything heavy

Love to see those 31inch tyres

Thanks guys,

Wont be used for much towing at all and I'll be hanging onto the old car for city driving as well so no issues there. Started off thinking diesel but for a first 4x4 that I probably wont be hanging onto for ages its not a big deal.

I guess prado and cherokee are two that had jumped out at me. The Jeeps are a fair bit cheaper but I need to find out if thats gonna cost me more in the long run. I was thinking I wouldnt wanna go much older than late 90s and not too much over 250,000 but I guess I need to look at the reliability and life span of different cars before reading too much into that kinda thing.
 

You could pick up a nice older shape turbo deisel hilux for around. 15 ive got one which i picked up for 16000 which only had 160 k on it and in imaculate condition , its been really reliable so far ive done like 20 k on it and taken it up to quobba a few times and exmouth the other week the model is a kzn 165 r which has the 3 litre turbo deisel same as the older prados

I you wanna hit the beaches then, go for a midsize wagon with petrol donk and get a auto gearbox.  Prado, pajero both are great on the beach, plenty of grunt, bit lighter than the bigger cruisers and patrols, and with the auto, you wont get bogged any where near as much.  Throw on some rated recovery points, grab a shovel, snatch strap and a couple rated shackles, a tyre pressure gauge, and a air compressor and you are ready for a summer on the beach.  Find a low km example, peal the stick-figure family and junior footy club stckers off the back window and get into it! Maybe throw a 2" lift and a set of decent treads underneath her, so your not dragging your arse in the deeper ruts. Just make sure whatever tyres you get arent to chunky.  Good all terrains or hwy terrains are your friend on the beach.

If you wanna go 'offroad' ie hit the hills for some mud, steep hills and a bit more gnarly terrain, then it has to a be a GQ patrol, with the 4.2 diesel.  Cheap, honest, reliable, just dont expect to go fast, or be the quietest most comfy vehicle on the road.  Plus there is so much aftermarket gear for them, you can have yourself a deadset weapon for 15K.  Find a nice clean example for 8k or so and modify it to do what you want.  Dont have to be too scred of how km the 4.2 diesels have done, as long as everything is well maintained they are practically bomb proof, unless its nudging the 5-600k mark.  I brutally punished by GQ ute for several years, put over 350k on it, got it with 200 on the clock already, and it always got me home.

Hey Cuthbad

Prado's model wise you have from stock to luxury - RV > GXL > TX > VX and Grande somewhere at the top.

Petrol 2000, 2001 models with 130,000km (low k's) they are asking closer to  the $20k mark (private), dealers seem to be asking alot more.

Seen a few of the RV's which is the stock prado with 170,000km for around $15k

I bought a 2001 GXL with 180,000km for $15500 in good condition, I have seen plenty of these but they go quick while looking on gumtree and carsales. (set up a email notifcation for carsales for vehicle types so you get in fast)

That was with a bullbar and HD tow bar. (When looking I tried to factor in the cost of buying a vehicle with out a bullbar roof rack tow bar and factored the cost in)

Dealers want alot more and ask $15000 - $18000 for ones with 220 - 240,000km I'd look for a good private sale and get a mechanic to checked it out.

Auto's are far more common then manuals so thats personal preference, I've driven both and the beach and they both perform very well.

As for Diesels they ask alot more. private 180,000km you are looking from $18k depending on condition

Dealers with same km are asking $22k +

After this post Sherbs is going to tell us again how he got his RV prado fully kitted out for $9500 (the bastard) great buy ;)

maybe someone can give you some info on the pajero.

Happy shopping

I have an NP 2001 Pajero with no lift and 265 all terrains I picked up a few years ago for 20k that was imaculate it's done 135k now and you could prob get one for 15k As mentioned before a petrol, auto is an absolute sandblaster with only one bog to date. if you do a lot of beach driving I would consider a larger oil cooler for the auto as they can get hot in the sand but that goes for any of the mentioned models not just the Paj.

Dont disregard the Mitsubishi Challenger.

Basically a wagon version of the Mitsubishi Triton. 3 litre petrol goes nicely and they are within your budget. Have a look as you may be suprised. Fuel economy shouldnt be too bad either. You may even find one that has already been LPG converted.

Cheers again guys,

Most around the $15k mark seem to have done like 250k so might just have to keep an eye out for the right deal