Unless you're planning on getting a bigger boat Neels I'd probably steer towards the Prado, better fuel economy etc and well and truly proven, wouldn't touch a 200 series at the mo' seems to be too many issues.

G'day Crasny, I currently own a 200 series petrol and prior to that I had a 4 litre Prado, I never had any issues with the Prado and found it to be a great vehicle. It was pretty thirsty on the juice but I guess you'll find that with most large 4wd's. The only issue I've had with the cruiser is that it had a "knock" in the tailshaft. By this I mean when taking off after being stood still at the lights the tailshaft would make a slight knock. This was quite a common problem and I'm not sure whether they have made changes in manufacturing them to overcome this. I was very lucky that one of my mates was the service manager at Grand Toyota, and he got the tailshaft replaced without too much fuss, as they would generally wait until you've complained about it X amount of times. Thats the only issue I've had with it.

I tow a 22ft Trophy boat with it, and it pulls beautifully, and despite both the vehicles being very much on par in terms of power, the cruiser's torque is in different places compared to the Prado and thus seems to drag the boat with less effort. All in all both of these cars served me well, but I would still prefer to have the cruiser.

get a good turbo diesel prado

a good engine and very reliable too

plus cheaper and more on the market

hey there,

this is an ongoin argument with my mate which is the better 4x4, at the end off the day they are all just as capable as the other and it comes down to money and affordabilty, toyota is a proven manufacture in aus but the landie is one of the worlds best however they are very expensive to repair and service, if you are after a 4x4 wich allows you to easily modifie then the landy (defender) would be the go, its alot more expensive to lift a indapended suspension vehicle, and the 200s or new prado havnt been on the market long enough, um wich landy is it lol some have the indepeded sups. but at the end of the day it like i said affordbilty and what you want from the car, does it suit or needs. um if it were my choice i would go with the new prado, its brand new and you will be the first to own her and it comes with warrantys and all that so yer

Will keep my nose to the floor. But leaning so slightly towards the landy.

Neels

In terms of servicing you get a fixed price plan on a new vehicle which lasts for the duration of the warranty. I'm not sure whether it's transferable on a second hand vehicle. I pay only $180 for every service on the cruiser. Maybe another thing to consider??

If you want to go shopping and the movies, then Prado is your choice.

On the other hand, if you want to tow a boat and play in the sand buy the mans choice

Go the cruiser the extra torque  increased towing capacity will tow better. 

im looking at the 70 series landy to replace my patrol so i know your pain with choice :)

i tow a large boat so for me the torque of the v8 diesel is going to win hands down i think :)

Its a Fishing Machine (or as I have written in the post a fishing bucket). At the price I dont think so, but it is the reliability, towability that we care for.

Cheers and all help needed. It is a big call. Could by about 200 of Jays GT poppers in the difference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL.

Neels

get a real 4x4, go the 4.2 turbo patrol, you get torque and economy along with a good 4x4

You have to ask yourself what percentage of you driving involves towing the boat.Sure,you may do one or two big trip north each year but the rest of the time its just down the road to the ramp compared with the k's you do going to work,shops,where-ever.
My choice would be the Prado,a mate has dragged a big caravan AND boat round OZ,backtracking after each stop to get the boat.He swear by the Prado for economy and comfort so much so he has just picked up another new one.

The Pajero is dead, long live the Pajero!!!
I agree with Daisy Neels, unless you are getting a much bigger boat go for the Prado. The normal distance we tow our boats to Dampier and back the Prado will do just fine.

Cheers
Mullows

to many issues with this model. Wait for series 2

just picked up aprado new service is 210 fixed for 6 services its a turbo diesel seems ok so far going to take the boat out monday week so i will see if its better than the old petrol prado that i had

Both are blloooddyy good cars.

Help!!!!!!

Neels

they make a 3 door prado now good to tow 3 ton and about 20grand cheaper

being a Shopping Trolley driver ( aka Jeep), I can say we often buy things with features and abilities we seldom use or need. And now I'm talking about Landcruisers etc.
If it's a tow vehicle with city comforts and a once a year off road trip, then why bother with a cruiser or patrol, a Prado is more than enough. The Pajero is a good truck and got all the creature comforts, so would end up a choice on best deal between the two,
but if you in a second hand market, don't look past a Grand Cherokee V8 as a good tow vehicle, great ecconomy compared to Cruisers & Patrols, with good creature comforts, an about 80% the off road capacity of those vehicles at a fraction of the price second hand.
JMO and I have taken my Jeep to many places others won't take their brand new pricey $70k Cruiser 200 series.

You can think with your head, not heart then and look at what you prepared to pay. My mate got a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee for $17k with leather and all the bells etc, that still let him get a good family car as well, where you not going to have any change from $60k to talk about in the Cruiser 200 or top Patrol range

weve had the 200s underground at work & there buckets of s#$% ive always been a cruiser fan till these models theve got the starter under the vally a joy to change turboes were packing it in alts are at the bottom of the motor awesome for shorting stuff out when been parked in water they went backwards with this one big time 

the landcruisers and patrols are big doesnt mean they are the best offroad

they are very heavy and the weight is there downfall

the modern turbo diesel prado is very powerful, more powerful than you think

modern turbo diesel engines are very powerful and have heaps of torque

our old petrol hilux was struggling with our boat, our new turbo diesel trition literally barely feels it towing it at low revs with ease

the 200 series are expensive, they have had issues, i would not buy one when a prado will do the job, prado's will pull almost anything, plus they are very proven and reliable

the only reason people call them shpping cars are because they do so well at offroading and at the normal city duties

unless you are someone like malcolm douglas towing the big trailie thousands of kilometres over dirt road often then i would maybe consider a big patrol or 100 series

still not a 200 series

why not a new, or near new T/D Pajero, they have shitloads more grunt than the Prado and cheaper too. as long as you look at the NS series 2 version, a nice GLS model would be perfect Neels.

Bit off topic but I just found out that pajero is spanish for wanker.

go figure

Bit off topic but I just found out that pajero is spanish for wanker.

go figure

Crasny , you didnt mention how big your boat was and wether there was any chance of upgrading, my view if your boats not to big is go the D4D prado or the mitsi diesel. the prado turbo spins out harder the Mitsi but both have almost matching power and NM which is what is necessary for pulling power, the prado excepts , extractors and  a re chip to increase the KWs and NMs consideribly which in my view would help a lot but you are restricted to 2.5 tonnes towing, the other option is the 75 series which looks alot like an older model Pajero 4 doors, single turbo charged V8 , live front axle and only comes in manual, then it only gets down to how nuch you want to outlay

Tthe 4.2 lt nissan is no longer made , the 200 is a great car and i would only go the diesel, i have a 100s at present but only use as a tow rig they are great for that and off road work but it comes at a Weight price 3tonnes and physical size for when used around town so weigh up your useage.

The other option is to hire one for a day or two to ensure your happy with your choice. i did have the petrol prado for a while and found very powrful but did like the fossil fuel when pushed

To many comments to mention individual names.

Boat - 5.4 Traily with definate upgrade possible.

As soon as the kids are off hands going to travel around Aus working locums as I go. That does possible mean a CVan. Or sell the house and go a WinaB!!!!! OK I am a quack but no medical questions unless it involves fishing stuff. Like how to get a hook out etc. Fishing nut first.

Been in Motor sport with rallying as Chief safety Officer as Kaneo (sorry spelling mate but I do remember you and the great shots of the greatest sport to film) will recall. So the Mechanical figures all make sense.

With Tax shit have to think of resale and the other implications. Landies hold on to that big time cf almost anything else.

Wait time. I think delivery is 5-10 weeks for the Prado. The old Paj has served us well. Met the lovely boss 5yrs ago and have always been a Subie man prior. She had the Paj. Still have a wrex, but as impractical a fishing car as you can imagine. Boy toy and I am about over that. Time now also an issue.

The problem is the Paj IS Dead. So one impractical fishing car left????

Diesel only. Love Manual but Auto resales +++ and have manual override on most modern 4x4 so not to worried.

Not a serious offroady. Whitehills, Wedge Island, Dwellingup (good old Murray Pines stages in Rally Oz) about the limit. Havent even tried the Jump up here in the Burrup!???

Tony Halliday (fellow Jaap) appreciate the Jeep bit but just not an option.

HuggyB I always find your advise constructive (and with a terrorist mask possibly "destructive". Have informed ASIO. LOL +++) and the Paj option is there. Hedland only from here and obviously Perth etc with freight.

Tournament -- all Toyos have the fixed service. Better than WRX at about $600 plus a POP!!! Bloody hell. 3 door Blah! Sorry mate.

Brucesta your up here and I hear you. Mitsies are still in Rally in some form and that counts in my books. And you are spot on with being covered in Ktown. Can probably find spare parts on the side of the road up here. LOL.

Sorry I rant and rave but this site and the knowledge it contains is priceless, and feedback is greatly appreciated. I just dont know if I will be able to go 6 let alone 10 weeks without getting on the salty drink.

As for getting a hook out of your fingers etc. I do have a trick or 2!!!!

Cheers all and so appreciated.

Neels

hey mate is the paj diesel or petrol?