They are awsome 4wds but they do have there little issues.   155kms is totally suspect unless it is on a recond motor.   My 93 has 365000 on it . With them km it should be a shed dweller in pristine condition.   Things to look out for.  Leaking fuel pump.    Any leak is bad and expensive to fix.   Should start easily within a few seconds when cold.  At about 80-90km there should be no wheel wobble  this can be an easy or hard fix. They are renowned for this wobble.   Front swivel hubs leaking  is common but an easy fix as is front wheel bearings.  If back diff axle seals are leaking or even weaping you can see this looking at the back brakes. If there is any oil around them this is not an easy fix and can cost 600  odd dollars.  Take the radiator cap off and check the coolant.  It should look nice and no mud on the cap.   They are renowned for roof rust. If there are any spots it is usually hiding lots more that you cant see. One spot can sometime mean the roof within 500mm of spot is nearly rusted through.    They are top cars and I intend to drive mine till it dies and it will be a sad day. They are really easy to get parts for now and most parts are cheap as . 

Have had a number of cruisers and patrols over the years and have always gone back to the patrols, the one I have now had 433.000 on the clock when I bought it about 8 years back and still has the same now so no idea when the odometer stopped and would estimate I have done another 100K on top of that and its still going strong.

If it has coil springs all the better as the ride will be a lot softer than with leaf springs

 Awesome feedback fellas, just what I was looking for

Those diesels are good for half a million k's if they are looked after. Does it have a service history?

The old patrols are brilliantly tough but absolute slugs to drive (pretty good if a young bloke is behind the wheel though haha).

If original motor and kms ide be a little hesitant, it sounds great having low kms , but on such an old car its spent alot of time sitting around - worst thing you can do to a car IMO

Surely not original motor or recon motor

I had one for well over 10 years TD42
they are getting long in the tooth now and pretty heavy on the juice comparative to modern cars
Agree with most of the comments above a few things that came up in my time with a GQ bearing in mind I learnt how to 4wd in mine
At that age it should have had a new radiator by now regardless of Km,
suspension? I went through shocks frequently
Check for power steering leaks if it has power steering, if not your young bloke will be ripped in no time :)
diff seals mine leaked cost a bit to repair
I have heard clutch is very expensive to replace on these and most workshops aren't too interested unless they service trucks, the gear boxes high and low are nearly unbreakable
I used to go trhough alternators ever few years too, the earlier models have a oil pump attached to the back of the alternator from memory which can be $$
rust as above

Heaps of parts on the market for these and I would imagine gumtree is full of GQ's getting wrecked in people backyards

He wont be getting a speeding ticket any time soon :)

I agree with the above, had one (99 model) for over 10 years and probably as close to bullet proof as you can get.

I did have the leaking fuel pump issue, but from memory I think that was common when the sulphur content of the diesel was changed some time ago which the original seals didn't like. Can't remember what it cost, but don't rember it being over the top.

Also had a rear axle leak on one side, as cruzy111 says, can see on back brakes, or smell burning oil (in brakes) after driving. Mine only needed the flange gasket on the end of the axle housing replaced, easy fix.

And gotta agree, the rust in the roof can be a bit of a problem. Use a flexi fridge magnet and run it all around above the gutters, wont stick if the roof has been bogged.

155K does seem light on, but if accurate would have to be a good unit. Mine had ticked over 400k when I sold it and was still going strong, just the rust around the roof was getting bad.

They are a little sluggish, but that's not a bad thing for a young bloke !

 Ha ha getting ripped will be good for his footy training. Some good info and cheers again  guys. my thoughts were it's a bit old but it looks like it's been looked after. Might take a closer look. 

Is this an imported car ?  Dont know about Patrols but some imported Cruisers were 24v.....maybe worth checking as 24v stuff can be a pain in the ass .....

Is this the car on gumtree ?

I had a SWB 1988. Great car. absolute tank and when we did an off road course, we were the only car that didn't need air out of the tyres. I got it back in the mid 2000's and put around 150k on it. It was written off during the 2010 hail incident and drove it around as a repairable write off.

My folks had a LWB version. They got it at 300k though the odometer wasn't working.

The only issue we BOTH had was clutch related where a hose split and the rubber parts of the reservoir cracked but after nearly 30 years it was fair game. I did kill a clutch in it but it was my own silly fault, trying to skull drag a car out of thick mud.

When I sold it, the gearbox had a little bit of play in it but not enough to warrant looking harder at it.

I own a D40 Navara and needed to learn how to 4WD again. I sold my 88 as I needed a 4 door car. If I had the room and money, I would have kept it.

 But, who knows, may have been driven once a week and polished every month. Tough old buses, I've had a total of..let me see.., in GQ's 88 Maverick LWB (4.2 petrol), 94 Patrol ST ( 4.2 injected), 95 TD 42 Ute, 96  Petrol 4.2 auto converted to a dual can tray back, and for the last 6 years, a GU TD42T ute with a stretched wheelbase  and, currently, 382,000k's. So, since 1988, I've only been without a Patrol of some kind for, maybe 4 years?  In their day, they sold a lot originally because they just pissed all over diesel cruisers for performance--this was before Toyota went to the HZ donk, which was a winner.  The TD 42 fitted to Patrols actually started life as a turbocharged Nissan truck engine in the late 70's, tough proven motor.  Mechanically quite basic, reliable, but feel pretty slow nowadays. 

There was a grey  import  market for the japanese domestic market parallel, known as the Safari. Lot of differences to the local Patrol, but support is OK. Lots of useful information and help for all models here at the australian Patrol forum 

www.patrol4x4.com/forum/nissan-patrol-gu-gr-10/

 I had one for years with coil springs and it had a tipping tray.Travelled through the Gascoyne for years and ran it on a blend of cooking oil and Diesel 50/50 mix.Was still going strong when I sold it.They will wind up on long roads but they are slow as.

 Motors gear boxes everything about them . Bullet proof. 2 of my boys still have them. Only thing they did was fit turbos . Pretty heavey on fuel 4wd side of things. Pretty unstoppable my boys love them. Big tanks:):)

 If its the one on gumtree well it looks good and original kms. You will however get a pretty perfect one around 95-97  with a td42 for the same money might have a few more kms but they are good for at least 500000km .  I think the safaris had an inline injector pump in them and are not as easy to turbo if he wanted to put one on it.  

 About 2000 to 2500 but a lot cheaper if you do it yourself to fit a decent one but I think the safaris had an inline pump which was harder to tune to a turbo.  It is easy to tell when you look at the pump there will be 6 pipes in a line coming out of the top of it.  Ive had nothing to do with them pumps so dont know about lifespan rebuild cost etc.  That engine is super strong and can handle a turbo easily  with no mods and it really increases hp.   I think they are 24 volt also so buying parts might be a bit harder.  By the photos it looks like brand new under the bonnet.  It will cost a few hundred to regas the a/c as all the orings and the dryer  will need replacing   on a vehicle that old.  

 Yep, definitely go the turbo route, they are a bullet proof motor, but the extra boost helps so much more with power and fuel economy. Unless there is an underlying issue with the motor, the motor will love it.

 I believe Nissan built there truck down to make the patrol and toyota built the hilux up to make the land cruiser.The shafts and gearbox are much larger on the Patrols

I've owned 5 gqs and love them and being a 88 it's a silver top (oil injectors under the pistons and some other things) I Would still have my 88 TD42 today if i didn't get a yello when I was younger. They are slow n/a but mine still went everywhere my mates turbo gqs went and you have to weigh up if it's worth turboing this car as a bigger clutch is also needed. It's not common but they crack heads if they are run hot so check that. If they have been used off-road towing they can crack the rear spring mounts, and are prone to rusting behind the front 1/4 panels where the door opens and paint flaking off the car it's self... it's $1200 to recon the steering box if that's leaking and I'm pretty sure they had a recall for the steering in 88? but a quick google search for recalls should give you a list so you can see if it's been done. Also if you get a knocking sound while driving over bumps it's more than likely a cracked fire wall... Nissan lsd diffs are probably one of the best on the market, to test that just park the left wheel on gravel and other on bitumen and take off... it should grip and do a little chirp, if it does that it's all sweet but if the gravel side just spins it's fked or has a open diff

i was getting 15lt/100km in my n/a 1988 td42 with 33" and 4" lift...

 Tanks Andy!!

I had one in my early twenties and not even i could kill it.

I put 16" rims on it and it was a beast in the dunes back in SA where i grew up!!

Rolled it up a mates driveway once and the biggest dent was on the inside from where a vodka can hit the windowsill, ah those were the days....

Amazed i didnt bend a dif jumping it off razorbacks in the Dunes, it seriously was unbreakable.... Well until i broke it but thats another story....

It is definately the sort of car you would feel safe having your son drive and also happy that the car will teach him a few things mechaincially no doubt and i'm not meaning in a bad way.... 

Lettuce know the outcome and maybe post a pic if you grab it....

Boon

 Ive owned 3 or 4 over the years. Good tanks. Still have one. 92 ute did 530000ks before i said newish motor needed.. then went to Kal in her and picked up a 90000k TD42 donk for 5k then 2k to fit it and havent looked back. Has 560000ks or so on the clock now and hardly ever let me down. It loves going down the Albany Hy sitting on 130ks no probs..except for cops haha. Have had plenty of guys who want to buy her and have been offered $10000 for it but no way its my bush ute. Take the low K one your interested in for a drive and i bet you will take it home. Great vehicle for leaning all about 4 wheel driving. 

 Excellent again guys, I don't think he'll be getting this one as I reckon it's too old but are formulating a criteria for what I think will suit him. I'm thinking a ute as I can fab him up custom racks etc for camping etc. He and his mates are all mad fishos like us and they dream of the overnighters. Gee the old man might even tag along with a few cans of bourbon one night

Have had mine for nearly 15 years, 600,000 on the clock and still cant kill it.
I have a lot of minor problems and its getting quite sluggish but I don't look after it, prob only washed it 4 times since owning it.

Love my GQ TD42. A couple of things to add to points made above. The bit on the back of the alternator is the vaccuum pump for the brake booster. Even if it fails the brakes will still work well enough to get home. You can upgrade the alternator & vaccuum pump though so they are seperate units. Adding a turbo to a TD42 is not a $2500 excercise, more like $5000 to do it right by the time all the mods & tuning are done. That price is if you know how to do most of the work yourself, more if you don't. A D-max, Hilux, Ranger etc are not an equal to a TD42. All that advancement in technology has amounted to engines & gearboxes that do not last very long compared to a Patrol driveline. GQ's are currently 20-28 years old & still going. I really doubt any of the other vehicles mentioned will last that long unless they are left in storage & never driven. My GQ is a 91 model, only a tiny bit of rust so worth rebuilding the motor when it finally dies. After the rebuild it'll probably last another 26yrs if it's looked after. There's no timing chain/belt in a TD42, one less thing to worry about & a big saving when it comes to maintenance. Because the driveline is so reliable in the TD42 GQ's it will save you're young bloke plenty when it comes to maintaining it, even though some of those savings will be eaten by the higher fuel consumption. You can upgrade the front brakes on the GQ from a single piston caliper to a twin piston caliper. This mod only costs about $350 & it will make the GQ stop on the proverbial dime. A wagon is the only way to go. Nothing worse that wanting to take 2 or 3 mates away fishing with you but only being able to fit one. The wagon should also have all coil suspension so will give a better ride & handling. Buy a GQ for $6000 now & it'll probably last for many years to come when it gets sold for $5000. Buy a D-max worth $6000 now & you will be lucky if it's running in 2 years as well as being worth 1/2 of what was paid for it. Being so simple to repair with so little to go wrong is also piece of mind for you that if he goes somewhere, it's going to get him back again.

 Well said Shimka. I have also got a Dmax and it has no hope of lasting as long as my GQ Patrol..its done 200000kms and it has had more issuse than the Patrol gave my in 500000kms . The Patrol was only just run in at those Ks.

They are as strong as the proverbial brick... had mine since 89 plate marked as 88. It has done more miles (sorry ks) than a trip to the moon. They can be classified as agricultural machinery against modern 4 x 4s but they will not let you down, I've had water running over the bonnet when crossing rivers a few times up north and never held any fears about getting to the other side.
By the way mine is petrol not diesel, are they heavy on fuel use yes they are, are they slow to get up speed, yep.

Don't know a great deal about the TD42s but only hear great things. Have owned a TB42e now for about 12 years and it has clocked up 472000 kms without any major dramas. And the TDs are meant to be even more reliable. The best thing is searching for parts. They're bloody everywhere! Heaps of new aftermarket parts available and there's always patrols on gumtree getting parted out. My biggest issue is the rust slowly eating away at the roof and a bit around a couple of the wheel arches.

 472 thou out of TB is diong really really well. I've never heard of one going past 380 thou before. I have no doubt they are genuine miles though, they just keep going. 

another thing to consider Andy, if he wants to tow YOUR boat lol or maybe get his own, the capacity is there but.........
I had 33's on mine and extractors with a sports exhaust (don't bother with this mod hardly a noticeable increase and it was sending me deaf) and the fuel enconomy was up in the 20l/100km range, put my 1T boat on the back and I was pushing 30l/100km and struggling to maintain the speed limit with the A/C off. I remember my wife wasn't impressed on one trip we did to Kalbarri in january :)

Shimka I take your point on the Patrols being long lasting, over engineered and rugged but these days cars are just another disposable item sadly. Your right my Dmax wont last as long but I haven't spent a cent on maintenance in 4 years and get 8l/100km at what ever speed I like. I wont have this ute in 10 years time, I will have moved on so
weigh up all the modern comforts and safety features like airbags. For me it was a tough decision at the time to part with the mighty GQ but I don't have any regrets now

I wouldn't consider it that bad a motor that started with 90Kw brand new add 350k+ Km to it and a fair bit of fruit on it draws etc.
I reckon you have a turbo to be getting that sort of economy

put some 33 x 12.5 BFG's on it, that will sort you out :)

 One thing that makes a difference and is quite easy to do if your mechanically minded is put a set of recond injectors in.  These are one thing people often neglect even though the vehicles runs ok changing them can see a noticable increase in fuel economy and power.  They are easy on the td42  to do The only extra tools you will need is a deep socket  and a tension wrench.  UFI in perth do exchange sets and are only  about 350 dollars. 

 Hey mate Iv done just about every mod known to mankind to mine awesome cars only time it has let me down is when Iv pushed to far. If he does get one and want to no anything feel free to give me a bell that's all Iv had the last 10 years. I'm about to sell mine to start a gu xr6t project