Need to tow 2T, 4wd or not under $30K

[roydsy]

Hey there, I need to get something to pull the boat, i have been relying on the old mans Ford rtv to do the job and its about time i got something else to get wet a bit more.

I am considering trading in either the bravo ute (only 1.1T tow capacity) or the newish corolla on something around the $30K mark either near new or used.

I won't be doing much 4WD'ing yet, but would like something that will easily pull 1600KG boat, so i was thinking..... SUV (well the wife was) like the X-trail (2T capacity) and replace the corolla. or at the other end of the scale grab an old diesel patrol for trips back and forth to the ramp and replace the old bravo ute. Either way, we still need something for the commute to work (unfortunately) so fuel economy is a consideration.

Any comments on the new 2008 x-trails? or even the V6 Rav 4's

[roydsy]

No recommendations hey?

What would you buy to tow 2T? if you had $10-30K and wanted to limit spending if possible.

[mickstar001]

Roydsy, if i can help let me know, i work in a car yard at Moorooka in Brisbane, check out the website www.salterscars.com.au (http://www.salterscars.com.au), there are a couple of x-trails in there if thats what your thinking?

Michael

[Roo]

Tough Crowd.

I ws going to suggest the Mitsu Outlander (ZG) but the 2.4l only has 1500kg tow capacity and the V6 is only 1600kg.
A mate has the 2.4 and loves it.....tows a camper trailer with no worries and gets very good fuel economy too. similar engine spec to the X trail. He reckons the CVT auto is great too, Always in the right gear. the new Xtrail will have a CVT auto too so might be worth a look.
Cheers Roo.

Plan B. $500 buck Falcon. preferably bought with plenty of rego left......get another each year!!

[Flex]

How much towing are you doing? if you are towing long distances you'd be totally mad not to get a diesel.

Any petrol car/4wd basically has its fuel consumption cut down by 50% when towing anything the size/weight of your average caravan(750kg+ tinny).

So if your towing longish distances get a diesel or you'll be needing a bank loan to tow your boat anymore than 200km.

To give you an idea a popular 4x4 mag did a study of the 4.2 deisel patrol/landcruiser and the 4.5 petrol towing exactly 2 tonnes of gear.

The diesels unweighted used about 11l/100km and 12-13l/100km when towing

The petrol used 11l/100km unweighted and 24l/100km when towing. double that of the diesel!!

If I had 30k to spend I'd buy a turbo diesel patrol or landcruiser. cant beat a 6cylinder diesel for towing.

[roydsy]

Most of it will be 30 mins drive, with 2-3 trips a year up to hervey bay (so 6 hours driving).

Cheers roo, the dirt cheap option is always a possibility until I can convince the war office to release more funds. Oh and holden mate, not falcon hehe The 2008 xtrail with CVT auto would keep the missus happy, but she doesn't want to spend too much dollarmite so i need to convince her to spend more for piece of mind.

I was thinking of getting a turbo diesel, but either a triton or navara in the 3.0L class. What sort of money and year/model am I looking at if i spend $20K on a used diesel 4WD?

If it were entirely up to me, we would just be getting the new triton diesel. Covers all bases then.

Thanks for the advice
Roydsy

[roydsy]

Roydsy, if i can help let me know, i work in a car yard at Moorooka in Brisbane, check out the website www.salterscars.com.au (http://www.salterscars.com.au), there are a couple of x-trails in there if thats what your thinking?

Michael

Thanks Michael, but we use an online car broker to get us best price and have been quite amazed at how much some dealers are willing to come down in price when trying to meet quotas. They use reverse auction and a best price starting price to get the things rolling.

Once the missus makes up her mind, sadly we will be able to get something. I hope to have something in the next few weeks either way.

Roydsy

[Roo]

The Current/older navara (D22) is a good buy if you can pick up a S/H one with lowish kays. 3L turbo diesel is strong enough. I'm not a fan of the Utes myself....always find the seating position uncomfortable. i had a '91 80 series Diesel Landcruiser (1HZ). I loved it. shame it had to go. the Non Turbo motor was a workhorse....fuel economy was similar to the Turbo Deisels but it lacked the grunt...although it wasn't that slow either, 96Kw is ok. My Ideal truck'o'saurus would be an older 80 series DX (no carpet) Non Turbo 1HZ....something under 300,000ks if you can find it and put a Turbo kit on it. The fancy pants T/D models might be nice but they had the fulltime 4WD which will can Hurt fuel econ on road and isn't really neccesary, and the interior would be getting tired by now.

cheers Roo.

[revs57]

Hi Roydsy,

I looked at the same question a couple of years back when we built Flamin Riptide.

I opted for the old diesel work horse approach and picked up a reasonable GQ patrol 4.2 turbo diesel auto Wagon off ebay for $10k which was pretty good back then.

It had only done 200,000k and was a pretty good place to start. No rust and tough as. Over the past 2 years I've done 50,000klm - predictibly I've replaced the plenary plate and beefed up the clutch in the auto from 5 to 7 plates. I've given it king springs and koni's, a 5 core alloy radiator and an intercooler - all up I've spend around $13,500 and have a truck that is as tough as nails and pulls the 2T Riptide very well - even on the sand of Fraser.

If I was to do it again, I'd probably go for a GQ coil cab for the ute component - but I do like the beefed up auto for towing in sand.

P.S. I hate tying up too much money on a depreciable asset like a car!

Cheers

Rhys

[Mtx]

you could look at a Turbo Diesel 80 series Cruiser.
Sub 20k will pull anything and is reasonable on fuel.

[roydsy]

Okay so who isn't telling the truth, redbook, ebay, or carsales sellers.

Redbook give realistic prices for these vehicles, but people want 30-40% more than recommended retail. Is it a matter of supply and demand, or wishful thinking.

The more I think about the more I am leaning to a GQ patrol now.

[revs57]

If you're gonna look at a GQ, go the later (post 1993) models. I learned after purchasing mine the earlier motors in the model had a heat sink issue in the inlet manifold. Mine is a 1992. It has an after market turbo and when I ask it to really works like pulling the boat up a long grade hill or over Indian Head/Champaign pools on Fraser it get hot. I've been able to mask the problem with an intercooler and a 5 core PWR (very expensive) alloy radiator, so I can control the heat up, but the temp still lifts under load but in the later 1994 model seems they fixed the design problem for that series

Cheers

Rhys