What would you choose BMW X5 or Prado?

[Micadogs]

I'm able to get a new tow vehicle shortly through work. I have two options for the same cost ~$K, a new TD Prado (get them cheaper through work) or a 4-5 year old TD BMW X5. I dont go offroad at all. Boat weighs approx 1800kgs, but may update to 2100 to 2200kgs in the next couple of years.

Anyone own an X5? what are the servicing costs like?

[finga]

Prado. Go the Prado
Beemers have a shelf life with the electrics. Something about the insulation on the wires been bio-upgradeable or something.
After about 5 years things happen.
At least our Beemer did.
Apparently Vectra's do the same.
Can someone confirm or deny this??
Parts would be a concern too.
Struts for the front of the cook's car around the $800 mark...
Catalytic converter through BMW was near $1000. After market BIG stainless job put on for $120.
Tyres...gees they're BIG, BIG suckers on the X5. Price them as compared to the Prado's.
Another thing to consider is resale I suppose.
What percentage is lost on a new Prado after 5 years as compared to the X5??

I'd have the Prado personally but I'm content with an old Kingswood so who am I to ask?? :)

[wrxhoon]

Prado , even though for $50 you will only be getting the poverty pack.

[Micadogs]

Thanks Finga and WRXhoon. Keep the replies coming. I can get the GXL for the $K

[Matt76]

Depends who is paying the bills i guess, if your work was paying go the beemer, if you are up for the ongoing costs, prado for sure.

[sleepygreg]

A mate has an X5.....when I spoke to him last saturday..the convo got around to vehicles...and he said once his lease was up he was going back to a Pajero...never ending service costs, insurance, impractical internals (but nice for pose value etc). If the Company is paying all the costs...sure go the Beemer...but if your footing the bill...go the prado. (personally I would go the newer car everyday....and at the price you have been quoted....you wont lose out.....aqnd you wont put the wipers on everytime you want to go around a corner).

Greg

[finga]

personally I would go the newer car everyday....and at the price you have been quoted....you wont lose out.....aqnd you wont put the wipers on everytime you want to go around a corner.

Greg
Good point Greg.
The bloody indicators are on the wrong side.
Very annoying when I drive the beemer or when she drives mine. Wipers go on. Every friggin' intersection.
But if you can get the luxury pack for the same price as the poverty pack then that would be the clincher to me.
Get a Landrover :wink:

[wrxhoon]

Manual GXL without GST ?

[Greg P]

Thanks Finga and WRXhoon. Keep the replies coming. I can get the GXL for the $50K


Wow - Like to see that quote. The company I work for has the highest fleet discount structure available with Toyota and you could not even get a petrol 120 series GXL for that figure through them :shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:


What spec is this prado?


It will eat that towing requirements - easy as. Hardly know my boat is on the 120.

[on-one]

I'd take the prado, even if someone else is paying the bills. They're surprisingly pleasant to drive, less hassle to maintain, cheaper to run, higher resale and you won't be mistaken for a real estate agent. I've driven a few X5s and didn't enjoy the experience, if you must go german have you considered the big vw? They're a lot nicer to drive.

[haggis]

at the end of the day if your off the beaten track in a toyota you have a better chance of someone being able to get parts and fix the vehicle , x5 is a way better looking vehicle , beautifull to drive but cost a fortune to service and repair but if your not paying the bills get what you want and enjoy it to the max
cheers jimmy

[hungry6]

We own a V8 X5 and unless u have good tax write off steer clear of it, it was the best driving luxo 4x4 under 200k, now u can get better, service cost? where do I begin. How does $200 for a spark plug lead and u have 8 of them and they have to be replace at intervals. We paid $127k for our and was happy to see it gone 2 years later for $65k, PLEASE dont buy a secondhand X5

[wags on the water]

T/Diesel Prado (manual) for me.

[Getout]

Buy a diesel!!
I have a 3l Turbo diesel X5 and love it as a second car. Although it would tow my 2.0 tonne boat easily, I certainly wouldn't leave it at the boatramp overnight! Great, safe, nice-to-drive car, that hardly uses fuel (less than 8l/100k). Bought it second hand, and it looked like/drove like new).
Can be serviced by a reputable after-market service mob for reasonable cost.
Don't believe all the negative hype. (except maybe the petrol ones do suck the juice and the bigger tyres are exxy!!) When I bought my Landcruiser 15yrs ago, all the doomsdayers told me it would cost a fortune to service, keep tyres etc,etc. It was all crap except the bit about petrol consumption. Its horrendous!!!!

[White Pointer]

G'day,

All that to tow 1.8 tonne every other weekend?

Get a two year old Falcon wagon with a HD towpack which will tow up to 2.1 tonne and be a really good family hack for years. Get yourself a Toyota Yaris YRX for work.

Bank the savings into superannuation and rejoice that this did not reduce your lifestyle and saved you heaps on tax.

There ... some free financial advice, no commission and no fees.

Regards,

White Pointer

[banksmister]

G'day,

All that to tow 1.8 tonne every other weekend?

Get a two year old Falcon wagon with a HD towpack which will tow up to 2.1 tonne and be a really good family hack for years. Get yourself a Toyota Yaris YRX for work.

Bank the savings into superannuation and rejoice that this did not reduce your lifestyle and saved you heaps on tax.

There ... some free financial advice, no commission and no fees.

Regards,

White Pointer


And i Bet it goes better on the beach than a car with f1 tyres on it like an x5 has :cheesy:

[White Pointer]

And i Bet it goes better on the beach than a car with f1 tyres on it like an x5 has :cheesy:

G'day,

He said he didn't want to go off-road at all. I'm not a car salesman. Why should I sell him something he has said he doesn't need?

Regards,

White Pointer

[MyEscape]

White Pointer,

That's great advice. Finally a person who actually listens to the customer. Not going off-road? Why would you need a 4wd?

Steve

[Micadogs]

Hey White Pointer and My Escape,

Your thinking is good, I had a 4WD previously and thought I didn't use it enough so I purchased a Holden Calais. It tows the boat ok, however is too low and scrapes everywhere. (SPrings are pretty soft as well). The other issue is bringing the boat out of a ramp at low tide with a rear wheel drive car. Sometimes not real good. I have since purchased a Toyota 80 series and does everything and more. I now have the option shortly to replace my Calais and I will be going back to a 4WD i.e. the Prado after the responses on this forum. (Do I need one?? Dont Need One?? Need One?? - you get the picture) Best thing is, I can buy my Calais out at a relatively good price so I will have the best of both worlds. I can also sell the 80 series (when I sell - give to my parents for short weekend trips bush).

Thank you every one for your contributions, they were really apprecaited - especially owners of the X5's for their information about real running costs.

[rodneyk]

Prado t/d auto are the bomb shizzy i own 07 grande petrol 13L /100ks diesel uses 10 /100ks new service cost s i think 180 per 10000 ks not sure about 80000ks service seen new petrol advertised for 59999 drive away GXL THATS A GOOD PRICE as everyone says service costs on all european cars are horrible beema is a great car but not for me im not into pi..ing competitions have a look at carpoint at resale prices you will be amazed cheers Rod:wink:

[hateworkin]

All cars cost heaps if you take to dealers to service, did my time at Toyota and Costs for 80k, 100k services are high. I love toyos but i also own an X5 and love it.

I am not going across the simpson desert any time soon so the X5 suits me great but if i was to go serious off road then of course you get the right horse for each course.

Back to the X5 , unreal .... 3lt turbo Diesel, first trip away we averaged 7.5l per 100k's highway travel, and when you need the power to overtake it is awesome..... :grin:

Very hard to compare two completely different classes of cars.... both are great vehicles and i am sure that what your looking at doing both would be fine. Check out you tube if you think x5 can't go on the beach .... i see plenty of other 4wds stuck also. I spent 2 yrs at a suspension specialist in Cairns and i have seen every brand of car shattered by trips to the cape.... I could not believe some of the stuff that i saw broken .......

Good Luck with your decision,

J

[ozscott]

It doesnt apply so much here I suppose at 1.8tonns but as a general comments just be careful with the towing capacity advertised by the luxury Euro machines...have a look at the fine print for example for the Q7...if the moon is not orange then its x-tonn less 30% - for example if your going up a hill thats more than a certain percentage incline you are reduced considerably in the legal towing ability...work that out...

Cheers

[hateworkin]

Just a thought about the replies who say that you can tow with smaller cars or sedans or smaller 4wds....

I think too many focus on the ability of the vehicle just to tow in a straight line.... you need to also focus just as much on the ability to STOP ...... or make sure that the tow vehicle can handle all the different external effects on large trailers/vans or boats behind the car, ( oh and the idiots that cut you off).
I spent alot of time out west and when you get very strong cross winds on the open plains or a massive road train passing by it can have disasterous outcome...... you need to plan for the worst possible conditions and hope for the best.

Just my two cents worth ..... and the 3 times i have had to help pick up the pieces when people dont know how to tow large vans and it ends very badly.

Cheers

John

[beemacstood]

I'm looking at getting a new 4wd to tow a 2 tonne boat. looked at prado's and pajeros.
By all accounts the new diesel prado is underpowered with the transmission overheating when towing 2 tonnes. (just from what I have read). its the same engine as the old model but with a heavier body. For the amount of $$ it put me off. for mid 60's you really want some grunt.

You can get a new pajero VRX for around $60k drive away. it has a stronger engine and good warranty. it is ugly however...

frankly if money is an issue the pajero / prado is not the best bet.

[Kevaclone]

I'm looking at getting a new 4wd to tow a 2 tonne boat. looked at prado's and pajeros.
By all accounts the new diesel prado is underpowered with the transmission overheating when towing 2 tonnes. (just from what I have read). its the same engine as the old model but with a heavier body. For the amount of $$ it put me off. for mid 60's you really want some grunt.

You can get a new pajero VRX for around $60k drive away. it has a stronger engine and good warranty. it is ugly however...

frankly if money is an issue the pajero / prado is not the best bet.




The 150 series TD Prado has more power than the 120 series
It' needs an auto trans cooler(mine overheated twice on DI, though I was pushing it hard through the soft sand at high tide)
6 speed Manual doesn't have this problem of course
the 155 series SWB also has a 3 Tonne towing capacity, 300 kg lighter than the LWB with same engine/drivetrain(auto only)

[Maddac]

Just bought a 150 series Kakadu Prado. Went the petrol option as it drove a bucket load nicer than the diesel. Not towing anything large with it nor going on long trips. Will take it on the beach and off road though.

I went throught the whole process Prado vs Pajero vs X5 vs ML vs XC90. The Prado was loaded with options.

Was upgrading from a ML320 and with the Prados fixed servicing of $240 for the first 60,000km, it was a no brainer as the ML was costing at least $1000 every time we took it to the mechanic (and that wasn't even Merc)

The X5 certainly gets the "owner operator" value, but that doesn't do much for me.

My 2 cents

[White Pointer]

Hey White Pointer and My Escape,

Your thinking is good, I had a 4WD previously and thought I didn't use it enough so I purchased a Holden Calais. It tows the boat ok, however is too low and scrapes everywhere. (SPrings are pretty soft as well). The other issue is bringing the boat out of a ramp at low tide with a rear wheel drive car. Sometimes not real good. I have since purchased a Toyota 80 series and does everything and more. I now have the option shortly to replace my Calais and I will be going back to a 4WD i.e. the Prado after the responses on this forum. (Do I need one?? Dont Need One?? Need One?? - you get the picture) Best thing is, I can buy my Calais out at a relatively good price so I will have the best of both worlds. I can also sell the 80 series (when I sell - give to my parents for short weekend trips bush).

Thank you every one for your contributions, they were really apprecaited - especially owners of the X5's for their information about real running costs.

G'day,

Here's a considered response and a really serious thought.

The Calais was never a good option because Holden fit them with FE2 or FR1.5 lowered suspension which really compromises ground clearance for towing. Holden also has a "country pack" suspension that raises the car's ground clearance and overcomes this shortcoming. But up to 1.8 tonne a base model Falcon or Commodore at standard ride height is OK on well made launching ramps.

I think 4x4 wagons are a pain in the bum towing boats if they have a back door mounted spare wheel. It always fouls the winch post. They are also very heavy and that means extra fuel burn and more load on the drive line all the time.

I have a 4x4 dual cab ute that serves as a boat tractor. It is a very ordinary drive unladen in day to day driving but way under stressed. The cart strung rear end hauls 2-tonne of boat effortlessly.

The thought: "The best car you can buy is the cheapest thing your ego can live with".

Regards,

White Pointer