Looking at either Patrol or Hilux

[Noelm]

hey shincism, how did you find the WRX as a 'daily driver"? I have an RS and going to upgrade to a newer one, but was kind of thinking I might look at a WRX, but was sort of concerned how they are as a 'family" car, I have driven them heaps of times, and know how they go when given a bit, but what about normal old "putting" around, are they still OK?

[BenDover]

G'day,

Add up the price of an engine rebuild, a gearbox rebuild, a transfer case rebuild and driven axles front and rear and anything under $30K becomes high risk.

White Pointer

Dont agree at all.
A GU or a 80 series drive train will hardly ever have any problems. (excluding the 3 litre handgrenades Gu have come out with). I would be comfortable buying a gu or 80 series for 10k and still have it running like a dream in another 10 years. The 4.5 petrol and 4.2td cruiser engines are good to 450 000k's. Bloody strong engines. Not to sure about the patrols, I dont really like patrols engines.

shincism- I think you'll find mate. That you will get used to the 4bie (being up high and seeing over all the other cars) and have so much fun, you wont look back at another car again. Unless its your the second car (aswell as your 4x4). I could never ever not have a 4bie. Had 1 since I was 19. I used to have superfast lowered street legals. Now I see a sqaure gutter or bump/rutted out road and laugh. There is no other feeling than cruising up the beach and finding a camp site. Aswell as serious offroading to some of the most picture perfect waterfalls/fishing spots known.

Just make sure its a 4 runner, not an import surf.

[shincism]

hey shincism, how did you find the WRX as a 'daily driver"? I have an RS and going to upgrade to a newer one, but was kind of thinking I might look at a WRX, but was sort of concerned how they are as a 'family" car, I have driven them heaps of times, and know how they go when given a bit, but what about normal old "putting" around, are they still OK?

I know in standard form they are fantastic cars to drive around town, barely any lag, a little but barely noticeable . Mine has aftermarket VF22 turbo(biggest bolt on), front mount, exhaust lowered, etc so it was a fair bit laggy under say 3-3500 but once she hit full 16-17PSI it put u in ur seat. as my car i wouldnt advise a family, unless u all want back problems but apart from that, great car
This is my old baby. Even with 5 people in the back it didnt scrape on the tyres on the inner guards, partly due to the fact they were 04 subaru rims, not aftermarket shit. Anyway, go with the family with a test drive and see what they think, they arent as large as commys and falcons etc but they arent that bad, big boot!
<<<old sube

[shincism]

Dont agree at all.
A GU or a 80 series drive train will hardly ever have any problems. (excluding the 3 litre handgrenades Gu have come out with). I would be comfortable buying a gu or 80 series for 10k and still have it running like a dream in another 10 years. The 4.5 petrol and 4.2td cruiser engines are good to 450 000k's. Bloody strong engines. Not to sure about the patrols, I dont really like patrols engines.

shincism- I think you'll find mate. That you will get used to the 4bie (being up high and seeing over all the other cars) and have so much fun, you wont look back at another car again. Unless its your the second car (aswell as your 4x4). I could never ever not have a 4bie. Had 1 since I was 19. I used to have superfast lowered street legals. Now I see a sqaure gutter or bump/rutted out road and laugh. There is no other feeling than cruising up the beach and finding a camp site. Aswell as serious offroading to some of the most picture perfect waterfalls/fishing spots known.

Just make sure its a 4 runner, not an import surf.

yea im looking forward to it, ill probably get dizzy!! haha. and yes i know about the surfs, imported shit! haha. got one coming through my town soon which im gunna look at, 94 with only 152000 ks and has 8000 on it. so we'll wait and see and if ill post the pics of whichever new car i end up with

[White Pointer]

Thanks for everyones input, Ive been talking to my mechanic, also long time family friend, and had a beer with him last night about it all and I've made a decision.

due mainly because im still only reletivly young (22 next month) and my mind changes all the time, ive decided im going to go with something cheap and only spend sort of half the money ive obtained for my car.

In the similar body shape, i prefered the patrol, u can fold everything down and take it camping etc, without the need of a tent, but money money money. So im gunna take the Toyota way and find myself a cheap 4Runner, and they are cheap as chips. looking around 6000 for a 94-95 model, full optioned etc. they come with the 3L V6 and ive been told they are a fairly good engine. i can fold down the back seats for a bed if i need enough room in the back for gear and high enough ground clearance in stock form. This way if i get bored again in another year and a bit, same thing that happened with my rexy, i wont have chucked all my money into something that im not gunna make anything out of, this way ill still have 5-6 sitting around to start on the next part.

Benefits of only buying this car: doesnt matter if it gets buggered, cheap, doesnt matter if it gets sand in it, cheap, and i dont have to be as anal cleaning it when i chuck it on the beach. Ive decided to do this alot due to the fact i cant see myself doing massive 4x4ing, just a nice simple 4x4 to get me where i need to be.

Anyway, thats my thoughts, tell me whether im thinking sensibly here, im pretty sure i am. but hey, you never know!?

G'day,

Buy the best one you can find.

Have it checked over thoroughly when you buy it and make sure it's bolted together tight.

You are going from a sports car to a truck - from a very clever centre differential that was fun to drive and transfer drive balance to shift from over-steer into understeer. The truck will be unforgiving of your mistakes compared to the WRX. Powering on will not work and opposite lock won't either because the weight and high centre of gravity makes it all so slow to respond.

Take it easy and learn slowly.

White Pointer

[shincism]

G'day,

Buy the best one you can find.

Have it checked over thoroughly when you buy it and make sure it's bolted together tight.

You are going from a sports car to a truck - from a very clever centre differential that was fun to drive and transfer drive balance to shift from over-steer into understeer. The truck will be unforgiving of your mistakes compared to the WRX. Powering on will not work and opposite lock won't either because the weight and high centre of gravity makes it all so slow to respond.

Take it easy and learn slowly.

White Pointer

Thanks for everyones input, going to Newcastle and Sydney this weekend to have a look around and most hopefully come home with a new car!!!! if so i will post some pics up here to show her off, haha.......


thanks again! Tobey

[White Pointer]

Dont agree at all.
A GU or a 80 series drive train will hardly ever have any problems. (excluding the 3 litre handgrenades Gu have come out with). I would be comfortable buying a gu or 80 series for 10k and still have it running like a dream in another 10 years. The 4.5 petrol and 4.2td cruiser engines are good to 450 000k's. Bloody strong engines. Not to sure about the patrols, I dont really like patrols engines.

shincism- I think you'll find mate. That you will get used to the 4bie (being up high and seeing over all the other cars) and have so much fun, you wont look back at another car again. Unless its your the second car (aswell as your 4x4). I could never ever not have a 4bie. Had 1 since I was 19. I used to have superfast lowered street legals. Now I see a sqaure gutter or bump/rutted out road and laugh. There is no other feeling than cruising up the beach and finding a camp site. Aswell as serious offroading to some of the most picture perfect waterfalls/fishing spots known.

Just make sure its a 4 runner, not an import surf.

G'day,

Let's have a debate and not an argument. The 100 series replaced the 80 series back in 1997. I think that was the same time that GU replaced GQ or was significantly upgraded. In any case, with low to medium usage we are talking about 12 year old cars with around 240,000KM.

My recollection is that post 1997 all 4x4 wagons had to comply with the same standards for crash protection as passenger cars. Think of 1 January 1998 build dates (not compliance dates) as a safety benchmark.

Even if it's been a Toorak tractor is has had around 9,000 start/stop cycles and starter motors, alternators, injection systems, aircon compressors, ECUs, etc are close to end of life so plan their replacement in your purchase budget.

It will wear out and it will become expensive to maintain.

White Pointer

[shincism]

Hey everyone, thought id just drop a line(lol) here and say that i purchased myself a new car the other week.

ended up getting myself a 1994 80 Series GXL 4.5L petrol. LOVE IT! dont know why i ever owned a CAR before, haha, Bought it bog stock standard, log books from 0-200xxxkms, had it checked out the other day by my mechanic and hes said its in pretty much shmico condition, just few little things that need doing but nothing major at all. So thats icing on the cake.

Heres a few piccies of here, when i got her. Bought myself some roof racks the other day and new tires are next on my agenda (has Michelen LTX roadies atm) so im considering the way of a set of Cooper ST 285/75r16 and a set of Sunraysia Rims to suit, so i can keep the road tires cos they arent that worn yet.

Next thing is to get beach permit but i am resistant due to NSW laws are they aare every financial year, which gievs me about 4 weeks of beach, then i have to buy another licence. anyway. i guess the main thing is for me to have some fun with it!

it will be getting some more modifications down the track such as: ARB Winchbullbar, 2 or 3" lift, Rhino Roof carier or cage to suit the racks, and i suppose i best fit myself a fishing rod holder on there somewhere! Have a friend who works in the mines who is organising me a mine spec UHF/cb etc radio for near to nothing which is also awesome. fit a new cd player when i got it so i can play music off my iphone and thats about the extent of what ive done. just have to make some moolah appear from nowhere for the $1500 worth of wheels and tires!!!

Tell us what u think::

[nigelr]

Well done mate, that's a beaut example, should last you ages.
The petty kills the diesel on the beach, IMO.
Personally I'd forget putting anything on the roof, the gutters are renowned rust traps. Also check this thread.
http://www.lcool.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=831
Cheers and enjoy!

[shincism]

o ok, i checked the gutters when i was buying it and they seemed pretty good, looks like its prettty much rust free, dont know whether its really ever seen dirt or beach, haha. Ill see what happens anyway, i just wanted the roof cage so i can put the spare on top and other shit if need be, thanks for the info anyway! waiting authorisation for that site then i can look at it...

[White Pointer]

G'day,

Nice truck. If you must put roof racks on put a good layer of soft rubber in the drain channels before mounting and remove and clean after each trip. Saves on fuel too.

Get used to cleaning after every beach trip. An hour on the beach costs two hours under the car with a hose and it has to be hot water - not cold.

Tread softly. Its a truck - not the WRX. It will take you places you could not have imagined a car could go but take it easy and enjoy the scenery - don't drive into it.

Regards,

White Pointer