Something like this one:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201305136739990/sort/default/usedcars/model/pajero/make/mitsubishi/page/1?logcode=p
Always rather fancied the look, I do around 5-6k/year, and my poor old Octavia is rattling more and more through all the bloody potholes in the local roads and lanes where I do most of my driving. I know they’re not the most sophisticated 4×4 around, but they seem to go on almost forever, and there seem to be quite a few around, so seemingly not too prone to rot. I don’t need lots of space, it’s usually only me, or one passenger, I just want something I can be confident will be fairly reliable.
Anyone got any real-world experience of running one, only interested in the shorter 3-door, 2.5/2.8 intercooler, nice big chunky tyres will absorb most of the impacts from the potholes, and £8-900 is affordable outlay for me.
Cheers, folks. 😀

Cylinder heads crack on the 2.8’s . Auto transmisions don’t always operate as they should . Stering boxes usually have play in them but can be adjusted if not too excesive .

I’ve had 2 in the past , a first gen with big chrome mirrors and a second gen . Both 2.5’s loved them , great fun in the snow .

By the way , that one in the link is no way a 2001 model , for spme reason dvla sometimes put issued the wrong year plate on imports , that’s one of them .

I had the long wheel base one for a few years. Diesel and manual. I used it as a cheap and cheerful workhorse. Mine only did about 20/25 mpg but it was almost always towing a heavy trailer.

They drive like a car, unlike my Discovery. The chassis does rust so be wary. Parts are cheap and readily available.

Check for cooling issues. Head gaskets fail and heads crack between the valves. Check water pumps and radiators for leaks too. They are easy to work on. I had to replace the head on mine. A brand new one complete with cam and valves was only £250. There is a good owners club and forum that can help with DIY repairs.

Find a good well maintained one and it will serve your needs well.

They are very capable off road, it was unstoppable in snow.

Cheers, gents! That’s exactly the sort of info I was looking for, as I don’t know anyone who’s owned one, so anyone who’s spent time with one has real experience that I value more than general Internet chatter. McM, I like the fact that they are capable off-road and in snow; neither are generally going to be a regular usage situation, but when it does snow down here, few roads get gritted, so it’s good to know what you’re driving will cope.
Thank you both, I appreciate your input, it’s still just an idea, but judging by the rattling, I think the Octy might need a lot of cash spent in the future, I’ve just had a bill for £250 for a replacement MAF, and the car’s not getting any younger, a bit like me!
Love the photo!

It did get through that drift, I took the picture to show it’s depth. 😀

Nothing really to add, apart from I’d have one if I were in the market for one.

Quite surprised this has survived 40 minutes without you being dragged from your keyboard and stoned to death for wanting something so planet destroying though 😀

I had a couple (older one was 2.8 I think and newer one was the 3+ 24 valve) and did about 140k miles in them pretty much trouble free. The last one got scrapped as the fuel tank which is under the car and exposed got rust and started leaking and repair was going to be something like £2k. They drive very nicely. Personally we had ours as a family car and load carrier, not sure I’d personally go for SWB as you don’t get that much interior space. As I’ve posted before I think the older 5 door rav4’s with rear seats totally removable are very good cars, not quite the chunky image of the shogun/pajero but much more usable and economical

Pajero is spanish for “****”. Mitsubishi don’t like to tell people that, but it does explain why the car didn’t sell very well in spain

edit: swear filter fail. the word means “one who practices onanism” and rhymes with Tanker.

rav 4 ….. not even same league.

pajero a very capible vehicle.

rav 4 – VCU faux by faux that likes to need towed off the verge 😉 – one of my neighbours has one.

youll be wanting a chipping hammer for test drive….. rot will be the biggest killer of these – late imports are what you want.

what nbt said, but then the Mercedes Vito seems to sell well in Finland…

Used to work on them a lot when i was a mechanic – great motors

I’d shy away from a SWB though – whats the point of having a great bug 4×4 if you need to take both wheels of your bike to get it in the boot

There used to be issues with higher insurance costs on Japanese grey imports – it might be different now though – worth checking though

goes of to check autotrader…

As stated above, I have no real need for interior space, I hardly ever carry anything other than me, and sometimes one passenger, and my mileage is hardly excessive, around 5-6k/year. I don’t want an LWB, it’s bad enough parking the Octy, trying to find on-street spaces it’ll fit into, so I want something around the same length, or shorter, and that’ll cope with the huge potholes that continue to appear; I’ve wrecked two alloys on the Octy, a Pajero with BFG A/T’s would be ideal, if I can find one around £800. As long as China continues to build coal-fired power stations at a frenetic rate, I’m frankly not going to give much of a toss if a polar bear has to swim an extra half-mile to the next ice flow because my car only does 25mpg. 😈
Which is what my Puma used to do with roof rails, and that was a 1.7, with less space in, and I could get the bike in the back of that, it was more hassle, though, because of the tiny hatch, and I was afraid of dinging the paint. Not so much worry with a Pajero, because of the bigger door.
Cheers again, folks; as I said, it’s just an idea, I want something tougher than the Octy, and I really like the look of the SWB Pajero, the fact it rides like a car helps a lot.

We used to have a 2.5 A/T LWB and it was a fantastic beast. It was great for towing and aged pretty well considering, except for the electronics which seemed to just domino – after a while very few “bells & whistles” worked. Chassis rust was the main reason we got rid but it’s still chugging away doing light duties for a friend of a friend 3 years on.

Have to say, I do prefer the replacement though (Kia Sorento) as it’s a bit more refined, doesn’t have the annoying steering play and is considerably lighter on fuel.

The electrics on mine all worked right up till the day I scrapped it. Everything worked even the cruise control.

reported

As this was spammer resurrected, did you get one?