Thinking of buying one of these and wanted to ask what sort of points to look for when buying a used model.
Needs to be diesel and the lwb model so if you own one what should I be looking for? Any tips please.

Thanks

RUST RUST RUST RUST RUST RUST.
Oh and diff whine.

Age ?

I had one for about four years. LWB 2.8td. I needed a cheap DIY serviceable 4×4 for trailer towing sometimes off road. I bought it at auction with a full MOT for £1600. I felt it was a good deal more powerful than the 300tdi Discovery it replaced and it was more car like to drive. Everything thing electrical worked on it including the cruise control.

After about a year I had a cooling issue, or coolant loss issue. I tracked it down to a leaking water pump. Tricky as the leak was small and it evaporated on the hot crankcase. A year later it had another cooling problem which was caused by the head cracking between the valves. A common failure. A brand new head complete with valves and camshaft was something like £250 on eBay. An easy DIY fit. It ran faultlessly thereafter.

The final MOT of doom revealed rust in the sills and the chassis which I couldn’t face repairing. The scrapyard gave me £500 for it and exported it to Africa.

If you can find a rust free one then go for it. Parts are cheap and plentiful. Fuel economy was around 25mpg. I used mine mostly for towing a heavy trailer, then it would go down to around 20.

It was very good off road and in the snow.

Go 4×4 shopping on Pistonheads >> http://goo.gl/rdt3mE

Seems a toss up between Toyota Landcruiser and Nissan Patrol

We’ve got a delica based on the same chassis/engine. Great for swallowing bikes and kit. We take ours camping. Two bikes, one boat and a double bed. Pretty decent off road, tows well. Nice enough to drive but a bit thirsty

I wouldn’t want either- but apparently, ‘pajero’ means ‘****’ in Spanish or something, so I don’t want one.

IT MEANS ****.

Goddam it, why can I not say w-a-n-k.

Toyota Landcruiser and Nissan Patrol

if you like very expensive repairs.

as i said before – what age.

’93
need something to run as a workshorse so nothing fancy.
I have had a Delica and really enjoy them but they tend to go for a bit more than some of the Pajeros
Thanks for the tips on rust, I have seen a few that have recently been waxoiled so could be contenders.
How about drive issues? any to mention?

Drove issues?

The clutch stood up to heavy towing, I’ve no idea how many miles had done as the odometer didn’t work. Gear change was light and car like. Mine had a locking diff that was operated by a switch on the dash. It worked well. I had semi off road tyres on it and it would go anywhere. Brake pads were an easy DIY fit.

If you can find a rust free one you can work around any mechanical issues. They are huge inside with the seats folded down. Perfect workhorse.

I’d never looked at Nissan Patrols until TrailRat mentioned them above. I had a look on eBay and this turned up. A bit retro but solid sounding.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291031502891?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Thank you.
The Delicas have a tendency to develop 4Wd issues,hence the question.

AnD very near to where I live.
I like the sound of that. Looks solid too.
Thank you very much

Had a couple over 10 years and 200,000 miles. Virtually zero repairs other than regular servicing which does include need formcam belts on petrol models. We drove up and diwn europe in it (not economical in a 3.5 petrol) but comfortable enough. If im honest i think our audi quattro is better in the snow that the shogun but it did have very road oriented tyres as we didnt take the seond one off road. Had a bit if fun with the first one off road thiugh. We had lwb they are not massive in the back as 3rd of seats take space when folded up. The last one died with a fuel leak which is a common problem as the tank is under the car and exposed to road muck and the fuel pimp exit rusts. Repair was worth more than the car which at the time had 150,000 on it and was still going strong.

Thanks for the tips on rust, I have seen a few that have recently been waxoiled so could be contenders.

I would suggest the opposite – what is the newly-applied waxoyl hiding? Waxoyl is at best a preventative, it’s going to do sod-all slapped on top of rust on a 20-year old car.

In True STW style…”What I got” 😀

Hilux surf.

But they tend to go for a bit more than Pajero’s so probably not that good a suggestion, a more serious suggestion would be to throw Troopers into the mix.

Ebay Trooper

AnD very near to where I live.
I like the sound of that. Looks solid too.
Thank you very much

If you do go and see it, tell us what you think of it.

what the curtain said.

id rather see the shit than have it waxoyled over – i got bitten by waxoyl once with my landy – its spend 3 years on my drive being stripped and rebuilt.

Is it an import ? if not check the sills for rust , check from the rear axel backwards as this is where they tend to rust most for some reason. – i mean tap it with the handle of a screw driver – it should ring, if it makes a dull thud or breaks through – and you cant weld – walk.

Get one that was imported fairly recently, and it wont have seen too much road salt, and should be reasonably solid. I think many of the imports had no underseal/corrosion protection applied from the factory so worth getting done if you want to keep it solid.

Good wagons. Strong and pretty reliable, cheap to buy.

Keeping an aye on that nissan, it looks ok.
Thanks for the thoughts so far and I appreciate the waxoil may cover up issues so will be careful when looking.

Have you looked at a Terrano. Bullit proof 2.7 tdi engines, the same as a london taxi! If I was needing a 4×4 it would be one of these and I have built several V8 off road competition landies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg4R6q9OJqg

By the way the lad who competes in that V8 ran a mitsubishi 3.0 D to pull his caravan etc and loved it.

Inbred, is that offroad track just next to the C2C going towards Sunderland ?