Well we have done it, we have bought our new vehicle, a Toyota Landcruiser Prado TX Diesel.
So how did we come to this little gem, well I'll go through it really quickly!
First off, Toyota Landcruisers are the 4x4 of choice in Australia. Well it's brother the Toyota Hi-Lux is famous around the world for being nearly indestructible. The Landcruiser isn't far off that title, but with a lot more comfort. It also wins just about all the 4x4 awards. Repeatedly.
Additionally, it is also the vehicle of choice for the various government agencies, and also their vehicle of choice in terms of "subsidised transport" (more on that another time).
As such, out of every 10 4wd cars, at least 7 are Landcruisers. To say they are popular really doesn't do the phenomenon justice. This in turn means that even in the middle of the outback, you are likely to find Landcruiser mechanics, some will even carry a few spares.
The Prado is a Landcruiser sub-species if you like, that has been shortened just a tad and given a slightly smaller engine. As such it is a bit more manageable. and a lot more fuel efficient. A bit more tourer than off-roader. That is not to say that it cannot handle itself off-road, far from it. It still comes 2nd or 3rd in most of the off-road awards.
So that is how we narrowed the choice down to a specific model. Next the model specifics.
Prados come in 4 standard version. In Effect: Value; Standard; Standard Plus; Deluxe. I had read of various problems with the value model, and in any case wanted some of the extras in the next package such as AirCon, ABS, Cruise Control, Remote Locking, and so on. The Deluxe was something I actually didn't want! Apart from the leather seats which I thought was giving the wrong signal when we go to certain places, it also has a lot of electronic driver aids and air suspension, both of which are a lot more prone to reliability problems. So either of the middle two would have been fine.
Petrol or Diesel. This debate will go on forever! The cost difference at new is about $1000 (£400). The cost difference on a 2nd hand vehicle is between $6000 and $8000. Additionally, even with that kind of price difference (the petrol ones are the cheaper for those that did not know), for every diesel Prado trying to be sold, there are at least 10 petrol Prados. So the technical differences? The petrol has a lot more grunt, no doubt about it. It also only needs a service every 10k as opposed to every 5k for the Diesel. The Diesel on the other hand has about 30% better fuel economy, is a lot more reliable, and has a 2-3 times longer life expectancy.
Minor Details: We wanted it to have done less than 150,000 kms. We were ok with any colour as long as it wasn't gold (we saw several gold Prados that the dealers simply could not get rid of!). We ideally wanted Automatic. This is no sports car, and realistically it will spend 90% of its time on the motorway.
Finally, price and year. Prados were introduced in 1996 (technically known as the Landcruiser Series 90 or Series 95), and since then have had one major change in 2002 (series 120). A new
Series 120 with the above requirements costs about $56K. A 2nd hand Series 120 costs between $39k and $48K depending upon extras and mileage (and colour!). A 2nd hand Series 95 costs between $28k and $33k. Prados are available for less, but not with Diesel or with less than 200k on the clock.
So, we opted for the Series 95 (which should hold all of it's value if we decide to sell it again after our trip), and after a lot of research we found a real "bee-yute"! It was everything we were looking for, and although the price was a bit on the high side, we went for it. So far we are very happy!
Although we are not certain if it will get a name, we welcome any suggestions that you might have!
It was only slightly overcast as we set off for our fun filled 3 day jaunt over to Fraser Island which, incidentally, is said to have more sand than the Sahara, is 123km long, between 5 to 25km wide and is World Heritage listed. Not to mention, breathtakingly beautiful and littered with fresh water lakes with the finest white sand, the purest bred dingos and colliding sand blows and rainforests.
So... not much to live up too then.
There were a lot of backpacker tours on the ferry. We watched everyone driving off, most got away OK but a couple in front of us got bogged as soon as the left the ferry. A mixture of emotions coursed through us, relief that if we got bogged in we weren't the only ones, and panic that we too were going to get bogged and look like amateurs.
It was our turn to go, Oly put his foot to the floor and we sped off the ramp into the soft, soft sand and we were off! We zoomed past troop carrier that was bogged in further down and felt really bad that we didn't stop to help, but we wouldn't have known what to do anyway!
