Ray51

It is generally accepted these days , that modern "common rail" diesel engines are usually clearly superior to petrol ones , in terms of consumption , torque , maintenance periods , reliability , longevity...;
which diesel 4 x 4 SUVs are available/popular , Down Under ?

renth

I reckon you could do a lot worse than go for the Mitsubishi Pajero Diesel.

I was going to get a Toyota Prado but am leaning more to the Pajero the more research I do.

The DiD engine on the Paj is supposed to be great.

ammer

we have just bought a nissan pathfinder tdi. Its fab...dont know about all that tec stuff but it sure looks GOOD!!

ridds

Off the diesel topic (sorry!), but has anyone got any experience of the Toyota Kluger?

Have driven the Nissan Xtrail before and loved the space but found it a bit "sloppy" when doing suburban driving. Also tried the Mitsubishi Outlander slightly better suburban driving but cr * p space.

Am very interested to find a decent diesel 4x4 - keen to try some bio-diesel manufacturing in the back yard!

nicola411

check our the ford territory its great

ridds

Also, anyone tried out the SsangYong diesel 4x4 range (Musso or Rexton)?

Amazulu

Mitsubishi make good diesel engines.

Amazulu

It's not available with a diesel engine.

Amazulu

You are right about diesel. It is the future & Australia ia slowly catching up. I drive a 2.5l diesel Nissan Navara dual-cab ute. It's not what you are looking for but it is based on the Pathfinder which is a great 4x4. At long last Kia are bringing out a diesel version of their superb Sorento. The diesel model has been available in the rest of the world for years, now we are getting it. Kia sell the petrol version for about $36k drive away. I reckon the diesel will be a few k more but worth it as it is a better vehicle. You get a whole lot of 4x4 for your money.

andicee

From MANY converstaions on this very subject, in another forum, the consensensus seems to be; use what the cops use...Toyota Landcruisers.

The UK cops are using them too, in a wicked colour scheme.

welshpom

Make sure you research the service and oil change intervals before your buy. If you want to keep the warranty on a new diesel you might get stuck with a 5,000km service interval that wipes out any economy savings you could make over a petrol alternative.

My 2003 Prado diesel needed 5000km oil change services @ $130 a pop. The 2005 Hilux diesel has a 10,000km interval. The prado has just ended its warranty so I'm stretching the servicing out.

Amazulu

Nissan allow you to do the 5000km oil/oil filter change yourself, which I have just done. I will get the 10000km service done by them. I think the 10000km service interval is crap considering my diesel VW has a 15000km service interval.

RogerUK

I have a Toyota Kluger bought new when we arrived April 2005. Done 37000 kms, no problems, built like a battleship, it is as luxurious as the BMW we had in UK, totally reliable, very comfortable and of course being a Toyota will last for ages. The dealer we bought from also sold Fords and he had to admit the Toyota is much better built than the Ford Territory.
Roger

Buzzy--Bee

May I recommend you have a look at this thread containing my research a few months ago -

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376751

Cheers

Buzzy

BadgeIsBack

The beauty of my diesel ute which has now done 310k is that all I have to do is put oil in the top and drain it out of the bottom. I choose to do it every 5000k. Plenty of people would do it every 10000k. I don't change the filter every 5, just every 10.