Thinking about joining team troll.

[slugandlettuce]

Hey guys,

I am currently looking at buying a 4x4 and a 2003 patrol (wagon) has made itself known. I was hoping somebody on here may have one from this year or older and could shed some light on its reliability over the years.

This particular Troll has had only one owner(s) ( and old couple ) . sorry if i seem ageist. It has done 250,000km. It runs on diesel and I am assuming it is a 3ltr.

do you think this is too old or has too many Kms ?
I have never owned a nissan and am having a hard time grasping any kind of reference point to its durability or reliability. any 2 cents would be happily taken.

Cheers.

Slug

[slugandlettuce]

i should add it has been serviced every 10,000 ams

[BigRAWesty]

Well that age it could be a td42 so best find out mate..
If it's a td42 then even with those k's it's just run in..
If it's a 3ltr.. then that amount is getting up there..

[Bigcol]

totally agree with Kallen,
find out if its a TD42, if it is, has not even run in as yet


with the Patrols
apart from nearly bullet proof running gear - (wheel bearings) there is not much that can stop them

[4bye4]

G'day mate and welcome to the forum.

[slugandlettuce]

sorry, but by "just run in " do you mean the car is relatively new ? and also if it is not a TD42 would you reconsider buying this car considering its age/use.

[Avo]

welcome to the forum

[Cuppa]

sorry, but by "just run in " do you mean the car is relatively new ? and also if it is not a TD42 would you reconsider buying this car considering its age/use.

If it's a well looked after TD42 the motor should be good for the same mileage again if properly looked after. If it's a 3 litre it's a little like playing russian roulette - could be ok for another 100,000ks + or could go bang next week. Not saying a 3 litre isn't worth buying, but there is a reason why older TD42's still command better prices than later 3 litre models.

[BigRAWesty]

sorry, but by "just run in " do you mean the car is relatively new ? and also if it is not a TD42 would you reconsider buying this car considering its age/use.


If it's a well looked after TD42 the motor should be good for the same mileage again if properly looked after. If it's a 3 litre it's a little like playing russian roulette - could be ok for another 100,000ks + or could go bang next week. Not saying a 3 litre isn't worth buying, but there is a reason why older TD42's still command better prices than later 3 litre models.
Spot on..
My td42 is up to 526***km on the clock and all original and still goes like new.
You won't see that out of a zd30..

[BigRAWesty]

Also service every 10,000 is probably another strike against it..
Nissan suggest every 5000k I'm pretty sure..

[bazzaboy]

Also service every 10,000 is probably another strike against it..
Nissan suggest every 5000k I'm pretty sure..

On the newer models.... 10,000K if not used as tractor or in regular severe conditions. At 5,000K, the oil in my 2014 still look OK.

[BigRAWesty]

On the newer models.... 10,000K if not used as tractor, At 5,000K, the oil in my 2014 still look OK.
My 08 pretty sure they suggest 5000.
But will have to check

[Touses]

Slugandlettuce. Original for sure. Welcome and enjoy the forum.

[slugandlettuce]

Also service every 10,000 is probably another strike against it..
Nissan suggest every 5000k I'm pretty sure..

If it were to be a TD42 being serviced every 10k rather than 5k, would you still think this would be a major concern ?

[garett]

mine has been serviced once a year or every 10k no sludging under the rocker cover so all good. now it does depend on the oil, check under the cap if its not sludgey should be fine.

note: mine is a gq (1990 with 500 000 km) without a turbo.

[BigRAWesty]

If it were to be a TD42 being serviced every 10k rather than 5k, would you still think this would be a major concern ?
It's not detrimental no.. but does aid in the upkeep...

[threedogs]

Hello and welcome to the forum, Id probably walk away from that one,
Whats your budget??

[slugandlettuce]

Hello and welcome to the forum, Id probably walk away from that one,
Whats your budget??

15 k, i know it isn't much, but i thought i could have gotten away with it. I always thought being a diesel i could have squeezed at least another 100k out of its engine. the guy who's car it is works at the same mine but we work back to back shifts so its quite hard to talk to him, who knows he could be selling a 42 for 14k , i'll let you guys know.

[threedogs]

If it doesn't need to be Diesel you could buy a very nice Ti Petrol with $15k
Power to burn,,,,,LOL
If you could stretch your budget to $20k you'd have a patrol 4.2TD for life

[BigRAWesty]

15k will land a nice tb48 gu..
Imo the fuel usage between a crd and 4.8 is minimal untill you start towing big loads..
The crd is about 16/100 around town and early teens on the highway..

I'm still not sure if the crd was the way to go but to late now ey lol.. it's in my drive way..
Could have landed a awesome tb48 gu for the same price

[threedogs]

15k will land a nice tb48 gu..
Imo the fuel usage between a crd and 4.8 is minimal untill you start towing big loads..
The crd is about 16/100 around town and early teens on the highway..

I'm still not sure if the crd was the way to go but to late now ey lol.. it's in my drive way..
Could have landed a awesome tb48 gu for the same price

And turboed it va va va voooooom

[slugandlettuce]

I kinda had my heart set on diesel.

[slugandlettuce]

15k will land a nice tb48 gu..
Imo the fuel usage between a crd and 4.8 is minimal untill you start towing big loads..
The crd is about 16/100 around town and early teens on the highway..

I'm still not sure if the crd was the way to go but to late now ey lol.. it's in my drive way..
Could have landed a awesome tb48 gu for the same price


Is the 48 and the 30 much the same in the way that i shouldn't buy anything with 250,000 ks on it or are the 48's bit more durable ?

[BigRAWesty]

The 4.8 is very durable.. and quite a good engine..
Good power too from stock..
Probably out does the zd30 off the factory floor..
If you do go petrol I'd suggest find one without gas installed..

[mudnut]

Hello and welcome to the forum. The search function is your friend when it comes to deciding on which patrol to purchase. There are numerous threads extolling the virtues of the wonderfully durable ZD 30, NOT!!.

According to the Gurus, the TD42 is the pick of the bunch, but the cost to buy is prohibitive. Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

[Bigcol]

all depends on what you want to do with it

tow a caravan around Australia.............? - get a 4.2
to justify the cost of buying a 4.2, you really really need to be doing a lot of heavy towing

otherwise, a good 4.2 / 4.5 / 4.8 petrol or 2.8 / 3.0 / CRD will be fine

beetle around the suburbs and the odd camping trip - get ANY Patrol, they will all do the job

depends on how you drive as well, drive a petrol Patrol like a stolen HSV - your gunna pay big dollars for fuel

[slugandlettuce]

It turns of it was a 3.0 . I will note your warnings, steer clear and hopefully have a forby next time we chat. although, the mines are struggling a bit , might not be the best time to buy a car.

[dom14]

I've never had a TD42, but I'm working on getting a one.
I've been reading posts from TD42 and 3 litre diesel owners and gurus here.
From what I've read and what I've seen so far, I'm bit wary of buying the latter one.
I'm not familiar with the later and better versions of the 3L diesel engine, so I may be
bit prejudiced.

I'm guessing CRD 3.0 engine is an improved version of the ZD30?

This appears to be a good article on ZD30 engine issues.

http://www.chaz.yellowfoot.org/zd30_engine_problems.htm

[Cuppa]

I've never driven a 3 litre Patrol, but I know they can leave me at the lights with ease. I chose a 4.2 on the basis of it's reputation for longevity & because it lacks many of the sensors/electronics that most (all) more recent vehicle's have. Too many stories about 'electronic strandings' in remote areas (not just Patrols). The price of reliability & fixability is buying price & higher fuel consumption. It's an 'Old School' vs New School thing.

[threedogs]

If you buy a zd30 DI if it breaks down there is nothing you can do except call a tilt tray.
the CRD will be the pick if you want a diesel, dont forget to strenhten the coil towers down the back
if you want a patrol as a tow vehicle its either a TD 4.2,,CRD or a petrol variant .

[dom14]

I've never driven a 3 litre Patrol, but I know they can leave me at the lights with ease. I chose a 4.2 on the basis of it's reputation for longevity & because it lacks many of the sensors/electronics that most (all) more recent vehicle's have. Too many stories about 'electronic strandings' in remote areas (not just Patrols). The price of reliability & fixability is buying price & higher fuel consumption. It's an 'Old School' vs New School thing.

Yeah, the same reason I've been happy to stay with an old school RB30 carby Patrol, instead of doing the EFI conversion or moving on to EFI versions. I find it's safer and easier to carry a backup carby, ignition coil, dizzy, etc than having a single point of failure models.
But, I'm sure guys would swear by the reliability of EFI. After all EFI isn't that new anymore. It's that the carbys are pretty old but still pretty reliable for most of the trekking. If a one dies, it's pretty easier to swap a one. From what I've heard so far, there is not a whole lot of difference between EFI RB30 and carby RB30. There's not a lot of power difference either. For turbo, EFI is obviously a better choice.