Hi everyone,

Hubby & I have a budget of around $50k

We were pretty certain beforehand that we'd be buying a Patrol.

That was until we came across all the negative feedback on the 3ltr engines and Nissan refusing to admit liability with so many of the problems/not covering warranty etc.

My concerns over buying a Patrol now are:

3ltr engines not good for long term ownership (this car would need to last us a long time)
Fuel economy - Everything I've read says Patrols have the worst fuel economy.
Safety - bad safety ratings compared to competitors.

BUT I still do want one, call me crazy! Nobody can fix the safety ratings (except Nissan) so that's something I need to take into account, but I figured you guys could address the other 2 problems:

3ltr & Fuel Economy.

We'll be travelling Australia for a couple of years, so need a car that can do what we ask of it.

The other option is buying an 05/06 4.2ltr but I refuse to pay close to 60k for a 2nd hand one with over 100k on the clock (unless it really is THAT much difference that it's a justified purchase?)

Totally confused, and the only other option we're looking at is a Prado OR Pathfinder, but the pathy probably isn't going to cut it off road and we'd still have to deal with Nissan warranty issues.

My brain is tired of thinking/worrying about it to be honest! Any option will be better than our current 87 Ford Courier LOL!!