Yep, yet another newbie from Melbourne.

[Maxhead]

G'Day Rob, welcome to the forum mate

[AB]

Welcome to the forum Rob, good to have another local on board.

Feel free to ask any questions and join in the conversations.

[Sir Roofy]

Welcome aboard rob enjoy your stay once you have purchaced a patrol you,l never look back
and our forum trips are great to so once done come along and enjoy

[RJG]

Hi Everyone, thanks for the warm welcome!

Cheers
Rob

[patch697]

Gday Everyone,

I supose its a familiar story you have all heard a ton of times, I'm just starting out looking for my first Patrol and got a bunch of questions to ask but I will save that for another post in the appropiate spot. Im not new to 4x4s or working on cars either and keen to get a good understanding of Patrols before buying one, particularly the good the bad and the ugly of them. Im sure once a purchase is made the other questions will come!

Cheers
Rob

Welcome aboard mate.

Well.........

The good? Its a Nissan.

The bad? Its a Nissan.

The ugly??? Your thinking Toyota mate.............. hahahahahahahahaha

[taslucas]

Hi mate, welcome aboard

[oldtimer40]

Hi Rob,

Just got a GQ patrol a few weeks ago. Got it for a good price with RWC, but it has alot of work to be done before my maiden voyage into the bush.

I had a look at quite a few GQ's and most are rustbuckets or too bush-bashed for my liking. Be looking to spend about $8,000 or more for a reasonable one from private sale.

The car yards are selling rustbuckets for $10K, however Fine Choice Autos - Moorabin have a good reputation, and many guys I know have brought their from them, they have higher pricing.

I brought the one i got cause it had the least rust, (only on some panels - which is fixable / replaceable) mechanically sound, and been mostly on-road (bonus!).

Everybody says they are GQ's are bombproof, and the best one they made, and keep going, and going.

The guy from Patrolapart says people keep driving them till they get a problem, then during the repair they find 10 other things that need to be done also, this is when they decide to "upgrade, which means offload the problem to someone else" or shell out the hundreds of $$$ to fix an old truck.

When buying a car, the question should be asked, why the guy is selling it ?!?!.

I've found out the parts and upkeep for 4WD is not a cheap exercise compared to normal cars, and insurance companies can be real very anal if any mods are done....best of luck in your hunting.

[ablast]

Another victorian, well your in good company. Welcome matey.

[RJG]

Hi Old Timer, thanks for putting down your thoughts on buying and couldnt agree more. Im not new to 4x4 being a rangie owner (which is my bush toy) nor repairs and costs associated with them!
My initial thoughts on what im looking for is a GU that will be used for touring and family holidays yet be my daily drive. As the wife would like to also drive it she wants an auto an given I work in Port Melbourne and live in Mooroolbark the section between salmon street to the eastern freeway can only be described as a dog when going home. From what I can see so far the auto rules out a 4.2 not to mention the cost they are selling for. So my thinking here is a good solid 3L auto with low K's for the years where someone has looked aftter it and perhaps spent some of the money I would otherwise want to spend. From what I can gather I should be looking at post 2003 GU's, and need to establish what is a reasonable budget to achieve this. But I should start a new thread I guess and gather my questions so I can get them answered in a meaningful manner.

Thanks Rob

[Bigrig]

G'day mate - Welcome aboard. Great people, information and laughs to be found on the forum, so don't be shy and join to make the most of it. Enjoy!