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Possibly not the best thread for this, but nevertheless..... as some of you know, I'm still in the process of crossing Central Asia this year - the third big international trip with the same Pajero/Shogun. The last couple of thousand km's over here was technically 'on-road', but the roads are so incredibly bad that it's harder on the vehicle than much of the 'off-road' we do. I.e. broken tarmac, big rocks and serious pot holes that we are constantly crashing into. Though my Pajero is nearing 13 years of age and has 230,000km's on the clock (quite a bit of which has been in tough conditions like those described) it continues to soldier on, taking all this in its stride. Whenever we get back on good tarmac she just purrs along smoothly, driving like 'new'. The only issues experienced are that some original control arm bushes are finally in need of replacement - something I need to get onto while we're stopped in Tajikistan's capital city - Dushanbe. At the current age and mileage a few original control arm bushes or oil seals failing is nothing to complain about at all.
And this brings me to my key point. I came on here years ago as a novice wondering if the Pajero is a good 4wd, and today I'm as well placed as anyone could be to confirm that indeed it is one genuinely tough and capable vehicle... even if most in NZ and the UK are just in use on the school and shopping mall run. The only real limit we're running into with the Pajero is that it's getting a bit tight for a growing family of five, and this has caused me to consider a future vehicle build following the completion of this year's expedition. A double cab ute with an aluminium canopy would do wonders for resolving the space issue, but as I research all the current crop of double cab utes I feel rather discouraged! Coming from a Pajero that hasn't failed to deliver, I'd feel hard done by if a new ute couldn't compare on toughness - and my research thus far leads me to conclude that many of them are not 'Pajero tough'.
The Toyota Hilux at first glance seems the 'go to' choice based on a past legendary reputation... but the current Hilux appears to be fraught with all manner of reliability issues, including DPF, and now an issue with going into limp mode in the presence of dust - something Toyota isn't fussed with fixing since it only affects a minority of buyers who actually go near dust these days. We've had nothing but deserts and dust for the last 20,000km this year, so a Hilux looks out.
Ranger/BT50 - although it's difficult to assess the statistical relevance of all the reported engine/transmission failures and electrical faults given these sell in big numbers, the point is that there are many many Pajeros about and engine failure is virtually unheard of. I think even more than the Hilux these are out of contention.
Triton - Unsure about these. I think with the small engine it's gone the wrong direction for the kind of overland vehicle build I'm contemplating, plus it's a smaller ute than others. Still, it's about the only ute with a true full time 4wd ability, which is impressive (all others can only use 2wd on-road). Trayon did a write up recently in which they advised everyone against buying a Triton or Navara ute, as they consider them the weakest builds and worst quality - seems harsh!
D-Max - this would appear to be the only true contender, but still looks as if it falls short of achieving full Pajero quality. The engine is undoubtedly best in class, even if an 'old' engine. Like the 4m41, it's noisy but bulletproof. D-Max has an Aisin transmission, and they're the best in the business. Downsides are some had weak diffs that have failed, CV joints don't seem to be as tough as Pajero and there have been one or two snapped rear axles! Also, cracked front inner guards, which Isuzu blames on bullbars and doesn't cover warranty (even though some have not had bullbars!).
Whilst the D-Max looks to be the pick of them, I''m left with question marks over how a heavily loaded one would have coped with the tough 20,000kms we've done so far this year in Central Asia alone, which has included thousands of miles of crashing about on broken roads and extreme corrugations - all of which the Pajero has eaten up.
I can tell you that by far the most common 4wd vehicle we've seen on our journey across Central Asia is the 100 Series Landcruiser and 105 Series Landcruiser, both petrols and diesels (petrol is dirt cheap all across Central Asia and is superior to diesel in the extremely harsh winters they have in Russia and Central Asia, which can be as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius!) We see these 100/105 Landcruisers in vast numbers! Also quite a few 200 Series about wherever there is a bit more wealth around. 100 Series have a reputation for dependability that is as good as the Pajero - 200 Series still good but a bit lower (whilst early issues are resolved they have alternator issues due to the V8 configuration putting down low exposing it to mud/water ingress).
So, is there a current ute that can deliver like the Pajero? Or is my alternative idea better... which is to find a good low mileage 100 Series when I get to England (most of them there have never been off-road so you can find original examples) and put it in the same shipping container along with my Pajero when I return it to NZ. Ordinarily it would be expensive to ship a vehicle, but I can ship one with my Pajero for only slightly more cost. Once home I could test it as is initially, before contemplating chopping it and making it into a ute with a canopy. I used to think it extreme and unnecessary to chop a perfectly good 4wd wagon, but my research on the current crop of utes leads me to understand why some are doing it. The Pajero and 100 Series appear to come from an era where 4wd's were super tough and dependable. Darn shame you can't chop a Gen 3/4 Pajero! BTW I've no intention of selling my Pajero.
Long read - sorry. Have included some recent pics for those that made it this far!
And this brings me to my key point. I came on here years ago as a novice wondering if the Pajero is a good 4wd, and today I'm as well placed as anyone could be to confirm that indeed it is one genuinely tough and capable vehicle... even if most in NZ and the UK are just in use on the school and shopping mall run. The only real limit we're running into with the Pajero is that it's getting a bit tight for a growing family of five, and this has caused me to consider a future vehicle build following the completion of this year's expedition. A double cab ute with an aluminium canopy would do wonders for resolving the space issue, but as I research all the current crop of double cab utes I feel rather discouraged! Coming from a Pajero that hasn't failed to deliver, I'd feel hard done by if a new ute couldn't compare on toughness - and my research thus far leads me to conclude that many of them are not 'Pajero tough'.
The Toyota Hilux at first glance seems the 'go to' choice based on a past legendary reputation... but the current Hilux appears to be fraught with all manner of reliability issues, including DPF, and now an issue with going into limp mode in the presence of dust - something Toyota isn't fussed with fixing since it only affects a minority of buyers who actually go near dust these days. We've had nothing but deserts and dust for the last 20,000km this year, so a Hilux looks out.
Ranger/BT50 - although it's difficult to assess the statistical relevance of all the reported engine/transmission failures and electrical faults given these sell in big numbers, the point is that there are many many Pajeros about and engine failure is virtually unheard of. I think even more than the Hilux these are out of contention.
Triton - Unsure about these. I think with the small engine it's gone the wrong direction for the kind of overland vehicle build I'm contemplating, plus it's a smaller ute than others. Still, it's about the only ute with a true full time 4wd ability, which is impressive (all others can only use 2wd on-road). Trayon did a write up recently in which they advised everyone against buying a Triton or Navara ute, as they consider them the weakest builds and worst quality - seems harsh!
D-Max - this would appear to be the only true contender, but still looks as if it falls short of achieving full Pajero quality. The engine is undoubtedly best in class, even if an 'old' engine. Like the 4m41, it's noisy but bulletproof. D-Max has an Aisin transmission, and they're the best in the business. Downsides are some had weak diffs that have failed, CV joints don't seem to be as tough as Pajero and there have been one or two snapped rear axles! Also, cracked front inner guards, which Isuzu blames on bullbars and doesn't cover warranty (even though some have not had bullbars!).
Whilst the D-Max looks to be the pick of them, I''m left with question marks over how a heavily loaded one would have coped with the tough 20,000kms we've done so far this year in Central Asia alone, which has included thousands of miles of crashing about on broken roads and extreme corrugations - all of which the Pajero has eaten up.
I can tell you that by far the most common 4wd vehicle we've seen on our journey across Central Asia is the 100 Series Landcruiser and 105 Series Landcruiser, both petrols and diesels (petrol is dirt cheap all across Central Asia and is superior to diesel in the extremely harsh winters they have in Russia and Central Asia, which can be as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius!) We see these 100/105 Landcruisers in vast numbers! Also quite a few 200 Series about wherever there is a bit more wealth around. 100 Series have a reputation for dependability that is as good as the Pajero - 200 Series still good but a bit lower (whilst early issues are resolved they have alternator issues due to the V8 configuration putting down low exposing it to mud/water ingress).
So, is there a current ute that can deliver like the Pajero? Or is my alternative idea better... which is to find a good low mileage 100 Series when I get to England (most of them there have never been off-road so you can find original examples) and put it in the same shipping container along with my Pajero when I return it to NZ. Ordinarily it would be expensive to ship a vehicle, but I can ship one with my Pajero for only slightly more cost. Once home I could test it as is initially, before contemplating chopping it and making it into a ute with a canopy. I used to think it extreme and unnecessary to chop a perfectly good 4wd wagon, but my research on the current crop of utes leads me to understand why some are doing it. The Pajero and 100 Series appear to come from an era where 4wd's were super tough and dependable. Darn shame you can't chop a Gen 3/4 Pajero! BTW I've no intention of selling my Pajero.
Long read - sorry. Have included some recent pics for those that made it this far!
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