Late model diesel Patrols - any good?

[Paul (SA)]

I have always been keen on 4wd and camping, and with two little tackers and the missus now onside, I want to finally splash out and get myself one.

I have done a lot of research on here and Exploroz about Patrols and in particular the reliability issues with diesel turbos.

I was just wondering how the more recent models of Patrols fare - say from 2008 onwards? Have Nissan improved in this area, are there any other problems with recent model Patrols to be concerned about?

Thanks, Paul

[Ricey]

Paul
Look on the Patrol Forum.
http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/

The later model Patrols are better than the earlier ones in the 3L power plant.
Go in with your eyes open.

[TOPNDR]

G'day Paul,

I've owned two 3 litre Patrols, a GU II (2000) and a GU IV (2005).  Both travelled over 100,000 km with me before they moved to new owners. Mostly trouble free.

Earlyish model GU's had a weak 5th gear spline, which would let go but I believe this was fixed in the early 2000's.  Stories of grenades (engines blowing) still exist but I don't know anyone who suffered, certainly I didn't.

A mate with a GU III had his dyno'd and was told that the MAF sensor was faulty and the engine had been over boosting.  The mechanic advised that it was not possible to determine for how long, or what if any damage may be lurking, so my friend now drives a Prado.

I now drive a Patrol Recovery Vehicle, a 200 Series Cruiser but that's because I was sick of dealing with Nissan, not because the Patrol is no good.

[Bird]

IMWO, there are better options out there these days

[GU Rich]

My old man has done close to 170k in his crd patrol. No issues at all.

[trekkn]

we had a 06 st gu iv 3l manual wagon and sold it with 105k on the clock we didnt have any issues with it and only spent money on it for upgrades and regular servicing

i miss the tuffness of the patrol but not the slowness when towing

[Blue One]

To view the carnage of 3ltr Nissans, look at the patrol forum.

Cheers

[Squalo]

Not every early 3.0 Patrol blows up - remember that you only hear about the ones that blow, if they don't blow up people don't go writing posts to the forum detailing how their car keeps on going...

You can protect the earlier ones with the appropriate modifications, but the CRD version that came out in April 2007 is a far better prospect. Go for a 2008+ because the ECU had an update in 2008 and it seems to handle the addition of things like 3" exhaust etc. better than the 2007 ones.

I agree, bit slow for towing (although a 3" exhaust and chip makes a big difference there) but otherwise no complaints at all. The CRDs do seem to vary wildly in the economy they return though - some are in the 12-13l/100 zone and others are returning 15/16l/100 - or worse - despite being nominally much the same as the efficient ones. No-one seems to have figured that one out yet although one theory is that a snorkel creates a ram-air effect at highway speeds that tricks the MAF into overfuelling.

They are hard to stop when offroading so if absolute offroad performance is a priority, they should be high on your list. If it's mostly roadwork and towing, then some of the dualcab utes with their arguably better CRD motors are worth looking at.

[GU Rich]

Forgot to add that my patrol has done 160k no problems either.

Rich