Pajero lwb advice on buying

stifz

Hi all,

Looking into buying a lwb 93' pajero (auto) with high mileage. I have a boat and tow trailers regularly. The thing is i commute by bus so i do 6 miles a day to the bus and whatever towing at the weekend so the fact its a guzler does'nt really come into play. Also just bought a house and getting married in 5 months so cash is very tight. Ideally i will trade up the car for it..

Can anyone advise on what i shud be looking for when viewing it this saturday? Also my car is auto, but in the 4x4 is the fuel comsumption much heavier with a auto box or just slightly like a car. Its commercial so tax is cheap. and considering i'll be solely using to tow stuff im not too bother about the styling etc.. Am i mad for considering it?

JohnCleary

Hi stifz

Why a LWB? OK you have the extra space in the back but think of the harder parking etc.

TBH i'd go for an auto. When towing my boat back from the UK I would have gone crazy with a manual. When towing you have enough on your mind, checking mirrors etc. the last thing you want to be worrying about is managing the engine...

Just my 2c

stifz

hi john,

I live in kildare so nearly all my parking is country rather than tight car parks etc.. I'd be interested for any opinions on wheather the swb / lwb has any considerable fuel comsumptions difference? Otherwise i really would prefer the lwb just so i can throw a few bits in the back..

Would the mileage on an auto box be any issue do you think?

bigfeller

I don't think the swb/lwb will have any major effect on the mileage (apart from the heavier chassis and weight of extra gear you can fit in). Also a lwb should handle better on the road but have slightly less capability off-road.

JohnCleary

stifz wrote:

hi john,

I live in kildare so nearly all my parking is country rather than tight car parks etc.. I'd be interested for any opinions on wheather the swb / lwb has any considerable fuel comsumptions difference? Otherwise i really would prefer the lwb just so i can throw a few bits in the back..

Would the mileage on an auto box be any issue do you think?

I'm afraid I don't have that much experience to give an opinion.

Fuel wise: I could hardly notice the difference in fuel consumption between a 530d auto/manual, it wouldn't worry me esp. since you say you won't be putting up much milage. Go commercial and save yourself a fortune on tax

maidhc

Is it a diesel or petrol?

stifz

JohnCleary wrote:

I'm afraid I don't have that much experience to give an opinion.

Fuel wise: I could hardly notice the difference in fuel consumption between a 530d auto/manual, it wouldn't worry me esp. since you say you won't be putting up much milage. Go commercial and save yourself a fortune on tax

Just copped on... alt.. Hi!
So you don't notice the difference between a 530 auto / manual but whats the chasis weight compared to a pajero? The only trouble with the commercial is the main driver can only drive it. i.e. i can't drive other cars unless i'm named on them.

Apart from that its cheaper tax agreed.


maidhc:

Its diesel - not a chance i'd even consider petrol in a 4x4..

SGKM

I've got a 97 2.8 SWB manual. I get about 25 out of it, so I'd say that you you'd be looking at about 18 from a LWB auto. The 2.5 only gets 2 or 3 mpg better than the 2.8 so I'd say that you shoud definately go for a 2.8 over a 2.5, I've driven a SWB 2.5 Auto and it was awful, unbelievabley slow!!

They say that the LWB 3.5 V6 auto does about the same as the LWB 2.8 Auto.

Be aware that generally pajeros are quite reliable but when they go wrong, they cost a fortune to fix!! I've had mine for 2 and a half years and it has only let me down once, but it was a very costly breakdown! The flywheel came apart and destroyed the clutch, it cost me €1600 to fix it with a 2nd hand flywheel!! would have been €2750 to put in a new one!!!

The best advice I'd give you is to buy it (I take it that its a jap import) is to buy from a reputable dealer like westend motors in mullingar www.4x4.ie, or valleymount car sales in blessington.

Check out the uk pajero owners website www.pocuk.com, its got everything you could possibley want to know! There are buying guides, what to look out for mechanically and that, they're very helpful.

stifz

cheers for that SGKM,

It a meath garage close to me. Well close enough in country terms. would 4k with 150 miles not kms on it sound about right or do you reckon there are better out there?

SGKM

I take it its this one?

http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=544563

It looks quite clean from the photos. The milage is quite high and the price isnt bad. But at the end of the day its a 14 year old car with 150k on it. If they have been maintained properly (as in oil change every 6k miles and routinely serviced) they do tend to go on for years. But as its a jap, you've got no way of really knowing that.

If your plan is to keep it for just towing your boat, then it might be alright. But the milage is quite high, and you could be buying yourself problems, I'd probably try and go for something with less milage. But if you do like it and are thinking of buying it, definatey get in inspected by an independent mechanic.

What I would do is bring in a Shogun from the UK. I was just looking on autotrader there and found a lovely 96 Shogun 2.8 Auto LWB there for £2750ono, it has heated leather, sunroof, cruise and 94,000 miles. It looks quite genuine and best thing is that it hasnt been used commercially, unlike buying a 2nd hand Irish commercial. I even found a 98' jap pajero with 100,000 miles for under £3,000

£2750 is €4112, its ono so say €4,000 max. VRT on LWB commercials is a flate rate of €50, and there is no vat coming in from the uk. Commercialisation from a coachbuilder could be dear enough, but I'd say if you did it cheaply by covering the glass windows instead of inserting panels, you should be able to get that all in for under €5,000.

That would be a far better buy than the one here!!