L200 Automatic, any opinions?

Soaring hawk

Looking at a l200 automatic wondering if anyone has one and what are they like for towing fuel consumption and reliability

_Brian

Make sure to check the official towing capacity ofthe automatics.

Many have significantly lower ratings.

Jb1989

2.5s pajeros prone to head gasket failure at 140000 miles, not sure of engine in l200

lakill Farm

Jb1989 wrote: »

2.5s pajeros prone to head gasket failure at 140000 miles, not sure of engine in l200

just that on my 2.5 pajero sport but never had a A-frame on it

selectamatic

_Brian wrote: »

Make sure to check the official towing capacity ofthe automatics.

Many have significantly lower ratings.

I actually think it's generally the opposite, automatics are widely regarded as better suited to towing hence why the yanks nearly only ever deal in automatics for their large pickups/jeeps. Auto's take torque strain better then manuals generally as at no point is the clutch taking full strain with the result that setting off from a standstill is much easier on the transmission. Now this may not be the case for poor auto transmissions for example bmw's auto box from the 2000's was widely regarded as a poor transmission where as toyota had an auto box on hilux surf's from the 90's that were perceived to be bullet proof. In the case of the op research whether the mitsi box is reliable or not if it's widely viewed as being a reliable transmission then I certainly wouldn't let the fact its auto put you off. The l200's themselves have mixed reviews reliability wise headgaskets, turbo's etc but if the jeep is in good nick and has a good service history then it could be a solid buy as with reliability issues you only ever hear about the bad so it can skew a perception.
Also the l200 auto's and manuals are rated the exact same for towing capacity from what I've read.

Edit: Just after seeing the bit about fuel consumption, the turbo Mitsubishi's are widely regarded as sows on diesel however nearly all 4x4 of this size are.

Farrell

The 02-05 L200 gave allot of trouble, the 06-15 have had to suffer the consequences & were a good jeep. The new version will be 2.4L Aluminium engine with more power & better efficiency... But on the 06 version the Warrior/Animal/Trogan (UK version only) were better specs

Miname

The problem with towing and an automatic is the braking. At least in a manual you can work the gears down but you've too much dependency on your brakes the whole time. I've had automatics and never again if it's pulling trailers. Grand for cars on long journeys.

selectamatic

idk I have no experience with auto's I'd only ever get one in a big luxury car or a big 4x4 I'd never have a nice handy car in an auto version as I feel it ruins the driving experience. However auto's in 4x4 have manual type overrides which allow the driver to drop a gear when descending (most cars have this option too) so you can still use the gears it's just they will be longer since their auto. A 4x4 with an auto will still have low range and diff lock etc if the manual versions have these specs. I would have always written off auto's however in the last few years a few knowledgeable people that I know pointed out their merits and the Americans have really pioneered the use of auto's for towing, couple this with the fact that auto's are usually cheaper than manuals in the 2nd hand markets it really does offer a very capable and viable alternative to a manual 4x4. I'm still not sure would I personally choose one over a manual I suppose it's all down to the deal you are getting but there is nothing scientific that points to manuals being better its just really down to driver preference.

Soaring hawk

Thanks for that, I have an 02 ranger so I'm used to it been a sow on diesel. I'm looking at the l200 Fri .it looks good on paper 80000 miles .I've never had an automatic so just a bit wary of them. Some say their great some say not great.
I'll see on Friday

davidk1394

We've an automatic 05 trooper. Good job for towing just keep the shoe to the floor. Brakes get more of going as you can't use the gears. When its cold the gears seem to be slower to change

kay 9

I'd never go back to a manual for towing. Clutches, dmf failure etc amount to big repair bills.
Auto imo is far superior towing and off road as it gives constant traction through the torque converter.
If they are maintained properly, ie: oil & filter change they generally don't give trouble. Automatic is also much better in traffic.

Soaring hawk

Saw the l200 today, very clean looks genuine .going back tomorrow to have a more thorough look.looks like I'll be driving an automatic

Soaring hawk

I forgot to say he wants 10000e along with my 02 ranger.

Grueller

Soaring hawk wrote: »

I forgot to say he wants 10000e along with my 02 ranger.

What year is she? Well wear with her if you do buy.

The Sidewards Man

Jb1989 wrote: »

2.5s pajeros prone to head gasket failure at 140000 miles, not sure of engine in l200

If their owners followed the service manual they would avoid this.

Jb1989

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

If their owners followed the service manual they would avoid this.

True enough
But the problematic models are 20 year old at this stage so chance of service history is unlikely

Soaring hawk

It's 08,great spec,heated leather seats sat nav parking sensors 80000 miles and it's immaculate

Grueller

Soaring hawk wrote: »

It's 08,great spec,heated leather seats sat nav parking sensors 80000 miles and it's immaculate

With the run of the price of crew cabs at the moment she sounds not too bad. I bought a 5 year old dmax 41/2 years ago for €7k when jeeps were for sale on every corner due to diesel getting towards €1.50 a litre. She is surely still worth €6k. Jeeps are as scarce as hens teeth at the moment.

Grueller

Did ya buy?

Greengrass1

Grueller wrote: »

With the run of the price of crew cabs at the moment she sounds not too bad. I bought a 5 year old dmax 41/2 years ago for €7k when jeeps were for sale on every corner due to diesel getting towards €1.50 a litre. She is surely still worth €6k. Jeeps are as scarce as hens teeth at the moment.

Tell me about it. Had a D3 bought and the hoor sold it and threw us back the deposit. Been looking at D3s all wk but not finding what we want.
Want 5 seats but there hard to come by in as clean a spec as we had. Or there automatic which dad doesn't want

selectamatic

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Tell me about it. Had a D3 bought and the hoor sold it and threw us back the deposit. Been looking at D3s all wk but not finding what we want.
Want 5 seats but there hard to come by in as clean a spec as we had. Or there automatic which dad doesn't want

Ye should look into the whole "converting" to crew cab grey area as it seems to be the best way to go about getting a clean reasonably priced jeep. I'm unsure of the exact dimensions but as long as the boot space takes up a certain fraction of the total floor space in the jeep then it qualify's. Off the top of my head 8/7 seater landcruisers, pajero's, discoveries can all be converted.
The only thing is I am led to believe that it is harder for farmer who don't have vat receipts to have this conversion carried out.

kay 9

Throw up a pic when ya get. Best of luck with it if ya do the deal. Enjoy the automatic

JohnBoy26

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

If their owners followed the service manual they would avoid this.

No they wouldn't. The Cylinder heads are poor quality on those jeeps and are prone to cracking. It's a common problem on them. They aren't a very good jeep tbh.

The Sidewards Man

The cylinder heads are made good, people do not change the coolant and maintain the coolant system as per specs. The 4D56 engine is a very reliable unit if its maintained properly, if it gets molested with then its a write off.

Soaring hawk

Grueller wrote: »

Did ya buy?

Nearly.the father was looking at it yesterday and while it was running he pulled the dipstick and it shot up a spatter of oil he reckons that's not good and now he has put a doubt in my mind

The Sidewards Man

Have you test driven one for a good spin op because they get real uncomfortable after a spell of driving, the seating position in them is terrible. The lock in them are hopeless also, 3 point turn becomes a 7 point. Being auto too I would avoid unless you have service history because people cannot seem to afford engine oil and a filter for servicing not to mind changing the atf and filter.

selectamatic

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

The cylinder heads are made good, people do not change the coolant and maintain the coolant system as per specs. The 4D56 engine is a very reliable unit if its maintained properly, if it gets molested with then its a write off.

+1 maintenance needs to be specific to the exact engine present in your vehicle to achieve proper reliability. The same was said about the 3.0d engine in the 03 on landcruisers as they have a gauze filter which filters oil going up to the head however many of these filters were never changed with the result that there were a few cases of engines siezing which gave the engine a bit of a negative reputation yet if the proper maintenance is carried out its a very reliable unit

The Sidewards Man

A quick look through the sump nut hole when servicing the cruisers and if the gauze was anyway blocked I drop the sump and clean them. The 3.2 Pajero is another example being blamed as having a bad injector pump, the tank filler pipe is prone to rotting which brings water into the system, if people took all of 5 mins to examine the filler pipe and change it the pump wouldn't be letting them down.
The attitude some people have to motoring is desperate, they give out about the price of oil and filters. A bicycle and a wheel barrow is all they should have. Mitsubishi, Toyota do not produce maintenance servicing schedules for the craic, maintain and service your vehicle.

Soaring hawk

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

Have you test driven one for a good spin op because they get real uncomfortable after a spell of driving, the seating position in them is terrible. The lock in them are hopeless also, 3 point turn becomes a 7 point. Being auto too I would avoid unless you have service history because people cannot seem to afford engine oil and a filter for servicing not to mind changing the atf and filter.

I'm going to bring it for a good spin tomorrow.I'm used to a bad lock in the ranger but the auto is my main worry if im honest.I'll have to give salesman a good grilling,he's giving a six month guarantee with it

JohnBoy26

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

The cylinder heads are made good, people do not change the coolant and maintain the coolant system as per specs. The 4D56 engine is a very reliable unit if its maintained properly, if it gets molested with then its a write off.

You can change the coolant 20 times a year if you like, they still suffer from cracked cylinder heads. They are just a soft engine. The head is like chocolate on them, really poor quality.

Farrell

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

You can change the coolant 20 times a year if you like, they still suffer from cracked cylinder heads. They are just a soft engine. The head is like chocolate on them, really poor quality.

Is things going to get worse, now that the engine will be aluminium

selectamatic

I doubt it as nearly all engines are made out of aluminium now a days, the 1.0 engine that has been in nissan micras since the early 90's is an all aluminium unit and they are practically bomb proof so I certainly wouldn't let that put you off

Soaring hawk

Grueller wrote: »

Did ya buy?

Well I bought it today, he has to service it do the timing belt and put it through the test,hopefully it will be lucky for me.I was talking to the previous owner and he said there was mo prone with it. He traded it in for a range rover.lucky for some☺☺

kay 9

Best of luck with it. Change the diff oils and transfer box oil too when ya get it. Which model is it?

Soaring hawk

kay 9 wrote: »

Best of luck with it. Change the diff oils and transfer box oil too when ya get it. Which model is it?

Diamond,it's nearly to nice