93 Jackaroo - complete shit or good enough?

[Sirius18T]

My current tow car is a VS commo wagon - 270k on the clock but it's still doing ok. Looking to upgrade on the cheap and have been looking at early Hilux 4runners. My goal is to find something with same or less kms but as comfortable - power steering, aircon etc. Stumbled upon a 93 Petrol Jackaroo XS 7 seater with 280,000 on the clock for under $4K. Seems ok but I know nothing about them. Google search gives a pretty vague overview of them in general and I couldn't see a specific thread for them here. Can anyone give me a yay or nay idea on these cars? Thanks in advance!

[bigmuz]

Most miserable heap of shit on the planet. Anything else is better.

[Mr Jones]

270k commo is a better car. Jackeroos are the devil. Pretty average car. Shit engine. Shit fuel economy

[Jim]

better than Ladas. But only just.

[EVOSTi]

Sound advice in the thread. Not in the same boat as Ford Exploders but still would never own one.

[GTREA]

Ive had a few there fine.

I even won an Interclub cross country Gymkhana in one.

There underrated, unpopular and hence cheap...and hence the opinions above.

No better or no worse than a similar age Pajero.

All V6 Petrol vehicles in this class are thirsty...heavy, un aerodynmamic...its not rocket science.

No real horror stories with them, all I experienced was a chattering LSD, put some special fluid in the diff, sorted.

[GTREA]

Having said that I would not swear by any 20 yr old second hand vehicle.

To many variables

[Mr Jones]

Ever blown a headgasket on one? It's an unpleasant experience

[GTREA]

Ever blown a headgasket on one? It's an unpleasant experience

No.

But I imagine its no more unpleasant than a V6 Pajero.

Blown headgaskets happen all the time in older vehicles.

[Sirius18T]

Mmm, thanks for the input guys. Can anyone out there back up GTREA in the Yay column? This particular example is this one for anyone wanting to have a squiz at the specific car:

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/morph...drop/359080697

[GTREA]

Im not saying Jackaroos are fantastic, im saying they are no worse than there competition, especially at this age and with these kms all second hand cars are going to be a lottery.

Heres a quick check of what compares around Adelaide

1993 Cruiser $9200 378000kms


1993 Patrol $5000 (Auto) 337500kms


1993 Landrover Discovery 258000kms $5500


1993 Pajero $5500 400000kms


1995 Jackaroo 302000kms $2750


If you think any of the above are going to be cheaper to run on fuel, cheaper to repair and maintain, you'll have more fun replacing headgaskets, or will get you much / any further off road than a Jackaroo they wont

[Mr Jones]

No.

But I imagine its no more unpleasant than a V6 Pajero.

Blown headgaskets happen all the time in older vehicles.

Yeah… they have real long head bolts that like to snap off in the block. They also burn valves and the cams seize in the heads.

But yeah you're right. A pajero is a comparable shitbox. I wouldn't buy either.

I guess I have to be the one to say it… buy an AU or whatever falcon wagon on gas…

[Sirius18T]

Thanks for the comparison GTREA! I have toyed with the idea of an AU on gas but the VS is doing the job so is pretty much the same. I'm driving a 300km round trip every weekend these days to a 150Acre property so I'm after a 4wd that will get me there in reasonable comfort but not snap as soon as I hit the dirt and rocky tracks. I know it's a big ask for the amount of cash I'm spending but I bloody spent all my dough buying the property!

[Mr Jones]

High km petrol 4wds are in a sketchy shitbox part of the used car market. For the kays something on gas would be good but stay away from jackeroo/pajero/v6 multivalve shit on gas they burn valves often. Cruiser or 4.2 pootrol are probably more reliable but anything that cheap is probably a bit fucked

[EVOSTi]

Jackaroo's are shit. If you take one guy saying they are good cause his didn't blow up and let that hold more sway over the common consensus... Then good luck to ya.

[ahabthearab]

shit

[GTREA]

Jackaroo's are shit.

Shit because..............................(this is the bit where you contribute your valuble experience)

Otherwise post is just useless bandwagoning.

eg: Is it shit like an 80 series Landcruisers are obviously shit because there gearbox syncros die causing expensive repairs or perhaps they rust like an 80 series cruiser

Apart from Mrs Jones no one yet has come up with a reason why they are shit.

You can google your reason if you like....but at least put a reason in your post

[Sirius18T]

Ok, can't argue with logic I guess. Will keep looking around - thanks for the opinions!

[irsa76]

Out of those REA posted I'd go the Patrol. Since it's a Ti chances are it's been well looked after, iirc only the Range Rover and Turbo auto Sahara were more expensive when new. It'll tow a hell of a lot better then a Pajero, never really like the coil sprung Pajero rear end, and Jackaroo. You "might" get lucky with the Disco but I'd go Jackaroo over Discovery no matter how bad the stories about the Holden are.
There's a reason why the Land Cruiser is nearly twice the price of the others, provided its the 4.5.
If I'd was a sadist I'd say XJ Jeep, but they are shit.

[EVOSTi]

I've never owned one, but have worked on a few. Maybe It's just the ones I've seen but they have all been shit boxes. I couldn't come up with a common fault like mentioned above, but they drive like crap, build quality is poor, and I wouldn't trust one with any sort of high mileage unlike a Nissan or Toyota. Less common so more expensive. Only positive thing I have to say about them is I would buy one before an explorer.

[bigmuz]

I have never driven a slower thirstier car. They all have a gearbox whine and a throwout bearing noise.

They rust. There are limited spare parts. Easily the worst seats of any car ever made.

They have no redeeming feature.

Why would you do it to yourself?

If you are stuck on heavy shitboxes a Landcruiser is a hundred times better because they are tough as nails and there are 1000 of them to every one Jackaroo still running. A shit one still sucks arse to own though.

[ahabthearab]

They are like a Japanese Lada Niva

Without the offroadability, or character

[gerry]

They came in the first 4wd home in the 1995 round australia trial and Brocky came 2nd in the 98 round australia in a production car with a roll cage.
Bruce Garland came 11th in Dakar in 09 in a D-Max with a Jackaroo chassis from the wreckers .The only reliability issues they had in the 95 round australia was gearboxes and front diffs / drive shafts

[MRMOPARMAN]

just becuase they are a "production class" car doesnt mean they are stock! far from it, they are quite beefed up. they came up with that class to distinuish them from the space frame stadium racers.

apart from that, ive never worked on/driven/known some one who had one etc etc.. so i cant comment.

oh and pajeros arent nearly as bad as everyone is making out here.

[Uncle]

Buy Jims Disco. At least he has already done all the big jobs lol.

[RotaUte]

Im not saying Jackaroos are fantastic, im saying they are no worse than there competition, especially at this age and with these kms all second hand cars are going to be a lottery.

Heres a quick check of what compares around Adelaide

1993 Cruiser $9200 378000kms

If you're willing to pay $9200 for an 80, A: it'd better be diesel. B: if it's petrol, you'll find newer, less km and cheaper EASY

[bigmuz]

I actually did a tiny bit of chassis welding on Bruce Garland's car over ten years ago.

There was FUCK ALL factory about it. The engine and trans were reputed to be a hundred grand.

It's a fucking long bow to draw to justify how good a 20 year old godawful stock 200 thousand mile shitbox is by how good a $200k three year old race car is.

[gerry]

There wasnt that much done to Brocks 98 car nor the car that he came 2nd on the 2001 safari, just some of the crumple zones welded up.

Bruces chassis are significntly strenghtened, but still start out as a production car chassis.At the end of the day the question was to the reliability of jackaroos , and in my limited experience with them they are pretty good.

[GTREA]

1994 Delica 253000kms $4995

[Euroboost]

just becuase they are a "production class" car doesnt mean they are stock! far from it, they are quite beefed up. they came up with that class to distinuish them from the space frame stadium racers.\n\napart from that, ive never worked on/driven/known some one who had one etc etc.. so i cant comment.\n\noh and pajeros arent nearly as bad as everyone is making out here.

This, FIA "production"rules for rally raids were abit more open then simply a rollcage and stickers.

And Pajeros aren't that bad, go for the 2.8 turbo diesel and it's not bad at all. But for towing I found the coil rear end abit sloppy. The leaf sprung version was much more stable, but you then lost AWD, rear disc brakes and a fair bit of power.