93 Jackaroo - complete shit or good enough?

[MRMOPARMAN]

pathys are good cars. as F truckin said, they do autos every now and again, and the l/h rear plug is a fucking slut to get to.

theire fuel economy isnt great. u miiiiiiiiight get near that economy figure on the highway with a tailwind.

they go ok, nothing exciting. doubt they would be great off road. towing capacity 2000kg.

all in all i think a similar year pajero is more car for the money, if you can get it for a similar price.

[chino]

Not much to add on pathys but for the fact that my aunt and uncle have had a 98 since new. Not a bad car, it's the cow chaser now so it cops a bit of rough treatment and seems to take it ok. Only major issues are it's tendency to eat shocks like they are going out of fashion (ie having to replace every 10k even when it was their 'town' car) and it strangely leaks like a sieve... both problems were since new too.

[Sirius18T]

So I legged it out to see the 99 Pathfinder - looked fantastic from the street.....up close it was suprisingly trashed! Usual Car Yard story - they polished the fuck out of a turd! LOL. Tyres and suspension were great and even though the interior colour kinda sucked it was neat as. The panels were fairly scractched, bumpers had big cracks in them, one tail light was cracked, bonnet was covered in chips. Car dealer had a big story how it was a QLD car, then got defected in his yard but now it's all good. Sounded a bit dodgey so I passed. I liked the look of the model though so will see if I can find a private one. Was looking on the net earlier and came across a Mitsubishi Challenger that looks mint......man, they are too many options!

EDIT: Just checked the specs on a 2001 Challenger - the best fuel economy out of all the cars I've looked at, the most kw ( 136 ) and it has a tow rating of 2270kg.....interesting....

[MRMOPARMAN]

Challenger would be a good car. Based on the pajero but triton sized

[F-Trukin]

If you get a challenger, dont get the early leaf sprung rear one, supposed to be shit apparently.
My BIL/sister has a rear coil one, and are really happy with it, and haven't had any dramas with it for the 3 years they have owned it

[Sirius18T]

Ok the Search is over. I bought this today:

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/sheid...ger/1000537578

The Challenger was a late addition to my possible list and after reviewing the specs all seemed well. The 2001 model has a Coil rear end and this particular example is a 5 speed with gas and petrol. I rocked up and the thing looked bloody neat from the street. Up close it was pretty much the same. The interior is great and the features are impressive - electric windows,power steering etc. I took it for a long drive through back streets, then up to 100km/h on a freeway, then we hit a paddock and tested the low range. All up it impressed the hell out of me and the guy was genuine as. I've got a pile of receipts and service history and he knocked a heap of the price so I got it for $5900. It was serviced in Feb and the report just advises the rocker cover gaskets need replacing. Slight oil leak visible confirms it so I'll get that sorted and hopefully have some trouble free on and off-roading. Only problem now is I reckon the car is kinda too good - I had a neat workhorse in mind at the start and now I'll be scared to get the thing dirty

[hrt5l]

Nice buy. Ive always liked the look of the challengers.

[Sirius18T]

Cheers! I guess I'll soon see what getting accessories is like as roof racks and a cargo barrier are high on my list. It's a shame the spare wheel is in the back as it takes up some room but I do like the look of the "wheel-less" rear .

[mondo2000]

Looks like a good buy... as long as it doesn't turn into another Challenger Disaster

[Sirius18T]

Thought I'd update the thread with tales of woe. So I had the rocker cover gaskets done yesterday. Had a few different quotes and settled on one for around $300. When they went to do it, they found one of the covers had been cracked and a washer welded on to compensate. A second hand cover was sought and I got the thing back $400 lighter. Not too bad I guess. On way home the 4wd light starts flashing. I take it back to him and he reckons it's just a dirty sender and doesn't mean anything. A heap of research last night tells me that's not necessarily true - it could be a simple thing like a small vaccum leak or something worse. So I rang them first thing and the car is back there now. I'm really hoping it's something simple they disturbed when doing the work yesty. Anyway, that aside, I reviewed all the service history properly yesterday and something I failed to realise was they had skipped a heap of stuff in the 195000km service, including the Timing Belt. When the belt is done, the water pump gets done at the same time so now I have a bit of money to spend. I still love the car, but with it sitting at a mechanics for the 2nd day in a row and more money needed, starting to regret the decision . I just have to keep looking at this photo and think, at least it's a nice looking rig! ha ha

[MRMOPARMAN]

How many km was on it when you bought it? They might have missed the 195k and got all the shit done at the next service?

[Sirius18T]

210,000 on the clock and that was the next scheduled service which is blank ie. its due now. At 195,000 they did oil and filter but none of the other items are ticked off - I hadn't noticed that until now. Interestingly at 209,000 the bloke spent $535 on the cooling system - new thermostat and radiator recon. The invoice contains a report advising the Timing Belt was last done at 101,000 so I guess the owner at that point knew he was gonna sell it or he ran out of money!

Mechanic just rang - 4wd error sorted - was a split vaccum hose

[Sirius18T]

Driving up the freeway today on one of its many hills with my empty car trailer which weighs 680kg, and a petrol/lpg early 90's Jackaroo comes flying past me with a car on a car trailer. Mmm, I wouldn't have thought the Jackaroos would have the goods on the Challengers looking at the specs but looks like I'm wrong!

[MRMOPARMAN]

probably got a runup off the last hill

[platinum]

I'm just imagining something like this?

[Sirius18T]

Ha ha, gold! It was pretty close to that!

[F-Trukin]

On a side note, scored a 86 pathfinder the other day, and took a 2 hour drive today, first hour was stuck between 80-90kmh, second hour at 110kmh,
topped up the tank before and after...11.8 l/100 !! I am stoked. Now to fit some rear bushes (Which is apparently a common problem also)

[Sirius18T]

Nice! The Pathy and the Challenger were my top two after all the research. Turbo Diesel sounded nice but a mate's Patrol just ate shit after 140k on the clock so I guess the diesel cars lasting forever aint always true!

[pappy]

hi i bought a 03 pathfinder 5k 195 on speedo insured it for 13k wow 2 months later 3k for gearbox/ 1k for engine oil leak/ 250 sway bar snapped ??/ anyhow with car price and aprox 10k spent and the need to have a petrol tanker follow me i would buy 2 jackaroos