Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi

I'm a total newbie to 4x4ing, and i need advice with regard to which direction to go. Just a bit of background, I have been "burnt" in the past way too many times with second hand cars and the last few years I have been going well with 2 reliable/ inexpensive japanese cars.
So I am a little apprehensive about this move but i feel the itch, as i know this is something we could enjoy as a family.For 4x4ing I plan initally to do mostly day trips to places near JHB and maybe 2 - 3 trips a year to parks or to MOZ.
I heard that the gen 3, 3.2did is a very reliable diesel motor and the gls version comes with all the luxuries for long distance travel(this appeals to me), however i need to know the following from a practical perspective:
My budget is approximately 150K can i get something decent for this price?
I need to know if it is worth replacing my old faithful toyota run around or buy this car as a 3rd and only for weekends.
I have 2 small kids and if i went for the 3 door Is this still a practical everyday car (distance to work is 15kms each way and some running around in between)?
Is the 3 door or 5 door better?
Sorry for the long strory, advice would be much appreciated.

Kids and two doors don't work. Especially small kids that needs to be assisted in getting in and out of their seats. I would try and find a 5 door in your case. If you look around patiently you will definately find a 2000-2002 Pajero 5 door in the R150 000 price range. Just do a lot of searching and test driving and you should find a good one. By the way. In those years you got auto and manual gearbox options. The manuals sell for slightly less than the auto if you start comparing vehicles. Both gearboxes are renowned for robustness and both have dis- and advantages.

Unfortunately there are no guarantees in life, but these engines in general seem to be reasonably trouble free and should give good lifespan.

CATS

Hi

I currently drive the 3 door model. Its brilliant for a 2 person family. We are going to Botswana for 2 weeks, only the 2 of us in the car, and I'm a bit worried if I will be able to fit all the gear.

I will defnitely agree with Cats that the 5 door option will be best if you have any kids.

Regards,

does the consumption on the 5 door vs the 3 door differ much?

i just went to see a 2003 5 door that was advertised on autotrader. The guy was asking R150K and it has 163000 on the clock. It looks ok, but it doesn't have a service history and its missing the head rests at the back. the seats look quite worn and it was very dirty inside. the guy said he hardly used it, got it about a year ago and changed the oil and oil filter himself and his wife only used it for shopping. Any opinions on this 1?

Hi,

I'm not an expert whatsoever, but I'm going through a similar process at the moment.

I was / am looking for a SWB, but have seen a few LWBs that are within your budget.

IMHO, I think it's critical you run some tests before buying the vehicle. I'm in the process of negotiating a deal with a Mitsubishi dealer and despite being a 1 owner, FSH, relatively "low" mileage vehicle some tests have thrown up a few red flags. Logistically this may be more difficult to do on a private sale, but I certainly think it's worth the effort.

I've had AA, compression and dyno tests completed on the vehicle. If it wasn't for these tests and the help of experts on this forum I'd have no idea how good / bad the vehicle is.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck.

Sounds like it was a good start for your quest to find the right one. ie STEP 1.

I would still look at a few more before you make a choice.

CATS

thanks, @dwinter I did see your previous thread about the swb you were interested in and the advice there was invaluable i actually took note of everything said there when i went to view yesterday's one. In my opinion I think that even though 150K might be a good price for that pajero its still alot of money for me and i need to be 100% comfortable that i am egtting a good buy. Please let me know of any lwb's you may come across in jhb.

Hi - I'm sure you've probably seen these sites, but these are the ones I've been trawling for a paj - good luck!

http://www.carfind.co.za/
http://www.autotrader.co.za/
http://preowned.mitsubishi-motors.co.za/index.cfm?t=mit
http://www.buyandsell4x4.co.za/cars-for ... -2390.aspx
http://johannesburg.gumtree.co.za/f-paj ... hFormZtrue
http://vehicletraders.co.za/
http://www.sellyourcar.co.za/used_cars_ ... mitsubishi
http://www.cars4sale.co.za/make/MITSUBISHI

thanks i didn't know of some of them