advice Needed

[Newby Girl]

Just wondering if someone can offer some Newby potential Pajero buyers some advice. We are looking at buying a 2003-2004 Exceed model, but are wondering the difference between the 3.5 and 3.8 engines. We are interested in doing a bit of beach and trail 4WD'ing/nothing too OTT tho/ and need to pull our caravan

Thanks Newby Girl

[Pickle]

Howdy Newby Girl
You will find the 3.8 is a very refined motor. Obviously due to it's larger capacity and power output it will use more fuel than the 3.5. And considerably more towing!
Pick of the bunch for towing is the 3.2 DID NP desiel. The ease at which they tow and fuel consumption is quite impressive.
Dave

[psproule]

Buy a diesel. The forumites are probably sick of me saying this but we have owned and towed with a 3.5 petrol and now have the DID. What Pickle said - their towing ability and fuel economy (even when towing) is simply amazing.

[Futsal1st]

Buy a diesel. The forumites are probably sick of me saying this but we have owned and towed with a 3.5 petrol and now have the DID. What Pickle said - their towing ability and fuel economy (even when towing) is simply amazing.

nothing else to add here.

[vinceb]

Buy a 3.2 diesel. Heaps fof torque for towing.

[Newby Girl]

Newby Girl

Thanks for the advice, what is the fuel economy of the diesel model, currently own a diesel BMW and love the fuel economy, so can agree with your advice, it seems however there are not many diesels around.

[bgiddins]

As an NM Exceed owner with the 3.5L engine, realistic consumption with snorkel and AT tyres is 15-18L/100km around town, 13L highway. Stock consumption (no accessories, HT tyres) was in the 12.5L-15L range.

The 3.2 DiD allegedly frequently gets <10L/100km, with a correspondingly greater range. Enough for me to kick myself for not getting the DiD, even though at the time they were rare as hens teeth and more expensive second hand.

Shortly will be fitting extractors, new O2 sensor and new spark leads which I hope will address some recent loss of power and consumption increase issues, but I still wish I had the diesel. The 3.5L is a great engine, it's just thirsty to feed nowadays.

[mongoose]

In my humble opinion I would never buy a diesel. and heres why:

* Fuel is a fair bit more expensive
* When you work out the cost saving of diesel vs. petrol taking inot account fuel price and mileage there is no saving
* Servicing a diesel is a lot more expensive (It seems for NS diesel owners they pay twice the amount to service their vehicles.)

On the flip side though they are great if you are a die hard 4X4 nut or wanna be that likes the idea of a snorkel and a 100mm lift kit.

[zacc]

i run an nm exceed with gas injection , it has extractors and has been chipped for better performance . it is cheaper than running a diesel . the only down fall with gas is that if you go outback you might have issues getting gas . i tow a 21.5 foot full hight van and it has heaps of power , i use about 24ltr gas per 100klm that equates to 70c ltr $16.80 per $100.00. now dieael say uses 13ltr @ $1.50 is $19.50, plus when converting you get a rebate off the goverment unless you can snap one up allready converted. yes you say but what about the cost of extractors , chip etc . to start with you could pick up an exceed petrol cheaper than a diesel , and the cheaper the cost the cheaper the transfer duty so it all comes down what you want . there that my 2cents worth hope it helps.

[psproule]

In my humble opinion I would never buy a diesel. and heres why:

* Fuel is a fair bit more expensive
* When you work out the cost saving of diesel vs. petrol taking inot account fuel price and mileage there is no saving
* Servicing a diesel is a lot more expensive (It seems for NS diesel owners they pay twice the amount to service their vehicles.)

On the flip side though they are great if you are a die hard 4X4 nut or wanna be that likes the idea of a snorkel and a 100mm lift kit.

Cant argue with the fuel price being more expensive, but when I did the calculations swapping to the diesel (factoring in the different consumption AND the different fuel cost) the diesel would save us over $5k over the duration we would have it. But this is based on us travelling around 25,000km a year. So far my experience with the service cost is quite promising with none of the gouging being reported by the NS owners.

Yes mine is lifted, yes mine has a snorkel, and yes it goes off-road a fair bit, but it also tows a ski boat a lot and the OP asked about towing. IMHO that is where the DID really shines over the petrol - towing. It does not work anywhere near as hard when towing compared to our 3.5 and that results in a fuel consumption (when towing) of around 12.5l/100km compared to the 18 odd we would regularly get from the 3.5. don't get me wrong - the 3.5 was good. The DID is just better in this area, again IMHO.

To answer the fuel consumption question - 12.5 towing (but our boat does not have the frontal area of a caravan and thus we are not fighting with the aerodynamics), 11.5 to 12 around town and 9.5 on a freeway cruise.

[Futsal1st]

In my humble opinion I would never buy a diesel. and heres why:

* Fuel is a fair bit more expensive
* When you work out the cost saving of diesel vs. petrol taking inot account fuel price and mileage there is no saving
* Servicing a diesel is a lot more expensive (It seems for NS diesel owners they pay twice the amount to service their vehicles.)

On the flip side though they are great if you are a die hard 4X4 nut or wanna be that likes the idea of a snorkel and a 100mm lift kit.

Some interesting myths there. I used to love petrols (I've had many petrol cars for the past 35 years including 3 new petrol Pajero's) but the last two have been the DiD 3.2 Diesels. They are a great machine IMO.
Fuel is more expensive. In Sydney around $1.50 per liter for diesel and $1.40 for unleaded. Yes it is a crime that we pay more for a product that is cheaper to produce.
Cost savings are definitely in favor of the diesel here. Using the economy from bgiddins (thanks for that) and the above costs, you get around town $0.23 per kilometer for petrol and $0.17 for diesel. Highway use is $0.18 for petrol and $0.12 for diesel. Towing ( I estimated bgiddins would use around 22 l/100k towing a 2.4ton caravan) would be $0.30 per kilometer for petrol and $0.26 for diesel.
Servicing was what I always thought was the main saving for petrol. However, I service my DiD every 10,000 kilometers (and could go to 15k if I wished but don't feel comfy). The average service cost is $150 per service (manufacturers book service) from a certified mechanic at a local garage (and I've tried a few for the similar cost). I can't remember what my petrol services were, but I don't think they were much different. I don't use MMA due to their cost.
IMO the diesel performs significantly better towing a load. A modern diesel is much more car like to drive. For me the DiD with an auto is just fine.