Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

I agree with Peter - anything can break. And not to go into any kind of brand-bashing, I've had two Landies and a Jeep before my Trol. All of them had far fewer km's than the Patrol and all required far more repairs than the Trol has thus far. The Landies and the Jeep where also great off-road on all the trips and trails I used them, but I have far greater confidence in the Patrol. Even at twice the age and double the mileage

Hi Gents

this is also a comparison between solid axels and independent suspension. The sad part and truth is solid axels are disappearing . The new troll has lost it's heritage and now has independent suspension and traction control. Would have loved to see the new patrol vs the new jeep grand cherokee. Not sure there would have been much difference.

As for problems, I feel that the frequency of problems is linked to the driving style and the maintenance carried out. Yes the patrol was built like a tank so we do get the benefit of meg milage on components that would normally require replacement on " lesser vehicles".

One of the best looking 4x4's is still a kitted out defender, but alas my true love is my green GQ. Has been very reliable and has taken around southern Africa with very few problems.

jonathan wrote:I agree with Peter - anything can break. And not to go into any kind of brand-bashing, I've had two Landies and a Jeep before my Trol. All of them had far fewer km's than the Patrol and all required far more repairs than the Trol has thus far. The Landies and the Jeep where also great off-road on all the trips and trails I used them, but I have far greater confidence in the Patrol. Even at twice the age and double the mileage

My old Land Rover Discovery was quite heavily abused by yours truly and has provided many great memories; however, at 230,000 km the transmission is noisy and various other bits are not in good shape. A calculation of overhaul and refurbishment costs through a number of approximately half the purchase price of my new Patrol – and then it would still have been an old vehicle. So it made sense to replace it, although I have not yet found the heart to sell my Land Rover. Anything can break, especially if it is abused or used exceptionally hard. I suspect also, as Grant has alluded to, if one treats the Patrol with a degree of care, it should last a very long time. That is if you can afford the fuel costs to drive that much! :-)

I have a friend that does the training for Eurocopter in Iraq. The Iraq military get about 40 000-50 000km out of their Patrols before they scrap them he tells me. The cars are not serviced once in their lives and the military drives the hell out of the cars. Maintenance is a big thing to keep your car running. I could not believe that an engine designed to last 1 000 000km or more can only last 5% of its live, but it is true. I almost started to think that they can do this to a car like the Patrol.

I thought that the Jeep did quite well. Independent suspension is a downfall though and the repair bill/parts cost.

Jan, do you really think that that is true? I'm interested because the various issues raised on this forum by people having problems makes me wonder a little bit - though I suppose all machines do sometimes give trouble.

In comparison a definite - yes it's true

Obviously a lot of factors comes into consideration and a lot of debate can be done about this and that aspect/capability etc of the various brands, but on average the toughness and durability of the Patrol is superior in my opinion. As Peter said most other vehicles wouldn't last even closely as long as the average Patrol if taken through its paces. Must be honest the new Patrol with its new look, suspension etc etc is deffo light years away from what I like in a vehicle - I just hate it and doesn't fall under my meaning of the appraisal I have for the previous generations of Patrols.

And by the way - This year the Cape's winter weather is getting to me. An abundance of bad, windy, wet weather - just wish I could find a way to bottle and sell it - then I can have a whole fleet of Patrollies

Marino4x4 wrote: I could not believe that an engine designed to last 1 000 000km

That's the design life of the 4.8???