My father loved Pajero. We had the honor and capacity of buying one in 2005. I was a little kid back then. What my father tells me is that we had a diesel 2.8 Pajero . Trust me there was not a day when it did not have any issue. Mechanics couldn’t do anything, it will have a new issue every other day. We had to sell it and bear the loss as well.
We bought a 96 prado Tz diesel 1kz in 2011. It’s a 3000cc engine with turbo.. Oh my my... I loved the ride. It’s comfortable and powerful. No, not very luxurious of course!!! but imagine an 11th standard guy in a prado. That was me. We kept it for 3 years. Took it to the extreme valleys on the roughest roads believe me that thing is built for such adventures.
Maintenance of prado was easy, I remember we did not incur single major expense on that prado. Diesel engines need regular maintenance compared petrol ones but believe me if you change the engine oil and air filters regularly you will not have to bear any other expenses. Parts are easily available in the market. They are easy to work on for mechanics. And toyotas retain their value at least in Pakistan.
Ours was a diesel 1kz with manual gear. It gave almost 9-10km/ltr . It comes with dual batteries. In my family there are petrol versions as well in the same generation. The petrol ones are either 2.7 ltr 3rz or 3.4 ltr 5vz v6 engines. 2.7 feels under powered among all. 3.4 is 5vz engine is built for longevity . The fuel average on automatic ones is not as good as manual gear.
For a petrol 3.4 ltr automatic engine you get 6-7km/ltr on average where as on diesel 3.0 auto you will get 7-8km/ltr
I have heard the 2.7 engine is a gas guzzler. Never experienced it for myself.
