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Hi guys, On the look out for a car again, after an TRJ120 Prado, Auto 2.7 TX or TX-L spec. so far haven't had much luck with the car sales, especially ones in decent condition. If anyone hears or knows of one can you please let me know? Cheers Chris

Can't comment on long term use, but I test drove a couple when I was looking for a SUV about 2 months ago. I was very impressed with the ride and power. The engine is better suited to it than the Prado. We recently took the inlaws prado (07 model with the 2.7) to Habarana and with 6 people on board it really struggled with the overtaking etc. The Fortuner seemed well built - to Toyota standards, and no rattles etc. Leather trim etc fitted well. Very (very!) quiet inside! The one downside for us though was the huge extra seats. While this is great meaning you could squeeze in some smallish adults in the back, it meant that your luggage room is severly compromised even when the seats are in their hanging position. It would've been better if they folded flat into the floor. For the asking price (they seem to start at low 7's for a 2-3 year old model), I didn't see value as such.

I'm in the same situ. Just got the application forms, need to get an SL licence based on my aussie one. What's the situ with the Dr's, can you use any GP or are there "official" RMV ones?

Haha.. done deal! You should write ads I'm still in two minds. The GDI has everything I want. If I want a V6, I want the 2003 model which means about 1.2m more for the vehicle. The depreciation should be the same on both. So is it worth paying more upfront for it?? Thoughts?

From my looking around I think you're right. I had a look at the XL7 but it's looking a bit dated (inside and out). Was doing some reading on the Third Gen Pajero / Montero. didn't realise it was designed by Pinafarina! The GDI engine technology is still used in Japan it seems and Volvo & Hyundai actually licensed the technology of Mitsu for use in their cars as well. It seems the issue might lie with SL fuel however as with the GDI induction process, the fuel octane & quality plays a major role in it's operation. But I would assume that the same fuel quality would also affect other domestic vehicles such as the B4 mentioned in another thread (although the EJ20TT doesn't employ GDI, but would be tuned for the 95-98 octane fuel I mean). My budget has been creeping from 5 to 6, and today was thinking 6.5!! haha.. But ideally the less the better (as always). Thanks for the responses. xXx do you know of any mech's that looking after the GDI engines?

How many K's has it done fuzzo, and is it a daily driver? On the road today I noticed several GDI's running around now, most in the H/J reg's, so I guess they're still plenty about and must be reasonably reliable if that's the case? (or people just can't sell em... ) But really for under 5m, it seems pretty good value for everything you get, especially the SE.

Definately ugly, although the inside looked class, could only see it through tinted windows as the guy refused to open it.. Saw it at indra traders today. For the price you could probably buy 2 outlanders too! They want 17m!! The guy wouldn't even tell me the price first off. Then said can I see your business card first.. nice..

I agree about the smooth ride. I was in the Harrier this afternoon and it's very car like! We have a Prado TX at home too (home being my inlaws - we just got back from Melbourne, so about to move into our own place), and yes ride quality is chalk and cheese against a montero. Most prado's seem to be in the 7.2+ range, and I really want to restrict myself to 5.5-6mill or so. I took a fortuner for a driver as well, and it drove nicely, very quiet etc, but found the luggage space a bit restricted with the extra seats folded up on the sides, and also they were asking 7.8m! Any other suggestions? Will keep hunting on the Monteros. I loved the way the GDI drove though, and it goes surprisingly well for something of that weight!! However, if it's going to give me issues (and will no doubt affect resale) I'd rather not touch it, even if it is cheaper than the local models.

The spare car which is being sold is in fact a harrier 2003 240G. But we need a 7 seater with 3 kids plus usually carting around someone or the other. Don't want to spend extra for the Prado, as Montero seems to offer decent value for money in it's price segment. Are there any non-agent Pajero specialists around (ie. a Milr*y type person for Mitsu )?

Hi Guys, Have looked at one of these super exceed pajero's (YOM late 2000) has the 3.5 GDI with the 5 speed tiptronic. Done about 55k, and interior/exterior is in remarkable condition for it's age. It's been in SL since 2003, so 5 years on still looking great. I've test driven it twice over some very bumpy roads etc and no squeaks/rattles and engine pulls like a dream. A few people however has cautioned me over the GDI motors - and fuel problems in particular. Is there anything to be worried about, and what sort of prices are these going for nowadays? The 01+ locally (UML) delivered V6 version of the same thing goes for mid 5's. Is it worth spending a bit extra on a home delivered model? I need to make a decision fairly quick.. as the vehicle we were using (spare family car) has just been sold! Thanks Chris

Thanks Fuzzo, I'll let him know. He was trying to source it from KL initially, but kept hitting dead ends as you really need someone on the ground there to run around and find it. I was thinking of asking M*lroy to look for one on one of this own supply trips to SG as well.

Hi Guys, My BIL's 2003 Harrier is off the road at the moment - so issue with the diff and Toyota Lanka quoted him some 5 lakhs to fix it. They told him if he could source the part independently that it would be less than 1/5th of that to fit it! Where would be the best place to try? This is the details he gave me: Year of Manufacture - 2003 Model - MCU 35 RAW AGKW - MCU 35 REUR GCC Name of the part - Transfer Assembly Part Number - 36 100 – 480 42 Toyota Lanka had suggested Singapore, but it would be a needle in a haystack at this point! Any tips to other workshops with experts in the Harriers would be appreciated! Thx Chris

definately mate, with the $ the way it is. i think i only paid 160usd in early 2008 and that was when the aud was 89 or something as well. best would be to try HK or China. i'm not sure how well the usb overlays respond. but it might be the most economical option at the moment. alternatively, a logitech dinovo mini bt kb/mouse thingy.. but they're not cheap either!

This is the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/Double-DIN-Lilliput-EB...1QQcmdZViewItem

iSam, Came across this on one of the podcasts, worth having a look! http://www.geekmyride.org/wiki/index.php/Jon's_RX-8 here's some links i collected at the time too: http://delicious.com/chriskan/carpc

Dude, surely, an urgent request like that would warrant a new thread? Anyway, can't be of help, but don't think it would get noticed much in here that's all... @isam - the romraider.com site is mainly targeted at subaru tuning, but there's plenty of FAQ's and links from there. Also check out enginuity (google), and of course the forums at mp3car.com.

If you can code, then you're only limited by the info the car spits out! I think I've seen a few object modules for OBD and the common auto protocols on romraider etc.

Have a look at roadrunner too, another frontend. There's plenty out there - might also be able to find some open source that would give you a good platform without having to reinvent the wheel. 6. E-dash/gauges 7. data logging/monitoring

If you're going ahead with it isam, have a look for a 2nd hand Acer minipc - the mac mini look alikes - they run off a 12v dc adapter, so are easily adaptable into a car situ - however do some reading on the mp3car forums about the power requirements, especially with regards to standby and shutdown - last thing you want is a corrupt OS after all your work putting it together.

isam, i haven't looked into it for about a year now.. but have a look at centrafuse and see what they are doing. There's a lot of backend work that goes into making the gui and all the functions work seamlessly with XP. Part of the problem with using linux was limited hardware support for the OBD-2 cables. Most of them only have drivers for windows.

Whilst the centrafuse front end was very nicely designed, to get to a lot of the technical features, such as enginuity for the logging etc required you to go into the windows gui, and windows was never really designed to run at that resolution (800x400 or something from memory) so dialog boxes were off the screen etc. If you were using it purely for media/gps it worked well. Windows isn't very finger friendly. I was planning to by a bluetooth mini keyboard (logitech make a nice one) to use with it, but it was just getting too costly for any real benefit I got out of it. In summary, the "pain to use" was due to the UI of XP. If someone designs linux based carpc distro which is optimised for a touch screen (and a 7"-9" touch screen at that..) it would work well imho. After many different bluetooth dongles, I finally found one that supported the centrafuse bluetooth stack, so i managed to get my address book syncing and dialing from the screen working That was pretty cool... As MeanGreen mentioned though, the e-dash was a good feature. If you add up the cost of decent (Defi?) gauges, the carpc using old PC bits makes sense - however, it really needs the software support the purpose. Again, though having said that, after doing it, I prefer some analogue gauges anytime - I agree iwht Peri, you don't really need the distractions while driving - especially in SL. If you're only doing it for music/media, I'd just look at a dedicated/purpose built headunit which has all that. I used a lilliput screen - it was a LED backlit resistive touch screen. From what I read the overlay panels didn't work as well. Last thing you want while driving is having the thing fail/not work as it should. It cost me $170USD in March 08 (I think) - when the AUD was a lot better - plus 30 bucks or so shipping. Now, I don't know what they're selling for. I still have it, figured I'd bring it to lanka if I ever decide to do the carpc thing again

I had one in my Legacy for a while, with a 7" WVGA touch screen. It was fun for a while, I ended up taking it out though as it was just a pain to use. I still have all the gear but now just occasionally plug my tactrix cable in with the laptop (netbook) to see what the AF ratios are etc. I used the centrafuse front end - which actually worked quited well, an old Toshiba Tecra S1 laptop. I modded the port replicator with an off board switch that was mounted in the centre console. Hardwired power, usb bluetooth and a telstra 3g/hsdpa card for internet. I had a screen mounted in the centre console where you'd normally get the factory GPS screen in the legacy/liberty. MeanGreen is right though, there's a hell of a lot of mucking around to get things working - it was just a thing we did when we had some time at work with old bits. The most expensive bit was the screen i guess - got it from the US when the dollar was better. Would I do it again? no Although, if the car had a few mods on it, it would be worthwhile just to see what's going on with the engine etc. The new tactrix cable I got (openport 2.0) has a microSD slot for logging without a PC. I've never tried it though, but I might hang onto it and bring it to Lanka with me. I know it works on all OBDII and Canbus Subarus, not sure what else..

Have to agree, funny bit of writing - u have to laugh about it, coz it's either that or get annoyed/angry/road rage, and that just leads no where or has dire consequences for everyone. I keep telling everyone in Aus who complain about the SL roads - there is a system, and you go with the flow, and getting mad/annoyed is the worst thing you can do... coz really no one else cares It takes me about 3-4 days just to get my mind adapted to the SL roads, but after that I'm fine! It's becoming worse in Melbourne.. with a couple of guys around our neck of the woods (south eastern suburbs) having had guns pulled on them for not getting out of the way when driving at the speed limit!

Cool! Although I've never driven one, so it might just get scrapped off the list after that!

Gents, how's the suzuki (newer shape - 06 model) vitara regarded? Fuel, reliability? What sort of money 2nd hand? I know it's not a "drivers car" but just thinking of all options at the moment