Today Show - Just announced 4x4 OTY conternder - WJ CRD

[goodol55]

Originally Posted by Dave

Its good to see the Grand CRD up there.. it is a potential next car for me.

How do you find it?..

I am extremely happy with mine in that it suits my personnal needs extremely well - excellent and economical towing, swift in traffic, more compact than the Landruiser/Patrol, and to date (12000k's) much cheaper to run than the 80 series diesel cruiser and 4.2 petrol GQ patrol I had previously.

cheers

[omaroo]

Kel

It's my experience that no matter how accurate a 4x4 magazine's portrayal is of the truth, MOST potential new fourby owners (who are looking into their first) will take these 4x4 OTY articles as gospel.

They do not belong to a club yet. Once they have bought their choice based on the little information they have, they will look for "other people's acceptance" of their choice by aligning themselves with a club that has this brand in the majority... i.e the LandCruiser Club, or the Nissan Patrol Club, the Lada Niva Club... or the Jeep Club.

The very fact that 4x4 Australia is toting the CRD as an "innovation" (fuel economy/torque of the Merc 2.7), it should head more than a few new buyers off in this direction - more than if it never made the cut at all. I can only see this as good for Daimler/Chrysler and in turn us current owners.

Accessory manufacturers also take note of trends, and if a car comes up as "4WD Of The Year", they are more likely to form the opinion that if they were to develop accessories for it (presuming increaded demand) then we CRD owners may actually get the choice of more than just a bullbar and driving lights.

I acknowledge your take on the truth and accuracy (and dare I say it competancy) of the reviewers who work for these magazines, and as well form my own opinions anyway. I'm saying that the average new buyer doesn't have the experience of owning many 4WD's (like we both have) in order to form their own.

[omaroo]

Dave - I've had it for kust a couple of months now. It has now done 15,100k's.

I love it. I will probably keep it for years beyond the normal 3-5.

It goes brilliantly on road and costs bugger all to fuel every week. I do over 800k per week just to get to work and back. I put in $80 per week in fuel. Pretty good huh.

It's comfortable.
I goes well off road in stock form. I've been on a couple of trips with it now and managed to keep up with the TJ's and CJ's on one particular B trip. No damage... just careful whhel placement and bucket-loads of TORQUE.

[billsta]

the V8 lost to prado & pajero a few years back...

[Jeeps]

Originally Posted by Dave

4x4 Australia are quite good I reckon!

I am subscribed to two 4wd magazines, one of them is very new and the other is 4x4 Australia. Got a free sticker last month!! Mmmm...CRD...

[goodol55]

Well I've just read their article. There a few points that could be debated but all in all it appears to be a reasonable effort. Yes, both the Chero and the Grand were well respected by the testers.
It is interesting that one tester in particular was extremely severe on the Grand in the final point score segments - so severe that some of his scores are totally out of whack compared to his co-testers. So be it - he has to call it as he sees it.

One issue that intrigues me with all these tests is the complete dismissal of the market that buys 4x4's for towability. Surely they don't ignore this market on the basis of low numbers of people in this category. Drive down to the local boat ramp if any body needs proof. Visit a caravan park in any country town for more proof that the the towing market is huge. Look at how many 4x4's have tow packs optioned.

Any one following my posts in here is aware that I bought with towability my No. 1 priority. That's why Prado was bottom of my list. The road test would indicate to me that Prado would be 5th in towability, only beating Kia. This is based on power to weight ratios and the available torque and where the torque comes in. For that matter I believe the new DID pajero would have been right up there and I would have considered buying one of them before the Prado. Biggest issue with the pajero is that from 3/4 rear view it looks likes it's hit a brick wall and crumpled the front guards

These are not intended to be inflamatory comments - just personal opinion - nothing to do with pride or attempts at justification or any bs like that.

Why the article marked Grand down for value for money has me stuffed - I thought it was tremendous value. Perhaps they're worried it will suffer in resale values - to that I would say I bought it to drive it - not to sell it.
I certainly cant get my head around paying the same money for a glx prado as you do for a glx 100 series Cruiser

Some of you other Grand owners may be interested in posting your reasons for your jeep purchase

[omaroo]

Kel

I suspect you have a major point here. Maybe you should send an email into 4x4 Australia outlining your stance. Very fair cop I think.

I bought my Grand for two reasons.

1) My Patrol is now 13 years old. It has had a HARD life, going offroad nearly every weekend for the past 5 years, and has done several competition events that have left it somewhat battered and bruised. It has held up extremely well in the strength department, never having even blown a CV during competition. It has what I firmly believe to be the strongest drivetrain and chassis in the market - bar NONE. It is, however, starting to cost a fair amount to keep. Fuel prices are prohibitive, it has several niggling engine-realted problems such as oil leaks from the front shaft bearing, knuckle joint leaks, etc. As I do in excess of 180 km a day to get to work and back it seemed like this old bus was just too expensive to keep going like it has.

2) I had the opportunity to go an a "Jeep Unpaved" event this year. I was involved in both recce trips to the Yalwal area and the 3-day event itself. Jeep Unpaved is organised and run by Chrysler Jeep Australia, and is a yearly event that sees dealer principals from all over the state attend a course with the intention of learning what the cars they are selling are capable of. I attended this year's as a member of the road crew... helping people to negotiate obstacles, track re-building and clearing and what not. Great fun. I had never driven a Jeep before, and they offered me a drive of the Grand CRD for the event. I was smitten. After the hardcore Patrol, I realised that the Grand wasn't as capable off the shelf, but could be. It's engine and auto gearbox, both Mercedes-derived, were a pleasure to drive with. It's ability was fantastic given its clearance limitations, but it did the job superbly. It really surprised me. What impressed me even more was it's high-speed dirt ability, with our group coming back on the Turpentine Road (dirt) in the wet at well over 120kmh in complete comfort. ABS brakes worked a treat, and the handling was fabulous. At the end of the trip, I filled the tank with 48 litres of diesel. Pretty unheard of in my book considering that we had just done 3 full days of low-range travel and long bitumen stretches to get there and back. The fact that it the first diesel that I have driven which feels like a petrol sold me.

I HAD to get one.

So I did.

PS - Oh! Did I mention how comfortable they are as a long-range cruiser?