Mitsubishi Shogun and similar type vehicles, advice needed.

[Hetzer]

What's the best of the Japanese types (2.5 to 3.0 liter jobbies), things to look out for, weaknesses, tax-class (is the new 4x4 tax retrospective?), LPG conversions, electrics, auto-gearboxes vs manual, anything anyone can tell me would be much appreciated as I'm thinking of getting an LPG one. What kind of mileage are the motors good for?

Thanks in advance.
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[quacker_boy]

Hmmm...i can shed a bit of light on my old wagon i used to own in Dubai, was an '89 Mitsubishi Shogun to you...Pajero is the model name out there. It was 3.0L V6 manual with 180K KM on the clock.

I used to utterly rag the shit out of it in the tunes and on the road and it was fantastic fun. Overall i'd say bulletproof motors and the gearboxes can take a fair old beating as well.

I'm personally dead against auto gearboxes as they just aren't as much fun to drive and don't provide nearly as much control as i'd like over the engine for offroading. Overall, they're just one more complicated thing to go wrong.

Parents also had a 1999 Toyota Prado whilst i was out there, the equivalent model is the Colorado out here i think. 2.7L inline 4 and was definitley a much better family car in terms of safety than my beastie from the stone age...that said i did roll mine, had someone go into my door when doing an illegal U turn and i always walked away unscathed.

Again, very reliable engines and never had a breakdown. Think the worst problem we had was the radiator cracked open so had to get that replaced. They'll quite happily cruise along the motorway at 80ish but not much more than that. In general a hell of a lot safer than your average saloon...whoever said size doesn't matter is full of shit.

Hope this is of some sort of help, couldn't shed any light on the LPG motors as fuel's still cheap as chips out there!
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wizzzard wrote: Imagine God just stopping by, tidying your front room up and then quietly letting himself out again. Statisticly more likely to happen than Korn being on here.

[sickpup]

Hetz

If you want I can PM you later, a mate of mine is about to sell off his SWB Pajero if you're interested?

[Hetzer]

[Stevep]

Had 2 Shoguns both suffered from cracked heads at around 100k and it is a £2000 pound job if repaired by a garage unless you can get a trade like I did with last one and then the garage tried to get me to go half on repair but I wouldnt budge.
Early land rovers are agricultural Isuzu is a good vehicle but again need to watch transmission.
Always fancied a mercedes 4x4 but never found a one at right price
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Harleys run Forever

[iCraig]

[Hetzer]

Do Shoguns have galvanised steel construction (rust proof/resistant)?
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[Ste]

L200 Standard one on the right, and a nicely modded one of the left.

The new 4x4 tax doesn't exist as such, its taxation classes dependant on the vehicles emissions, lots of 'normal' cars fall into the higher classes whilst lots of 4x4's aren't in it. That'll be the press managing to distort the truth cos they're good at that. And the taxation classes aren't retrospective, it's only applicable to new vehicles.

L200 is classed as a commercial vehicle, £175 for road tax. Cos it's a diesel you can run it on veggy oil (either straight vegetable oil off the shelf or waste vegetable oil which has been processed) which is nice and cheap (especially if using waste oil and processing it yourself) unless you follow the letter of the law and pay fuel duty.... yeah right.

Big pickup so quite suitable for fitting the family and camping kit in the back without hassle. And they're great fun off road.

[Hetzer]

[Hetzer]

Is 130k miles a lot on a 3.0L PETROL motor? What would it cost to recondition one?

The guy's telling me that the petrol motors are bullet-proof, more so than the diesel. True?
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[ken]

[Hetzer]

[Robby]

On this sort of car the engine shouldn't be a worry - the Japanese have been making motors that just keep on going since the mid 80s, although on a lot of cars its worth budgeting for a head gasket every 100k or so, more so on engine that are in a fair state of tune, or just spend a lot of time working hard (so a big 4x4 with a comparitively small engine will work hard).

Its the other bits that wear out - at 130k if its a manual thats been driven hard the synchro might be starting to go on the lower gears, and if its an auto then you can get all kind of problems, but less if its been looked after and had some fluid changes.

Assorted running gear might be a bit tired - suspension and steering, a host of bushes, bearings, and ball joints, all kind of things that are designed to last 100k and anything more is a bonus.

In short, its done some miles, bits will gradually wear out, but buy one with a with a fresh ticket, keep servicing the motor and box, and replace the aformentioned bearings, bushes, and ball joints when they start making funny noises.

[Hetzer]

Well, I've found two better ones, a 2000 model with 90k, FSH, LPG conversion already done, £4000 (sale already agreed in principle). The other is a 1998 model, 28k, FSH, £3995. I suspect the 28k one will already be gone, but if it's not I'll be 'aving it. I'll have to go the extra £2000 to have it converted, but I don't mind paying that for 60k miles in hand. I'll know in the morning if it's still available.

Thanks for all the input chaps.
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[ken]

If you like like pm me the Reg No and I will do a hpi for you. if you have sorted your own one out already no worries...
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latest bike 03 R1 in zee red and black

[Hetzer]

Thanks Ken, PM sent.

The 28k jobby turned out to be a misprint, it was 128k. Bugger.
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[Dom_]

As a rule i'd go for cars with under 100k on, although my current one hasn't and it's no problem. Even if the motor will last to 300k the rest of the car probably won't.

My birds grandad bought a 2.5 swb auto about 4 months ago to carry kit and what not (manages a local football team) about in, he's had quite a few problems with it already.

Diesels generally last longer than petrols.

[Jaloopa]

Probably not much use, but I thought I'd throw my limited knowledge into the mix.

My GF's parents and grandparents both have diesel Shoguns. Her parents' one blew up quite badly and very suddenly a year or two back. The entire top end had to be rebuilt at a cost of about a grand. It had done a lot of miles, not sure exactly how many but it's an L reg and used regularly. It's comfortable to sit in and goes fairly fast for the weight of it.

The inside temperature sensor is likely to give up if you or a previous owner has particurlarly long legs, since the sensor is right above your knees while driving.
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mattsprattuk wrote: but at least the lifan could do like 104mph in 3rd gear

[stemc]

Hi,
I had a 94 Shogun 3.0 v6, expect at most 20 mpg, the petrol engines are pretty much bullet proof, mine needed the valve stem seals doing (blue smoke after idleing) apparently a common problem.

Also watch out for stepper motor (icv valve) problems, mine used to start to rev up to 2000 - 3000 revs at idle replacement costs £500 quid from Mitsubishi. (£80 on ebay from Aus)

The Pajeros are usually better specced and in better condition than the UK Shogun equivalent.

That said though if you want something for camping have you considered the Delica ? it's the same running gear as the Pajero / Shogun but the rear seats fold down into a bed and I believe you can buy awnings that clip to the side.

Ps: the diesels aren't much better on fuel only averaging 24 - 27 mpg. And the 4m40 2.8 diesel is known for cracking cylinder heads, blowing headgaskets. The head has ceramic inserts which makes it difficult to skim.

[stinkwheel]

Have you ever seen a Toyota HiLux "Surf"?

Worth a look, it's like a poor-mans landcruiser.
https://www.users.bigpond.com/mkitchin/images/PhotoGallery/surf_side.jpg
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.