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Toyota Prado Long Term Review - 6 months. |
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September 2005
Some cracks are beginning to show but they seem related to the poor choice of standard tyre rather than something wrong with the design. That said many other cars have the same problem. Interesting note: The top range Prado Grande does not have memory drivers seat. Power operated or electric seats is great except where there is more than one driver and there are no memory functions does get annoying. However my particular model the GXL is even more annoying without this 'automatic' adjustment. Although I should leave this to the next long term update. Toyota has been recalling certain models to replace or fix a part in the brake master cylinder. Apparently a washer of some sort was not screwed in properly and can lead to leaks. We weren't sent a recall letter which is the odd thing. Hmmm.
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6 months summaryLast Updated: 09 May 2008 The main topic in this update is mechanical and interior wear and tear. I will so cover any problems with the Prado in general that has been experienced. July 2006. The world is in the grip of another fuel crisis. Crude oil prices are the highest they have ever been although there's still plenty of oil left in the ground. The cause of this is once again political and commercial issues. The Prado's fuel consumption according to my estimates are very good considering the size and performance and use of the car. (13 litres per hundred) I'm certainly not defending how much it does use due to ownership or brand loyalty. In my opinion it's just as good or better than the competition including smaller 4wd or SUVs and your average family sedan like the Falcon or Commodore. As a company car that is virtually used exclusively to travel long distances over varying terrain quality and reliability are the most important qualities. And in the essence it has lived up to the Toyota reputation. However there are a few things that have occurred that are worthy of note in this instance. The car has traveled 28,000km at this point much of it in one or two big trips. The first issue is the OEM or standard tyres. They are not long lasting and have poor sound qualities. Sure it real quiet for the first 10,000 k's but after that they humming starts. After about 15,000 kms they started to created the typical humming harmonics. It's that mid-range hum that seem to effect much larger truck tyres. The sound could be caused by worn out bearings. I only say this because the Prado is unlikely to have worn them out so quickly. Since the noise is getting worse it is clear that tyre replacement is due, confirmed by the tyre's wear indicator becoming more prominent. (Noise harmonises between 95-105kph) So if you have humming noise or whinning noise from the Prado please email so we can determine if this is a fault or something else. The other thing of note is the weird steering feel at between again 95-105 Kms. The steering just doesn't feel quite right. Wheels have been aligned and balanced twice so far. Again I attribute this to the poor OEM tyres. Another issue of note is a strange hissing noise like a tyre going flat after stopping a car every so often. It comes from the back and is quite annoying when you stop in the middle of nowhere. On the Prado Grande models there have been reports of strange tapping of ticking noises in the car. So if yours has intermittent ticking noises feel free to email and share the experience. The interior is holding up well to the cargo and people carrying and so forth. The seat trim and plastics haven't been scarred or discolored or anything like that. However the OEM floor mats are of poor quality and wear very quickly. (They don't look very good either.) Mine is the 'cloth' version. The rubber ones are black and not The seat trim behind the middle row of seats easily compress and stay compressed which is not very good. An annoying and intermittent rattle has also developed in the sun visor holder. Otherwise the interior is holding up very well. |
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