i looked at rangers around 2006 - 2009 models and saw many that had the engines replaced with only 90,000 - 130,000 km on the clock
That was enough to scare me away.
The new rangers have a new design engine but i have no information about how reliable they are.
Mitsubishi triton i have heard nothing bad about the new models
Hilux......... they can be good if you are aware of a few issues and are prepared to spend money to resolve them.
They need a better quality fuel filter and water trap - the standard hilux filter is rubbish and common rail injectors die a nasty death if they get dirty fuel.
The original injector sealing washers are rubbish and should be replaced with a copper washer that is now available to replace the aluminium one.
If the vehicle has leaking injector washers you can get diesel dripping down into the engine oil which blocks the oil pump inlet strainer with gunk ,which in turn kills the engine through oil starvation.
Replace the injector washers with copper ones , check the sump oil pickup strainer and clean it if need be and 90 % of the problem is fixed.
every time you send it for a service , ask for the injector feedback values to be checked on a scanner (5 minute job) , if they are out of spec , get new injectors from NZ for $ 260 instead of buying them in Oz for $ 860 each.
There is aftermarket injectors from an aussie company at Unanderra but there has been a small number of disgruntled customers who got a bad batch .... jury is out on that one until they improve their customer relations.
Nissan navara i have had mixed reports on so you will have to rely on others for an opinion there
Nissan Patrol - very underated and very capable
