The old style Mitsubishi Pajeros... What are they like?

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EquestrianFairy

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Long story short- I have no car at the moment an only a limited budget to find one.

My plan was to get a run around and in January (when I get a little money through) buy a 3.5T horsebox for transport as I am simply desperate to start getting out.

I has found a 'L' reg Pajero 2.8TD manual with only 80k on the clock within my budget. At the risk of sounding like a snob (I'm not!) I've not had an older car for a very long time so I was wondering if people find these workhorses worth the money or are they known for faults/breaking down and I should steer clear?

Thanks
 
We had a SWB Paj for several years, and used to tow an HB505 with our two ponies all over the place. It was always reliable, and got through many MOT's with minimum work. Fuel consumption was always in the middle 30 's

I have heard of one or two automatics with gear selection problems, but I suspect that had more to do with previous owners, rather than a typical fault.

Milner Offroad sell lots of parts at very good prices, and out local garage (a little two man band) were always happy for us to order parts for them to fit, as Mitsubishi parts cost a fortune.
 
Sorry, know nothign about Pajeros. My only thought was the mileage is very low for a vehicle of that age, and that in itself can mean problems. But if it's a bargain, then might be worth a punt? Good luck!
 
Please be aware that if the vehicle is badged as a Pajeros rather than a Shogun it will be a grey import which means it may well have differences to the Shogun when ordering parts for it. And I know of someone who had the NFU refuse to insure a Pajeros, but their are plenty of companies that will my ex wife ran a Mitsubishi Delica for a number of years basicly a Pajeros running gear with a large people carrier body. The Pajeros is a very sound proven vehicle but they will all be starting to display problems withtheir age.
 
I've just sold an Isuzu Trooper 3.1 and i can honestly say it was bullet proof, can't praise these cars enough - it was my second one!

Get the 3.1 though, the 3.0 had issues which were ££ to fix
 
Ignore concerns about a Pajero being an import, my local mechanic had no trouble getting parts for it - ever.

I had a J reg 2.5 LWB which towed a 510 trailer with 2 big horses effortlessly. Never had any problem towing in muddy fields, it was great. If you can get a manual, even better but they're very rare. Mine was an auto which had 80k on the clock when I bought it and I sold it with 100k. No particular problems except the battery was a bit dodgy in the winter. Only every needed routine stuff like brakes.

I loved mine but couldn't afford to run that and another car at the time so I had to sell it.

I know people who have Isuzu Troopers and they are good as well.

If you buy the Paj, just get it checked out first to make sure there's nothing horrible..
 
We have a 14 yr old pajero, I couldn't fault it for towing. It tows two large horses effortlessly. As one of posters above, we buy any parts from Milner Offroad and have small local garage that are then happy to fit them. It's been great for us though, had it for years and never had any issues. Fuel consumption not great but I don't do many miles in it. I did find one insurance company who won't insure Japanese imports but most ok, though nfu imposed really high excess for it being import. A bit ago there was a post about 4x4 insurance and some good suggestions of specialist companies. They are more of a workhorse I guess, but well worth it to me. :)
 
We have had a 2.8LWB automatic Pajero (N reg). It was a super workhorse, think we had it for 6 years and it did us well. We put it on ebay last year and was shocked at how much money it went for, it went for nearly what we paid for it. I'd say buy it.
 
Lotty said:
We have had a 2.8LWB automatic Pajero (N reg). It was a super workhorse, think we had it for 6 years and it did us well. We put it on ebay last year and was shocked at how much money it went for, it went for nearly what we paid for it. I'd say buy it.
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Yes people are begining to realise how much better made and cheeper to fix the older 4x4s are!!! now the latest crop are so complicated and not DIY fixable the older pajeros, trooper, landcruisers etc are going up in value ....
 
We have a 17 yo pajero & I love it. We did have a head gasket problem earlier this year. Local garage fixed it fine & we sourced the parts ourselves for way less than Mitsubishi would have charged for just some of the parts. There is a Pajero Owners Club whose website is a mine of useful info about what to look for (& where to get the cheapest parts). Ours is insured on an Admiral multi car policy.
 
I dont know about pajeros but we have a shogun which we need a new home for. It is only for sale as I have bought a new range rover but the shogun is an incredible towcar and I love it! It is available very cheaply and I can vouch for it 100%. it is R reg 3000 v6. top of the range, all leather heated seats, air con etc. Starts first time every time!!! we are on the somerset/ wilts border. pm me if interested. xx
 
I'd personally avoid them like the plague. I bought one a few years ago - it was an L plate funnily enough. I lost thousands on it. Immediately I got it there was a huge problem with it 'smoking' it went to a local diesel specialist who told me the imports are designed to run on a different fuel strength to what we have here; I paid £600 for it to be sorted and it stil failed the MOT on emissions. It cost an absolute bomb in fuel as it wasn't coping with our fuel and the automatic gearbox played up because of it.

At the time several other people I knew had them; two of those had exactly the same problem.

I think you maybe lucky you may not - others I know had them for sevearl years without too much trouble.

I'd be VERY wary
 
akn102 said:
I'd personally avoid them like the plague. I bought one a few years ago - it was an L plate funnily enough. I lost thousands on it. Immediately I got it there was a huge problem with it 'smoking' it went to a local diesel specialist who told me the imports are designed to run on a different fuel strength to what we have here; I paid £600 for it to be sorted and it stil failed the MOT on emissions. It cost an absolute bomb in fuel as it wasn't coping with our fuel and the automatic gearbox played up because of it.

At the time several other people I knew had them; two of those had exactly the same problem.

I think you maybe lucky you may not - others I know had them for sevearl years without too much trouble.

I'd be VERY wary
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was there a certain smell about the local diesel "specialist" of a bovine nature ????? hmmm so if he thinks that I would very much doubt he had much idea about engines so no wonder the problem wasnt sorted, sorry about you being ripped off
pitty you ended up there and not one of the many good garages....
 
juliag said:
I dont know about pajeros but we have a shogun which we need a new home for. It is only for sale as I have bought a new range rover but the shogun is an incredible towcar and I love it! It is available very cheaply and I can vouch for it 100%. it is R reg 3000 v6. top of the range, all leather heated seats, air con etc. Starts first time every time!!! we are on the somerset/ wilts border. pm me if interested. xx
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I would keep it for when the range rover breaks down !!! sorry couldent resist !!! only joshing... blush...
 
akn102 said:
I'd personally avoid them like the plague. I bought one a few years ago - it was an L plate funnily enough. I lost thousands on it. Immediately I got it there was a huge problem with it 'smoking' it went to a local diesel specialist who told me the imports are designed to run on a different fuel strength to what we have here; I paid £600 for it to be sorted and it stil failed the MOT on emissions. It cost an absolute bomb in fuel as it wasn't coping with our fuel and the automatic gearbox played up because of it.

At the time several other people I knew had them; two of those had exactly the same problem.

I think you maybe lucky you may not - others I know had them for sevearl years without too much trouble.

I'd be VERY wary
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Hmm i also think this is a total load of rubbish - ive had 2 pajeros and while they have needed fixing / general parts where previous owners have neglected them, the slight smoking issue has been easily fixed with blocking the EGR valve (at home, didnt even need a mechanic) which is not needed anyway in the UK


If its cheap and got some service histiry id say go for it !!
 
There are always going to be "Friday night" vehicles from any range, generally the Pajeros have a good name, but I have heard of the odd one which gives problems. Make sure you know exactly which model/engine/gearbox it is and look up something like Honest John in the Telegraph that does reports of most makes of vehicles.

I had a petrol Shogun that was wonderful and I deeply missed it it just kept going and going and was never much trouble, although the spares were expensive when needed. Sadly the one thing it wasn't good at was going past a petrol station .......................
 
My very brief foray with a Pajero was not good. M reg Auto, owned for 4 months, mainly used for towing. Blew up on the motorway and had to be recovered.

Estimated repairs were more than I'd paid for it, so I sold it on eBay for not a lot.

That was the first Automatic I've ever had. I didn't like it at all. It was so feeble.
 
i had and still have my pajero its a good car we had the 2.8 auto and on short distances would only do 19mpg and on long(driving to spain) it did about 25mpg so not a cheap car to run, they will how ever pull anything (we had the 7 seater) but unfortunatly it died :( the big end went and we spent £1000 getting it fixed and within 3 miles it died again :( so it has been off the road for the last 6 years... wouldnt be able to run it now anyway! if you can get a manual go for it - and religiously keep the oil topped up! :)
 
I bought a J reg Pajero with 61000 miles on the clock 5 years ago. It was the 2.5 SWB auto diesel. It was a fabulous car! I shipped it to Cyprus and spent 5 happy years Pajero bashing (thrashing it over all sorts of impossibly rocky, sandy terrain in high temperatures in an attempt to kill it!). I also used to harrow the sand school, tow boats, drive through flooded lakes, carry a full load of people/computers/anything else you could think of. It really was a point and shoot car but also nifty enough to cruise nicely on the motorway or beat everyone at the lights.

In UK I did find it rather costly on the old Diesel (In Cyprus that cost was low as the fuel used to be cheaper) and the insurance group was very high so I had trouble finding insurance in UK (I was only 32 though). I didn't bring it back to uk as I got a better price in Cyprus and I'd saved up for a newer car - it was a hard act to follow. I doubt I'll ever find something I liked as much.

There were a lot of the newer pajeros in Cyprus most of them were smaller ones. I must say that they didn't seem as tough, hardy and indestructable as my beast so I'd prefer the bigger ones. Pajeros have a lot of extras which is good and makes them comfortable and enjoyable.
 
I bought an N-reg 2.8 Paj (auto) about 5 years ago. It's never let me down, it's never cost more than £250 tops to get through the MOT and hardly ever gets serviced (I do occasionally check the oil!) It pulls my IW 511 with two BIG horses in effortlessly, and when everything else gets stuck on our steep hill in the ice, the Paj tows them out!
 
I had a 2.8 Pajero long wheelbase Auto on an 'N' plate & it was a fantastic tow vehicle. It had loads of room in it, was very comfortable & when towing you hardy knew you had anything behing you.

Parts are easy to get hold of, Milners on the net offer a fantastic service & good prices.

The downside is that they are not good on fuel consumption, we used to get around 22mpg & it had the turning circle of a jumbo jet! I'd had a Discovery before that & althoug I didn't think it was as fgood a tow car the Disco gave around 30mpg.
 
I bought an N reg 2.8 pajero as a run around until the land rover gets mended. I did have a bit of trouble getting it insured (aa through go compare was the cheapest - but bizarrely was £800 dearer going straight through aa!!)

Tbh I think I've bought a dodgy one! it eats diesel (about a quid a mile!!!) & it is garbage at towing up hills!! Can't wait to get rid of it, but I do truly think I've a crap one, my friends have one & they rate it very highly xx
 
I had an old pajero when I lived in aus a 3.0l V6 and it was awesome. Can't vouch for towing, but it ate up off road stuff, and was a monster to drive on the sand, I was sad when we left and had to sell it!
 
Just to add my voice to the majority. My Pajero was ancient and brilliant! We found a lot of vauxhall parts fitted so dont worry about an import. Had no problems insuring (Churchill). The only one Ive had that was better for pure towing grunt was a Nissan Patrol.
 
Don't know about diesels but I've got a 'M' reg 3litre petrol with over 180,000 on the clock and she's still chugging along (hope I've not just given it the kiss of death!)

Its an auto, and tows beautifully. Not the most economic, but I must confess I don't see much difference in fuel comsuption when towing a Ifor 505 & one pony to being unlaidened. Cheap to insure too - because of her age I've just got it 3rd party fire & theft and this year cost £125.
 
I used to work for a grey importer... for over 10 years. We bought literally 100's of Pajero's into the country.

Avoid the 2.5 engine - it's not as good towing. If you get an auto I would recommend definitely get an oil cooler fitted.

Common problem is the diesel pump leaking - Japanese fuel is different to UK diesel. Can be a costly- several hundred £££'s to rectify - just check there's no fuel leaking underneath.

They are built like tanks, had loads of people who bought them to tow and those that did tow preferred the LWB model to the SWB model. Milners are excellent for parts- and much better priced that genuine Mitsubishi. Most independent motor factors can get parts- service items/exhausts readily and reasonably cheaply too.

I'd have no problems recommending them and had lots of happy customers who would I am sure say the same.

Good Luck
 
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