1996-ish Surf Buying Advice

[rosek]

Hi All,

Thinking about making a change from my Terrano 3.2DT towards a 3.0DT Surf (smart move you'll probably say!). As I am wanted something around 10K I would be looking at approximately a 1996 model with 130-160km. Is this a realistic budget to get something tidy? What are the major issues I would be likely to face with one around these km?

What sort of km's can be expected before major work is required?

Also, what kind of economy are you getting out of them around town and on the open road?

Cheers,
Kim

[gazza]

What do you want to use it for???? $10,000 will buy you a hell of a lot of truck if you shop around

[rosek]

Basically just want a tidy daily driver which is good for the ski missions / towing a boat etc. Would be after something fairly stock.

Cheers.

[Steve_t647]

Check for chassis cracks around the steering mounts, a couple I have seen have had some cracking again probibly due to having been driven with heavy loads or hard offroad if you do strengthen or repair the mount it may need certified.

Check the rear window is not slow or stiff

The rear springs can sag a little with heavy trailers, swapping in new or stiffer springs fixes it or throw in some polyair airbags in the springs to take some of the weight or wind the front down to match if height offroad is not an issue.

Get it leak down tested (dont care what diesel it is get it leak down tested) and have your own mechanic look at the results if someone else gets it done.

They are a pretty good truck the rear window can annoy, if the boat is pretty heavy then going to a cruiser may be a more expensive but better option, watch the max towed ratings and the diesel ticket you run on.

[NJV6]

Wouldn't the 1996 be the KZN185?

These do away with the steering box for rack and pinion.

[tallsam66]

Get one with the spare on the tail gate rather than underneath...if you go to bigger tyres you cant fit the spare underneath....well i cant on my 94 surf.

[haydgq]

And find a kzn185 that has the Intercooled turbo diesel, they seem to have less of the over heating issues and they seem to be the upgraded version with a much thicker radiator than the non intercooled versions from what ive seen, All of the non intercooled ones I have had anything to do with have cracked heads between 200-300,000kms and they were NZ new ones in a mixture of prado and Hilux,s with good service history I might add.

[rosek]

I would be looking at towing a boat ~16ft so will be fairly light.

Certainly would want to get a leakdown - whats the going rate for this?

Are the cracks fairly obvious or just hairlines?

Are there any majors with the engine / drivetrain that I need to watch out for at this km? I would like the Intercooled model but may be hard to get one with reasonable km in my budget.

Are there any major differences amongst the specs e.g ssr-g ssr-v etc etc

Cheers.