# Prado vs. Land Cruiser vs. Nissan Patrol vs. Jeep Grand Cherokee vs. LR4



## espn24 (Nov 23, 2013)

Debating between these five cars.

Would look to buy something 1-3 years used.

Any thoughts?

I love the price point on the Prado and the Grand Cherokee relative to others, but given the horrible driving quality, is it worth paying up for the larger cars?

I do intend to try some basic offroading if at all possible.

I have a wife and one kid though its possible another may come in the period when I intend to own the car.

Thanks a lot!


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
The two key questions are what is your budget and how old do you want the car to be?
Reason for above are that when new - there is a big variation between prices of the cars you mentioned.
The newer the car - you might still be within manufacturers warranty and inclusive sevice periods.
I would not be happy buying a car in this environment - that is outside original warranty.
Parts are so expensive and i know of people who have had some horrendous bills on relatively new cars - that were just outside warranty. Recent example - air suspension on audi a8 - 20,000 aed to fix!
Cheers
Steve


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## espn24 (Nov 23, 2013)

Thanks SteveSolar - I definitely don't want anything that's more than 3 years old and ideally am looking for less than 2 years. Price is definitely a consideration. I could pay more if I needed to but I'm really curious whether the extra size for an LC or Patrol is worth it. And its not an easy call between a Prado and a Grand Cherokee. I'd like to keep it under 200k though.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
I find the smaller Toyotas and Nissans so boring!
The bigger Land Cruiser and Patrols are amazing off road - we followed some on a Hatta sand dune trip. You would be amazed at what they could do!
I prefer the luxury and longer service intervals of the European models - like the VW Tiguan and Toureags.
Cheers
Steve


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

espn24 said:


> Thanks SteveSolar - I definitely don't want anything that's more than 3 years old and ideally am looking for less than 2 years. Price is definitely a consideration. I could pay more if I needed to but I'm really curious whether the extra size for an LC or Patrol is worth it. And its not an easy call between a Prado and a Grand Cherokee. I'd like to keep it under 200k though.


I think at this price point you can buy either Prado (4.0L + full option) or GC brand new instead of 1-3 years old?


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

If you're buying a Patrol, decide if it's going to be mostly for the road or mostly for fun offroad. If it's the former buy the "new" one, if it's the latter buy the "old" one. They're both sold brand new, just two different platforms and vehicles.

Honestly I'd just avoid the Jeep GC, and the LR4 is good but reliability is an issue.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

Here's my opinion on these 5 :

Prado: Extremely common, and when I mean _extremely_ I mean to a point where in some parking lots 1 in every 2 SUVs is a Prado. They are reliable though, but the boring factor means I would not buy them

Land Cruiser: Used to be the undisputed champion of SUVs in the UAE, but that has changed since the new Patrol came. Pricing is not as high as it used to be. Personally I would take the Patrol, but they are both equally capable offroad, and mediocre onroad. 

Patrol: Not much different from the LC

Granc Cherokee: The model was refreshed in 2014 and so it would make more sense to get a new one, the basic Laredo is ~140, and the Overland is ~200, and there is a world of difference between the 2 in terms of options. 

LR4: My favorite SUV over the last few weeks and I would have bought it if not for the fact that the SO absolute hates the boxy shape. Personally, the supposed lack of reliability aside, love the airy interior, the offroad ability, and the fact that they are nowhere as common as other SUVs


Ride quality is not that much better in the LC/LR4/Patrol than the Prado/GC, but the former have a road presence that the latter do not. The GC's with 5.7l Hemis are another matter though, what they lack for in presence is made up for by their acceleration that puts most other SUVs to shame


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## espn24 (Nov 23, 2013)

Thanks everyone! Super helpful.

I will do some test drives this week, but I have to say the GC Overland 5.7 engine looks like a beast.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

espn24 said:


> ...but I have to say the GC Overland 5.7 engine looks like a beast.


Since I had that car for a while, I can confirm that it IS a beast and 1/2.

The only issue is the gas gauge is going down as fast as the speedometer going up...


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

One suggestion to make your car selection easier; unless you plan to drive 200+km a day, do not consider fuel costs in your decision at all. In the long run you will be happier that you did not.


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## espn24 (Nov 23, 2013)

Thanks Tropicana. I'm driving from the Marina to DIFC and back so its not really a factor. I will say that after 14 years of not really having to own a car, I'm excited to be driving again.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

Just wait till you spend some time here, you will see how _excited _ people get when driving here, even those doing it for a decade


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## earthworm88 (Jun 14, 2013)

I have driven all four except LR so won't be able to comment on that; but have heard of reliability issue. Know a guy with top of the line RR, it was "pimptacular"!  If you are not doing hard core off-roading, you won't need the bigger LC or NP. The dealers usually have some good deals during Ramadan, so if you can wait till July and see what promotions they have, it will be worth the wait.

Also it also depends on how long you "plan" to be here, and how often you change cars. If you are one of those prefer to drive something different every 2 years, then you are better off buying a used car. But if you plan to keep it for as long as you are here lets say 4-6 years, then I would suggest buying a new one just because a brand new one and a 1-2 year old car has a smaller price gap here. 

For the new models:
Top of the line Prado (V6, 4.0L, leather, TXL) runs about 180k
Basic LC (V6, 4.0L, leather, GX) is about 225k
Basic NP (V8, 5.6L, leather, XE) is 190k-235k (pricing was a bit confusing - terrible customer service, so gave up on pursuing a NP)

I would say Japanese cars have a higher resale value here, and easier to sell in a second hand market. I would probably go for a Prado out of all your choices (owned one for 7 years), much better fuel economy, handled better on tight corners and roundabouts than its larger counterpart. NP with the higher options have more bells and whistles and feel more like a luxury SUV than a true offroader LC (and some might disagree ) . Sorry, I am not a big fan of American made cars, so had not even considered buying a Jeep. LR for what I had heard and what I wanted (which was for off road), was not worth investing the big bucks for. 

Have fun test driving! For my next car purchase (sadly not anytime soon), I would try to rent the SUV in question for a few days and test it out that way. It's really hard to know how much you like or dislike a car in that 10 minutes test drive.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

Tropicana said:


> One suggestion to make your car selection easier; unless you plan to drive 200+km a day, do not consider fuel costs in your decision at all. In the long run you will be happier that you did not.


If you're driving the old Patrol I6 VTC, you'll be lucky to get 300-400 km out of it. For a 95L tank that's pretty painful.


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## Jumeirah Jim (Jan 24, 2011)

I was in a similar position 6 months ago. Seriously considered LC, Patrol and LR4. The latter is like hens' teeth 1-3 year old used. LC and Patrol are very easy to pick up but their owners don't seem to look after them as well as LR4s if you get my drift...

I wasn't convinced by LR4 build quality/"GCC" spec plus it's so tall and narrow it feels like it should topple over cornering on road and, I expect, dune bashing. The LC is quite a dated design and equipment levels aren't that great. 

I ended up going for the Patrol. I could have got a pre-reg'd used one for 180-200 but most where white paint /cloth trim. Ended up with colour of choice and leather trim buying new from the dealer for 230k. Pretty much all extras inc. 5 speed auto rather than the more powerful 7 speed (starts about 270k) but as both are 5.6l V8 that was hardly a consideration. 

I mainly drive on road but it's shocking good off road for such a beast of a vehicle. I've taken it all over including the dunes at Liwa and it's consistently amazed me how easily it tackles ridiculous dunes. People diss the new Patrol as a soft on road car but clearly have never taken if off road. On-road it's great once you get over the size. Parking camera /sensors makes that light work. 

It's no wonder I see so many around. Certainly great value for what you pay.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

Tropicana said:


> One suggestion to make your car selection easier; unless you plan to drive 200+km a day, do not consider fuel costs in your decision at all. In the long run you will be happier that you did not.


I was getting closer to 250-km range on the Overland (heavy foot), but now a lot more happy on a faster 400-km range Infiniti SUV... But I agree with you in general.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

Jumeirah Jim said:


> I mainly drive on road but it's shocking good off road for such a beast of a vehicle. I've taken it all over including the dunes at Liwa and it's consistently amazed me how easily it tackles ridiculous dunes. People diss the new Patrol as a soft on road car but clearly have never taken if off road. On-road it's great once you get over the size. Parking camera /sensors makes that light work.


The "beef" most people have with the Y62 Patrol is that there's too many toys and it's far too easy to break them, that and it's actual size. For anyone who's used to long & tough drives where bashplates are a necessity, you quickly learn that a simple vehicle, preferably as small and light as possible, is much preferred.


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