Leaderboard

In my search for a family 4x4 for my wife a while back, I came across a very decent Gen 3 2004 3.8 LWB for 12k. I ended up going for a Gen 4 2008 3.8 because the price difference of 7000AED was in my opinion justifiable for a younger car with more whistles and bells, and much lower mileage. The LWB is very good for camping and family outings, but for off-roading purpose a bit bulky and heavy, but hey it works of course. Lift-kit might come in handy if required. Be aware that the cars you will find for 8-10k range are NOT for immediate high performance Off-road drive. You'll need to get a complete checkup done of suspension, engine, gearbox. Most probably another 3-4 kAED will go into that, and if you're unlucky like me that 250K engine will misfire or head gasket might give up the ghost and that's another 5-6 kAED minimum. Adding this up your 10k car comes close to 20k. I just want you to realize that old cars perform only as good as the care you or the previous owner took of them.

Full drive

I'm sure that as we drive a car in long run we always find out new things as we get bored and try to experiment. I found something which maybe lots of people already know and I'm hoping you'll share your tips and tricks to make this thread even more valuable. Since there are so many Pajero owners here I'm excited to learn something new about my wife's car. Here my trick for the day. On your remote key click lock 3 times and that will fold the side mirrors. To unfold them click the open button 3 times and Walla the mirrors will unfold. Hope this helps a few.

Pajero owners who had done Unichip Q is enjoying it a lot. No Rpm limiter nothing and boasts a gain of 25- 30Hp which makes the machine roaring. Pajero in stock 👎🏻 But when tuned 👍🏻

Funny a Jeep guy promoting a PF and Xterra.

Its better to go for a 3.8 SWB 2006 Gen 3 because it has less computers compared to Gen 4. 3.8 has a diff lock and a lot of torque.

Same in a Honda Accord. If you keep holding the unlock button the windows would roll down. Good feature in the summers. My dad's GMC has a remote start feature. Very useful in summer when the car would start and the AC would also start running. Helps keep the car cool when you enter

@Srikumar got stuck a couple of times but I turned the camera off to pull him out of there

Excellent review. Old car - need to build up to make it sustainable for offroad conditions else will be in deep trouble. 👍🏻 Yesterday there was a bidding for pathfinder 2005 in excellent condition Automatic (250k)odo and ended up in 10800aed.

Seems like wanna make an Xterra Mafia here. 🤣🤣🤣

Well that takes away all the fun then, one more reason to go with a PF or Xterra

The ground clearance of the pajero is a big disadvantage, although 3.8 and diff lock sounds appealing 🤔 I would go for a PF or Xterra

Due to gearing issues with Pajero pre 2014 models, I would recommend any model after 2014. SWB your 20% family outing goes out of the window, only good for off-road and daily commuter. But if you are going to invest so much, better to keep an eye on the Xterra as well. I recently saw one from a first owner for AED 18k.

If you are looking at a car dedictaed for offroading between the LWB and SWB, I would choose the SWB with a 3.5 or 3.8 engine. Else keep the search up for a 3.5 Pathfinder. I think there was recently a post in the Carnity classified for a PF.

Really amazing @Mikhail Lukichev ! Then I think you will love our night drives, coming soon !

http://faq.out-club.ru/download/pajero_iv/catalogs/pajero-iv-access-JP.pdf

i don't know man, i need a deflator, if it's not important, i'll join 😂 naaaaah, am just kidding... i have other arrangements on Friday, promised my son to go watch Avengers: Endgame with him, if i managed to get away with it, or attend an early show, i'll join you for sure 🤞 @Emmanuel, is this as beautiful as Big Red dunes? i don't like Iftar and Super Bowl area very much, a lot of crazy drivers there, no flags and crazy speeds and stuff.

On the other hand, it is a technology that seems to be bullet proof on motorbikes (scooters), quads and snow mobiles. So, assume size actually matter (even if some of us pretend it is not the case). :-)

I was checking for any decent vehicle for off-roading purpose. Among the shortlisted options i have narrowed down to pathfinder or Pajero. Both seems to be good in terms of reliability and maintenance. I did not come across any decent PF 2002-2005 but came across few Pajero LWB. My personal choice was PF 2005 followed by SWB pajero. It is hard to find both in the budget of 10K. How about Pajero LWB for pure offroading let say 80% offroading and 20% of family outing or daily drive. i came across few LWB in 8-10K range with odo reading around 250K.

I agree

Dont think of it much. Need to rip off all the sensors or remap ECM. Wont be a good idea to rip off it. For eg. Gen4 has rpm limiter 4.5 but Gen 3 vroom. Oh yaa. @eduardo Omani Hack for gear holding in Pajeros. This is mostly applicable to pajeros from 2008-2011 which has gear issues.

For the gearing issue there is some Omani fix which @eduardo had mentioned on the last drive. Maybe he can guide us better.

Xterra is more expensive but, if you can afford a little more than 20K for a clean used one, you won’t regret it.

I like cars regardless of the brand, not much of a fan of the big Pajero though but I like the one @Gaurav drives, its small and light. I am sure there are shops that know how to fix that 🤔 Pajeros are very common here so I can imagine a fix for that

Gen 4 have a lot of computers and sensors restricting from roaring up. 😭😭😭

The technology dates back to at least the 70:th. Volvo had a model (340) that was successful in Europe with a gearbox from DAF. I have more recent personal experience with a Toyota IQ 2010 in Europe. Got it new and kept it for 7 years. Never an issue. But I do believe you need a quite powerful engine to get a good user experience. I have used a few under power rentals over the years and the user experience has been horrible.

Hence always read the owners manual. Many L322 Range Rover owners don't know there are fold out cup holders in the rear headrest or if you keep tye unlock buttons all windows roll down or the lock button pressed down all windows rollup. Useful feature if you realized you left ome of the windows down after switching off the car.

2005-2007. I dont mind any yeas. Do let me know if i need to avoid any particular model in case.

Which year Pajero you are referring...?

What a pitty you didn’t record. Sri getting stuck is something that we rarely can see. It would have been a collector.

No stucks at all ? Only a few refusals ? I am so disappointed... Hope you will do better in Shuwaib on Friday 😜

Good to know. Wish we had same options in Prado too. 😩 Need separate topic for prado owners or can be accommodated here. @yogic72 Mirza bhai. I believe you will be right person to comment on this.

Gents, it's my photos there 😃 you are always welcome for a night photoshoot!

If yes you are in big trouble. I'll be the first one to beg you to take one for me for my beloved Pajero with milky way.

The fytoplankton is definitely a superb experience. You can rent the dhows and stay on the boat overnight in the middle of the sea, and go swimming at night, its a really superb experience and one I will always remember with all the glowing plankton. Although you also have to be lucky that the moon isn't out, that's when it shows you the best results!

Got nothing but hate for blacked out rims specially matt black among the long list of other "mods" I hate. But blacked out wheels and rims top the list. Ones I like are subtle mods which add to the form and function of the vehicle, rather than screaming hey look at me I'm an attention whore.

Love to join in on this one, led by an expert @amir.rophail @G.huz let's go guys. @Gaurav @Rahimdad @Srikumar i am fine with either drive on Friday afternoon, but i'd like to go for Emmanuel his intermediate drive if that's ok to make sure there will be at least 3 cars. @Emmanuel i'll need to pickup my mother in law from the airport later that night, so i would like to refrain from sweating too much or having my car full of sand 🤣 (just kidding)

So @Fuad did you win the bid?

My dad has CVT on his Mercedes A class. Had a big issue once where they had to replace the electronic module between gear lever and CVT itself from what i understood. Had some rental cars with CVT and wasn't so fond about it; it's takes time getting used to it i guess. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1204698

@Rahimdad sir Great tip. Thank you. Its working.

I recently found out for my Accord . It keeps on rolling all the windows and Sunroof. 😬

I have tried with less than one month visa validity too. Not mine, but for my younger one. She had only 27 days left on her visa and i realized at the immigration. I gave all other passports for stamping before her's . Luckily they didn't check and visa was approved over the counter. This may be purely because of the family visit. but i dont recommend this to anyone as it might be a spoiler i case of rejection. It may be our luck or may be rules are relaxed for children.

By the way @Mikhail Lukichev, are you the photographer who made those shots ?

We went for a beach camping last year. Drove to the port of Khasab and asked one of the fishermen to take us to one of the nearby beaches along the coastline. Was in the area of below coordinates: 26°12'35.4"N 56°16'21.7"E * Beware to arrange your visas online, as the visa on arrival option has been stopped. * Most fishermen only speak arabic. We luckily had a friend with us that spoke it very well. * You will need to have ownership papers of the car when crossing the border. If it's under leasing or different owner you will need to arrange a POA form, and even then it's sometimes a bit of a hassle. * You will need to have Oman coverage in your insurance and prepared to show this paper at the border. If not you'll need to buy insurance at the border (takes a bit of time during busy periods) https://evisa.rop.gov.om/ * Definitely take water slippers because the beaches have pebbles and sharp stones. We had a fantastic time and saw the magical show at night called the fytoplankton. It emerges during certain times of year but you will only see it at night when you move your hand in the water, or just at the shoreline. We went swimming in it and it felt like magic (remember the movie Life of Pi..) https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2018/02/bioluminescence-in-the-gulf-of-oman.html

@katana85 you meant gear oil. I am not so sure, but maybe the more experienced members like @Barry, @shadow79, @treks and @Glanz Lube can help.

Al quaa desert is one of the best desert in the UAE that connects from Al Wagan to Al Quaa. We recently had an amazing crossing from Al Wagan most tempting dunes to Al Quaa desert, where we have witnessed the massive bowls, something like Liwa tall dunes of 150-200 meter in size. In one of the massive bowl in Al Quaa I went inside to do a sidey and got down to the base filled with bushes and no run-up to gain momentum faced massive difficulty to get out. It was an unforgettable memory for me and others to get my car out with 30 meters of rope + 30 meters of the winch rope from last quarter of that massive bowl. Anyone wish to repeat this, must look out for the drive to al quaa desert shortly