Pathfinder Ti 550 v Disco 4

[CJ1177]

I have owned a V6 petrol pathfinder for a few years now & I'm seriously considering upgrading to the Ti 550 model.

The question is, what is the good bad & the ugly of this model, from what I have found there were a few issues early on but nothing recent.

We were tossing up between the pathfinder & the Disco 4, I think the main reason for leaning towards the pathy is the price & price of aftermarket accessories, repairs etc, but I can easily be swayed back to the disco, so let me know the good bad & the ugly of this model too please.

We did consider the Jeep, but........as great as the spec sheet / price is I can't bring my self to buy a Jeep.

 

[davemc]

Yes my brother inlaw just brought a new Jeep and loves it.. Although that much $'s for a Jeep
We have a Discovery 3 (very similar) its a great car not cheap when something goes wrong, I have not seen as many troubles with the 4 as the 3 had on the Land Rover forums. The Disco4 is like a revision 3 Disco3 so a lot of bugs seem ironed out
Example: Our air suspension went last year the newer one is supposed to last longer.

We also looked recently at a new Pathfinder, other car is a Mini and we have 4 kids so been swapping cars.
Was not the same room in the back as our Land Rover and one kid is always in the back and like most cars no child seat anchor points for the rear row. Or none the dealer could find.

How offroad are you taking it ours is the kids Taxi and soon to be van tug.
Offroad is unsealed roads in town

 

[Ligedy]

Keen to see what you find - I'm looking at the Disco 4 as my next car after the Navarra 2.5L TD, had looked at the Pathfinder V6 Diesel and same sentiment with jeep. I thought Nissan stopped making the Pathfinder Ti550 V6 Diesel to make way for the new pathfinders only that are only available in V6 petrol.

My quandary – are the vehicles really worth the money? If price isn’t an issue I’m sure you’d agree the Disco 4 outdoes the Pathy in so many areas it’s a simple decision, but if you spending around $100k on a car will it last the distance? Putting it back into the category of Cruiser vs Disco price/reliability/resale in the case it’s a lemon… well that’s my opinion anyway.

Are you looking new or second hand? All makes and models have their issues, some are just more painful to get sorted out dealer after you’ve handed over the cash. One trick that has worked well for me – if you’re buying new – is do the wheeling and dealing for the best price (specifically exclude extended warranty in the pricing), then just before you sign the contract get them to throw in their max extended warranty coverage for free otherwise you’ll walk away or buy from another dealer who will (might not work as well with LR given there are less dealers around). Most EW are transferrable when you sell privately, so if you offload the vehicle after 4/5 years it’s a good selling point for the prospective second owners. This then takes me back full circle to the a Jeep based on price point and standard inclusions, given it should be a good option if any issues are covered under warranty…

Go on - just get a Disco 4 with the 600NM + 8 speed auto... I wish I could drop a fat stack on one right now… but better stop dreaming and get back to work.

 

[SilverFox]

I wouldn't discount the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I've owned mine now for almost two years, and have close to 50K on it now. It runs beautifully and the newer model has more power and torque than my 2012 Laredo diesel. I've had trouble free motoring since I bought it, and am very happy with it. I know what you mean though about the prospect of buying a Jeep especially given all of the horror stories of past models. That too was the area that I was real scared about. However, when I delved into the research on the vehicle, and I discovered that Jeep was bought by Fiat, and that the diesel is actually a European motor built by VM Motori in Italy, and that the same engine is being dropped into a Maserati with an additional turbo, I thought well lets take on for a drive and compare it against the other vehicles in my list.

Once I did that I was very impressed. Like I said, I have the older model, which has the five speed gearbox, where as the new model has an eight speed box, translating to even better fuel economy. Like I said, don't discount the Jeep. Take one for a drive and you will be impressed like I was.

 

[Billrw136]

Like Silverfox I have a Jeep - current model with 8 speed. I went from a Disco 3 TD (base model - no air suspension) - had it for 8 years. I would have liked a Discovery 4, but could not justify/afford the cost. Very happy with the Jeep - tows the van much more easily that the Discovery and uses much less fuel doing so. I just have the base model Laredo, no air suspension, but does have lots of other bells and whistles compared to the Discovery I had. The Discovery 4, however, with 3l motor and 8 speed would be fantastic.........

 

[Flanders]

G'day CJ, I have Disco 4, cannot comment on the other vehicles, but can only tell of my experience. I love the Disco, it has 70K on it now since new (it's a MY12 build). It is a HSE 3.0 SD. Very easy machine to drive and plenty of power, not to mention the comfort. We did a 15,000K, 1/2 lap trip last year towing the 17.56-1. For the trip I averaged 14.5L/100km, and it performed very well. While towing I was generally sitting on the 100Km/h mark. I found it brilliant for towing, and for off-road it is bloody amazing. Over christmas one of my good friends, who is a very regular 4W Driver took it through the sandhills in the SE of South Australia, he was blown away by how well it handled.

Many I spoke to while travelling with Jeeps / Pathies / Land Cruisers / Prado's, etc, were all happy with their vehicles. Now a days they all seem to be very luxurious and plenty capable. I'd be very happy with a Disco again next vehicle, but that won't stop me from testing a few other brands before I make my final decision.

 

[twscoot]

Ditto for the Jeep.
Having come from a Pajero I too was wary. But then again my perfectly maintained Pajero had problems (computer related) Mitsubishi could never find an answer to.
Have a drive. German 8 speed ZF. 570NM torque. Great value for money.
In the end, they are all great cars and you just have to like whatever it is you choose.
Cheers
Andrew

 

[CJ1177]

I agree with you ligedy, Your correct they gave finished produceing that model but I have found a 2012 model with very low kms so that is close enough for me.
When they were new, again I agree with you they were way over priced for what is essentially just a Pathfinder.
davemc, yes I have full intentions of taking it off road & for it NOT to be just a mums taxi & tow tug, the intention is to fit an ARB bar & winch, snorkel, rock slider steps, possibly brush guards, transfer the full under body steel protection, lift 2" & when the tires get some ware into them some larger ruber. So I think those intended mods count out the Jeep & leaves the disco & the pathy.
Also with the Jeep, along with the horror story's I'm sure everyone has heard, two mates from work both purchased a pair if Jeeps literally at the same time, one petrol the other diesel. Both loved the engines & didn't fault those but they both had dramas with the electrics, so much so with the diesel he got his money back because of how much of a lemon it was, it would often shut down at random & some how locked the kids in the car 3 times , for him that was the final straw luckily each time the car was under cover or in the shade.

I know every make of any thing has lemons, believe me my Jayco is one of them.... I just can't bring my self to buy one with the reputation & close first hand experience.

I should add that I would LOVE a 200 series land crusher but the price & size & then try to fit it in my shed, plus convince the mrs that they aren't that much bigger than what we got just isn't going to happen.

 

[achjimmy]

Again with the size!

Convince her you want a Kia Carnival and when she agrees buy the Cruiser because its smaller! The jeep is fractionally narrow and a commodore wagon is longer!

Re the pathfinder, only thing I would say is try and tow with it. I drove a 550 Navara and they have a hole in the torque curve and they just don't feel anywhere near as quick as they should be for that power. Also consider Nissans stellar warranty support, I would think its below LR and Jeep.

 

[straydingo]

I had a Pathy for 3 years before replacing it with a D4. The Pathy was only a std 4 rather than the 550 however.
The Pathy is generally a capable vehicle. I had mine kitted out which proved a problem with towball weights once the Expanda came along. It was either remove the bull bar or leave one kid at home to be legal (do a search on here - I had a good whinge ) I also found the transmission was always hunting for the right gear when towing which became a real pain, and very fuel inefficient.
When changing over, I took the 550 for a spin and was impressed at the responsiveness (unloaded, and not towing), but everything else was the same as the Ti.

Taking a D4 out though was chalk and cheese. The level of refinement was miles beyond Nissans plastic and poorly fitting trims. The rear row seats I could sit in comfortably, rather than Nissans where my knees were either side of the middle row's passenger's ears. And the engine gave so much more than the 550.

Much hype about LRs higher costs for repairs etc, but I haven't found that myself. The servicing costs are annual rather than 6 monthly, and so far have worked out a little less than Nissans (overall). (if you can get a corporate plan as a company car they're free) Replacement parts aren't too bad if you shop around - LR will charge more than independants, or even less if buying from England, including shipping. The range of aftermarket parts is less than LC/Patrol, but I found that with the Pathy also.

The only real hassle is the 19" wheels. When I bought the Pathy, it had 17" and the tyre choice was near non-existent. I have found the same with the 19s this time round (There are only 3-4 types of ATs and no MTs in Aust). As for after market wheels - forget it.....
Due to the brake caliper size (which stop the car exceptionally well) the only 18s rims available are imports at $500 each, and then you still only save a few dollars on tyres, but a better choice. (The older TD model allows 17" though)

Where I saved though was not needing a suspension upgrade and/or airbags - with the factory adjustable suspension it can't be replaced, but works a damn treat!! Yes, the air compressors sometimes fail but so do other parts on other cars so to my thinking thats not a big deal. (cheap aftermarket kits are available to enable permanent height change/complete user selectable changes, and connection to a std compressor if there was a system failure)
Its also nice to drop the height, slide in under the caravan hitch and lift back up.

At the time, the LR was only a couple of thou more than the 550, but if wanted to start adding extras the cost jumps quick.

I love driving it (never thought I'd really say that about a car) and it is fantastic to tow with.
I won't comment on the Jeeps etc as I have no real experience there.

 

[davemc]

Taking a D4 out though was chalk and cheese. The level of refinement was miles beyond Nissans plastic and poorly fitting trims. The rear row seats I could sit in comfortably, rather than Nissans where my knees were either side of the middle row's passenger's ears. And the engine gave so much more than the 550.

Yes rear seat room is fantastic, more then the back seat of most cars. This was one of the reasons we swayed to the Disco 3 to start with.
Volvo I almost lost my knees when the dealer slide the seat back, cx9 I had to angle my head and I am not tall, territory well I had legs same with the Captiva (we also upgrading from a cheap Korean car) and the Pathfinder was around par to the Volvo although still not great. Also the Discovery was the only one with anchor points in the back.

 

[S&k]

I have a discovery 3 se 4.2 lt petrol and can't fault the car. Great for towing and not bad fuel economy. Go land Rover.

 

[albo42]

just took delivery of my brand new my2014 Disco this afternoon! Great deals at the moment with free on roads and dealer delivery, and I got a big reduction on top of that so it may not be quite as expensive as you think. I saved about $15k. I liked how the Jeep drove but if you wanted a panoramic sunroof and light leather interior then it wasn't much cheaper, and of course 5 seats.