Best Km To Replace Fortuner

[Jitar]

We have a 3.0L diesel Fortuner that does about 100,000 km per year, mostly on the highway. It is going fine but I am wondering what a good replacement point is in the future. Fortuners seem to hold their resale value stupidly well, at least on the used car websites. Does high mileage (like say +500,000km) have much effect on resale value?

Any Fortuner or Vigo owners out there have experience with the realistic lifespan of major components like VN turbo, fuel pump, injectors and the 4speed auto?

[IMHO]

From my own experience with an early Vigo 4x4 3.0L, things start going wrong in a more meaningful way above 200,000KM, and by 250,000KM it just had to go. That was only one car though, but it was well treated/serviced - YMMV..

The new VIGO gets released next year - at that time I'd expect resale on the Fortuner to also take a dive, as we live in a much more informed world now, and everyone's going to notice that the Fortuner is due for some new metal too (even though it won't come until 2015). Same thing happened to the MU-7 when the new D-Max launched in 2011.

If you haven't yet hit the quarter million mark, I'd probably be trying to move it a couple of months before the new VIGO ads hit TV screen in force..

[IMHO]

I should add the the problems I experienced weren't directly related to the VIGO itself, just all the normal things that go wrong at that age - leaking shocks, clunks from destroyed bushes, a sagging front spring, worn brake discs, perishing hoses, sticky fuel float, interior trims starting to rattle etc etc. It all just happened in such rapid succession that it was better to let it go...

[Jitar]

Thanks for the comments IMHO. I was hoping for more than 250,000km and as you say, miles may vary.

You raise a good point about the impact of the new Hilux range on resale value for the current Vigo and Fortuner. The manufacturers apparent policy of releasing the new model pickups years in advance of the more expensive PPV versions is a real bummer. I know the pickups sell in bigger volume but running the new and old models concurrently like Ford and Isuzu now do is bizarre.

The resale hit from the new model is difficult to avoid with the current range of PPV's on offer. I suppose we could swap to a Trailblazer to get a similar vehicle that is earlier in its model life. Don't think I would say the Trailblazer is a huge leap forward in terms of styling but I have not driven one to decide yet.

Depending on their release dates, the new MU7 or Everest might be good alternatives. A 5 cylinder 3.2L Everest would really tempt me but if the Ranger is any guide, Ford probably won't be able to deliver them.

[IMHO]

Thanks for the comments IMHO. I was hoping for more than 250,000km and as you say, miles may vary.

You raise a good point about the impact of the new Hilux range on resale value for the current Vigo and Fortuner. The manufacturers apparent policy of releasing the new model pickups years in advance of the more expensive PPV versions is a real bummer. I know the pickups sell in bigger volume but running the new and old models concurrently like Ford and Isuzu now do is bizarre.

The resale hit from the new model is difficult to avoid with the current range of PPV's on offer. I suppose we could swap to a Trailblazer to get a similar vehicle that is earlier in its model life. Don't think I would say the Trailblazer is a huge leap forward in terms of styling but I have not driven one to decide yet.

Depending on their release dates, the new MU7 or Everest might be good alternatives. A 5 cylinder 3.2L Everest would really tempt me but if the Ranger is any guide, Ford probably won't be able to deliver them.

We should be seeing Isuzu's new MU-7 later this year, and Ford have said they'd have a new Everest too, but given their production delays I'd say more than likely we'll see it 2014, and even then as you note, good luck getting delivery.

The 'problem' with the first of the new MU-7's is the fact that it'll come with the existing 3.0L engine range - which is highly likely to be replaced by the heavily upgraded 2.5L twin turbo Euro-Market spec engine next year (the D-Max will be getting this to combat the newcomers in the pickup segment).

The 'problems' with the Trailblazer is the tractor engine they put under the bonnet (anyone that complains about the Pajero Sport's cold-start noise hasn't heard the Chev lump), and it's slow uptake means that resale values will either take a very long time to become reasonable (The PJS was out 3 years before it's resale values became strong), or not at all - popularity matters

It sounds like you might have a real conondrum though, as the car is going to be a super-high miler before any logical options become available.. No way you can give those K's to another car in the stable and just hang onto the Fortuner until genuinely next-gen options become available?

On that note, Mitsu are trying to stay low-key on the fact that the next-gen Triton/PJS will have diesel hybrid options (and it's quite possible we might have to wait for a 2016 minor change before we see them), and there are rumors circulating that Toyota have a similar plan too - so the next-gen really does seem to be shaping up as being a step up...