Nissan Patrol 2006: Is it worth buying?

The vast majority of Nissan Patrols from 2006 have covered a lot more than 172,000km, so that’s definitely one thing in the vehicle’s favour. These seem to be a pretty good thing over time and kilometres as well, but there are still a few things to be wary of. The first of those is how the vehicle has actually been used in the past. Has it been used extensively off-road? Climb underneath and check for damage caused by rocks and try to gauge how hard a life the Patrol has had.

The other thing to bear in mind is that there were two diesel engines offered in this model. The biggest, a 4.2-litre turbo-diesel is a pretty good thing and tough enough to survive. The smaller unit, though, a three-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel doesn’t enjoy the same reputation for reliability and longevity. In fact, the smaller diesel is notorious for suffering an incorrect air-fuel mixture and/or turbo-boost spikes which can smash the pistons to bits. At which point the whole engine is junk. Should this happen, you might find that the cost of repairs is more than the actual value of the whole vehicle.

So that’s the bottom line: If the engine is a six-cylinder, it’s probably worth a punt if it’s cheap enough. If the engine is a four-cylinder, you might be wise to look for an expert on these engines to examine it and give a recommendation in person.

This model Patrol was also entangled in the Takata air-bag fiasco, so make sure the air-bags have been checked and replaced if necessary before driving it anywhere.