The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[Rochestergirl]

Hello we are thinking of buying a shogun after a lifetime of Land Rover ownership now all models too footballers wives!
What do we need to look out for?
Dare I ask(?)how do they compare to Toyota Land Cruisers?

[Google]

[iam_TJ]

We had Land Cruisers on the farm. Compared to the Shogun they have more 'grunt' and can tow a larger maximum load. Downside was our farm mechanic hated it for how complex it was to do repairs and the kind of issues they had.

It depends what you want to use it for and how high fuel economy factors into the calculation too.

The Shogun LWB has a third row of seats that folds under the floor (or can be removed to have additional under-floor storage)  and is a usable 7-seater if two passengers have short legs

I seem to recall the Shogun was nick-named the "poor man's Range Rover' and certainly for the 2003 Elegance I have, compared to a Range Rover, I'd agree. I find there feels to be much more room inside the cabin in the Shogun (probably because Range Rover tends to push the facia and fittings close up to passengers).

Shogun has a reputation for more body-roll than most people expect but, especially for the 199x -200x era models, the performance and wins in the Dakar rally suggest it doesn't impact performance or safety.

[Rochestergirl]

Thanks again iam-TJ.

We will have to take one for a test ride we would still have our much loved and Rover 90 if it wasn't for my back.

Having run the 90 we are hoping fuel economy will be similar but with more comfort!

We were wondering if the rear seats were removable so you have answered another question for us.

There a a couple local to us for sale so will have a look at them this weekend. They seem better value for money than the Land Cruisers.

[iam_TJ]

Things to look out for:

Under-body rust - especially side-steps and the concealed fuel-filler pipes in the rear-offside wheel arch.

First thing I did when viewing was to crawl underneath and check the state of underseal, signs of rust, BEFORE i had chance to fall in love with the pretty bits inside or engine bay!

Driver-side leather seat entry-exit scuff/tear marks - some can be quite bad where people have not lifted their weight off the seat especially whilst exiting.

Passenger-side front footwell - if there is a sun-roof the water drain pipe goes down the front-left A post and if it gets blocked and overflows water will pool under the carpets and cause extensive floor rusting.

Check Transfer shift works. 4H (4WD) 'Hi' speed is the default state of the actuator in the transfer box, moving to 2H should cause the actuator to disengage front wheel drive. Indicator lights in dashboard binnacle will flash whilst changing and go steady once successfully changed. For the 4HLc and 4LLc (Hi and Lo-range centre differential) modes it needs to be on a sand or gravel-like surface if turning to ensure the wheels can slip whilst the differential is locked. 4H <>2H shift can be done on the move below 62mph; the others need to be at a stand-still and transmission in neutral (clutch depressed for manual).

If equipped with an additional rear diff lock (electric) button (center console floor, forward of the gear shift lever) this will only activate in 4HLc or 4LLc transfer modes.

The indicators in the dashboard have lights for each wheel and for centre and rear differential. Glowing means active, blinking means 'trying' or 'problem'. Not illuminating when expected to usually means blown bulb (why I changed mine to LEDs!)

Jack should be in its storage housing. This is bottom-left-rear of the rear-seat underfloor storage. A plastic cover lifts off and jack is secured with a thumb-screw. Its 2-piece extending handle should be in a clip along the rear edge of the underfloor storage.

Check for locking wheel nut key if locking nuts are present on the wheels.

Rear door release mechanism is prone to breaking and requires total internal disassembly of the rear door facias to access to release door and fix. If from outside it feels stiff or clunky it will need servicing BEFORE it breaks (door cannot be easily opened if broken and there is no internal door release handle).

Plastic 'bumper' panels on the lower door sections can become lose and rattle due to push-in clips breaking.

Hanging handles on front A posts and above back-seat passenger doors can become loose (easy to tighten).

Front seats plastic lower corner/edge protectors are easily dislodged and lost during entry/exit and leave sharp metal mount bars exposed. These are about 10x8cm moulded plastic, 2 for each seat.

For vehicles with rear air-conditioner unit (under offside rear corner) the air outlet is at the base of the offside wheel-arch plastic trim in the storage area. Controls are on back of centre console facing rear-seat passengers. There's also a rear fan on/off switch on the centre console floor forward of the gear levers. The long pipes under the vehicle for both engine coolant hot water and cooling compressor are liable to damage under the vehicle. (Mine developed a pin-*beep* hole that ended up pumping out all the engine coolant and almost ruining the engine if I hadn't figured out what was going on in time).

Service and maintenance history, mileage.

Oh - fold-down rear seats should have (removable) head-rests but often they get mislaid or discarded if the seat isn't used.

[Rochestergirl]

Thank you for the information iam_TJ.
Overalls and torches will be taken for underside checks!

[alanymarce]

re "Dare I ask(?)how do they compare to Toyota Land Cruisers?"

1) when we bought ours we looked at a similarly-equipped Land Cruiser. Not much difference in capability, however the LC was DOUBLE the price.

2) We drove our 80 Series Land Cruiser around Southern and Eastern Africa for 10 months and our Montero (= Shogun) around Australia for 10 months. On both trips we covered some tough ground. Based on this experience I'd say that the Shogun is as capable as the Land Cruiser. We had a few issues with the Land Cruiser however this was mostly because it was older.

If the two were available at the same price for the same age/mileage I might go for the Land Cruiser simply because the dealer network is more extensive, HOWEVER if it's not new or recent the Toyota dealers, in our experience, have no interest in doing any maintenance or repairs and you end up having to go to online websites for spares.