I made a mistake

[Brown Water]

Was working a deal to buy a 2004 Limited that was someone's grandpa's and only had 70k miles on it for around $4k. While awaiting a prepurchase inspection, someone else swooped in and bought the rig. I only hope it was someone here, congrats if so, I am jealous.

While waiting over the holiday I read almost every build thread on here and got pretty excited about becoming a member of the Pajero/Montero owner's club. Anyway, now I am searching like crazy for another Gen 3, and just wanted to thank you all for the great content.

I do have a question, looking at a couple 2001's and a 2003, other than the potential of the LSD in the 2001 (which is only in the XLS? I read the school me on rear differentials and am still a little confused.) How big of a difference does the 3.8L make vs the 3.5L motor? Would it be enough for you to pursue a 2003+ over a 2001-2002?

 

[nwoods]

Most people would say yes. I have the 3.5, its fine for me, but i live at sea level

 

[offthepath]

I would for sure get an 03+. Depending on your use an xls may be ok, but id go 03 for the following reasons:
-these are not power houses, any extra HP you can get is good
-5 speed trans is nice
-traction control is a great feature. Gen 3s don't flex at all so traction control plays a huge role off road.
-if you want a rig you can build up, limited's offer the ability to regear to 4.9 from 4.3. This let's you run a larger tire. Xls cannot be regeared.

Good luck. Don't mess around with pre purchase inspections on 70k mile rigs for 4k. That was an awesome price!

 

[SONICMASD]

I agree with everything offthepath said above. I personally wouldn't consider a 2001-2002 regardless of condition, because IMO 2003+ is so much better performance wise. However, they are more maintenance intensive: 5 speed tranny seems not to last as long as the 4 speed, traction control electronic brake booster will go out around 150-200k and can be expensive, 3.8L engine has the dreaded variable intake butterfly valves).

Here's a promising Gen3 that just popped up in Phoenix: https://offerup.com/item/detail/787869953/

If you want someone to go out and inspect it for you hit me up, I can get you some numbers of some local mechanics who can probably drive over there and do it for cheap.

 

[Brown Water]

Thanks for the advice, and I never thought to use Offerup, been scouring craigslist, I have my eye on one in northern California, I'll reach out if I can't find anything a little closer than phoenix.

 

[MoabRefugee]

Just to clarify, ALL 01/02 Limited’s have the LSD with 4.30 and 5spd. XLS’s come with 4.90 open, and XLS with sunroof have 4.90 with LSD as I understand it.

 

[RyanY]

Xls cannot be regeared.

An XLS can be regeared just as easily as any other trim level - what makes you think they can't?

 

[offthepath]

An XLS can be regeared just as easily as any other trim level - what makes you think they can't?

Because xls's come stock with 4.9 gears. You cannot get any taller a ratio for a montero than 4.9s. To my knowledge, there are no gear options for Gen 3s other than OEM.

When you regear a limited, it's is with 4.9s from an xls. You could always regear an xls with 4.3s from a limited but that's going the wrong direction.

 

[mahlerous]

Just to clarify, ALL 01/02 Limited’s have the LSD with 4.30 and 5spd. XLS’s come with 4.90 open, and XLS with sunroof have 4.90 with LSD as I understand it.

This is the first I've heard that pre 03 have 5spd AT.

 

[Christian P.]

I agree with everything offthepath said above. I personally wouldn't consider a 2001-2002 regardless of condition, because IMO 2003+ is so much better performance wise. However, they are more maintenance intensive: 5 speed tranny seems not to last as long as the 4 speed, traction control electronic brake booster will go out around 150-200k and can be expensive, 3.8L engine has the dreaded variable intake butterfly valves).

Here's a promising Gen3 that just popped up in Phoenix: https://offerup.com/item/detail/787869953/

If you want someone to go out and inspect it for you hit me up, I can get you some numbers of some local mechanics who can probably drive over there and do it for cheap.

I had never heard of OfferUp before but looks like they have scammers just like Craigslist...

 

[Michael Brown]

This is the first I've heard that pre 03 have 5spd AT.

The 5-speed was standard for Limited trim in 01-02. 4-speed for XLS. In 03, the XLS trim was dropped from the US imports so only 5-speed remained and they stopped labeling it as Limited. The transfer case is also different as 4-speed models have a manual shift lever with a boot. 5-speed models have the electronic "push-slide shifter".

The biggest change was the addition of the drive by wire 3.8L in 2003. This allowed the use of the traction control system which made the LSDs an expensive redundancy. The 3.5L has its issues, but it also had fewer systems to manage.

I would drive an XLS again if it was a very low price in good condition, but the Limited/03+ models have more features for passengers.