- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 7 seats
- Engine
3.0, 6 cyl.
- Engine Power
100kW, 224Nm
- Fuel
NA
- Manufacturer
4X4
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
NA
- Ancap Safety
NA
Used car review: Nissan Patrol GQ
Big and clunky - a bygone era
Back in the 1980s, the best vehicle for true off-road work in Australia was the Range Rover. The problem for the Japanese contenders was that until then they were still crude trucks with clunky chassis, leaf springs and breathless engines. Not only could the Range Rover potentially go further into the bush, it didn't hammer its occupants in the process.
But all that changed in the late 1980s. Nissan struck first with its original coil-sprung GQ Patrol, and suddenly full-sized Japanese off-roaders had caught up. It's no surprise that the Patrol was so well suited to Australian conditions; Nissan really paid attention because in the early and mid '90s, Australia was the second-largest market for Nissan Patrols worldwide.
Short-wheelbase vehicles have lost favour in recent years, but in 1988 they were still considered a viable alternative to the less agile station wagon models.
The Patrol line-up included both a long and short-wheelbase variant, the latter with two doors, a small, narrow back seat and less interior room.
The smart buy was the long-wheelbase car purely for its load and rear-seat space. Even so, the rear seat is anything but comfortable with a weird backrest angle and scant padding. But the front seats were typically good and the rest of the interior was big and chunky. Provided a vehicle has been looked after, it can still function well today.
The Patrol was a butch truck. The big, bold grille and flat bonnet made a statement emphasised by wheel-arch flares, big chunky wheels and tyres and a ribbed roof.
Unlike the all-new LandCruiser from Toyota that was waiting in the wings while all this was going on, Nissan had no turbo-diesel option. The otherwise modern normally aspirated diesel was good, but driving it now will reveal its slightly sluggish performance.
If the thought of 20 L/100 km fuel use didn't put you off, the petrol engine was faster and more refined. Gearbox choices consisted of a five-speed manual for both the petrol and diesel with an optional four-speed automatic for petrol versions.
The automatic was easier to drive in traffic - the manual shift was accurate but slow - but it didn't help fuel economy.
And even with the automatic fitted, there's no mistaking the Patrol as an older-generation vehicle. It's big, heavy and feels it. The things that made the Patrol so good off-road - and it was very good - also compromised it as a road car: its sheer weight, the unsprung mass of those live axles front and rear, and the ponderous, slightly wandering steering at speed.
In the scrub, however, the slow steering meant it could hold a line while jumping over boulders and scrambling out of ruts. The live axles gave it excellent wheel articulation and travel, and the industrial-strength feel of the Patrol suggested durability. And, the transfer-case, with its super-low ratios, made it a capable weekend rock climber.
Old, thirsty GQ Patrols are now cheap, but those with more than 250,000 km on the clock could need expensive repairs to engines, gearboxes or transfer cases. A diesel will cost more to rebuild or replace than a petrol engine; neither will be cheap.
Petrol engines should be checked for cracked cylinder heads, while the complicated fuel system of diesels that are blowing black smoke could be well worn. A check underneath can be revealing. Dents or scrapes under the body or on the suspension members indicate a hard off-road life. Many will have never been off-road, and are the ones to look for.
Also, be wary of modifications. They suggest a hard off-road life, and may also affect roadworthiness and insurance status.
These days, the GQ Patrol is a bit outdated, particularly in terms of space, safety package and on-road manners.
Then again, the latest Patrol model is not entirely unrelated to the original GQ, so there's still life in the idea yet. And that's borne out by the off-road abilities of the GQ that are still good enough for a well-driven unit to stick with pretty much anything else out there.
What to pay
The GQ Patrol had an extraordinary innings before it was replaced by the very similar GU, so there's a broad spread of prices. Prices range from about $6000 for one in usable condition from the late 1980s to about $25,000 for a late-'90s version. Somewhere within that bracket should be the car for you.
The competition
The Toyota LandCruiser is the other big, Japanese four-wheel-drive that is around in huge numbers. We'd also look at a Pajero, particularly if you don't need all the size of the Nissan or Toyota. Not that the Pajero is small, it's simply a better size for suburbia. And for a punt, why not look at a Range Rover? With an LPG conversion they incur reasonable running costs and in the bush, they're still gun. Find a good one, though.