Mine was and still is my V6 unleaded petrol 2.5lt 2001 Suzuki G. Vitara, currently on 1.2 million km. 3 owners, with me being the first owner , gave it to my daughter after 485,000, all I did in that time was 1 set of belts and a front and rear engine oil seal.
My daughter kept it for another 150,000 km and did nothing to it, her ex sold it, which pissed both of us off, the current owner has had it for the last remaining km, and it is still going, not using oil, has replaced another set of belts, and a front and rear oil seal, which I think is the only issue they have.
He is rapped with the vehicle and wants 10k $ for it, might be a bridge too far, I am still umming and ahring over it. I love that engine, and I am looking for lower km ones today, would take mine back for around $7k.
NB: He doesn't want to sell it, I was the one who approached him.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Sunday 10th of May 2026 11:09:07 AM
Hence why I went back to a Suzi in 21', this last one, will not last as long: a 2.4 lt 4cyl, maybe 500k km, not really happy with it, most suzi owners today hang onto their v6 2.5 not the 2.7lt's, their range is less, around 700k km, maybe due to the rebore. Also people really the like 2 door early 90's soft top and hardtop . 1.5lt 4cycl, I had one of those it did 550k km from new, need a new clutch and thrust bearing, I should have kept it as well.
Currently looking at 23' mod Jiminy 5 doors, but limited towing capabilities, though we do only have a small hardfloor camper.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Sunday 10th of May 2026 12:16:20 PM
4lt. Barra in my 2004 xr6 Ute, 275000klms. Bit heavy on petrol but done nothing to it apart from oil changes[10,000kl,s.] And sparkplugs, still drives very well.
My backup vehicle is a Suzuki Vitara I bought off a mate about 10 years or more ago for 3 grand.
V6 4wd, just looked at the mileage on it, 254,670. I have put about 75,000 of those on there.
I use it instead of my newish Izuzu D-Max tow ute when I go out to golf each Saturday in the bush.
The Suzuki has a big nudge bar on the front and I have hit two roos this year.
Fair sized ones, but both centred on the nudge bar and no damage done both times.
These little Suzuki Vitara are built like small tanks.
Over the years on that road I have pretty well worked out where the roos are going to be.
They are fairly habitual and predictable in terms of where they tend to hang out.
But there is always the surprise attack from one of those kamikaze ones, particularly those lone little black ar$e wallabies are a bit dumb.
Haven't had to spend much on it over the years, one decent go to fix the engine oil leak for rego purposes and that is about it.
My local tyre service owner has had dibbs on it for years when I retire it.
He reckons cut the roof out of these little 4wd Suzuki and they make great 4wd shooting wagons.
Now a few of the pig-shooters out at golf have their eyes on it for the same fate!!!!
They are fantastic little well built cars, little bit heavy on the juice.
Overdrive helps a bit but at around the 100 k's the petrol gauge tends to get fairly active.
Rolls Royce Silver Spur.
The Rolls Royce Silver Spur is powered by a 6.75-liter V8 engine, delivering approximately 329 horsepower and 738 Nm of torque, known for its smooth performance and luxury driving experience.
Nissan Patrol Y62.
I now drive Y62 Patrol (series 5).
It is powered by a 5.6-liter V8 engine, delivering approximately 400 horsepower and 560 Nm of torque, also known for its smooth performance and luxury driving experience.
__________________
Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
My wife had a 2001 Grand Vitara V6 4sp auto from new as a company car. The lease was in her name but her employer made all payments plus insurance, servicing, fuel etc. When the lease was up we paid the residual so we got a 2yo car with about 40,000km for about $10k. A bargain.
The Suzuki was a very good car, but in 2012 when we moved to a hilly area out of town the fuel usage became more of a concern. On the hills the engine needed 3rd gear and higher rpm and average fuel use was over 13 litres per 100km. Note; my wife does NOT drive for economy (but let's just keep that to ourselves). We sold the Suzuki and bought a 2010 VW Tiguan AWD diesel with the 6sp DSG. Fuel consumption for the Tiguan was about 6.5 litres per 100k.
I don't recall a "best engine" in my life.. They all had something decent to offer.. But I definitely recall the worst of them all... The Rover 2286cc conversion to Diesel in my Land Rover series 2a 109 1962 Station Wagon...
Even brand new, it leaked oil from the real seal made of a piece of rope... The idea behind that? To constantly have fresh oil into the engine...
Still, it managed to take us through the Sahara desert and back home... But I had to get a loan just to pay for the oil that it used.. It never smoked once.. All lost from the real seal.. Eventually a kit was developed to replace the rope with a more conventional double lip seal... It was also gutless, but I don't think that engine was ever converted to diesel to achieve better speed...
I had a great time with the UAZ 469 with the 2 litre FIAT engine.. That 4wd was unstoppable and that engine never missed a beat... I believe it is still in production today under a new name Hunter... Not sure about what engine they used today...
Yes, things have changed, the missus, prefers a Rav4, it is mainly her car, I ride my bike most of the time, we wont be buying new, because of all the junk electrics on them, it will have to be a 4wd/awd, although awd, is pretty much useless offroad. Looking at 2016 model up to 2019 mods.
The reason she wants one is she has a work car one 2018 mod AWD, shire council car. The missus does on avg 100k km each year in it, it is nearing 300k km and other than services nothing else has been done to it..
Have the poms ever made an engine that didnt leak?
I think other than early Leyland's products, they did produce some great engines and cars... The Jaguar 4.2 6 cylinder was a great engine and when combined to the E type, as Enzo Ferrari once said: "The most beautiful car ever made" I have to agree with that...
I had one E type in white back in 88... sold it for 26k... I still regret it today...
What about the Mini Cooper? That was another great little classic... And of course the Range Rover, the most comfortable and capable 4wd ever made... It took Toyota and the rest of the Asian gang 35 years to catch up just with the specs...
I think there are lots of cars and engines that the Brits can be proud of...
Edit: I hate my new keyboard!!! It leaves so many letters behind...
-- Edited by Burt65 on Tuesday 12th of May 2026 03:00:37 PM
Yes, things have changed, the missus, prefers a Rav4, it is mainly her car, I ride my bike most of the time, we wont be buying new, because of all the junk electrics on them, it will have to be a 4wd/awd, although awd, is pretty much useless offroad. Looking at 2016 model up to 2019 mods.
Sorry man, I didn't mean to derail your thread... back on topic...
Yes, things have changed, the missus, prefers a Rav4, it is mainly her car, I ride my bike most of the time, we wont be buying new, because of all the junk electrics on them, it will have to be a 4wd/awd, although awd, is pretty much useless offroad. Looking at 2016 model up to 2019 mods.
Sorry man, I didn't mean to derail your thread... back on topic...
That's cool mate, I just want to say something though not related to anything above, unofficially I have been retired since I was 40, 27 years ago, but officially I recently last week 12 midnite Monday, retired from working partime for 32 years as a DOD Analyst, My entire team quit Anzac Day also this year at 11.59 am that day as well. I don't know who is going to do that job anymore, I was the youngest at 67, the oldest 79, their was five of us, it is/was a very critical role, but we were all burnt out. I don't want any praise, nor do my team, we just hope that when the time comes, someone is there throughout the country to put their hand up!
Another thing ( I don't know why I am doing this here but it feels like family here), I found out on the 9th Jan this year, that I am a real Dad, up in Inverell, bumped into a lady, who reconised me through foto's that dated back to 1976 and 1977. She said I was her dad, She is 50 years old, I also have two granddaughters, aged 18 and 27, with the 27yo having two daughters herself, aged ( a bit unsure at the moment, but are young).
Proof in the pudding was a DNA test,( and yes she is mine) 6 weeks ago. . I didn't want to ask for it, but I was pressured by my siblings, because I know the weekend she was conceived, as does she. She has been looking for me for ten years, since her mum died. Her Mum spoke to her a few days before she died, and explained that the person she thought was her dad was not her dad, that person died not 6 months after she was born( he was a copper and died in an accident).
I was very much in love with her mum and her me, but I was about to join the Army, that was my dream and future career, she knew this and kept the info of our baby from me, so as to not destroy my dreams, would I have liked to have known, most definitely, it would have been so great to have known her over all those years, but I would never have met my lovely Adopted daughter and grandkids and my now wife, and I dearly love all of them, and she is very much part of our family.
I don't hold a grudge against my first real love, my daughters mother at all, she did what she thought was right at the time. She dearly want ed to have a child but her husband at the time had without her knowledge, a vasectomy, so when she found out, sometime into our friendly relationship, I was her lawn mowing bloke, one thing led to another, and hence we/I have a daughter.
My wife only recently found out about this matter, she is not happy, does not believe I didn't know, but this all happened long before I met her. Anyhow I just needed to vent, their is not too many people I can talk about it to, so I thought I would come here and unload it on you blokes/ladies. I am very happy, I never thought I would ever have my own child, I was exposed to something whilst I was in the army, at 19yo, and caused me to become sterile, hence why I am really happy that I have a child related to me by my own blood.
My parents( Deceased) would love this knowledge, preferred for me to have my own child, and did resent us adopting a child and that child, but did not show their resentment to her thankgod.
So all is pretty much well now, especially since I have left my military career, both as a soldier, and as a civilian Contractor( Defence Analyst) behind, and now to become haha a free man once again, hopefully with all of my remaining family behind me.
Cheers everyone thanks for letting me unload.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Wednesday 13th of May 2026 03:01:10 AM
Wife died a couple of years ago after 40 years together. I couldn't go through the mental torture again if I was to start another relationship. It's just not going to happen.
I am so grateful that we had many years doing things together instead of working until the first one of us was in the grave.
P.S. As we agreed,... I was the one to survive, it has it's own torture, I wish I had gone first.
I did a non attendance cremation, $1800, couldn't have asked for a better & thoughtful & kind person providing the service (basically, government administration as required by law). All our friends said that my personal arranged ceremony in our own home was the best funeral they had been to. I actually copied this on our friend's funeral 2 decades earlier, which we actually held in our our home for their support. The best funeral we had "gone" to... at the time!
__________________
Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
For a petrol engine moving 1.850 tonnes from 0 to 100 in 8 seconds with 2.0 litres the Wify loved it... & I thought I had a led foot! Land Rover was her choice, she didn't want to be seen in some white goods toyota or whatever rubbish.
__________________
Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
