This is going to be a long, strange story.
Back when I was growing up in the UAE in the early 2000s, my family purchased a '04 Prado 120 base GX. It was our first really nice car after a long line of beaters - but, we made one crucial error. We bought the 2.7-litre 3RZ-FE matched to a four speed automatic. The 4.0 1GR-FE V6 was AED10,000 more ($2,700) and we were already stretching to make that monthly payment as it is. Driving out the basement of the showroom, I was fairly horrified to find it barely had enough guts to climb the gentle slope back on the city streets.
What followed was five years of mixed feelings. I loved the feel of the truck - smooth steering, church-like interior levels of noise and a pillowy ride (if wallowy in the bends). But it was really base-base - cassette deck, 4 speakers (no speakers in the back!), no sunroof, no cool box, no cruise control, no wood trim, no leather on the steering wheel...wherever the dealer found a dirham he could cut, he did so.
And it was compounded by the fact that my best friend (still is!) bought a 125 two-door with the V6. What a little beast that was; in the context of early 2000s SUVs and anodyne Japanese cars, it looked good, drove good and downright sporty compared to my lumbering bus.
It's been 20 years since we bought the car and I've never given up on owning one of those V6 Prados. Yes, other people dream of Italian exotics, but I dream of righting an old wrong. I've owned everything possible you can offroad in the desert here since, from modified Wranglers and Rams, Gen 1 Raptors, to fully built-up 80 Series Land Cruisers (that last one was quite a tale)....but that humble V6 LWB Prado eluded me.
And then this turns up on Facebook Marketplace. A factory Omani-spec (but delivered in UAE through dealer Dynatrade) 6-speed manual 4.0 V6 VX.
Body seemed fairly clean and straight, chassis looked solid and it had aftermarket wheels, tyres and a snorkel.
OK, mismatched spare, but otherwise, looks like a great deal. And it was even going cheap, by '05 early Prado standards.
"How's the engine?" I asked the chap in charge of selling it.
"It's in the car," he replied.
"In the car?"
"In the car."
Oh.
Stay tuned!
Back when I was growing up in the UAE in the early 2000s, my family purchased a '04 Prado 120 base GX. It was our first really nice car after a long line of beaters - but, we made one crucial error. We bought the 2.7-litre 3RZ-FE matched to a four speed automatic. The 4.0 1GR-FE V6 was AED10,000 more ($2,700) and we were already stretching to make that monthly payment as it is. Driving out the basement of the showroom, I was fairly horrified to find it barely had enough guts to climb the gentle slope back on the city streets.
What followed was five years of mixed feelings. I loved the feel of the truck - smooth steering, church-like interior levels of noise and a pillowy ride (if wallowy in the bends). But it was really base-base - cassette deck, 4 speakers (no speakers in the back!), no sunroof, no cool box, no cruise control, no wood trim, no leather on the steering wheel...wherever the dealer found a dirham he could cut, he did so.
And it was compounded by the fact that my best friend (still is!) bought a 125 two-door with the V6. What a little beast that was; in the context of early 2000s SUVs and anodyne Japanese cars, it looked good, drove good and downright sporty compared to my lumbering bus.
It's been 20 years since we bought the car and I've never given up on owning one of those V6 Prados. Yes, other people dream of Italian exotics, but I dream of righting an old wrong. I've owned everything possible you can offroad in the desert here since, from modified Wranglers and Rams, Gen 1 Raptors, to fully built-up 80 Series Land Cruisers (that last one was quite a tale)....but that humble V6 LWB Prado eluded me.
And then this turns up on Facebook Marketplace. A factory Omani-spec (but delivered in UAE through dealer Dynatrade) 6-speed manual 4.0 V6 VX.
Body seemed fairly clean and straight, chassis looked solid and it had aftermarket wheels, tyres and a snorkel.
OK, mismatched spare, but otherwise, looks like a great deal. And it was even going cheap, by '05 early Prado standards.
"How's the engine?" I asked the chap in charge of selling it.
"It's in the car," he replied.
"In the car?"
"In the car."
Oh.
Stay tuned!
