'lux 4x4. Everything is perfect after owning it over 16 years.

Ok, things I hate ...

Brakes, although the pads last just about forever.

Clock position. Can't see it from driver's seat - blocked by steering
wheel,
earlier model I had didn't have that problem. This is important when
trying
to get somewhere on time. They obviously made a LHD decision on that.

Timing belt - should be scissor and gear.

Front birfield joints - should be better sealed.

Pickup type bed - stupid to provide galvannealled and painted. Should
be
spray on bed liner instead of simply paint over the galvannealing.

Bodywork is a bit thinner than I'd like.

Hmmm, good points ...

Cup holders are right infront of A/C vents - that works.

Vehicle size - it is as large as it can be to fit into places
such as apartment building garages, make it on narrow offroad
trails. I guess it is the maximum size you could get away with
in 99% of any condition. Go larger to a Dodge/Ford full size - that
is too large and would not fit in a lot of places.

Does not rust.

Turbo diesel engine - can make my own fuel.

Provides everything I need from load space to 4x4 to ordinary
urban driving.

In summary - I guess it's one of the most usefull things I've bought
in my life.

I currently own three and a half. 1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 2006 Ford
Territory Ghia and a 2005 Rodeo LX crew cab ute. Oh, and the half is my 1966
XP Futura coupe, but as it's only half a car at the moment it's not really
worth talking about :)

The Cherokee was sold to my neighbour's girlfriend last night, and while
I'll still own it for a few days I'll really be sorry to see it go as it's
been one of the most reliable and dependable cars I've ever owned. Easy to
work on, solid (if somewhat antiquated) mechanicals and body, great economy,
absolutely outstanding towing ability, light weight, decent performance and
just a great all round family vehicle. It's down sides aren't much other
than the fact that it doesn't have a split fold rear seat which is a pain if
you have a baby seat fitted, and some of the controls are arsed about being
an American car.

Aside from that it's been a *brilliant* vehicle and I'll miss it a lot.

The Terry and Rodeo I've only had for a week, but I'm reasonably familiar
with them both.

The Terry is an '06 SY model Ghia in Silver (or "Lightning Strike" as Ford
prefers to call it) with the Barra 190 engine, six speed auto and all wheel
drive. On the plus side these things drive *remarkably* well for a 2+ tonne
vehicle with a reasonably high centre of gravity. Performance is
exceptionally good, ride quality is decent, seats are nice and the auto and
brakes are excellent. Interior layout is fantastic and the amount of storage
space with the second & third row seats folded down is around the same as a
panel van. Little "nik-naks" like the electronically controlled rear view
mirror and adjustable pedals are neat, and the reversing camera is a
brilliant idea that should be part of the standard kit on every car.

On the down side, Ford build quality and attention to detail is f.cking 
*terrible*, and they have a *hell* of a long way to go before they can
consider themselves the equal of the Japanese or Europeans.

Interior plastics quality is pretty shitful, although not nearly as bad as
the BA/BF Falcon, suspension creaks and knocks are standard fare, fuel
economy is appalling at around 17l/100km, and the door seals on both front
doors fall down off their seam when you open the windows. The window
switches aren't illuminated which makes fumbling for them in the dark a
pain, the "premium" sound system sounds like it came from the Reject shop
and the plastic handle that needs to be pulled to fold down the third row
seat has already snapped off in my hand.

The rear hatch is a split operation deal where you press one button to open
the glass and another to open the whole door, and while it works pretty well
there could have been a little more thought put into the lifting handle. The
same one is used for both (in the centre of the door just above the number
plate) and while that makes opening the glass easy it makes opening the door
a lot more difficult as you're lifting the weight from the middle rather
than lower down.

It also has a problem where the hinges holding the glass are pretty weak,
allowing the gas struts to push the glass out of alignment and rub on the
paint of the door frame. It's a common fault with Territory's, and the
adjustment procedure is an absolute pain as the hinge fasteners live
*inside* the doorframe itself.

Another standard fault on every Terry I've ever seen is rust under the rear
door seal in the lower centre of the lip. The bodies are apparently held in
a jig at this point on the assembly line and there's about a 2 inch long
section of the lower rear door seal lip that doesn't get painted when the
car gets sprayed, and this raw metal area rusts remarkably quickly. Mine's
already rusted in this area, and a brand new Terry SR had rust on it on the
dealer's showroom floor when I looked last week. It's a common problem, and
Ford are doing nothing to rectify it other than approving warranty repairs
in record numbers.

Admittedly this wasn't a new car when I bought it, but it's only done
56,000km, and for a vehicle that cost a tad over 60 grand on the road when
it was new the fit & finish is pretty average. They really are an
outstanding family vehicle that are let down terribly by piss poor quality
issues. Still, in having said all of that they remain one of the best 7 seat
wagons on the market today, and they absolutely *sh.t* all over any people
mover you'd care to name. If you can put up with/tend to yourself all the
little niggly quality issues they're an excellent family car.

As for the Rodeo there's not much to say other than it's a Japanese ute.

I've been in the market for a crew cab ute for a while, and looked at
Tritons, Hiluxes, Bravo's and Navara's as well as Rodeo's and of the lot the
Navara was the pick if you could find a decent one at a reasonable price.
Trouble is you often can't :) As for the rest you could throw a blanket over
the lot as they're much of a muchness apart from the Hilux. The Hilux is a
rough riding, over priced piece of garbage in my opinion, and they have been
for quite a while. The Triton, Bravo and Rodeo all sh.t all over it, and the
Navara is so far ahead of it it's not funny.

Anyway I ended up with a Rodeo purely because one came up in good nick at a
decent price. It's a 2005 RA series 3.5 litre petrol V6 with a 4 speed auto,
61000km's on the dial and it performs pretty well. Ride quality is firm but
comfortable, it's suspension is *whisper* quiet and more so than the
Territory Ghia ( mean there is not a bump, knock, squeak or rattle to be
heard in this thing anywhere whereas the Terry sounds like a brick in a
metal garbage can rolling down a hill on corrugations), seats are
comfortable if a little unsupportive, interior cabin space is large, rear
seat access is better than the Cherokee and the seat itself is decent enough
to do a long trip on.

The mechanical package is fine and the engine and auto work well. It's not
the most powerful V6 jap ute around but it's certainly not the slowest
either (that honour *easily* belongs to the Hilux). It has decent steering,
excellent brakes, a good heater & air conditioner, plenty of cargo space in
the ute tub, and it's height is *perfect* for me being just at the right
height to open the door and slide my arse onto the seat.

It's cons seem to be few other than it being a base model work ute it comes
with virtually nothing other than air conditioning, keyless entry and a
cheap arsed CD player. Rubber floor mat and manually operated everything
else :) Haven't had it long enough to tell what fuel economy is like yet,
but considering the mileage I'm planning on doing in it anyway it's not
likely to be a big concern. The only thing I really don't like about it is
the noise the engine fan makes when cold, as it's incredibly *loud* , and
enough to make an XF Falcon seem like a stealth fighter )

It has a standard ute tub and lockable canopy fitted to it at the moment
which I plan to arsehole soon and build a custom tray that will suit my
particular needs, but it seems to be a good all round work vehicle that
hopefully will cause me very few problems.

--
Regards,
Noddy.