Thread: late td5 or early puma?

my money says late TD5 (actually it screams ISUZU but thats not an option)

Agreed.
By the end of the Td5 run they should have worked out most of the quirks, AFAIK the Td5 is an easier engine to work on than the Tdci, and it leaves you with some $$$ for extra toys

I would have said the early Puma.
They should have had all the bugs fixed under warranty by now & you get the benefit of the following:
1. air con that works
2. better seats
3. quieter more efficient motor
4. more torque
5. 6 speed
6. possibly seven seats if that what you need.
7. anti stall
8. improved traction control

Cheers

Amen to that.

I must say i'm a great believer in never buying the first version of a product - thats partly why I asked the question - and reliability is important.

What are the other main functional differences I should be considering?

Any disadvantages with the td5?

Thanks

Thanks chuck, your reply got in before me ...

How bad is air-con in td5 versus puma? I've tried puma and that does not even seem that great...? (wife and kids will want to know this!)

Td5 may be the go if your family is particularly young I have a td5 and the horizontal bar to fit 3 bolts for child restraint cost about 395 from memory. In a puma as they have the nice seats with a higher back you can't legally fit the horizontal bar as its to low so one puma ive sen spent over $1k to get a single bolt installed in the seat itself BUT (it's a big but) it would make it easier to stow the seats when you need to move big things like lounges or tvs as the bar takes about 10-15 to undo instead of just folding the seats. Depending upon your Rta/dmr you may be able to incorporate the bolts with the cargo barrier like one of the posters did in the sticky related to this.
Puma has a nicer interior but some need double cardon fronts if lifted along with other things.
Mine has 9 seats with the inward facing rear cargo area 2002 model, last of the Salisbury rear diff defenders.

Family is young, i.e. both in child seats... I will need restraint bar fitted. Saw a puma owner on here do this for $500 here in WA recently

Puma interior is "nicer" but i am probably only interested if the functionality is a significant improvement over the td5 (i.e. the reply regarding air-con, above)...

Go for the PUMA, don't be put off by PUMA bashers on here. The old green eyed monster has his teeth into some

Never had a TD5, but the PUMA is good thing, and yes the aircon is only just okay and everybody says how good it is. I couldn't imagine how bad the other must be.

Cheers