Thread: Suitability of Perentie for Daily Driver?

There is no way I could do it but I'm also not a fan of the 4BD1. Personally I think you would prefer the quietness, smoothness and luxury of the Disco. The water and wind doesnt get in, its got climate control or AC, you can hear the stereo and when you're parked you can lock it. They are just very comfortable vehicles. Every 4BD1 Perentie I have been in has been horrific, I'm not a fan of them athough the die hards will tell you it's the best vehicle on the planet... not even close in my book, especially for a DD, but the Perentie is designed as a tool and nothing more, and that said it is very good at what it was designed for.

What Slunnie said. The Perentie is a Military vehicle, and the Army didn't even give Generals many creature comforts. The Army limited them to 80 km/h, due to high noise levels if you can believe the shop talk. A fine vehicle for what they were intended for, and virtually unstoppable, but require massive modifications to be even acceptable as a DD. I'd prefer a D1. Heck, you could get a D1 and convert it into a brilliant ute ( dog ) for way less than you'll pay for a Perentie.

That said, I'd have one for a weekender with a swag. Just the thing for gathering firewood.

Or there's this:

Facebook Marketplace: Disco td5 ute – Car parts – Kilmore, Victoria

I think it depends on what your "daily driving" involves.

Drawbacks to the perentie (assuming it is the most common variety):-

• canvas roof = no security
• No power steering = good exercise machine, and hard to manage in close quarters
• noisy, and vibrates = uncomfortable
• Designed to carry a heavy load; i.e. it is a truck not a car = rough ride if driven empty or near empty
• Placarded towing mass is fairly low = cost to get this changed. If towing much you won't be towing it fast.
• Relatively low performance=you'll have to stick to the speed limits

Advantages

• Reliable and cheap to run
• Durable
• You can carry a heavy load. Not like many modern four wheel drives that are overweight by the time you fill all the seats with typically obese Australians and fill the tank.
• You can service it yourself, easily

As far as reliability goes, I recently drove my County (same drive train) with no preparation other than a normal service.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I think it depends on what your "daily driving" involves.

Drawbacks to the perentie (assuming it is the most common variety):-

• canvas roof = no security
• No power steering = good exercise machine, and hard to manage in close quarters
• noisy, and vibrates = uncomfortable
• Designed to carry a heavy load; i.e. it is a truck not a car = rough ride if driven empty or near empty
• Placarded towing mass is fairly low = cost to get this changed. If towing much you won't be towing it fast.
• Relatively low performance=you'll have to stick to the speed limits

Advantages

• Reliable and cheap to run
• Durable
• You can carry a heavy load. Not like many modern four wheel drives that are overweight by the time you fill all the seats with typically obese Australians and fill the tank.
• You can service it yourself, easily

As far as reliability goes, I recently drove my County (same drive train) with no preparation other than a normal service.

Hello John,

Thank you for your detailed reply. A County was the other vehicle in my thoughts. However, they are rarely on the market. One was for sale in Bundaberg in late 2019. However it was not a good time for me.

I am aware that some people have fitted the Isuzu motor to a Defender. Not sure if it has been done to a Discovery though?

While it would be considered an act of desecration by many - I have been reading the "Fitting a Hardtop to a Perentie" thread.

The ability to carry and tow a heavy load is the biggest point of interest to me apart from the military history aspect of a Perentie.

What is the towing capacity of a Perentie? A Discovery is 3.5 tonnes has the Perentie the same towingcapacity or more/less?

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

I am aware that some people have fitted the Isuzu motor to a Defender. Not sure if it has been done to a Discovery though?

While it would be considered an act of desecration by many - I have been reading the "Fitting a Hardtop to a Perentie" thread.

Kind regards
Lionel

It has been done to quite a few RRC's also. It's the one Jap motor that the LandRover die hards appreciate.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

There is no way I could do it but I'm also not a fan of the 4BD1. Personally I think you would prefer the quietness, smoothness and luxury of the Disco. The water and wind doesnt get in, its got climate control or AC, you can hear the stereo and when you're parked you can lock it. They are just very comfortable vehicles. Every 4BD1 Perentie I have been in has been horrific, I'm not a fan of them athough the die hards will tell you it's the best vehicle on the planet... not even close in my book, especially for a DD, but the Perentie is designed as a tool and nothing more, and that said it is very good at what it was designed for.

Hello Slunnie,

Today marked the first day of my looking for possible alternatives. I already have a number of military Land Rovers - okay they are a 2A and Series 3; so I do have my bit of Australian military vehicle history ownership slot filled.

It was just while searching on eBay today I started to realise that some of the newer used Discovery options were beginning to come up to the same price line of some Perenties. So that expanded my options.

My other concern is that a County and the Perenties are actually older vehicles than my 2004 Commodore. I already have the "Classic" vehicle slot in my fleet filled. It does not make sense to me to age my main vehicle.

I would like to be able to on rare occasions be able to hire a car trailer and hook it up to my own vehicle and pick up a parts vehicle. Most importantly something I can at last turn off the bitumen and check out some tracks in. I have had four wheel drive vehicles now for eight years and none of them have been registered.

Yes - comfort and climate control, a good sound system and being able to hear it is important to me. It looks like that was a very short foray into Perentie land. Thanks Slunnie!

Kind regards
Lionel

yep, they're great.

If I need more than what I can get on the bike I use a 6x6 as a daily.