1999 Holden Jackaroo from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Faulty master cylinder at 30000 km.

Front passenger seat has started to tear, exposing a piece of wire.

Uses approximately 2.8 litres of oil per 10000 km.

Clutch shudder on takeoff.

My Jackaroo feels like it was designed as more of a tough off-roader than a family 4WD.

I regularly take it on the beach and it's almost unstoppable, even in high range.

I don't tow anything with it, so I don't know how well it behaves when pulling a heavy load.

Once the tacho reaches 2500 RPM, the big Jack feels like all it wants to do is just get up and go. And believe me, when you drop it back into 3rd at about 100km/h and floor it, it fairly gets it's butt moving.

I find that the original Goodyear tyres last nowhere near as long as the Bridgestones I have now. I get around 35000 km per set.

The seats aren't really supportive in flat out corners, and the kids always complain about the porr legroom in the 3rd row of seats.

I believe it uses oil because the engine is a DOHC, not OHV. With the exception of the Generation III LS1 V8 made by Chevrolet, I find pushrod engines much more reliable than multivalve engines. Even my lawnmower's OHC Honda GC Series engine lasted only 11 months, eventually being replaced by an OHV Briggs and Stratton Vanguard due to massive oil problems, which caused the engine to wear rapidly, which wasn't my fault.

Apart from that, I am very pleased with my Jackaroo. If I went to buy another one, I would choose a turbo diesel automatic.

My advice is to buy pushrods while you still can.

I want to comment on some claims made in this review. As a mechanic I have found that modern Japanese motors are generally very reliable and trouble free if ongoing maintenance is carried out as per the recommend schedule. As a mechanic I would not be accepting that the oil consumption problem is a result of a motor being DOHC. I think that there must be something wrong with this motor that can be fixed. The oil consumption problem could probably be why the original owner sold the car.

Also, DOHC (double over head cam) motors are OHV over head valve motors, but have the cam shaft above rather than in the engine block.

The additional horsepower required to work push rods and open heavier valve springs cause added fuel consumption and reduce the engine revs. Being a DOHC motor is why it performs so well.

I have a 2000, 3 litre turbo diesel jJckaroo and it has been nothing but a problem, especially with the injectors and injector related problem.

It has just had a new head and it has had clutch plates, broke a piston, snapped a conn rod etc, etc, etc.

Most of the advice from mechanics is for me to "get rid of it". 6 years old, only 95,000 kilometres. Junk.

Did I forget to mention the recalls on these vehicles. Go to yahoo then vehicle recalls australia.

There seems to be some issues with the diesel versions of this vehicle that don't happen in the petrol version. I have the v6 3.5L petrol and have had no issues.

Oil usage on the 3.5L engine was found to be a design issue with the too few drain back holes in the pistons, it was later corrected. Using a thinner oil is better than using a thicker one it is said, to allow better oil drainage. I have no problem with my 1999 model using Mobil 1.

I have a late 98 jackeroo petrol engine and I must say that this has been the best car I have ever owned no oil consumption problems (i use a 10w/30 mineral oil) the only fault in seven odd years was the starter motor and that was an easy fix just dismantled put in new contacts and away it went. It does not do any off roading its auto and a little thirsty other than that its been a great car.