Advice on 4 x 4 for £5000

[simo]

Check out your towing weight. Most of these so called 4x4's cannot pull 2tons.

[MacV2]

What are these ''four wheels '' you speak of ?

Tis the devils work I tell ye!

Seriously though I had a Hilux 4x4 as a works truck for about 18 months, couldn't fault it. Mine was only a 1 1/2 cab so only had a bench seat in the back so I cant comment on the rear leg room as I was driving it. Also can't comment on the mileage as I didn't pay for the fuel & I was want to cane the nuts off it all the time, but it was very comfy & drove very well either empty or fully loaded, did loads of M way miles with no probs.

Seem to remember that it was good mileage between services as well something like 10,000 Miles.

[BigVeeGrin]

Fiat panda 4x4. Can't get better economy and traction. Bit of a cult vehicle in my opinion

brilliant car

[stormingjoe]

Or the luxury end, one of those Bongo day vans, jap import jobbies.

[Furrybiker]

Yeah I fancied a "Bongo Friendee" just for the name or even the Ford version the Freda!

[tony.mon]

OK, done loads of homework, and I seem to be looking at standard 4 x 4 type vehicles, and have shortlisted:
Nissan X Trail
Mitsubishi Outlander
Hyundai santaFe
Nissan Terrano.
Drove an employee's Rav 4, the 5-door today, quite impressed actually. Drove nicely, but small boot area.
Not entirely ruled one out, though, as there's quite a few about.

Any thoughts on these?

I ruled out twin-cab pickups, the load area's useful but you can't get a bike in them, you'd still need a trailer. any disco gear in the back would get wet; not ideal.
Estate-style ones- these seem to have a smaller load area than the 2-wheel drive versions, probably to get the extra gubbins under the floor. So not really big enough.

Off out tomorrow to drive a few, maybe to buy if I see one that catches my eye.

[BigVeeGrin]

Tony - can only speak as the owner of an X-Trail. Loads of space, great headroom, good economy (2.5dci), tyres last a good 15 - 20k (it's the Mrs), drives really well and loads of spares etc etc. We got it from almost new, done 60k, not one problem aside from a faulty reverse light switch. Tows the caravan with ease. Would I have another one? You bet, wouldn't even bother looking at anything else.

[Miztaziggy]

Tony, is it a company car? Or will it be taxed as a company car?

If so, then go for the pick up type things. Car tax on a 4x4 land rover or similar is a fortune, whereas those pick up things are classed as vans when it comes to car tax and there is a flat rate of £1000 PA I think.

If not a company car, personally I would go with the estate if I had to have a 4x4 just because they will be better fuel economy, but my first choice would just be a good front wheel drive car and I would fit winter tyres. You wouldnt believe how much difference they make in the snow. In Germany it is a legal requirement to have 2 sets of tyres and put winter ones on for when it snows.

I think it works out about 20% power loss for a normal 2 wheel drive car through the transmission as a rule of thumb (may be 10 or 15%) but whatever the figure, that doubles when you go 4x4, hence much lower fuel economy.

[MacV2]

''I ruled out twin-cab pickups, the load area's useful but you can't get a bike in them, you'd still need a trailer. any disco gear in the back would get wet; not ideal.''

This is true Tony, but you can get either the flat type retractable covers or the type that lift up on hydraulic dampers or even the full on cab-man things with a rear tailgate. On the Hilux I ran it had a soft cover held on with bungees, not I deal for security but nothing ever got wet & just by rolling it up you have a full on open bed.

Again think of the tax issue the money you save on that would probably cove the cost of a trailer, maybe if you bought a cheap one & modded it as you were thinking of.

Mac

[tattie]

I have a Hilux 2.5 double cab 31-33mpg with a locking canopy on the back it was very handy last year with the snow we had up here, plenty of room in the back as well.
I have a mate with a Suzuki grand vitara and he swears by them and the neighbour across the road has a Subaru Forester and he can't fault it either.
What about a Freelander or one of the Citroen/Peugeot 4wd (can't think of the name of them)people carrier things?

Cheers

A.M

[marravtr]

ford ranger double cab, fantastic trucks, mines the thunder with leather and a/c also with the truckman off and the tailgate down i can get the bike in the back ( just make sure you strap it down well!!

p.s mines still for sale

[lumpyv]

a boy at work had a freelander and it was so sh1t landrover gave him his money back....

[BigVeeGrin]

a boy at work had a freelander and it was so sh1t landrover gave him his money back....

bloke at work has a new discovery and has had two engines replaced under warranty. Costs a fortune as you don't take the engine out of the body, you take the body off the engine

[tony.mon]

Based on many reports and reviews, I've completely ruled out any of the Land Rover or Range Rover derivatives.

Too unreliable....

I'm looking for a 2.2 TD Xtrail if poss, there's a few about so I'll check a few out over the next few days.

Budget I have will probably get me a 70-100K '93'94 or possibly '95 model, with leather, air con, etc, etc.

[tony.mon]

Just bought a one-owner Nissan X-Trail, 53 plate but only 65K, three months warranty, £5450.
Full spec, satnav, leccy everything.
Smells of dogs, so was able to batter them down from £6k

Drives nice, though.

So anyone fancy a lovely haircut/perm, or their kids running to school?