Which used 4x4 family car and decent off road capability?
Discussion
Hi all,
Any advice/experiences appreciated... Looking to buy a 4x4 for about 4 - 5K. Will occasionally need to go off road and will need to manage winter weather, but main purpose is family car with plenty of space without being a tank! Will also need to be reliable. Considering Grand Vitara, Freelander, Sante Fe? I had a shogun years ago, but may be a little big and out of my budget. Any one recommend any of above or alternative?
Thanks!
Any advice/experiences appreciated... Looking to buy a 4x4 for about 4 - 5K. Will occasionally need to go off road and will need to manage winter weather, but main purpose is family car with plenty of space without being a tank! Will also need to be reliable. Considering Grand Vitara, Freelander, Sante Fe? I had a shogun years ago, but may be a little big and out of my budget. Any one recommend any of above or alternative?
Thanks!
samDD said:
Thanks, I will look in to both. I have a horse, who's retired, so no towing, but would be handy if it could deal with muddy tracks, driving through field in winter months and coping with snow/ice to get there in first place. Thanks, any suggestions appreciated!
If you're going to do that with it then look at the tyres. You'll need *proper* all-terrain tyres, not like those often fitted on new 4x4s which just clog up in mud and turn into useless slicks (I've seen it...) A new set will be around £100 a corner so factor that in, I'd suggest.MatrixXXx said:
Take a look at the Jeep range , good off road and very good value for money.
The KJ Cherokee is exceptional value for money. Or if you want something a bit newer, the Patriot and Compass offer decent off-roading capability with good fuel economy and are now around the £5k mark.
Wife has a 1.9tdi 4x4 Octavia Estate - as she works as a community nurse she needs to get to all calls out in the hills - last winter when the snow was very bad in March she was able to get everywhere on winter tyres.
47mpg everywhere, huge boot and great reliability. £4000 will get you a good one.
47mpg everywhere, huge boot and great reliability. £4000 will get you a good one.
samDD said:
Great to have some suggestions I hadn't considered. With Land Rover was just worried about reliability. Octavia sounds interesting, as do the Jeeps ... although guessing Jeeps in my budget would be pretty high mileage? Maybe that's not such an issue these days?
Defiantly steer clear of Land rovers unless you like tinkering and its a hobby vehicle,remember they are basically a poor copy of a jeep with British Leyland build quality ,Jeeps can be good ,Suzuki's also worth a look they have hi low and are a step up in off road ability from a 4x4 car ..
Definitely agree with the LR reliability comments. Easy to work on but you have to do a lot of it. A friend of mine had a Disco 2 and I mentioned even LR had apologised for their unreliability. Really? He said, looking offended, they're fine. I decided to quickly change the topic of conversation and asked him what he was planning for the weekend. He said he wasn't looking forward to it because he had to dismantle the front suspension to replace some worn bushes, on the upside he'd managed to locate a company that would replace his failing gearbox in a single day with a recon for only £1000...
powerstroke said:
Defiantly steer clear of Land rovers unless you like tinkering and its a hobby vehicle,remember they are basically a poor copy of a jeep with British Leyland build quality ,
..
What total b..
ks. Been driving Range Rover classics and now Disco 2 for over 20 years. Always as my everyday car and for weekend greenlaing trips. Never had huge reliability problems. My current D2 have owned for 6 years and after changing from air bags to springs no issues worth talking about.
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