Fourtrak, Trooper or Shogun?
Discussion
Which would you pick if you were after a sub £1k reliable 4x4 for some off roading, towing a track car and third car duties like trips to the recycling centre/dump and use on snow days?
Do any of them have any known reliability issues, especially those being considered within this price bracket?
Any particular engine in each I should go for or avoid?
Any input would be really appreciated.
Jonny.
Do any of them have any known reliability issues, especially those being considered within this price bracket?
Any particular engine in each I should go for or avoid?
Any input would be really appreciated.
Jonny.
Out of those 3 you mentioned Fourtrak would be my choice. Just watch though for rust and many have had a hard life, so finding a good one can be hard.You want late one with Independent front end.
Shogun more about so more choice and more likely to had a easier life.Watch out for grey imports though.
Trooper watch the 3.1's they can suffer from oil pump problems, I have know a good number and few close to home, good friend had a new one and it went pop advised my brother in-law but he still bought one and that when pop to. Plus quite a big gap in age between those 2 vehicles.
Any that have not seen a tow-bar fitted are quite a good bet !!. I tend to look for that when buying 4x4's. School run is always better than a horse box....
Shogun more about so more choice and more likely to had a easier life.Watch out for grey imports though.
Trooper watch the 3.1's they can suffer from oil pump problems, I have know a good number and few close to home, good friend had a new one and it went pop advised my brother in-law but he still bought one and that when pop to. Plus quite a big gap in age between those 2 vehicles.
Any that have not seen a tow-bar fitted are quite a good bet !!. I tend to look for that when buying 4x4's. School run is always better than a horse box....
Edited by Rum Runner on Friday 15th January 23:38
Another vote for Daihatsu. The engines and gearboxes are genuinely unbreakeable. As another poster said, rust is the biggest problem - they're not known as Dai-rot-through for nothing!
The rust seems to be mostly limited to body panels, which are cheap enough to replace. Because the Daihatsu has a chassis, rust on body panels seems to be less serious for the MOT.
I have an agricultural contracting business, and now run 2 of these - a 1988 and 1992 model (1992 recently acquired as another 4x4 was off the road waiting for parts). Bought it for €600 (I'm in Belgium) without MOT, put it through the MOT. 2 tyres and one shock absorber later and it's good for a year. They spend all the time towing fuel bowsers to refuel combines, foragers etc.
I've never had a Trooper. Had a Shogun until a year or so ago, when one of the lads wrecked it. That was also good, but I don't think you'll find a decent one for under £1000.
The rust seems to be mostly limited to body panels, which are cheap enough to replace. Because the Daihatsu has a chassis, rust on body panels seems to be less serious for the MOT.
I have an agricultural contracting business, and now run 2 of these - a 1988 and 1992 model (1992 recently acquired as another 4x4 was off the road waiting for parts). Bought it for €600 (I'm in Belgium) without MOT, put it through the MOT. 2 tyres and one shock absorber later and it's good for a year. They spend all the time towing fuel bowsers to refuel combines, foragers etc.
I've never had a Trooper. Had a Shogun until a year or so ago, when one of the lads wrecked it. That was also good, but I don't think you'll find a decent one for under £1000.
I have a mate that works for a company that transports caravans around the country ( some massive units for location events etc).
they swear by the Troppers .. most of the vehicles they have have a hard life, that do lots of mileage on and off roads, sometimes in difficult conditions. They are also used for Shunting Vans around their yards and also for recovery. They dont rate the long wheel bases, but some of the swb troopers, in Duty commercial trim, running good quality AT's registered on 02 plates have covered almost 200,000 miles and are still going strong
they swear by the Troppers .. most of the vehicles they have have a hard life, that do lots of mileage on and off roads, sometimes in difficult conditions. They are also used for Shunting Vans around their yards and also for recovery. They dont rate the long wheel bases, but some of the swb troopers, in Duty commercial trim, running good quality AT's registered on 02 plates have covered almost 200,000 miles and are still going strong
Many round here have Fourtraks and 98-05 Grand Vitara's and go to a horse of hunting event and you will see plenty, ( Amongst the must be seen pimped range rover brigade).
I used to tow a big 27ft sail boat with a Fourtrak with 150K on the clock.The owner then bought had 2 Troopers. The second was a replacement for the one destroyed its self with less than 5k on clock. He did not have the second one very long either.
Yet I have known many a good old shape 2.8 go for ever.
I know the towing capacity is not as great but the Grand Vitara is a lot better value, given year/ mileage / condition. Tough as well.. and if you need size go for the XL7 model some have 7 seats.
I used to tow a big 27ft sail boat with a Fourtrak with 150K on the clock.The owner then bought had 2 Troopers. The second was a replacement for the one destroyed its self with less than 5k on clock. He did not have the second one very long either.
Yet I have known many a good old shape 2.8 go for ever.
I know the towing capacity is not as great but the Grand Vitara is a lot better value, given year/ mileage / condition. Tough as well.. and if you need size go for the XL7 model some have 7 seats.
Edited by Rum Runner on Monday 18th January 13:14
If you plan to tow heavy loads with a 3.1 Trooper/Bighorn then its well worth installing an oil cooler, and I think a transmission oil cooler if its an auto. Other than that they're fairly good.
Mitsis in general don't have a good reputation down this side of the world and especially not diesels - well documented tendency to lunch themselves in very expensive ways.
The Daihatsus are very solid mechanically, IIRC the Fourtrak is based to some degree on the previous generation Toyota Landcruiser which is a good thing for reliability.
Nissan Patrol/Safari 4.2 about the hardest 4wd to kill but might not quite fit your price range.
Mitsis in general don't have a good reputation down this side of the world and especially not diesels - well documented tendency to lunch themselves in very expensive ways.
The Daihatsus are very solid mechanically, IIRC the Fourtrak is based to some degree on the previous generation Toyota Landcruiser which is a good thing for reliability.
Nissan Patrol/Safari 4.2 about the hardest 4wd to kill but might not quite fit your price range.
When I went through a similar buying cycle, one question which seemed to crop up a lot was how much I was expecting to use it on the road?
The thinking seemed to be that the Trooper in particular was very agricultural if you spent any length of time on tarmac.
I've never driven a Trooper or a Fourtrak, but my Shogun (LWB 3.0 V6 Petrol) has been absolutely great. I've had it for 2 years and around 15k miles, and it's currently on 160k.
There have been a few things go wrong with it, but, apart from a radiator which failed because I'd dunked it under too much mud and water and not done enough to clean it after, none of it had been major or unexpected on a car of its age and mileage - a brake caliper (again, I've dunked it in mud and water a lot, which doesn't help), a 4x4 system solenoid (which was, ahem, full of mud...) and a couple of seals and boots which are not surprising.
Would I buy another? Certainly. I'd definitely stick with petrol though. There doesn't seem to be much difference in economy, so why bother with an under-powered smoker?
The thinking seemed to be that the Trooper in particular was very agricultural if you spent any length of time on tarmac.
I've never driven a Trooper or a Fourtrak, but my Shogun (LWB 3.0 V6 Petrol) has been absolutely great. I've had it for 2 years and around 15k miles, and it's currently on 160k.
There have been a few things go wrong with it, but, apart from a radiator which failed because I'd dunked it under too much mud and water and not done enough to clean it after, none of it had been major or unexpected on a car of its age and mileage - a brake caliper (again, I've dunked it in mud and water a lot, which doesn't help), a 4x4 system solenoid (which was, ahem, full of mud...) and a couple of seals and boots which are not surprising.
Would I buy another? Certainly. I'd definitely stick with petrol though. There doesn't seem to be much difference in economy, so why bother with an under-powered smoker?
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