Good value 4x4s

[Marko10010]

Right folks, 6-7k budget must be 5dr Grand Vitara, Rav4, CRV or alternative? Bare in mind my wife is having twins. :-)

[Luke.]

2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee. 3 litre diesel Merc engine. Lots of toys.

[Marko10010]

Are they not very thirsty? Meant to add must be diesel

[Dr Interceptor]

The earliest Kugas are down to around £8k... haggle hard and one might come into budget.

[-crookedtail-]

Are the diesel ones going to be that much better on fuel? The reason I'm asking is I have an older 4.7 V8 and does early 20's on a run. Can drop a bit more of course around town!

However I just cannot see a diesel version getting much than 25-27mpg. May as well have a better sounding engine with a bit of power! Much better value too

eta: A Jeep GC is what I have btw!

[Marko10010]

X trail is something else. Anyone have any experience of these?

[leefee]

^ yes, mostly bad.... I would look at genuine mpg figures rather than rule out petrol, you might get a surprise, that's before you take into account issues limited to diesel models.

[Lozw86]

They are good for practicality, load space, towing and off road / rough road but compared to a car they will always be poor handling, slow and thirsty

[leefee]

Vitara with the 1.9 diesel have dpf = avoid!

x trail M9r engines =avoid

qasqai diesel 4x4 m9r engine and dpf = avoid x2

likely issues you will run into will be turbos and associated electrics, and dpf, egr etc
Whilst these aren't always limited to diesls, they are mostly...

petrol rav, petrol crv, , petrol Suzuki, in fact petrol most stuff generally gives me little bother.

Yours, a used car dealer selling lots of circa £6k 4x4s

[FastRich]

When you say it must be a 4x4 do you mean a big bulky car or 4 wheel drive?

That budget would get you a reasonable Audi Quattro - A4 or A6 2.0 TDI which would see around 40mpg and loads of space for the kids. Also, compared to a vitara or similar, I would bet my house that the Audi would be safer in an accident, God forbid.

Out of the list you've given though, CRV would be my bet. I used to sell X-Trails new from 2 dealerships - they were pretty good but after a few years they really showed their age - cheap materials etc.

How about an X5 3.0D (or X3), a Mercedes ML 270CDi, Volvo XC90, VW Tiguan? There's plenty to choose from with that budget...

[caiss4]

Re. X Trail, I've got one. 2.5 petrol automatic. I reckon on about 26mpg overall. It's one of the few cars that I'd go out and buy the current incarnation of again.

Cheap on servicing, very reliable and SWMBO loves it. With 160bhp on tap it performs reasonably well and is no slouch.

[northwest monkey]

-crookedtail- said:

I have an older 4.7 V8 and does early 20's on a run. Can drop a bit more of course around town!

You're not wrong. I had one as a courtesy car for a couple of days - it was excellent fun blasting around everywhere, but I managed to get an average of 9mpg for a full tank of petrol.

[Kentish]

All under £5k:-


Nissan Murano




Kia Sorrento




Hyundai Terracan

[Marko10010]

Basically I have a new insignia estate diesel doing a genuine 44-45mpg and my wife had a mini one. ( aside from toys and projects etc.) we need to change the mini and where we are situated we suffer from severe weather once it hits. (I know that May only be a few days a year) i spend currently approx 4-5k on diesel on my own and my wife does near the same. I want to find something big enough for twins will get me out in 'normal' bad conditions and won't double my fuel consumption. Plus it need to be fit to tow normal trailers.(nothing extreme)

[Coolbanana]

Marko10010 said:

X trail is something else. Anyone have any experience of these?

I've had an X-Trail for 9 months - 2006 Aventura model. It is okay, nicer than the Vitara for toys I think if you get the Aventura and off-road it is ok for a soft-roader.

Mine has 56000 miles and I've had to replace the o2 sensor, brake pads and wheel bearings since getting it and the aircon needs repairing.

[jamiebae]

I have a 2014 Renault Koleos, which is mechanically identical to the X trail, it's a 2.0 dCi with a 6 speed auto box. On a good day I get a bit over 40mpg, on a bad day it's high 20s (lots of traffic or 100+ mph cruising).

In your shoes, with that kind of fuel bill, I'd buy a normal car and a set of decent winter tyres for it rather than putting up with an off reader all year for the three weeks you need it. You could get a nice Octavia diesel for that money, which will do 55mpg, far better than any of the other options.

Alternatively, get a new Dacia Duster on a PCP? The 4x4 is about £15k in top spec and should be just about the most economical 4x4 of that size in the real world.

I assume £8k won't get you into an early high mileage BMW X1 yet?

[DaveCWK]

All cars of this size/drivetrain are thirsty.

[Marko10010]

No I dont think it would buy an x1 yet. I would benefit from the 4x4 throughout the year as well as the work I do would allow for regular use of it capabilites.

[brickwall]

Marko10010 said:

X trail is something else. Anyone have any experience of these?

First generation facelift models (2005-7 I think) with the 2.2 dCi engine are OK. If you get the SVE or T-Spec models they're reasonably comfortable.

[Basil Brush]

R5 Touareg?

Mine averages mid 30s and gets towards 40 on the motorway. Plenty of room, decent kit as standard and very comfy. I've taken mine from 90k miles to 160k and it's needed one wheel bearing and a drop link, over routine servicing.