4x4 Zombie search Opinion poll

[blackwater]

As far back as May last year when my trusty and much loved petrol C class estate finally blew its headgasket, AC and two tyres...not to mention insurance and MOT renewal...and was taken away to the scrapyard I have been looking for a new ish car...here in the far far South West my Cornish budget is sub 7K...
Car has to do a lot of things...be ok on the battered back roads (not as in be able to handle...be able to take the punishment!) be ok down our lane (1K of ruts and potholes) able to do a 500+ round trip once or twice a month...regular 250 mile trips ..carrying tools and 'stuff' be useful about the place (ie 4x4 we have to tow the odd trailer its a large one currently shifted by soon to retire in law) reasonable on fuel...comfy in fact a complete car for all seasons..I have a little convertible car for bopping about in the summer and trips to the shop etc......I am not young so the thing needs to reliable ish and return some money when time to move it on.

So far I have bothered the forums with questions about Landcruisers...thanks all who replied...they are Iceberg huge...not sure I could justify the road space and horror tales of super clocking abound......my search has taken in the following..was wondering if perhaps the experienced and knowledgeable might offer their three pence worth....on the following.
Subaru Forrester and the Legacy estate....Disco 2 (are they really all rusbuckets? seem good value) Defenders..I just want one! Nissan Pathfinder and Navara (had a ranger) the Shogun (never driven one) Honda CRV pricey and would have to petrol.. if I push my budget RR TD6 (very handsome) have driven a 4.4 in the US where fuel is cheaper than cooking oil. very late P38 ..but think that is just masochism ...we keep looking at Subaru and then walking away..interior is unhappy place next to our long suffering eurobox and..Defenders again...but 250 miles to work then 250 back in the evening twice a month might be too much for my old bones..anyone do big mileages in these? I seem to be chasing my tail...this is all very good for my local car rental outlet as I hire for long journeys ...but ultimately want to be in my own box asap....err but not a coffin!

[GravelBen]

Can't see much wrong with the interiors in these!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

[jep]

The last of the Disco TD5's (Landmark spec) should be ok, I ran one for nearly 100k and loved it. If you can go a little higher, then a D3 ticks all your boxes and is streets ahead of the TD5 in most respects.

[TurboHatchback]

Well if you like Landcruisers but want something a bit smaller then may I suggest a Hilux Surf 3.0? I've just bought this one and it's great, it's like a little baby Landcruiser. It's comfy, surprisingly quick, has all the off-road capability you could ever really need and really nice to be in.



I had a full size HDJ80 4.2td Landcruiser (manual) and it was epic. The fuel consumption was actually not bad at all and they are immense off road but getting a good one is rather expensive given their age and mileage. Hopefully the Surf will be all the 4x4 I really need and a bit less expensive to keep.

[Bill]

I have a D2 and am extremely happy with it. It's nowhere near as plush as the RR but the seats are surprisingly good.

[0llie]

I loved my D2, but unfortunately just about everything went wrong with it in the 6 months I had it

My advice would be to buy the minimum spec possible, so less to go wrong. I had a mid-spec 2001 GS7, so still had dual climate control, twin sunroofs (manual), cruise control, leather steering wheel, 6CD changer and so on.

Try to buy the latest and lowest mileage possible, I think most of my problems were due to age/mileage (was over 11 years old and near 140k miles).

The car itself was very good. Easy to work on, just about fits seven, pretty useful offroad and much comfier than a Defender.

[loskie]

Outback converted to LPG if you are concerned about the fuel costs.

Avoid the Defender if doing any long trips.

[blackwater]

GravelBen said:

Can't see much wrong with the interiors in these!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

No in the outback it looks ok...my worry with these is.....I have be reliably (feel free to put me right) that in order to change the plugs you have to drop the motor on its mountings? than can not be good ???

[blackwater]

jep said:

The last of the Disco TD5's (Landmark spec) should be ok, I ran one for nearly 100k and loved it. If you can go a little higher, then a D3 ticks all your boxes and is streets ahead of the TD5 in most respects.

D3 looks great and we have a friend who loves his...however he bought a new ish one ...we on the other hand are in the cheap seats with 7 ish K to hand....all the D3's in that bracket are mega milers so thats why looking at D2 they seem good value..I am no racer...we have a little car for sunny days its the rusty chassis that worries ....did yours suffer ?

[valiant]

Here you go,

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Spend a few more quid and you may even get a new shape one.

For some reason I can't quite explain I love these but the wife is having none of it. The fact I do less than 10 miles a day and live in the middle of London might have some bearing on the issue...

[blackwater]

valiant said:

Here you go,

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Spend a few more quid and you may even get a new shape one.

For some reason I can't quite explain I love these but the wife is having none of it. The fact I do less than 10 miles a day and live in the middle of London might have some bearing on the issue...

Have you driven / owned one ? I have never been in one so have no frame of reference...they were considered chav motors by the local hounds set..not that that bothers me..more interested in space, comfort and road ability...

[GravelBen]

blackwater said:

GravelBen said:

Can't see much wrong with the interiors in these!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

No in the outback it looks ok...my worry with these is.....I have be reliably (feel free to put me right) that in order to change the plugs you have to drop the motor on its mountings? than can not be good ???

Not sure about the H6, but you don't have to with the 4-cyl versions.

Plugs are a bit fiddly to change just because of the engine shape, but still simpler and more accessible than a lot of transverse V6 cars where they're jammed in against the firewall.

[jep]

blackwater said:

D3 looks great and we have a friend who loves his...however he bought a new ish one ...we on the other hand are in the cheap seats with 7 ish K to hand....all the D3's in that bracket are mega milers so thats why looking at D2 they seem good value..I am no racer...we have a little car for sunny days its the rusty chassis that worries ....did yours suffer ?

My TD5 was a company car, and went back at 3.5yrs old with no rust problems at all - can't say if it's since fallen to tin worm I'm afraid.

What are you classing as mega miles? There are plenty on Disco3 that are well into the high hundred and X thousand - mine's done 107k now, and it doesn't really show...

[blackwater]

jep said:

My TD5 was a company car, and went back at 3.5yrs old with no rust problems at all - can't say if it's since fallen to tin worm I'm afraid.

What are you classing as mega miles? There are plenty on Disco3 that are well into the high hundred and X thousand - mine's done 107k now, and it doesn't really show...

Loath to spend on a motor thats covered over 100K would like to start off around 70 ish

[jep]

blackwater said:

Loath to spend on a motor thats covered over 100K would like to start off around 70 ish

Understand what you mean. I did just that with mine (although in hindsight I should have reminded myself about not doing that again after the X5!)... it's kinda blown back in my face as I've had to pick up remedial work and general wear and tear items as I've put on the miles over the last 15 months.

Personally, I would buy on condition and history and not mileage as, with the D3 in particular, there are certain items that tend to give up the ghost around the same time, that when replaced/repaired will not need touching for a while. A well looked after model with the belts changed, a new compressor, arb's, and a full history could be a good buy as it's also done most of its depreciating.

[gizlaroc]

blackwater said:

Loath to spend on a motor thats covered over 100K would like to start off around 70 ish

Be careful with that, may be at the age where everything is needing to be done.

I bought an ML with 89k miles on it recently and have done loads on it over the last 18 months and it now at 115k miles and runs perfectly, with all the known niggle sorted.

[blackwater]

Regarding the D3 ....what is the optimal mileage ??? is it 100+ with a new compressor, belts etc ??? The D2 looks great value alongside the D3..I know they are completely different vehicles...this next set of wheels has to last a good number of years...we like to get our moneys worth! and what about these Jap products...so far every Jap car I have ever owned has been trouble free ...The ML I have no idea of I loved my old C class estate it fitted me like a glove and never let me down..but am scared of ML is it fragile ??? what I really want is a 4x4 c class! well one that can tow 2 tonne from time to time ....