What car help please - cheapish 4x4...
Discussion
Looking for a car for the missus to use for family duties.
Requirements:
Looking to spend about £5k ish
It's purpose is to ferry people, bikes, camping gear etc around Europe and not break down on me
Needs to have more interior/boot space than her current Scenic jobbie
Condition more important than age, up to a point
Off road capabilities only required occasionally for farm tracks etc, so more of a soft roader
Must be nice and wafty on the motorway - auto preferable
Not overly fussed about how it looks really, more interested in reliability
MPG not overly important, but I need 22+mpg so six-cyl is probably the max
Petrol engine prefered
I've never bought or really paid much attention to this sort of car before, so I hand the baton to PH for a bit of help
Requirements:
Looking to spend about £5k ish
It's purpose is to ferry people, bikes, camping gear etc around Europe and not break down on me
Needs to have more interior/boot space than her current Scenic jobbie
Condition more important than age, up to a point
Off road capabilities only required occasionally for farm tracks etc, so more of a soft roader
Must be nice and wafty on the motorway - auto preferable
Not overly fussed about how it looks really, more interested in reliability
MPG not overly important, but I need 22+mpg so six-cyl is probably the max
Petrol engine prefered
I've never bought or really paid much attention to this sort of car before, so I hand the baton to PH for a bit of help
Edited by Matt UK on Monday 9th August 00:35
TD4 Freelander. Something like this one, which I've randomly plucked from the classifieds: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1904021.htm
Ignore all the pub bores, these were pretty much well sorted by this age onwards.
Ignore all the pub bores, these were pretty much well sorted by this age onwards.
X-trail / Kia Sorrento / Hyundai Santa Fe - thanks for that, I'll have a look at them
Land Cruiser Colorado' 90 series - I'm not entirely sure it would fit on the drive...
TD4 Freelander - are they that big though? I always thought they looked a bit small..
I'm being sent links to 99/00 Merc ML320. Are they as crap as I seem to think they are?
Land Cruiser Colorado' 90 series - I'm not entirely sure it would fit on the drive...
TD4 Freelander - are they that big though? I always thought they looked a bit small..
I'm being sent links to 99/00 Merc ML320. Are they as crap as I seem to think they are?
Matt UK said:
I'm being sent links to 99/00 Merc ML320. Are they as crap as I seem to think they are?
I'm not sure about the petrol version, but the diesel drives quite nicely, even with it being under powered. They have pretty cheap interiors though and have a tendancy to be unreliable. 2000+ shoguns aren't bad buys, but you will be looking at a diesel if you want your mpg in the 20s.
A td5 discovery is always worth considering. Great engine, most have 7 seats and tons of space. Auto will do about 22-25 to the gallon, the manual will do about 26-30.
Bill Carr said:
Mitsi Shogun/Pajero?
7 seater. LWB. last two Seats fold to one side when not in use. Others fold upwards and give a HUGE amount of storage. Use large roofrack/rear ladder.
We toured wales in ours and really enjoyed it. Car NEVER let us down and just chugged along at its own pace.
Also they (Pajero) are twin batteries to help start on sub zero conditions.
Added: I think 99% of Pajeros are auto. Very, very comfy for long jurneys as they are full leather and also have climate control as well.
Edited by Morningside on Monday 9th August 10:25
Matt UK said:
Looking for a car for the missus to use for family duties.
Requirements:
Looking to spend about £5k ish
It's purpose is to ferry people, bikes, camping gear etc around Europe and not break down on me
Needs to have more interior/boot space than her current Scenic jobbie
Condition more important than age, up to a point
Off road capabilities only required occasionally for farm tracks etc, so more of a soft roader
Must be nice and wafty on the motorway - auto preferable
Not overly fussed about how it looks really, more interested in reliability
MPG not overly important, but I need 22+mpg so six-cyl is probably the max
Petrol engine prefered
I've never bought or really paid much attention to this sort of car before, so I hand the baton to PH for a bit of help
Jeep Grand Cherokee, or current Cherokee (Libery). Suzuki Grand Vitara?Requirements:
Looking to spend about £5k ish
It's purpose is to ferry people, bikes, camping gear etc around Europe and not break down on me
Needs to have more interior/boot space than her current Scenic jobbie
Condition more important than age, up to a point
Off road capabilities only required occasionally for farm tracks etc, so more of a soft roader
Must be nice and wafty on the motorway - auto preferable
Not overly fussed about how it looks really, more interested in reliability
MPG not overly important, but I need 22+mpg so six-cyl is probably the max
Petrol engine prefered
I've never bought or really paid much attention to this sort of car before, so I hand the baton to PH for a bit of help
Edited by Matt UK on Monday 9th August 00:35
We had a LWB V6 3500 Shogun, I think it was on an R plate. I can't find anything too comparable in the classifieds but I imagine it'll be around or under the £5k mark for a similar model.
Auto, leather, all the toys of the time such as heated seats and auto climate etc.
7 seats, back two folded up out of the way and the 3.5 V6 was a nice enough engine, 22mpg may actually be pushing it a little though if you are fully loaded up.
May be worth a look anway.
Auto, leather, all the toys of the time such as heated seats and auto climate etc.
7 seats, back two folded up out of the way and the 3.5 V6 was a nice enough engine, 22mpg may actually be pushing it a little though if you are fully loaded up.
May be worth a look anway.
If the Pajero/Discovery/Colorado are too big, I'd recommend a Hyundai Santa Fe. We have a 2002 one as the family car and although its aesthetically questionable, its been 100% reliable, surprisingly quick, comfy, big boot, well screwed together and we get close to 30mpg on a run. Its permanent 4x4 and quite high up so the wife and kids feel safe in it too.
300bhp/ton said:
Matt UK said:
Looking for a car for the missus to use for family duties.
Requirements:
Looking to spend about £5k ish
It's purpose is to ferry people, bikes, camping gear etc around Europe and not break down on me
Needs to have more interior/boot space than her current Scenic jobbie
Condition more important than age, up to a point
Off road capabilities only required occasionally for farm tracks etc, so more of a soft roader
Must be nice and wafty on the motorway - auto preferable
Not overly fussed about how it looks really, more interested in reliability
MPG not overly important, but I need 22+mpg so six-cyl is probably the max
Petrol engine prefered
I've never bought or really paid much attention to this sort of car before, so I hand the baton to PH for a bit of help
Jeep Grand Cherokee, or current Cherokee (Libery). Suzuki Grand Vitara?Requirements:
Looking to spend about £5k ish
It's purpose is to ferry people, bikes, camping gear etc around Europe and not break down on me
Needs to have more interior/boot space than her current Scenic jobbie
Condition more important than age, up to a point
Off road capabilities only required occasionally for farm tracks etc, so more of a soft roader
Must be nice and wafty on the motorway - auto preferable
Not overly fussed about how it looks really, more interested in reliability
MPG not overly important, but I need 22+mpg so six-cyl is probably the max
Petrol engine prefered
I've never bought or really paid much attention to this sort of car before, so I hand the baton to PH for a bit of help
Edited by Matt UK on Monday 9th August 00:35
Small inside
Has little boot space
16-18mpg in the 3.0 petrol
Shoddy interior, not just using the old stereotype of "American interiors are crap" the interior really is a shoddy place to be, makes a Subaru interior look like it's from a Jag, Dash plastics are hollow and they rattle like feck.
Interior controls that will only make you rage as the person who thought them out needs a swift kick to the cock, for example the window switches are the same as the door lock switches, so you are driving along you wish to open the window, reach to the door, press the switch and hey presto you have locked yourself in the truck. That's right the window switches are in the centre console, no problem, move left hand to centre console and find the first switch you come to and, there you go the rear window has opened behind you. Not a problem really let me just auto up the rear window as it is auto down....Hmm the auto up doesn't work, oh no wait it doesn't have auto up, same as the sunroof, auto open but not auto close?
Servicing costs really are horrific, £1220 for Jeep to take the rear diff out, tell you there is something wrong with it and refit it with an oil leak, parts are better sourced in America, wheel bearing in the UK is £800-900 plus fitting, in the US £200.
You can't open the tail gate if it has been raining, you need to unlock the boot again.
The interior has a vast amount of good reading as everything is covered in warning labels on how some American at some time has hurt or killed themselves in some dumb way.
The only upsides are.
Accident protection is pretty good
Makes a good noise
You can get the trip counter to read 1mpg
Pulls like a train
Capable off road
But in reality they are no good for camping as they are tiny inside,
Interesting reading...
Whilst heading down rutted tracks on the camping trips will be fun, I'm trying to remember that for the other 95% of it's life it will be doing the work/school run, shopping from Sainsburys and visiting the out-laws. So I want something that is quite civilised as well.
Here's a curveball for you - just found out on AT I could pick up a 2001 Lexus RX300. Not had a Lexus before but my impression from the GS/LS saloons is that they are pretty robust mechanically and very well screwed together. I've just read that they are thirsty, but there don't seem to be that many documented problems. Thoughts?
Whilst heading down rutted tracks on the camping trips will be fun, I'm trying to remember that for the other 95% of it's life it will be doing the work/school run, shopping from Sainsburys and visiting the out-laws. So I want something that is quite civilised as well.
Here's a curveball for you - just found out on AT I could pick up a 2001 Lexus RX300. Not had a Lexus before but my impression from the GS/LS saloons is that they are pretty robust mechanically and very well screwed together. I've just read that they are thirsty, but there don't seem to be that many documented problems. Thoughts?
Matt UK said:
Here's a curveball for you - just found out on AT I could pick up a 2001 Lexus RX300. Not had a Lexus before but my impression from the GS/LS saloons is that they are pretty robust mechanically and very well screwed together. I've just read that they are thirsty, but there don't seem to be that many documented problems. Thoughts?
I've driven one of these and they're more than fine for off-road jaunts, obviously not up to Defender standards... but they will tackle your average rutted tracks & other light terrain with no problem. Lovely place to be, pretty good on-road dynamics. One of the nicer surprises of cars I've driven. Was expecting it to be pretty much a useless car. Actually isn't!Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff