Toyota Rav4, Nissan X-trail or Mk1 freelancer? £9000

[elephantstone]

Well circumstances have changed. Got a 59 Audi A3 in october and i now have found myself carrying 70 duvet sets daily in my car and I've got two dogs and find myself doing outdoorsy stuff now. I fancy getting a softroader with a bigger boot and something that can handle the weight. Potholes are awful round my area and i do find myself driving over muddy fields in search of doggy walk spots.

So far the X-trail is winning. My dad had the pre-facelift and i liked it.

Any suggestions? Its got to be decent on fuel as well as a thirsty car will eat into how much i pay myself. As close to 40mpg at 50mph as possible!

[elephantstone]

Estates are out the question really as i would like the height as lifting heavy sacks can take toll on my back.

[Conscript]

We have a 2005 X-Trail and it's an excellent work horse. However, it's the 2.2DCi model and the last time I brimmed the tank and checked, it had managed 36MPG on a mixture of short trips and me taking it on a longer work commute. Not the end of the world, but it depends what you define as too thirsty.

That said I used to work with a guy who owned a newer (2011 I think) model, which had a newer diesel, about 170BHP I think, and he claimed he could get about 50MPG from it on his mainly motorway commute. Not sure how far your budget will get you - ours cost £5K just over a year ago, hopefully £9K should be enough for the newer model.

[ruggedscotty]

Id an x-trail 2.2dci a few years back and aventura had the roof vanity lights and sat nav and leather interior.....

Replaced two turbos and the intercooler burst... Id be wary of an x-trail.... better cars out there.

[elephantstone]

ruggedscotty said:

Id an x-trail 2.2dci a few years back and aventura had the roof vanity lights and sat nav and leather interior.....

Replaced two turbos and the intercooler burst... Id be wary of an x-trail.... better cars out there.

Lets hear some of these better cars then

[elephantstone]

With regards to MPG. My route for work is a constant 50mph all the way to my suppliers and then a constant 50mph to the sorting office so no town driving or high speed motorway. I could get a nice td5 disco for my budget.. Would they get anywhere near high 30mpg at a constant 50mph??

[Europa1]

Is the "Freelancer" a new model? Or a horrific cut and shut of a Mitsubishi and a Land Rover?

[Robert Elise]

of your 3 the Toyota wins reliability prize for sure. The Nissan diesel is a french unit too.
Freelander MK1 wasn't known for its reliability.
I'm on my 2nd Rav (10 yrs & 100k), i know it's not a PH favourite. The rest of my fleet is rwd and interesting, but the Toyota starts every time and doesn't cost much to run/maintain/repair. Mines a petrol CVT and i get over 30mpg on a run. A 2wd would be even better.
CRV?

Edited by Robert Elise on Monday 2nd February 17:20

[sparkythecat]

The 2004 - 2010 Kia Sportage and its twin the Hyundai Tucson are well within your budget and are really just a Korean take on the Freelander. The Honda CRV also fits the bill.

All of these are probably better than the X-Trail in terms of finish and reliability.

[GreatGranny]

I would go for a CRV.

Looks better than the X Trail and Rav4 IMO and should be reliable.

The 2.2 engine is meant to be very good.
Should easily do 40+ mpg

[458bhp]

We're also looking for a crossover, but also with towing capability. Having not gone to see any yet (this weekend) this is my list in order of stated average MPG:

'07> VW Tiguan 2.0TDI 138bhp
'08> Ford Kuga 2.0TDCI 134bhp
'07> Honda CRV 2.2iCTDi 138bhp
'06> Toyota Rav4 2.2D4D 134bhp
'07> Nissan XTrail 2.0dCi 170bhp
'06> Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2CRTD 155bhp
'06> Kia Sorento 2.5CRDi 168bhp

[Pyrolysis]

I've always liked the look of the Mitsubishi Outlander http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

I presume the 2 rear seats come out to leave you with a large boot and 5 seats.

No idea what they are like to drive tho, sorry..

Edited by Pyrolysis on Monday 2nd February 18:09

[MarshPhantom]

Europa1 said:

Is the "Freelancer" a new model?

It's a self employed SUV from Land Rover.

[ruggedscotty]

basically anything but the x-trail - brand new it was and if it needed two turbos before 10k and the intercooler shot along with radio breaking down and the battery issues Id say abso f'in ulutely anything but the x-trail. Piece of crap. Poor interior and shoddy nissan dealership treatment. Its the one instance that I have been totally put off having anythng to do with a car manufacturer or its products ever again. Yes cars break down yes you have issues but the way that this was handled from start to finish really did beggar belief. Oh and a french engine.... sack of crud.

[billzeebub]

Forester