£7k - reliable - good off road ?

[NickColl89]

Hi all

I've just had to get rid of my D1 300tdi due to a spectacular MOT failure list. I've got up to £7k for a reliable 4x4, preferably something I could chuck some mud tyres on if I felt like it without having to do a 4" life etc.

I've been trawling autotrader and ebay and keep coming back to Jeep's, around my budget are the WK grand cherokees 3.0CRD 2008/2009ish, the only thing that puts me off is the £535 road tax. But in the grand scheme of things it's only £44 a month, it just sounds a lot when not broken down.

Any other suggestions welcome.

[g7jtk]

Won't your £7,000 fix the disco.

[driverrob]

Suzuki Grand Vitara. Try one.

[NickColl89]

g7jtk said:

Won't your £7,000 fix the disco.

I didn't fancy ploughing that much money into a 20 year old rotten car.

[NickColl89]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

LandCruiser surely is the Daddy-O ?

Which one though? The newer 3.0 d4d or the older 4.2? Don't want something that will just be as rotten as the disco in two or three years time.

[NickColl89]

driverrob said:

Suzuki Grand Vitara. Try one.

Never even looked at these, any particular model or year that stand out? Don't know much about them.

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

Fix the disco and have it rust proofed? My friend has a sorted one and its ace.

[NickColl89]

Chainsaw Rebuild said:

Fix the disco and have it rust proofed? My friend has a sorted one and its ace.

The disco has gone, that's not an option and not one i'd have taken anyway, it needed way too much doing.

[pcn1]

Ive seen add's for late model 3.0 crd WK's, 2011 onwards, indiccating road tax at £295 ?

[NickColl89]

pcn1 said:

Ive seen add's for late model 3.0 crd WK's, 2011 onwards, indiccating road tax at £295 ?

Yeah there classed as WK2's, the WK's ran from 2005 to 2010 and are in the highest tax band. The cheapest WK2 is £11,995 unfortunately but they do look 1000x better than the WK's (in my eyes anyway).

[driverrob]

NickColl89 said:

driverrob said:

Suzuki Grand Vitara. Try one.

Never even looked at these, any particular model or year that stand out? Don't know much about them.

I had the , now obsolete, 2007 2.0l petrol model. I even went on an off-roading driving lesson locally but never found the need to use its prowess in that area. The buyer clearly intended to, though.
Here's one typical review http://www.driveblog.co.uk/index_files/1304-suzuki... and there are loads of videos on Youtube.
You'll find better off-road options but not nearly new and in your price range.

[KevinCamaroSS]

Go for a slightly earlier (2005) WK and the tax is 'only' £300'ish. Anything pre March/April 2006 is cheaper. Mine is a 55 plate, cost less than £3.5K but needed stuff done (about £900).

[NickColl89]

KevinCamaroSS said:

Go for a slightly earlier (2005) WK and the tax is 'only' £300'ish. Anything pre March/April 2006 is cheaper. Mine is a 55 plate, cost less than £3.5K but needed stuff done (about £900).

Yeah that's the killer isn't it, seems like anything newer than 2005 and 4x4 is automatically in the highest tax band unless it's a really small engine. Was looking at the 3.0 v6 diesel Touareg's aswell, but again they all have £535 tax.

[NickColl89]

driverrob said:

I had the , now obsolete, 2007 2.0l petrol model. I even went on an off-roading driving lesson locally but never found the need to use its prowess in that area. The buyer clearly intended to, though.
Here's one typical review http://www.driveblog.co.uk/index_files/1304-suzuki... and there are loads of videos on Youtube.
You'll find better off-road options but not nearly new and in your price range.

Seems like a fairly impressive review, might have to take a test drive of one to see what I think. Thanks for the suggestion, would have never looked otherwise.

[techguyone]

driverrob said:

Suzuki Grand Vitara. Try one.

I'd have said that too, there's a petrol 2.4 litre that's supposed to be pretty capable. 30 mpg or thereabouts.

http://www.mycarcoach.co.uk/news/suzuki-grand-vita...

Tax for that is £280 or equivalent, if diesels your thing, there's those too, and body style is either 3 or 5 door, with the 3 door being dinky.

Certainly worth a look at.

[300bhp/ton]

NickColl89 said:

Hi all

I've just had to get rid of my D1 300tdi due to a spectacular MOT failure list. I've got up to £7k for a reliable 4x4, preferably something I could chuck some mud tyres on if I felt like it without having to do a 4" life etc.

I've been trawling autotrader and ebay and keep coming back to Jeep's, around my budget are the WK grand cherokees 3.0CRD 2008/2009ish, the only thing that puts me off is the £535 road tax. But in the grand scheme of things it's only £44 a month, it just sounds a lot when not broken down.

Any other suggestions welcome.

What sort of off roading and what sort of their use and how much??

I like the look of the WK's myself. Although if you aren't doing big mileage you might want to look for a 5.7 V8. If you are going to off road properly in it. Then look for one with Quadra Drive 2. They don't all have it and it will make a big difference off road.

I'd also say consider other Land Rover products. L322, RRS and D3's are all likely in budget. And Freelander 2's for lighter duty off road.

[NickColl89]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Regarding the Tax - your splitting hairs over a solitary tank of fuel cost


Rather misses the point

I know, I know .... is just the thought of been on the highest tax band

[NickColl89]

300bhp/ton said:

What sort of off roading and what sort of their use and how much??

I like the look of the WK's myself. Although if you aren't doing big mileage you might want to look for a 5.7 V8. If you are going to off road properly in it. Then look for one with Quadra Drive 2. They don't all have it and it will make a big difference off road.

I'd also say consider other Land Rover products. L322, RRS and D3's are all likely in budget. And Freelander 2's for lighter duty off road.

Only maybe 1 or 2 pay and play days a month but wouldn't mind something with the potential to take a bit further with modifications if I felt like it. With regards to the big engined petrol jeeps, I do about 10K year to work an and back but once a year I drive to southern Spain and back (3000 mile round trip roughly) so that rules them out unfortunately

I do keep looking at D3's but i always find myself coming across horror stories of suspension failures and repairs costing people thousands.

[InitialDave]

Or spend the £7k on ten rough Discoveries. On any given day, one will probably be working.

Though less facetiously, if you liked the Discovery and the mean time between failures is at least acceptable, why not get another one? You wouldn't need to spend anywhere near your budget for a pretty good one, and if you keep on top of them with rustproofing and preventative maintenance, you shouldn't end up back in the "terminally large bill" scenario with it.

[NickColl89]

InitialDave said:

Or spend the £7k on ten rough Discoveries. On any given day, one will probably be working.

Though less facetiously, if you liked the Discovery and the mean time between failures is at least acceptable, why not get another one? You wouldn't need to spend anywhere near your budget for a pretty good one, and if you keep on top of them with rustproofing and preventative maintenance, you shouldn't end up back in the "terminally large bill" scenario with it.

I bought it a year ago with a years mot knowing it probably wouldn't pass, I'm wanting something newer now.