Big 4x4/pickup.... but Petrol!

[ChemicalChaos]

Hi all,
In the next few months I might look to replace my 2005 Range Rover V8 if it keeps misbehaving.

I'm looking for the following qualities in a replacement:
2008 or newer, available for 15k (maybe 20 at a push)
3.5 Ton towing capacity
Seats 5 in good comfort
Nice interior
Roomy loadspace
Big enough to sleep inside
Can hold its own off road on muddy fields and uneven greenlanes
If automatic, a shift lock would be nice
Air suspension would be nice but not a dealbreaker
Good parts supply at a reasonable cost

All catered for by a host of Japanese pickups, but here's the issue. I absolutely will not have a diesel (no arguments please). I'm after a big petrol I can put on lpg, like I currently have.

Ordinarily I'd go for a newer L322 shape RR or a Disco 4, but the post 2005 Jaguar engines can't handle lpg due to soft valve seats.

Something left field like a VW T5 crew cab van did spring to mind, but they lack the ground clearance.

The only option I keep coming back to is a Dodge Ram, which opens up its own can of worms in terms of sheer size and being lhd.

Can anyone please suggest any other alternatives?

[Willy Nilly]

Get in your Range Rover and if it will make it there, take a trip to Europe, mainly Holland I think, and you should be able to find a US spec Jap pickup like Neesarn Titan or Toyota Tundra, maybe even the odd domestic US truck.

Another option is loitering near a US airbase in the UK, there's normally the odd full sized pickup about.

[ChemicalChaos]

Thanks, as said I was erring to something America. However I should also stipulate being able to park in reasonable spaces in the UK - whicj sadly rules out an F150 raptor and means even a Ram 1500 is about on the limit

[Willy Nilly]

Are the SWB 1500/half ton pickups much bigger than your RR?

[ChemicalChaos]

The ram is, I think, 2in wider and something like 20in longer than the RR.
The F150 and GM 1500 are, I believe, somewhat lardier and approaching a foot wider, which is the killer in UK parking spaces. I suspect this is why there's a good selection of Rams on UK ebay but very few, if any, Ford or GM offerings

[caelite]

What kind of budget are you looking at? There are plenty of companies out there which will put a new LS engine into... pretty much anything. Defenders are a fairly common one so you could try picking up a used one?

American V8 in a EU sized truck seems like a fantastic combo, provided you own some form of oil refining plant.

[anonymous-user]

ChemicalChaos said:

Thanks, as said I was erring to something America. However I should also stipulate being able to park in reasonable spaces in the UK - whicj sadly rules out an F150 raptor and means even a Ram 1500 is about on the limit

If these are too big, i would look at the small US trucks, like the Toyota Tacoma, GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado.

[Electronicpants]

Not a pickup, not really a 4x4 more of a crossover but the Infiniti FX with the 5.0 V8

Bit of Japanese reliability.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[snowandrocks]

£15 - £20k should easily get you a nice V8 Landcruiser Amazon?

4.7 V8, easily meets all the other criteria, excellent build quality/reliability and they tend to be in private ownership so in better condition than the more common diesels.

[Gareth1974]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[anonymous-user]

Gareth1974 said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

nothing says more "I have a microscopic penis" than this.

[300bhp/ton]

ChemicalChaos said:

Hi all,
In the next few months I might look to replace my 2005 Range Rover V8 if it keeps misbehaving.

I'm looking for the following qualities in a replacement:
2008 or newer, available for 15k (maybe 20 at a push)
3.5 Ton towing capacity
Seats 5 in good comfort
Nice interior
Roomy loadspace
Big enough to sleep inside
Can hold its own off road on muddy fields and uneven greenlanes
If automatic, a shift lock would be nice
Air suspension would be nice but not a dealbreaker
Good parts supply at a reasonable cost

All catered for by a host of Japanese pickups, but here's the issue. I absolutely will not have a diesel (no arguments please). I'm after a big petrol I can put on lpg, like I currently have.

Ordinarily I'd go for a newer L322 shape RR or a Disco 4, but the post 2005 Jaguar engines can't handle lpg due to soft valve seats.

Something left field like a VW T5 crew cab van did spring to mind, but they lack the ground clearance.

The only option I keep coming back to is a Dodge Ram, which opens up its own can of worms in terms of sheer size and being lhd.

Can anyone please suggest any other alternatives?

Not sure how new or old you might consider.

Something like a Ram is cool, but tbh it is going to be a fair bit bigger. A Dodge Durango or Dakota might be more the right size, but maybe not new enough.

Jeeps would then be the next logical step.

WK Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 Hemi V8 is pretty cool. If you want more space there is also the Commander, essentially the same vehicle, just a bigger body.

[ChemicalChaos]

Thanks chaps,
I'm seriously considering a Commander 5.7, are they any better in terms of reliability reputation than a similar age Range Rover? Does the 5.7 have the cylinder deactivation for better economy?
The only thing I'm struggling to get over with is the way they look like a melted Hummer.......

[Gareth1974]

ChemicalChaos said:

The only thing I'm struggling to get over with is the way they look like a melted Hummer.......

Get the real thing then!

[CYMR0]

Could you get an import from Australia or Hong Kong?

[RB Will]

ChemicalChaos said:

Thanks chaps,
I'm seriously considering a Commander 5.7, are they any better in terms of reliability reputation than a similar age Range Rover? Does the 5.7 have the cylinder deactivation for better economy?
The only thing I'm struggling to get over with is the way they look like a melted Hummer.......

I was working at Jeep when the Commander came out, they are terrible.
I have had a Dodge Ram as a daily driver and loved it. It would just fit in parking spaces width wise but it was about 2-3ft too long and would stick out in a car park
the LHD part was only an occasional annoyance as I rarely go through parking barriers or drivethroughs where I had to shuffle over the front bench.

[300bhp/ton]

ChemicalChaos said:

Thanks chaps,
I'm seriously considering a Commander 5.7, are they any better in terms of reliability reputation than a similar age Range Rover? Does the 5.7 have the cylinder deactivation for better economy?
The only thing I'm struggling to get over with is the way they look like a melted Hummer.......

It's the wheels. I too never liked how they looked, up until recently. I then saw some pics of lifted ones on bigger tyres and suddenly the styling makes sense.

I think they are meant to hark back to the XJ Cherokee with boxy styling.






XJ for reference

[300bhp/ton]

RB Will said:

I was working at Jeep when the Commander came out, they are terrible.

Curious, but what is terrible about them? They are essentially a more up market and bigger bodied WK Grand Cherokee. I've seen anything negative posted about them on the JeepForum.

[RB Will]

300bhp/ton said:

RB Will said:

I was working at Jeep when the Commander came out, they are terrible.

Curious, but what is terrible about them? They are essentially a more up market and bigger bodied WK Grand Cherokee. I've seen anything negative posted about them on the JeepForum.

They are probably fine in a reliability terms sort of thing.
Obviously the styling is a subjective thing and I don't like it even on chunkier tyres.
From memory they drove like boats and were made of the same stuff as the similar aged GC which means lots of nasty looking and feeling interior bits. I know you don't stroke dashboards etc while driving but the touch points were pretty bad too and again it just looks cheap inside. All the Chrysler/ Jeep stuff of that vintage was a bit pants for materials. The fake wood trim would become seethrough in sunlight.
It's a shame really as the mechanicals of the cars were improving all the time and the drivetrain in everything felt decent but the products just felt really cheap. Decent stereos though.

[ChemicalChaos]

Put a holding deposit on a Hemi Commander last night until I can get down to see it. Low mileage and looks clean, even has lpg already fitted.
What's the best forum to join, 300? I seem to recall joining one called "jeepey" many years ago when I was considering an XJ that I ended up not buying.