best workhorse

[virgil]

So looking to get rid of the focus st...time has come (well, new house rewuiring years of diy has come) to get a transporter of stuff to make visiting diy sheds a less frustraiting experience...

Initial thought was a cheap l322 range rover...big, comfy when not lugging stuff, and not had one yet :-)

But any other suggestions for a load carrier other than a transit, or pickup?....budget around 10k

[shoehorn]

Galaxy.

[mat777]

If you do want to go 4x4, then you can get a top-end Disco 2 TD5 for under 10k - more spacious, economical and less ruinous to run than a rangie. Avoid a Disco 3, bork potential is high

[Rickyy]

Towbar and trailer for the ST?

[PH lurker]

Go under budget? LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 2.5 TD5 GS 7 SEAT AUTO (2002) £6,790

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...
Or between £9.5k and £10k:
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY (LG) TDV6 7 SEATS 2005 (2005) http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 2.7 TD V6 SE 5DR +FULL LANDROVER SERVICE+7 SEATS+ (2004) http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Or different slant:
SUBARU FORESTER 2.5 XT 5DR S/HIST SAT NAV (2005) £5,750 saving money for a toy?
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Or:
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...
BMW 5 Series 530d M Sport Touring Auto (2005) £7,995

[V8RX7]

If you want to actually use it really you have to get either a van or a pick up.

Putting building materials in cars tends to ruin them (saying that I collected 6 blocks in my RX7 today and 4 bags of cement last week)

Either buy a cheap commercial and a car or get a Transporter or a Warrior / Navara / Yank pick up

[davepoth]

Corsavan 1.5d is very good for this AIUI.

[tercelgold]

If you actually want to lug stuff around then a Kangoo is what you want, cost around £3k with FSH. You can put an upright mountain bike and a sofa in the back as it's basically a van.

Otherwise how do you spend £10K on anything but an overpowered estate.

The only SUV to impress me apart from that is a BMW X5, insane amount of space for a car.

The other 4x4's have a high ride height but very little space inside compared to a van shape.

Edited by tercelgold on Tuesday 30th October 00:00

[virgil]

shoehorn said:

Galaxy.

no.

Just no.

Well, actually...more like 'not at any time in my life, as long as I'm in control of my faculties, rip my eyes out with flaming forks and tie me to a tree naked in the middle of brighton will I ever, ever own a people carrier...'. Sorry just not for me. Can't think of one redeeming feature of them that can't be had by driving an estate or a full size 4x4...

...but thanks for the suggestion...

mat777 said:

If you do want to go 4x4, then you can get a top-end Disco 2 TD5 for under 10k - more spacious, economical and less ruinous to run than a rangie. Avoid a Disco 3, bork potential is high

More spacious? presume you mean seats down rather than seats up? Running costs are not a great priority for me as I do so few miles...any idea of the load bay size of a disco? can you get 8x4 sheets of plasterboard vertically in the back? Could be a good option if you can...

Rickyy said:

Towbar and trailer for the ST?

Had thought of that (with a change of car) - the ST has done me well but now replaced as the daily driver and time for a change - but seems like a faff having to put a cover over a trailer when the skies decide to open...and having to store it when not in use...

PH lurker said:

Go under budget? LAND ROVER DISCOVERYs....
Or:
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...
BMW 5 Series 530d M Sport Touring Auto (2005) £7,995

5 series touring...nice idea, but already got a 550 Touring Msport as the baby-wagon. Can get a lot in the boot, but too nice to chuck lots of cr@p in and can't get full size 8x4 sheets in it...even at an angle....

Sadly a van is perfect for what I need, but rubbish as a 'second car', anything car like is too small to be useful as a van.

[V8RX7]

I'm unaware of any 4x4 or estate that can get 8'x4' in the back (most MPV's can't)

You can get around that with a big roof rack but it's far from ideal.

[Caulkhead]

As others have said - a van derived car is the way to go if you really want a workhorse. I've got a Fiat Doblo which makes a decent fist of being a car, is lively enough due to the 1.9 diesel and has 790 litres of luggage space with the seats up and 3200 with them down. It averages 53mpg. Hard to beat as a workhorse IMHO.

[The Moose]

Honestly, how often do you need to pick things up that are 8x4?

Would life not be easier renting a van for those occasions as, unless you're moving board the whole time, I can't see it being worth it?

[The Moose]

I don't mean worth it as in worth changing the car, but worth it as in worth selecting the vehicle on this one criterion that will render the vehicle less practical for the other 99% of the time you use it?

[virgil]

The Moose said:

Honestly, how often do you need to pick things up that are 8x4?

Would life not be easier renting a van for those occasions as, unless you're moving board the whole time, I can't see it being worth it?

Every bloomin week for the last month...will go in fits and starts of course. But also want something i can do tip runs with and that really calls for an older van.

You've all missed the point of this tbough in that i wanted you all to just say 'the L322 is really the only vehicle for the job...youd be fool to get anything else' so justifying to myself and more importantly, the wife, a large second, gas guzling car :-) (mind yoy, at least the bmw is not much worse than the st!)

Im sure i used to get sheets of 8*4 in the back of my old p38, lower tailgate closed and slid them in horrizontally. They stuck out the back a bit, bit fitted in...

Back uo my thoughts that this makes the only sense...and if you can help justify a SC over a 4.4, even better :-)

[milu]

I wanted a 4x4 that had enough space for my daily work
One the most spacious is a Nissan Pathfinder. Nice square back ,loads of combos for folding seats inc the front passenger seat folding down too.
You can even sleep in the back(as a PH member pointed out to me)!

I must confess I haven't measured up a RR because for the mileage I do I would have had to spend 20k on one...although I do like them.

[billzeebub]

Toyota Landcruiser Amazon

[Defconluke]

VW Transporter T5?

[Morningside]

The best workhorse used to be the old Volvo estates. Dunno what the new ones are like.

[jbi]

virgil said:

Initial thought was a cheap l322 range rover...big, comfy when not lugging stuff, and not had one yet :-)

I would go for a 4x4 with a full frame, in this case an older range rover.

Unibody's just aren't as durable.

[virgil]

Oh well...transit joining the family as of tomorrrow...the wife never drives the Focus now anyway as we have the 550 touring to lug the little'un abuot in, so it'll go as soon as I get round to it....I'll save the Range Rover for another time :-(