What small 4x4?

[Kermit power]

OK, so there's a thread for what Big 4x4, so here's one for small ones....

My Shogun died on holiday, and is being replaced (along with my ZT V8) by an altogether more sensible diseasel S-Max company car.

I just can't bring myself to have only this option though, so am musing over something fun for a very cheap budget. One option is an MX-5 or similar, with the other being a small 4x4, hence this thread.

Budget will be an absolute, total maximum of £1,500.

I've been looking at various little Zooks at the moment, having previously owned an SJ, but any already worked on seem to be asking about £2.5k at the moment, and even bog-standard ones seem to be asking around £800 at the moment, which seems to be much more than when I bought and sold mine!

What else would people suggest I look at for this sort of price? I'm not bothered about fuel consumption, as mileage will be tiny, nor about on-road comfort for the same reason. Ideally 4 seats would be good so I can take the kids out, but as it won't be a full on family lugger, SWB preferred to LWB.

[underphil]

Honda HR-V ?

[GravelBen]

Jimny is the new SJ



Old Daihatsu Rocky / Rugger are useful enough offroad too and some have removable sunroof/canopy to turn it into a convertible. Vitara bit bigger than Jimny but plenty of cheap ones around, still have a SWB option.

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Edited by GravelBen on Friday 21st December 11:29

[Six Fiend]

RAV 4?

[Kermit power]

I should probably add that it will be used almost exclusively offroad, or driving to places offroad, so not thinking of something like an HR-V or RAV4.

[Krikkit]

Have a look in spring, right now all the snotter 4x4's are being horded in case of a snow deluge. Even then your budget seems a bit meagre for a hairy-chested 4x4.

[trickywoo]

Kermit power said:

I should probably add that it will be used almost exclusively offroad, or driving to places offroad, so not thinking of something like an HR-V or RAV4.

A RAV4 is going to be a lot better than an HR-V off road.

I've only driven one in snow - but lots of it and it was unstoppable. They have a diff lock.

I'd have thought it would be at lest as good as an unmodified SJ.

[vexed]

It's got to be a Defemder 90 hasn't it?
I bought a '96 one earlier this year and have been enjoying it.
It is a surprisingly short car, which will fit the ' small' bit.

[billzeebub]

Subaru Forester

[s_zigmond]

Lada Niva
Original Panda
Nothing at this time of year

[CraigyMc]

vexed said:

It's got to be a Defemder 90 hasn't it?
I bought a '96 one earlier this year and have been enjoying it.
It is a surprisingly short car, which will fit the ' small' bit.

Agreed about the "surprisingly short" bit.

Example: The Defender 110 has basically the same wheelbase as a modern 3-series.

The Defender 90 actually has a 93" wheelbase. For those that can't visualise it, The wheelbase of a current mini is 97".

C

[therealpigdog]

SWB Trooper?

[sparkythecat]

Slightly O/T but,I was in Bavaria earlier in the year and saw a plethora of new Lada Nivas on the roads there. Farmers here used them as cheap farm work horses in the '80s and they were brilliant off road.

Curiously, other than a couple of 'monster truck' conversions, I can't find a secondhand one for sale anywhere.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-reviews/17956/lad...

Edited to add.. You have to log into ebay.de to find them

Like this

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&i...

Edited by sparkythecat on Friday 21st December 13:08

[Kermit power]

Krikkit said:

Have a look in spring, right now all the snotter 4x4's are being horded in case of a snow deluge. Even then your budget seems a bit meagre for a hairy-chested 4x4.

I bought a nice SJ413 a couple of years ago which already had a SOA conversion, snorkel, decent mud tyres and lots of other bits & pieces done to it for £650 including a couple of months' MOT & tax.

That was in the middle of summer though. I suspect prices seem to be rather more seasonally variable than I had expected! Looks like I'll be keeping my powder dry for a few more months. Having said that, unless Ford's sodding Belgians stop messing around with output at the Genk plant, I could well still be waiting for my S-Max come the summer!

[TheHeretic]

Jimny. Definitely a Jimny.

[Kermit power]

trickywoo said:

A RAV4 is going to be a lot better than an HR-V off road.

I've only driven one in snow - but lots of it and it was unstoppable. They have a diff lock.

I'd have thought it would be at lest as good as an unmodified SJ.

Really????

I didn't think the RAV4 even had low ratio gears, never mind diff locks!

[TheHeretic]

Kermit power said:

Really????

I didn't think the RAV4 even had low ratio gears, never mind diff locks!

Probably means a locking centre diff.

[Liquid Tuna]

trickywoo said:

Kermit power said:

I should probably add that it will be used almost exclusively offroad, or driving to places offroad, so not thinking of something like an HR-V or RAV4.

A RAV4 is going to be a lot better than an HR-V off road.

I've only driven one in snow - but lots of it and it was unstoppable. They have a diff lock.

I'd have thought it would be at lest as good as an unmodified SJ.

An HR-V seems to cope ok here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIw3R16LEMg

What do you need it to cope with?

[Kermit power]

TheHeretic said:

Kermit power said:

Really????

I didn't think the RAV4 even had low ratio gears, never mind diff locks!

Probably means a locking centre diff.

Aha. A quick google suggests it doesn't actually have proper 4WD, but instead some sort of traction control-type centre diff which sends power to the rear when it detects the fronts slipping. Maybe it's that?

[TheHeretic]

Kermit power said:

Aha. A quick google suggests it doesn't actually have proper 4WD, but instead some sort of traction control-type centre diff which sends power to the rear when it detects the fronts slipping. Maybe it's that?

Ah... Does not sound like it would be any good for full time offroading.