Discussion
I'm looking to replace wife's old diesel golf with a newer saloon or hatchback. Around £8000, reasonably economical and reliable. She doesn't need or want a 4x4 but is looking for something that will put up with our short unmade track to the house and local single track roads with inherent potholes but will still have reasonable ride and handling when she gets to 'normal' roads. Am I better going for something lightweight like a Suzuki Ignis or Fiat Panda or can anyone think of a car that's built like a tank but doesn't look or handle like one?
Years ago I had a factory special edition of a Opel Ascona 'b' series (think it was called a Voyager) which came with a 2 inch lift, limited slip diff., alloy sump guard and chunky tyres as standard. A modern version of this would be great but I don't know of any. Any suggestions?
Years ago I had a factory special edition of a Opel Ascona 'b' series (think it was called a Voyager) which came with a 2 inch lift, limited slip diff., alloy sump guard and chunky tyres as standard. A modern version of this would be great but I don't know of any. Any suggestions?
Audi Allroad?
Volvo XC70?
Skoda Octavia Scout?
Saab make a 9-3X estate with a little lift, but little electrical bits kept breaking on my Saab-based Cadillac BLS. I really liked it and forgive it its little faults but I'd struggle to recommend a 9-3 as "tough" after owning the BLS. Contrariwise, I have work and personal experience of Octavias and they stand up to hard use pretty well.
EDIT: Can't believe I forgot about Subarus. I'd pick a Subaru instead of something from my own list, tbh.
Volvo XC70?
Skoda Octavia Scout?
Saab make a 9-3X estate with a little lift, but little electrical bits kept breaking on my Saab-based Cadillac BLS. I really liked it and forgive it its little faults but I'd struggle to recommend a 9-3 as "tough" after owning the BLS. Contrariwise, I have work and personal experience of Octavias and they stand up to hard use pretty well.
EDIT: Can't believe I forgot about Subarus. I'd pick a Subaru instead of something from my own list, tbh.
Edited by blearyeyedboy on Sunday 9th March 10:20
Willy Nilly said:
Any car normal hatch would do, one with steel wheels would probably be a better bet. If you're looking at an Ignis or Panda, a Jazz is also a very good little car.
We all know you hate 4x4's 
, but they really do certain things better than cars... rough roads being one of them.skyrover said:
Doesn't get much tougher or long lasting provided you are willing to throw a spanner at it now and again
Anything less than a 4x4 is a false economy in my friends experience.
He killed 2 cars on the mile long dirt track to his parents house.
I guess you missed this bit:Anything less than a 4x4 is a false economy in my friends experience.
He killed 2 cars on the mile long dirt track to his parents house.
vanordinaire said:
still have reasonable ride and handling when she gets to 'normal' roads.
N Dentressangle said:
GravelBen said:
skyrover said:
Defender
You must have missed the part where the OP wants something reliable, with reasonable ride and handling.A defender can have reasonable ride and handling by fitting softer range rover springs (straight swap) and a fast ratio steering box.
It will leak rain onto your lap though
skyrover said:
Willy Nilly said:
Any car normal hatch would do, one with steel wheels would probably be a better bet. If you're looking at an Ignis or Panda, a Jazz is also a very good little car.
We all know you hate 4x4's , but they really do certain things better than cars... rough roads being one of them.The reason I picked the defender was due to the ease in which is can be maintained.
Rough roads eat bushes and suspension parts and destroy ball joints and steering alignment.
Stones thrown up will chip away at the underside and encourage rust while reducing your paint job to a peppered mess.
If you don't want a basic 4x4 than I would recommend a cheap, throwaway car that you can bin when it breaks.
Rough roads eat bushes and suspension parts and destroy ball joints and steering alignment.
Stones thrown up will chip away at the underside and encourage rust while reducing your paint job to a peppered mess.
If you don't want a basic 4x4 than I would recommend a cheap, throwaway car that you can bin when it breaks.
I've owned plenty of 'tough' cars.
Defender - loved it, but pointless and unpractical 99% of the time as the majority of 4x4's will do exactly the same, in a lot more comfort
Allroad - £8k will secure a reasonable pre-gen A6. They are not tough, my friend is a senior Audi technician and he doesn't rate them as highly as the B5's. The B5's are tough, but even the newest one's are approaching 10 years old and the air suspension is a ticking time bomb
Disco 2 - nice motor, reliable (ish), and a better all round package than the Defender it replaced. Bit of a lottery buying one as loads have been mullered (but they cosmetically hide the fact quite well)
L200 - Hard as nails. Absolutely f
king dreadful to drive on-road. I sensed it would go on forever though.
Navarra - Tough truck, the 4x4 sensor issue is a fag and I've had a few niggles with mine since buying it. However, I can't really complain as it is approaching 120,000 miles. Drives extremely well, for a truck, loads of kit and huge pick up space. It is bloody massive though (front and rear sensors are a must) and it has the turning circle of a air craft carrier.
Subaru legacy/forester. This would be my choice. Cheap, practical and utterly bomb proof. Off road mine was extremely capable as well. Unless you spend your weekends 'one life, living it' in disused quarries an estate Subaru is really the only 4x4 derived car you will ever need. You can't kill them - believe me, I tried......
Defender - loved it, but pointless and unpractical 99% of the time as the majority of 4x4's will do exactly the same, in a lot more comfort
Allroad - £8k will secure a reasonable pre-gen A6. They are not tough, my friend is a senior Audi technician and he doesn't rate them as highly as the B5's. The B5's are tough, but even the newest one's are approaching 10 years old and the air suspension is a ticking time bomb
Disco 2 - nice motor, reliable (ish), and a better all round package than the Defender it replaced. Bit of a lottery buying one as loads have been mullered (but they cosmetically hide the fact quite well)
L200 - Hard as nails. Absolutely f
king dreadful to drive on-road. I sensed it would go on forever though. Navarra - Tough truck, the 4x4 sensor issue is a fag and I've had a few niggles with mine since buying it. However, I can't really complain as it is approaching 120,000 miles. Drives extremely well, for a truck, loads of kit and huge pick up space. It is bloody massive though (front and rear sensors are a must) and it has the turning circle of a air craft carrier.
Subaru legacy/forester. This would be my choice. Cheap, practical and utterly bomb proof. Off road mine was extremely capable as well. Unless you spend your weekends 'one life, living it' in disused quarries an estate Subaru is really the only 4x4 derived car you will ever need. You can't kill them - believe me, I tried......
skyrover said:
Stones thrown up will chip away at the underside and encourage rust while reducing your paint job to a peppered mess.
Probably better to have pock marked body panels than rusted out chassis parts on a Defender. The farm Defender at work is the same age as my Civic was, had fewer miles on it, has done very little off roading and required new, structural chassis parts. But it's fine 'cos they're easy to change. Defenders are expensive, unreliable, pieces of antiquated junk. 
B.J.W said:
L200 - Hard as nails. Absolutely fking dreadful to drive on-road. I sensed it would go on forever though.
Mate has had one (company vehicle) for maybe 4 years from new and decribes it as 'the inkjet printer of 4wds' from how much it costs to run. The company bought two at the same time, both had gearboxes rebuilt under warranty sub-30,000km among other issues. They're pretty unimpressed with the Mitsis in comparison with the Nissan and Toyota utes they also use.king dreadful to drive on-road. I sensed it would go on forever though.None of the utes are what the OP is looking for really though so thats a bit off topic.
B.J.W said:
Subaru legacy/forester. This would be my choice. Cheap, practical and utterly bomb proof. Off road mine was extremely capable as well. Unless you spend your weekends 'one life, living it' in disused quarries an estate Subaru is really the only 4x4 derived car you will ever need. You can't kill them - believe me, I tried......
As long as the OP's idea of 'reasonably economical' is 25-27mpg average whether turbo or normally aspirated. Then I would go for it.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff