£5K Suzuki Grand Vitara / Toyota RAV4

[BenLowden]

Since moving out to the countryside last year, my girlfriend has got her heart set on replacing her Fiesta with a Suzuki Grand Vitara. For the money (around £5K) that should get something around 08-10 plate in either petrol or diesel format.

She doesn't do loads of miles (maybe 8K per year but she can claim most of her fuel back from work) and both seem around the same in terms of fuel consumption, but I've read that the petrol engines are a big sluggish. Does anyone on here have any experience of either? Driving will be mostly A and B roads, very little motorway.

I'm also not sure if we should avoid one with a tow bar fitted, if towing could have added more wear and tear on it. Appreciate any thoughts/opinions!

Edit: I've now thrown the RAV4 into the mix as they seem to be more reliable doing a bit more research. She's not confident in something massive so a 3 door will be perfect for what we're after!

Edited by BenLowden on Sunday 11th February 17:26

[ZX10R NIN]

At 8k per year I'd say look for a petrol model in SZ5 trim go for a 2.4 & it won't feel sluggish.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[renmure]

We bought a petrol one for about the same budget about 6 years ago, so the previous model. My wife drives it, mainly A/B roads, and does about 6k miles/year. It's been absolutely reliable and never let us down. It's probably not worth anything to anyone else by now, but I get the feeling it will go on for ever.

We also had a fairly cheap Toyota Rav4 simultaneously for a couple of years and I have to say that the Toyota definitely seemed like a nicer and more solid car to be in ... but then the engine blew up!

[BenLowden]

Thanks both. Ultimately I think we need to go and drive one. The petrol engines do seem the ones to go for, especially as it'll hardly see a motorway so I'd be concerned with DPF issues with the diesel. Might have to be the 2.4 if I'm going to be driving it on occasion...

[Horsey McHorseface]

renmure said:

We bought a petrol one for about the same budget about 6 years ago, so the previous model. My wife drives it, mainly A/B roads, and does about 6k miles/year. It's been absolutely reliable and never let us down. It's probably not worth anything to anyone else by now, but I get the feeling it will go on for ever.

We also had a fairly cheap Toyota Rav4 simultaneously for a couple of years and I have to say that the Toyota definitely seemed like a nicer and more solid car to be in ... but then the engine blew up!

Which mark/model RAV4?

[renmure]

Horsey McHorseface said:

Which mark/model RAV4?

A 2005 3 door, 2.0 litre petrol VVT-i NRG model (in Blue)

[Hoink]

ZX10R NIN said:

At 8k per year I'd say look for a petrol model in SZ5 trim go for a 2.4 & it won't feel sluggish.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

I read the forums every day but rarely post - thank you for the time you spend posting links.

[BenLowden]

renmure said:

A 2005 3 door, 2.0 litre petrol VVT-i NRG model (in Blue)

Doing more research and looking at these, the RAV4 seems to have less reported issues, and doesn't have a DPF on the 2.0 D4D so one less thing to go wrong. Very small choice on the market but we're not in a rush to get something, so I think I'm leaning towards one of these. Thanks for the input all!

[renmure]

We will end up with another Toyota Rav4 at some point as a run-around / train station car, where as we won't get another Suzuki.

As above, I like our Grand Vitara and it does the job it was bought to do perfectly but it's a bit like comparing a Fiat 500 and a MINI in terms of small cars.... one is just a bit more budgety feeling, more plasticy and more flimsy than the other but both serve a purpose.

We also had a Toyota HiLux Surf as a dog-wagon (Great Danes = the need for a big dog wagon) for about 7 years and it was unstopable, indestructible and reliable so I'm sure our Rav4's Toyota engine blowing up at over 120k miles was just one of 'em things. Petrol engined Toyota also felt fairly brisk.