Utilitarian Car - sub £2.5k
Discussion
I’m beginning to make plans for my current BMW i3 going back to the lease company.
I’ve decided that I want to be free of car finance so that I can spend more money on motorbikes! I live in a rural area and have recently been using my car to transport fire wood etc. I do a commute into Leicester each day - around 30 miles round trip. Annual mileage is around 15-20k.
I’d like something, preferably 4x4 which can be used for towing, transporting crap and generally be used as a bit of a tool, whilst being suitable for the daily commute.
I’ve been shocked by the price of even the oldest defenders! Happy to consider vans, pick-ups, estates and 4x4’s, but I need something tough, reliable and cheap.
Happy to hear your suggestions!
I’ve decided that I want to be free of car finance so that I can spend more money on motorbikes! I live in a rural area and have recently been using my car to transport fire wood etc. I do a commute into Leicester each day - around 30 miles round trip. Annual mileage is around 15-20k.
I’d like something, preferably 4x4 which can be used for towing, transporting crap and generally be used as a bit of a tool, whilst being suitable for the daily commute.
I’ve been shocked by the price of even the oldest defenders! Happy to consider vans, pick-ups, estates and 4x4’s, but I need something tough, reliable and cheap.
Happy to hear your suggestions!
Suzuki Jimny.
Cheap to run, body on frame with solid axles (Means you can rag the hell out of it onto kerbs/offroad with minimal chance of bending anything). Within your price range you can by a mk2 (06-12) which is euro 4 so saves you from the impending emissions zone garbage being proposed in a lot of cities. Big customising community, once you start on it it is addictive.
Cheap to run, body on frame with solid axles (Means you can rag the hell out of it onto kerbs/offroad with minimal chance of bending anything). Within your price range you can by a mk2 (06-12) which is euro 4 so saves you from the impending emissions zone garbage being proposed in a lot of cities. Big customising community, once you start on it it is addictive.
Subaru Legacy/Forester of some description. Everyone I know who's had one has run it for years - then when they fancy an upgrade - they have changed it for another (slightly newer) one. Not much short of willful neglect/abuse can kill off a non-turbo Subaru 2.0 engine of that vintage.
Speaking as a Discovery owner myself - it would probably be one of the few cars I'd happily jump in and use everyday for the same sorts of things I use the Landy for.
Speaking as a Discovery owner myself - it would probably be one of the few cars I'd happily jump in and use everyday for the same sorts of things I use the Landy for.
Yes - Subaru Foresters have been high on my list. I’ve seen a lot for sale as spares/repairs, so wasn’t too certain about their reliability.
What do we think of;
Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero
Isuzu Trooper
Volvo 940 (well under budget, but quite charming and would probably last forever if cared for)
Mercedes W210 E Class (as above)
All of which are returning heavily in my eBay searches.
What do we think of;
Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero
Isuzu Trooper
Volvo 940 (well under budget, but quite charming and would probably last forever if cared for)
Mercedes W210 E Class (as above)
All of which are returning heavily in my eBay searches.
milb001 said:
Yes - Subaru Foresters have been high on my list. I’ve seen a lot for sale as spares/repairs, so wasn’t too certain about their reliability.
What do we think of;
Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero
Isuzu Trooper
Volvo 940 (well under budget, but quite charming and would probably last forever if cared for)
Mercedes W210 E Class (as above)
All of which are returning heavily in my eBay searches.
Forester - From personal experience, I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. Had a 2nd gen XT (EJ20 Turbo), possible the most unreliable car I have ever had, drivetrains made of chocolate. That being said I've heard the N/As ones are more reliable, if a bit thirsty.What do we think of;
Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero
Isuzu Trooper
Volvo 940 (well under budget, but quite charming and would probably last forever if cared for)
Mercedes W210 E Class (as above)
All of which are returning heavily in my eBay searches.
Shogun - Coincidentally what I owned immediately after my Forester, £2.5k will buy you a late 90s or early 00s example, the latter being near identical to the ones they are still producing, bar a minor facelift. The motors are good, I had the 2.5TD which was rugged, but dirt cheap, the 3.2TD is supposed to be just as reliable, but more refined, however cheap part availability is less. Only thing to look out for is the Super select 4WD system, equiped to the mk3s, it's fantastic when it works, however it runs on an obscenely complicated vacuum system, which breaks if not used semi-frequently, if it seems reluctant or sticky to go in and out of 4WD, it will likely work fine on the road, but actually recitifying the issue WILL be a nightmare.
Trooper - Don't know much about these, other than the fact they have several reliable motors, and one really rather unreliable one.
Kia Sorento
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Jeep Grand Cherokee (with the 2.7 Mercedes running gear)
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Jeep Grand Cherokee (with the 2.7 Mercedes running gear)
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
I've owned several of the cars on your list and a few more that I've used for utilitarian-type work.
Subaru diesels do not seem to be as tough as their petrols: the only ones I have seen advertised for 'spares or repairs' have been diesels with dead engines. Having said that, two farmer friends of ours have them and they have both served well for more than 10 years.
We have a 3 litre Subaru Outback. It's our 2nd identical car and they have both been extraordinarily reliable, functional and comfortable. The current car is a 2006 and we've had it for 8+ years. It now has 103000 miles on the clock and other than a couple of drop links, a pair of suspension bushes and a CV gaiter, it has never needed anything beyond standard service items. Highly recommended.
We have 2, 2.5 turbo Foresters in the family. A 2007 XTEN (owned from new) now with 110,000 on the clock. Also 100% dependable and has never let us down. The clutch started to get heavy at about 90,000 miles, so that was changed and it needed a secondary air system valve cleaned out a few years ago. No other faults, ever. The other one is a 2008 XT automatic (owned from 3 years old). It's only done about 70,000 miles. It's needed the same secondary air fault fixed and rear shocks. That's it. Both cars are used daily in all weathers, the XTEN was regularly used on buiding sites for it's first 7 years.
Volvo 940. One of the toughest cars I've ever owned. I sold it 15 years ago with over 300,000 miles on the clock. It still looked presentable, it had no rust and was still dependable. I saw it on the road in the local town last year, I recognised the scrape along the rear wing!
Trooper 3.1 diesel auto. Horrible thing to use. Heavy, slow and thisty. Reliable, but had lots of faults.
Shogun 3.2. Lovely place to be. Drove really well. Drive line servos were very temperamental. Very rusty under all of the plastic bits and for your budget, you'll probably be looking at similarly rusty heaps. Timing chain was noisy at 130,000 miles and rear suspension bushes were a pest to change (look for rear wheels leaning in at the top).
Mercs estates in your budget may well be OK, but they rust badly and mine was not particularly reliable - transmission and electrical faults. I expected more.
I had old Landrovers and Rangerovers for years and I will probably never bother again: I really liked them, so I forgave them a lot of foibles and failures, but I eventually got fed up with constantly fixing them. 12 years ago I replaced the RR and Trooper with an old Toyota Hilux diesel 4x4. For heavy towing and off road ability, there's not much out there that I would consider. I would not want to use one as a daily driver - they are agricultural and not very comfortable.
I bought the Shogun to replace my 1st rusty Hilux thinking that it would also be a reasonable daily driver. When I discovered that the Shogun was likely to be a a yearly welding project, I sold it cheaply and bought another Hilux...and a BMW to commute in!
I think that for a budget of £2500 for a car that will be used for all purposes and lots of miles, I'd be looking for a petrol Subaru estate. Genuine comfort, dependability and ability. £2500 is not quite enough for a really good full size 4x4, unless it's a tractor-style vehicle and you don't mind.
Subaru diesels do not seem to be as tough as their petrols: the only ones I have seen advertised for 'spares or repairs' have been diesels with dead engines. Having said that, two farmer friends of ours have them and they have both served well for more than 10 years.
We have a 3 litre Subaru Outback. It's our 2nd identical car and they have both been extraordinarily reliable, functional and comfortable. The current car is a 2006 and we've had it for 8+ years. It now has 103000 miles on the clock and other than a couple of drop links, a pair of suspension bushes and a CV gaiter, it has never needed anything beyond standard service items. Highly recommended.
We have 2, 2.5 turbo Foresters in the family. A 2007 XTEN (owned from new) now with 110,000 on the clock. Also 100% dependable and has never let us down. The clutch started to get heavy at about 90,000 miles, so that was changed and it needed a secondary air system valve cleaned out a few years ago. No other faults, ever. The other one is a 2008 XT automatic (owned from 3 years old). It's only done about 70,000 miles. It's needed the same secondary air fault fixed and rear shocks. That's it. Both cars are used daily in all weathers, the XTEN was regularly used on buiding sites for it's first 7 years.
Volvo 940. One of the toughest cars I've ever owned. I sold it 15 years ago with over 300,000 miles on the clock. It still looked presentable, it had no rust and was still dependable. I saw it on the road in the local town last year, I recognised the scrape along the rear wing!
Trooper 3.1 diesel auto. Horrible thing to use. Heavy, slow and thisty. Reliable, but had lots of faults.
Shogun 3.2. Lovely place to be. Drove really well. Drive line servos were very temperamental. Very rusty under all of the plastic bits and for your budget, you'll probably be looking at similarly rusty heaps. Timing chain was noisy at 130,000 miles and rear suspension bushes were a pest to change (look for rear wheels leaning in at the top).
Mercs estates in your budget may well be OK, but they rust badly and mine was not particularly reliable - transmission and electrical faults. I expected more.
I had old Landrovers and Rangerovers for years and I will probably never bother again: I really liked them, so I forgave them a lot of foibles and failures, but I eventually got fed up with constantly fixing them. 12 years ago I replaced the RR and Trooper with an old Toyota Hilux diesel 4x4. For heavy towing and off road ability, there's not much out there that I would consider. I would not want to use one as a daily driver - they are agricultural and not very comfortable.
I bought the Shogun to replace my 1st rusty Hilux thinking that it would also be a reasonable daily driver. When I discovered that the Shogun was likely to be a a yearly welding project, I sold it cheaply and bought another Hilux...and a BMW to commute in!
I think that for a budget of £2500 for a car that will be used for all purposes and lots of miles, I'd be looking for a petrol Subaru estate. Genuine comfort, dependability and ability. £2500 is not quite enough for a really good full size 4x4, unless it's a tractor-style vehicle and you don't mind.
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