Cheapest 30+mpg 4x4?

[gradeAfailure]

Morning all...

Idly thinking of chopping in the current tow vehicle (Jeep Cherokee 4.0 auto) as 15-17mpg is really starting to hurt and was wondering how cheaply you can get a 30+mpg 4x4?

So far the best I can find is the Frontera 2.2DTi at around £1300 with Parkers quoting 32mpg for it.

Criteria:
5 door
Preferably manual but not essential
Prefer RWD in 2WD mode but again not essential
Prefer leather if available but again not essential
Braked towing weight of 2800kg minimum
30+mpg

Any other options?

Cheers!

[Carl_Spackler]

LPGificatealizate it?

[homerjay]

urgh Frontera!

surley a nice v8 with lpg is a decent option?

[gradeAfailure]

Would prefer to stay away from LPG if I'm honest - need to know I can fill up anywhere. Plus most of the kits seem to take up boot space which I wouldn't want to lose.

Colleague at work has suggested Ssangyong Musso or the Isuzu Trooper Citation?

[McSam]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1996-FORD-MONDEO-GHIA-X-4X4-...



You might find a five-door, though I think 2800kg would be pushing it..

Edited by McSam on Wednesday 16th June 10:51

[gradeAfailure]

Yeah... Not towing the horses with anything but a big 4x4!

[V88Dicky]

Audi A6 3.0 TDI quattro?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

[plg]

V88Dicky said:

Audi A6 3.0 TDI quattro?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Only 1600kg tow weight?

[RobM77]

doogz said:

My horse lorry is for sale...

Only does 22mpg though

I know several people who refuse to tow their beloved horses in anything other than a lorry. Apparently it's a better and safer solution for the horses. So my recommendation is an Elise (40mpg+) and a horse lorry HTH

Seriously though, if you got a horse lorry or dedicated towing vehicle then doing 20% of your annual mileage at 22mpg and the other 80% at the mpg of a normal car (35, 40 or even 50+), then you'd probably spend less than averaging 30mpg for the whole year in the 4x4; and don't forget that a 30mpg RR or similar towing a horse box with two horses in is going to be doing 20mpg max whilst towing anyway, which is less than the horse lorry... Plus if you go for the lorry solution you get to drive a proper car everywhere else, not some lumbering great two tonne off roader on stilts which handles like a Micra on remoulds with an elephant on the roof. I don't tow horses, but I do have varying needs out of a car (carrying kayaks, bikes and my cello), and I've always found it better and even a little cheaper to run several cars for the job, and enjoy the fact that each car is a specialist, not a compromised all rounder. Plenty of my friends do this too.

[RobM77]

doogz said:

RobM77 said:

doogz said:

My horse lorry is for sale...

Only does 22mpg though

I know several people who refuse to tow their beloved horses in anything other than a lorry. Apparently it's a better and safer solution for the horses. So my recommendation is an Elise (40mpg+) and a horse lorry HTH

Seriously though, if you got a horse lorry or dedicated towing vehicle then doing 20% of your annual mileage at 22mpg and the other 80% at the mpg of a normal car (35, 40 or even 50+), then you'd probably spend less than averaging 30mpg for the whole year in the 4x4; and don't forget that a 30mpg RR or similar towing a horse box with two horses in is going to be doing 20mpg max whilst towing anyway, which is less than the horse lorry... Plus if you go for the lorry solution you get to drive a proper car everywhere else, not some lumbering great two tonne off roader on stilts which handles like a Micra on remoulds with an elephant on the roof. I don't tow horses, but I do have varying needs out of a car (carrying kayaks, bikes and my cello), and I've always found it better and even a little cheaper to run several cars for the job, and enjoy the fact that each car is a specialist, not a compromised all rounder. Plenty of my friends do this too.

Lorries are expensive to buy though. Ours is a 1990 7.5t, and it's for sale for £14k, and we should get that for it easily.

I don't especially enjoy driving the Shogun, but it's more of a requirement where we stay, arse end of nowhere.

True, just a thought. Still, it depends what the OP's budget is. In my sitation for instance, I could either run an RS4 or M3 to do everything (£35k to buy), or an Elise (£20k) and a saloon car (£10k) to do both. The purchase and running costs of the two car solution come out similar if not cheaper, and the Elise is miles better to drive than an RS4 or M3, so it's a more entertaining solution anyway.

The other option of course is to buy an off roader to tow the horse trailer, and a car for everything else; even that may work out cheaper, and enable the OP to get a more powerful off roader that does less mpg for reassurance towing horses up steep hills and across grass fields! I fear that in chasing 30mpg an off roader may end up struggling towing a big weight in such situations.

Without wishing to criticise your choice of car, I must say I find it surprising, but I guess it depends how "arse end of nowhere" you live. Having grown up in the countryside and having half my family in the farming industry, I've always thought that off roaders were a liability on tiny back lanes and the majority of tracks and untarmaced driveways. Unless I was actually doing proper mud-plugging (across fields to mend tractors for instance), I'd far rather have something like a Subaru Legacy for countryside use (the sheep farmer's favourite), and if I mainly drove on narrow tarmac lanes, such as surrounds my parents house, I'd go for something small and nimble like a Mini or Golf.

[plg]

doogz said:

plg said:

V88Dicky said:

Audi A6 3.0 TDI quattro?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Only 1600kg tow weight?

Really? My A4 would tow 2T

I was going on: http://www.uktow.com/towing%20capacity.asp#tab1

New model A6 (according to Audi brochure) is 1800-2100 depending on engine size and gradient.

[gradeAfailure]

Cheers for the replies all...!

I think you can get an idea of potential budget given that my first find was a £1300 Frontera...

Lorry would be lovely but is waaaay out of budget unfortunately. As is running a tow vehicle alongside another car; SWMBO already has a Corrado 16V as our current "economical" driver, but I need something that will tow safely (2.5T braked towing weight absolute minimum), go to the feed shop, tip runs, harrow the sand school, etc, yet I want to be able to sling bikes and tent plus gear for the weekend in it and drive to Wales/wherever for a weekend's biking without the fuel consumption bankrupting me! Was going to be getting a 2.0 16V-converted Mk1 Golf alongside the Jeep but looking like running three cars is out of the question at the moment.

[gradeAfailure]

We've got a rubber/sand surface and a proper harrow - landlord did buy a knackered Isuzu (think roof falling off due to A/B/C pillars rusted through!) to pull the harrow but the keys got lost so he scrapped it and we're using the Jeep at the mo as it's got a very tight turning circle.

[durbster]

Daihatsu Fourtrak? Will tow 3.5T, bulletproof and good off-road.

At least I hope so since I've just bought one to go off-roading

They should do around 30mpg apparently too. The only problems are rust and the fact that they're not as common as most 4x4s, so finding a good one takes time.

How's this:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1783515.htm

[freakynessless]

Good old subaru Justy!

[jbi]

for towing horses about you are going to want something heavy.

I would suggest a land rover, nissan patrol or toyota landcruiser