4x4's.....advice and opinions needed!

merlin

Well-Known Member
....and I'm not trying to start a tribal war along the lines of
"Pah! Call THAT a 4x4? Girl's car....."
"Yeah? Well YOUR 4x4 wouldn't pull a greasy stick out of a pig's bum..."
;)

Here's the thing: I moved house at the start of the year.....bigger house = bigger mortage = less disposable income = less dosh for spending on stalking/shooting.....and that will never do!!:D

So - I'm thinking of coming out of my current company car (Discovery) and instead having a far-more tax-friendly car for work, and a cheap 4x4 dedicated shooty-bus.

As all you chaps are very knowledgeable and not shy about giving your views, I'm after your thoughts!

Bit of background: I'm a soft-handed office-monkey and know bugger all about engines and stuff :)doh:) so reliability is pretty high up as a requirement, decent off-road ability although I'm not planning on scaling cliff-faces or ploughing through 4 foot of mud and slop, I don't need to pull a horse-box or similar, budget probably around a grand (£1.5k max), and it needs to be big enough to accomodate 2 occupants plus 2 or more dogs, along with all of the clobber that you end up carting around. Annual miles probably around 5-6,000.

So - do I go for a 'smaller' lighter petrol 4x4?
- Daihatsu Sportrak? (had one a few years ago, thought it was great)
- Suzuki Vitara?
-....and as a curve ball, Kia Sportage?? (anyone got one? Some people seem to think that they are vastly under-rated...??:confused:)

OR do I go a for a 'larger' diesel jobby?
- Daihatsu Fourtrak?
- Nissan Terrano?
- early Discovery?

What else would you suggest?

All views, comments and opinions gratefully received!

ATB,

Merlin
 
Merlin,

I did some research along similar lines a few months back. I found that a budget of between a thousand and fifteen hundred quid buys very little if looking for one of the popular 4X4s (Landy's, nissan, toyota, mitsubishi etc.) Most of the stuff I looked at was in such poor condition I couldn't rely on it.

What did emerge as good value for money were diesel Vauxhall Fronteras. I appreciate that these probably have very few fans and are derided by many. However, they were originally of Japanese design (they were rebadged by several companies including Vauxhall) and the earlier ones use a 2.5 litre diesel engine that is used in taxis so is strong.

I have a shooting pal who bought an early diesel one for about a grand and has used it without problems for about 4 years. He has thought of changing it but has concluded that it owes him nothing and keeps going so why spend the money.

I must stress that I have never owned a Frontera. My experience is based only on my mates car. This might be a rare and lucky good one. However, I'd have a look before you discount it.

Tin hat going on now.

Bob
 
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Merlin

For £1.5k think about a second-hand, old shape, Jeep Cherokee. Petrol or diesel they seem to go on and on and on.....

On the old model you can take the rear seats out completely which gives you load of luggage space (more than in my LandCruiser). We have a cage for the three dogs and still have enough space for all the shooting/stalking kit.

willie_gunn
 
Going "large" or "small" is only a question you can answer, its down to what suits you best but if you go small then imo you will struggle with space, rifles, dogs, haversacks ect, it does take up a fair bit of room.

Food for though in your "larger" list would be the Toyota Surf, uber reliable, very good bodywork and chassis and BAGS of room in the LWB option, decent examples CAN be found within your budget, these vehicles are usually well spec'd and are comfy.

Mitsubishi Pajeros can also be got within budget but you dont seem to get as much bang for your buck.
 
Your not going to be doing many miles so don't go for a vehicle that will deprecaiate drastically (or better still get one that already has!)
I would go for the larger beast as running costs won't be high for such mileage, plus what about the meat you'll be cartng home (don't squeeze it in beside the dogs, might lose some!)

What about this :
http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?11446-1998-Jeep-Grand-Cherokee
At least you'll be comfortable - or if you prefer discomfort try a Landie.
 
I went through a similar thing as you and ended up with a Suzuki Jimny, it is not really big enough and i wish i had bought something a little larger. Plus points are that it goes just about anywhere, and I mean anywhere, and is very economical to run. It will take two people, and your stalking gear, or dogs. Not both!

But at 1k to 1.5k anything larger will be quite grotty. Unless you are a mechanic, or really handy, I would not buy a landrover. I have had them in the past (S2 & S3) and really enjoyed them, but they need constant upkeep. On saying that, If I won the lottery I would have a Defender County tricked out.

ft
 
hi merlin,i had a nice Toyota 4X4 for the last 5 years thought it was the bees knees didn't mind spending on diesel (20-28 mpg)until last year i thought,spend more on shooting! do i realy need a 4x4 drive to payed stalking days then get in the guides 4x4. on my lands i pull up and walk them! so i looked into estate cars,i ended up with a Volvo tdi thing!(dint laugh!!)the thing is, it does 42 mpg round the doors!!! more on a run.for what it was costing me to get to a paid stalk and back in diesel alone will pay for the diesel and the stalk in the Volvo!!!! and going to my ground instead of once a week or so i could afford to go more often,so why not compromise Volvo/Subaru what ever! in 4x4!! estate,just a thought!! Graeme.
 
well for my pennies worth here goes

if yer budget aint too high be careful you can buya a pig ( pretty obvious! )

but size wise not too much of an issue then

1) suzuki jumny small yes but, reliable, cheap to run, 1.3litre engine so cheaper tax.
amazing 4x4 off road ability and with proper low ratio box

down sides ....bloody small, basically just a 2 seater with the back seats down for all
your stuff.....not too comfortable on long runs engine noise etc.

2) if above is too small try grand vitara 2.0l turbo diesel ...bigger still very economical...
and again suzukis off road ability and low ratio box.....obviously it aint a landy so use
common sense

3) subaru forrestors are bloody good too from what ive seen of em ..only thing is they are petrol and can be bit thirsty. plenty room and more like a car too

4) my current vehicle which i bought for 900 quid is a short whell base ford maverick and its going great guns and with decent set of tyres its bloody great off road. but your into same area as your dicovery ...big engined 2.7 ltre ish etc area and all bit thirstier etc and tax costs too.

only you can decide but if you know anyone not bad with mechanics etc ask nicely try to get em with you when you go look at anything

yours

sauer / paul
 
just one more thought for you if it must be a 4x4!! Toyota surf 3rd gen 1996-2002!! based on the Colorado chassis! and 3.0td engine,you will not find a bigger boot space! more leg room in the back etc,etc,etc the list is endless! the only fault is 20-28 mpg!! parts are cheap from rough trax, mine went to admin of Scottish mud club and he loves it!!
 
As someone has already mentioned, do you really need a 4x4? Alot of the guys I know who do alot of wildfowling and travel all over the country to do so have ditched 4x4's and bought small diesel vans. Cheap to buy and even cheaper to run, fantastic mpg, plus the fact from a security point of view all your gear will be out of sight.
 
I am after a 4x4, as it will be used for (a) foxing in the winter - and some of the fields get quite rough/choppy/muddy/rutted, and also (b) the nature of our shoot involves driving off-road over terrain that would probably be beyond a 'normal' car (ground clearance if nowt else! Tried it a few years back in my Ford Mondeo estate....let's just say that the horrible grinding/scraping noise from underneath the car wasn't caused by grass tickling the undercarriage, and leave it that shall we??:oops::oops:)

Subaru Forester...??:confused: Hmmmm...hadn't thought of that one....

Keep the input coming guys, it's all good!!:D
 
another vote for the hilux surf you should be able to pick up a tidy 1995 for around 1500 make sure you go for the 3.0 and not the 2.4 as the heads are prone to giving bother, cheers the scudd
 
I have just had a flick through our local freesheet, The Journal, and have seen a 1991 Daihatsu Fourtrak with 79,000 miles on it, full mot for £800. Now if the mileage is genuine that is a steal.

I have a mate in the fire service who has a wife and many dogs. They bought a Fourtrak about 16 years ago, second hand, and it is still going. Our local vet has had the same one for over 20 years. Although their suspension travel is not great, the four wheel drive is reliable, as is the engine, and more than good enough for general shooting work.

There is a sportrak for £600 too.

ft
 
As someone has already mentioned, do you really need a 4x4? Alot of the guys I know who do alot of wildfowling and travel all over the country to do so have ditched 4x4's and bought small diesel vans. Cheap to buy and even cheaper to run, fantastic mpg, plus the fact from a security point of view all your gear will be out of sight.

Best of both worlds - a Renault Kangoo 4x4 van 1.9 diesel. Ex-utilities come on to the market but tend to run up to around the £2.5 -3.5K mark. Generally have a service history with them and have been reasonably looked after.
 
Don't forget the Shogun Pinin!

I bought a swb one with a sunroof about a year ago for fox/bunny shooting, as well as other minor off-road applications. Bigger than a Jimny, but still really only a 2-seater if carrying anything at all. If it came with a sunroof, I'd have bought the LWB version; but it doesn't, and a like a sunroof so I can stand up to shoot.
It's a 1.8 petrol, and did about 33mpg on girl's tyres and now does about 28 on Grabber AT2s.

You just need to be a little careful - mine has a second little gear-lever for selecting 2wd, 4wd, the centre diff lock and 4wd low ratio. Some of them lack this and have permanent 4wd with no low range or diff lock.

I also looked at Sportracks, but all the ones I saw were rotten under the boot carpet and in the rear wheel-arches. They have a 1.6 engine, and on paper are thirstier than the Pinin, but on the plus side they all AFAIK have low range and a jolly big removable sunroof!

Dalua
 
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After a lot of trial and error (the error involved Series Land Rovers), I've come to the conclusion that the Suzuki Vitara is the dog's cojones. I've now had three of them, all of which are still going strong as road-legal shooting trucks. I currently have the old shape ('96) 2 litre diesel long wheelbase version - there's room for dogs, guns, lots of deer and loads of kit. It does 40mpg on all terrain tyres, (apparently they'll run on 50/50 vegetable oil / diesel without a murmur, although I've yet to try this) and is more like a car than a truck to drive.

They are prone to rust in the rear arches, but this is ignored for MOT purposes - just weld or fill as you wish. They are very light, so they make great foxing or rabbiting trucks because they don't cut up the ground very much. There's at least two for sale on ebay at the moment for around a grand - cheap to buy, reliable Jap' engines, proper 4x4 systems that will go anywhere within reason.

Well worth considering. The petrol SWB version is good too, although a tad thirstier and a lot less room. I think Monkeyspanker holds the current world record for the number of dead deer that can be cramed into a SWB Vitara...

Adam.
 
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although using a defender now i wont hear a word against daihatsu fourtraks,proper offroader,ultra reliable good mpg(up to 36mpg)parts cheap and easy to obtain and your budget should get you a decent one only hassle i had in 9 years is rust look closely underneath and if its no bad underseal thoroughly and do it every year.
 
Jayb from this site is flogging a good looking Jeep Grand Cherokee....long way to travel for a look though!

I went for a Isuzu Trooper complete with the 3.0l tdi "engine of doom" . They have problems with injectors but most have been fixed by isuzu under warranty and those that haven't been sorted yet will still be sorted free of charge. I've done 13k in mine and can't complain. Great off-road, ok on road and huge interior. Can tow 3 tonne if you ever have a red letter day on the Reds!!
 
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