28 July 2012
OK on a £2.5k-ish budget what would you go for?
My criteria are as follows:
- Sub £270 VED
- If diesel as simple as possible please
- Would like decent space in the back; need to carry mountain bikes in the back, and the GF's E46 BMW Touring doesn't do that well
- 4x4 prefered, if 4x4 want proper high/low range transfer case, as I miss my 1986 Land Cruiser I had in Australia, and I'm based in an area where in winter snow=4x4 only... also like the height of the 4x4 in the wet given the lack of mudflaps on most cars, and the smooth tarmac that collects water
- 1995 or newer (well I needed to put in an arbitary date)
- Easy to work on; I'm not afraid of self-service on a vehicle, re-built an engine in the past...
- Would prefer manual, but am open to Autos if the gearbox is good (4spd +)
- Reliable (it's replacing my 225,000mile 2000MY V70 which was parked up in March 2010, and now needs too much spending on it to recomission it!) which didn't miss a beat in the 3 years, 55,000 miles I ran it for.
Things I've considered:
- 97 or 98 Volvo 945 LPT or HPT; can be found for £5-800, leaves money for winter tyres
- Merc W210; rusty as, in the years when Merc's were made by accountants not engineers
- 95 Toyota 4-Runner (Genuine UK Car only) can be found for £1500
- 98-2000 Subaru Forester
- Mitsi Shogun 3.2 DiD Commercial (well it gets around the VED as a commercial so flat rate £270)
- Mitsi L200 Pickup
- Isuzu Rodeo Pickup (not the old TF one though like the AA had)
- LR Discovery 200Tdi or 300Tdi, poss Td5 depending on miles
- Kia Sorento (Eureka moment the other day, but still a bit expensive at the moment, unless one comes up at auction)
- 97ish Toyota KZJ95 or KZJ90 Landcruiser Colorado (LWB or SWB)
- Jeep Cherokee (the funny bug-eyed one, not the 1980's throwback)
Not keen on:
- Nissan Navara/Pathfinders; don't trust the under 3.0 Nissan Diesels, in Aus they have the nickname of Grenades..
- Mitsi Challenger; prefer something with a seperate chassis
- Frontera; It's too long in the tooth, and too agricultural
- Soft-roaders/cross overs... if it's a job worth doing, do it properly, which the original Forester does.
Suggestions please?
27 July 2012
I'd suggest looking at a Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee. They are actually pretty good, although they can be unreliable if they're not looked after properly.
The Land Rover Discovery's within your budget will almost certainly cost the earth to run and break down within a week of ownership.
It's a shame you don't want a Vauxhall Frontera as they are not as bad as people say, and it one would suit your needs.
One car I would recommend is the Ford Maverick, or you could look at the Mazda Tribute which was based on that. If you want something bigger, steer clear of the Ford Explorer unless you can cope with terrible fuel consumption.
Good luck!
8 November 2007
Anything pre 2006 doesn't have the top rate of tax so don't worry about that for your budget on a big car it won't be new enough to qualify. I suggest a normal Shogun, I think the drive is not great but they are tough as old boots.