Advice 4x4 off road cars

[jeepster]

now the hi lux surf, theres a motor! i've seen a couple advertised recently which have made me seriously think about getting rid of the jeep but ultimately i think its still a pick up, and wont be as comfy as the jeep. i think for your budget, any land cruiser would be old and rather tired, so if i were you, i would narrow it down to jeep cherokee, izuzu trooper, hilux surf (but test drive it first to check on the comfort factor!) or early discovery. defenders are quite spartan and if you have to do any motorway miles can be quite brutal, early discoverys on the other hand, if you find a good one will be well within your budget and should be reliable. as you rightly point out, a vitara would be too small for fishing tackle, and besides, you dont want to look like a hairdresser do you!

 

theres no problem with buying an import, providing its already been registered in this country, and you can do some kind of hpi type check on it, you can often make a substantial saving buying a jap import, and pajeros (the jap name for shogun) often have a higher spec than uk models

 

theres a lot of ground to cover here, and i only think of some things as other people mention them (such as the hilux surf!) but as far as i'm concerned, the only thing nearly as good as buying a car is helping someone else to buy one, so let me know how you get on!

 

jon

[davidP]

I had NFU insurance for the Impreza Turbo for 3 years until their underwriters realised just how many Imprezas they had on their books and priced them out of the market.

 

Subaru Forester is reasonable off road and still much like a car on-road. There's even a 240bhp import version if you're brave!

 

If you want something big and good value then have a look at the Ssanjong Musso (or however it's spelt). Was originally part of the Subaru dealer network until Daewoo bought it & changed the name, but the originals had a big Mercedes diesel engine and were an awful lot of car for the money.

[Cranfield]

This is my HiLux Surf Import.

3.0L turbo diesel, automatic, 4wd, high and low transfer, A/C.

Best money I have ever spent on a vehicle.

 

[corydoras]

hoppy:

... But what is NFU, is that the national farmers union, running insurances?...

---

Absolutely. It's full name is NFU Mutual. You will need to add about £36 to the cost of any quote they give you as you need to be a member of the NFU (no, you don't need to be a farmer).

 

[ 05. September 2003, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: corydoras ]

[hoppy]

Cranfield, I sure like the look of your

HiLux Surf Import, very impressive, is there any about like that, that I may be able to buy for around 4k or even less (wishfull thinking).

Jeeps, thanks...oops got to go, city link courier at the door with my repacement pole....bye for now hoppy

[Cranfield]

hoppy, mine cost me £8k, but there were others available, incl. Pajero and BigHorn for about £4-5K (higher mileage, petrol, etc).

 

Its worth looking around.

[corydoras]

Hoppy

 

I know that you are not looking to do the Pari-dakar or anything like that but even rough farm tracks can be rough on some SUVs. When choosing, have a walk round the vehicle and look for overhanging or low slung bits that could get in the way. The running boards on the Hilux look a tad vulnerable to me, for example.

 

Land Rover Defenders are agricultural, noisy at motorway speeds and rather thirsty but they are also just about indestructable, the bodywork won't rust because it is alloy and they are great fun to drive. It is like charging about in a life size Tonka toy

[corydoras]

JaMiMa:

Question - What was (according to the ad) the best 4 x 4 x Far?

Solihul's finest m8

[corydoras]

£2,500 and you could have something like this.

[Cranfield]

corydoras, the clearance from ground to running board, is 16 inches, the same as to the axles.

 

I don,t think "grounding" the vehicle is very likely.

 

The Landrover Defender has the same clearance.

 

[ 05. September 2003, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Cranfield ]