4x4 Shite Needed

[cyruspower]

Any suggestions for 4x4 shite for the winter?

Would prefer space in the back for the dog and all sorts of other crap.

My max budget is £3000 and it doesn't need to have massive ground clearance.

 

I'm thinking along the following lines:

 

Ex-MoD Defender Hard Top

Isuzu Trooper

Nissan Patrol (earlyish)

Subaru Brat

Subaru SVX

VW Golf Country

 

Any other ideas mostly welcomed!

[Cavcraft]

Out of those I'd put them in this order.

 

1) Trooper.

 

2) Patrol.

 

3) SVX.

 

4) Brat.

 

5) Defender.

 

6) Walk.

 

7) Anything with a VW badge.

[dollywobbler]

I see I'm forced to say FORD MAVERICK again. Trooper is a good call though and a Subaru Legacy/Forester would probably do what you're looking for. If you're not going off-road, not much point paying more for something big and butch that'll just delivery shite economy.

[Rocket88]

Ocatvia scout tdi estate[if you can find one]

[kinkersaab]

^ forget the scout, heaps more than the normal 4x4 octavia est without the tupperware.

 

gotta be a subaru. END.

[skattrd]

I had an SVX last winter - not much room in the back for a dog. Lovely car, but rather heavy and quite thirsty when booted. Great for blasting up and down the motorway, but not really for twisty stuff. I'd definitely have another. I bought mine for £850, sold it 6 months later for the same ... Don't pay too much for one.

Golf country - good luck finding one. I had a jetta syncro a few years ago and it was ace. I'd defo have another, but parts often need to be shipped from NL/DE.

 

I accidentally bought a Mitsubishi RVR the other week for winter japes. It's not on your list but you can have it for what I paid for it if you're interested. Think small 4x4 people carrier with added turbo, bull bars and ladder on the back (don't ask me why theres a ladder on the back).

[cyruspower]

Cheers for the ideas.

 

Ok I need a reality check, reckon the SVX will be too impractical, the Brat too oxidisy, the Maverick too Top Gun, the RVR/Country too import, the MOD Defender too gripped, the Skoda not shite enough.

 

So that leaves:

 

Outback/Legacy 3.0

Patrol (the really square one)

Trooper (probs a Citation)

 

The Trooper and Patrol seem like Jap G-Wagens for half the price, I like that.

 

Going to line up a shortlist this weekend and poke around some metal next week.

[Albert Ross]

Daihatsu Fourtrak FTW.

[garbaldy]

i like fourtracks but bye heck can they rust, what about a jeep cherokee they are dirt cheep, infact ive just been offered one its gassed up too

[pandarus]

Good time of year for a 4 x 4 Shite!

 

I would recommend a Fiat Panda Classic 4 x 4 (but then again I would say that wouldn't I?!!!) Supremely underrated.

[skattrd]

I drove an old lwb Patrol back from Gt. Yarmouth for a mate a while back and it was very nice, iirc it had a de-tuned 6-pot skyline motor, a bit thirsty but a very smooth engine.

Fourtraks are good but as said do rust. The last one I saw had the chassis split in two (rust) after the owner tried towing a not very heavy trailer.

[Baz]

I'm with dollywobbler....What about a Subaru Forester?

 

To me, they seem like the perfect all-rounder....Good, practical Jap estate, with (Apparently) as much ground clearance as a Land Rover Freelander, despite looking like a more conventional estate, so a degree of off-road capability too....They seem well built, and well equipped (Find one with a sunroof, and the sunroof is nice and big....Not important to everyone, I know! )....And good ones are available for half your budget....Spend it all, and you'll get one that'll last for years, should you desire.

 

I think they're fantastic....The only thing that's stopped me buying one, is the potential for poor fuel consumption, and pennies are tight just at the mo....If only they'd produced the earlier Foresters with a diesel!

[dollywobbler]

Foresters are MASSIVELY popular around here. They just work.

[cort16]

I'd be going for a Legacy 3.0R Spec B. They seem to be massive value for money.

 

3 grand for this 06 one

 

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/subaru-legacy-30-r-spec-b-estate-auto/1001868057

[kinkersaab]

That is what i have, but i searched out a pre 06 one for cheaper tax, £470 a year for later ones, truly awesome cars though, 27 mpg at absolute best long run low speed stuff, i seem to average between 20 and 23 mpg horsing around country roads. stupid small tank means you spend a lot of time in petrol stations. I have covered 5000miles in mine in the last 10 weeks. LOVE IT!

[wuvvum]

I had a LWB Patrol a few years back with the 2.8 petrol straight-6 - nice thing to drive and went round corners far better than it had any right to, but by heck was it gutless. And thirsty.

 

I think you could do a lot worse than a Trooper, although they're not the most economical of vehicles either, and I'd avoid any grey imports like the plague.

 

Or for something a bit more interesting, how about a Nissan Stagea? Not actually dissimilar to an SVX to drive (fast, heavy, quite thirsty if booted, grips well enough but can get a bit wallowy on tight back roads), but a lot more practical with five doors and a mahoosive boot. Should be able to get a reasonable one for about £1500.