Thinking of a complete change in cars

[matt_theforce]

Currently SWMBO & I have a Toyota Rav4 2lvvti & a Ford S-Max 2l tdci.

 

Both of these cars are fantastic for their intended purposes however we like the idea of changing the S-Max for a much older Zafira (petrol) as the 7seats are rarely used & only used for her childminding business so all shortish journeys & the Rav is only tax'd through the winter months, mainly for getting SWMBO to her horse which is kept a few miles down the road in the Peak District.

 

With the above in mind we would then have the Rav as our family car, now, there isn't anything wrong with the Rav but it's not what either of us would want to drive when visiting family or going on holiday (all above 100mile trips).

 

We've been thinking about the following to replace the Rav(family car)

 

Mitsubushi L200 Animal

Nissan Navara

Landrover Discovery (2004 onwards) 

 

Should we choose togo down this route we would have approx £10k to spend & would want a diesel (unless allready LPG converted by a reputable garage)

 

Has anyone owned one of the above and have any advise on what to look for?

 

I can't help but feel that the Landrover will be knocked out as we are really after something thats a little more robust yet still has a nice interior

(muddy bikes/horse stuff etc being thrown in the boot/load area)

 

 

Matthew

[AlphaPapa]

I always thought vehicles like the L200 and Navara were 'agricultural' at best! 

 

Horrible to drive, handle badly, loads of road noise, terrible economy and questionable safety? I've not owned one of said trucks but echoing what I have heard about them. http://www.euroncap.com/tests/nissan_navara/317.aspx

 

What about something like a forester?

[Aspman]

L200 has a reputation for munching engines.

 

Mate had a Navara, didn't have the engine problems some folk had but it went rusty very early all round the arches and the tailgate. He really liked it as a family car and for carrying all his diving gear. He got 32mpg.

 

For pickups is the Toyota HiLux not king. You might get one for £10k but you'd have to be careful that includes VAT if relevant.

 

Landy at 10k will probably be well used. They break down and need a lot of maintenance. I have friend with a disco3 and they can only afford it because hubby is a mechanic and do all the work himself.

 

Subaru is a good call I know a few folk who swear by them and if you can afford the petrol they are not dear to buy because of the high tax and mpg. They don't go wrong often but if they do it can be expensive. My Dad's pal had a lovely Legacy that he moved because of a simple exhaust fault that was going to cost a fortune to fix.

 

Mazda Bongo 4x4 FTW

[simonsheil]

Sister has had a navara for 8 years. No sign off rust and runs well. Mpg as above, ride is a bit bouncy in the back due to the leaf springs. Road noise is not that bad. Takes an age to warm up in winter. As said crash rating not great, however, remember ncap is done on car size so it will probably still sestet a city go.

[LGM]

We(work) have a 55 plate L200 and for its duty it's fantastic. It's done 156k and its recently started leaking oil which has now been fixed, thats the only major problem its had. It's horrible to drive and guzzles fuel but in the snow Ive hardly had to use 4 wheel drive a part from once when it was about 10 inch deep. Fuel wise it does about 280 on a full tank which costs £70-80 to brim. I've never drove the others so I can't comment.

[meta55b]

L200 has a reputation for munching engines.

 

Mate had a Navara, didn't have the engine problems some folk had but it went rusty very early all round the arches and the tailgate. He really liked it as a family car and for carrying all his diving gear. He got 32mpg.

 

For pickups is the Toyota HiLux not king. You might get one for £10k but you'd have to be careful that includes VAT if relevant.

 

Landy at 10k will probably be well used. They break down and need a lot of maintenance. I have friend with a disco3 and they can only afford it because hubby is a mechanic and do all the work himself.

 

Subaru is a good call I know a few folk who swear by them and if you can afford the petrol they are not dear to buy because of the high tax and mpg. They don't go wrong often but if they do it can be expensive. My Dad's pal had a lovely Legacy that he moved because of a simple exhaust fault that was going to cost a fortune to fix.

 

Mazda Bongo 4x4 FTW

Don't they snap crank shafts.

[ruffday]

They all have issues of one sort or another.

I would look at maybe a Shogun, Volvo XC90 or BMW X5 if you want a bit more luxury for that sort of money.

Or if you want a double cab the the Izusu Rodeo Denver Max would be my choice for that price range.

If you can push the budget then the VW Amorok.

[Dedders]

My wife has an L200 warrior which is brilliant for the horses and dogs, everything can just be chucked in the back and you don't have to worry about mud etc as it can just be rinsed out. It's not quick but is comfortable and my wife loves driving it having got used to the size it has a reversing camera which helps in tight spaces. If you have young children it's also worth noting that there are isofix points in the back.

We looked at several other types including the Nissan Nivara which seems to have problems with automatic gearboxes which put us off and my wife didn't like the look of them! The Hi-lux are good vehicles but generally cost a bit more and if your slightly vertically challenged they are that bit higher than the others, my wife is 5'2 and found it uncomfortable getting in and out of one without the side steps.

Your best bet is to go and test drive a few to see what you like.

Just bare in mind that most insurance companies class all these types of pickups as commercial vehicles so the insurance is a bit more expensive so it might be worth getting a few quotes before buying one, although this does make the tax slightly cheaper.

[Volvomeg]

Had a couple of friends with defenders and there always fixing something altho they do get used regular off road, one has a TD5 in his and its a cracking engine and will pull a house end, think disco uses simlar chassis or the older one did,

 

Had a friend with a L200 around a 52 plate and that broke a couple of fuel pumps while he had it but he was a farmer, we had one at work as a tow vehicle for years and never seem to have much trouble with it and i quiet liked driving it altho it was very agricultural and abit bouncy on rear end,

 

Have you considered a ford ranger, i did my trailer test in one and that was quiet a nice place to be, similar i believe to L200 underneath just has the ford engine instead, that truck had done 65k (most of it with a 800kg trailer on) and training said it hadn't had anything apart from usual service stuff altho was booked in for a new clutch the week after we had done with it but it felt fine to me, oh and that was a tad bouncy on the rear aswell and rear leg room was abit tight altho am 6ft

[keystonedriving]

I think you will find that the Ford Ranger is actually a Mazda in disguise, my next door neighbour has one and seems pretty happy with it.

 

The series 2 Disco is a good drive but be very wary of chassis rot (BMW influence?).  The TD5 is a cracking engine and towes an Ivor 505 with 2 horses without breaking sweat!

 

Audi Q3 / Q5 perhaps?  I suspect that a Q7 will be a bit pricey.

[sparks03]

Navara I think has a problem with chewing up cams as well I think. Can you stretch to a Hilux? You can keep a brand you're happy with and pick up a motor and they look pretty good too.

[BrownBarge]

Going back a few hours to when my mate wanted this kind of vehicle after much research on navara, ranger, l200, hilux it was the isuzu rodeo that seemed to came out on top.

In the end he bought a civic type-R

[matt_theforce]

Thanks for all the comments.

 

I'll be doing alot more research over the weekend.

 

The list to research as it now stands (from comments here and a bit of digging last night)

 

Subaru Forester

Mitsubushi L200

Volvo XC70

Landrover Discovery

Isuzu rodeo (yet to show SWMBO)

Ford Ranger  (yet to show SWMBO)

Rav4 T180

Ford Kuga

 

Not proceeding with

Toyota Hilux - SWMBO doesn't like the look

BMW X5 - SWMBO & I Don't like the look

Nissan Navara - Euro N-Cap results (havent checked any of the others yet)

Audi Q3/Q5/Q7 - fancy something other than VAG

 

 

We could push the budget some more but as we change cars quite frequently I'd rather not spend too much, SWMBO is now also thinking that a pickup might be overkill as I do look after my cars and keep them in very good condition (you would never believe what the Rav carries inside & the terrain it covers through the winter months) therefore we're edging back towards a decent 4wd rather than a 4x4.

 

Maintenance wise isn't so bad as I have a very good friend who is a fantastic mechanic and restores/tunes any make of car (mainly Ford though)

[AlphaPapa]

It was this video that made me think of the forester; 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6-ERc-DfhA

[Aspman]

Don't they snap crank shafts.

 

I wasn't really being serious with the Mazada. I just like the name and it's an odd vehicle.

 

Actually the Isuzu came to mind as I was reading through but someone else got there first.

 

I might get shot down in flames for this but what about a new Dacia duster 4x4? Bit more than budget but it's new and bad news on them seems to be rare. There is one on the road near me and it's actually not that bad looking. Warranties can be extended to 7yr.

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201308068174948/sort/default/usedcars/model/duster/make/dacia/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/1501/postcode/ph15ph/advert-type/standard-listing?logcode=ucbnp

Edited 20 September, 2013 by Aspman

[BossFox]

I might get shot down in flames for this but what about a new Dacia duster 4x4? Bit more than budget but it's new and bad news on them seems to be rare. There is one on the road near me and it's actually not that bad looking.

Specsavers?

[silver1011]

How old is the Rav4?

 

You say you want rid as it isn't ideal for holiday's / visiting family etc.?

 

I'd say the Rav4 would be better for this than any of the trucks on your shortlist.

 

I had a brand new 2004 (04) Nissan Navara Kingcab for 2 years / 70,000 miles as a company car which spent most of its time on the motorway.

 

Give me a Rav4 any day!

[matt_theforce]

How old is the Rav4?

 

You say you want rid as it isn't ideal for holiday's / visiting family etc.?

 

I'd say the Rav4 would be better for this than any of the trucks on your shortlist.

 

I had a brand new 2004 (04) Nissan Navara Kingcab for 2 years / 70,000 miles as a company car which spent most of its time on the motorway.

 

Give me a Rav4 any day!

 

We have a Rav4.2, its the last of the mk2's (05plate) and is the top spec xt5 so very well specced. Its reasonably comfortable but the boot is small and being a short ar$e I'd need to carry steps to put my bike on the roof, hence I could put my bike in the back of a pickup and still have room for luggage (my bike would also be out of sight when parking up somewhere)

[Chris]

I thoroughly recommend the Forester. My best mate ran 2.0 turbo until recently and I used to sell them! Imagine an Impreza but with lower insurance but *almost* as much fun!

[slider]

If you do decent off road stuff, country pursuits, tow a horse box or trailer regularly I can understand owning a big pick up but for the life of me I can't see the attraction of one of these fuel munchers as a family car. Also remember that many of these pick ups are rear wheel drive most of the time so prospect to getting caught out on wet or icy roads and back end letting go.

[Ootohere]

A Freelander 2 will do as well as all those listed above IMO.

 

george

[ruffday]

I might get shot down in flames for this but what about a new Dacia duster 4x4? Bit more than budget but it's new and bad news on them seems to be rare. There is one on the road near me and it's actually not that bad looking. Warranties can be extended to 7yr.

 

 

Pm contemplating one as my next company car.

 

Its basically a Nissan X Trail with a Renault engine.

[loskie]

Hyundai Santa Fe

Look at a towbar mounted bike rack for any car; far better than plonking them on the roof

[j0hn]

I've driven plenty of Navaras and L200s and I wouldn't really want either of them over an SUV, but if pushed money would have to go on the Navara. They seem to be slightly more economical than the L200, although irrelavent at the rate they drink the stuff and with the right kit level (leather, nav, bluetooth, dual climate, etc) they're not a bad place to be. The last one I drove had 183k on the clock on an 07 plate and seemed fairly robust. I took it from Wimbledon to Rotherham and had to drive through Putney, Hammersmith (via Fulham Palace Road) and Shepherds Bush at rush hour and needed arms and legs like Popeye as, although not impossible, the clutch, gearshift and steeringhave a certain 'robustness' to them. I wouldn't touch an auto as they are seriously thirsty. The biggest issue I had with the Navara is, and I don't think I was particularly heavy handed, but I found it to be a lot more tail happy than I was expecting and it caught me out on an empty, wet roundabout at a very low speed - I'd anticipated coming off the roundabout and already selected the next gear and when it went, I didn't have the intelligence to go down a couple of gears mid-slide and it didn't have the guts to pull it straight in the gear I was in.

 

I'm torn on the Disco - there's a lot of kit to go wrong on those (I'm mainly thinking air suspension) and the one or two old ones (Disco 3) I delivered were nice but the ride made me sea sick and I lacked absolute confidence in the brakes.

Edited 23 September, 2013 by j0hn

[Ootohere]

The big Hyundai or Kia can be a good choice for tow cars.

Anyone considering the Dacia Dusters, good value that they are needs to check their towing limits.

 

Anyone buying a used Disco 3/4 or Range Rover Sport needs to think about the Independent Garage they will use for any work,

& the possible Hourly Rate and their ability to do anything major required on it.

 

george