opinions wanted..

what_car

i currently drive a standard saloon auto 2.0 petrol. ( 07 accord type s auto)
road tax on this is €590 per year. and average over a full tank about 31-35mpg. on a long spin i can get 45mpg.. it costs about €60 to fill at current prices and i get 600km for this.


i want to get a 4x4 as i like the high driving position and would like to be able to go off road if i choose..


i have the following on my list all in commercial form,

1. Landcruiser swb or lwb commercial GX ( quite a diff in price between LWB and SWB..
2. hilux SR5 3.0 ( irish variation not a vigo one) ( bonus is that you have back seats)
3. pathfinder LE.

any suggestions? am i totally mad considering the way fuel is going? id save a few bob on road tax,

this is for private use and i dont have vat number.

Max_Damage

The Land Rover Defender maybe? It maybe not the most comfortable to drive, but you could sure take it places your standard off-roader wouldn't go.

The latest ones have the Ford Transit-derived engine, so reliabilty shouldn't be a problem.

prospect

There would be a MASSIVE difference going from a Petrol Auto Accord to a Defender. I would only ever recommend a Defender to someone who does some serious off road driving. However, if that is the OPs intention then you'd be hard pushed to find a better 4x4.

If you are just looking for a road car with a higher driving position, I'd go for a soft-roader. Any/all of the vehicles you mentioned will be far less comfortable/refined than your current car. Can you be more specific about your requirements?

what_car

prospect wrote: »

There would be a MASSIVE difference going from a Petrol Auto Accord to a Defender. I would only ever recommend a Defender to someone who does some serious off road driving. However, if that is the OPs intention then you'd be hard pushed to find a better 4x4.

If you are just looking for a road car with a higher driving position, I'd go for a soft-roader. Any/all of the vehicles you mentioned will be far less comfortable/refined than your current car. Can you be more specific about your requirements?

good economy fuel wise
proper 4x4.
good road clearance,

peasant

IMO it also depends on the amount and degree of offroading that you are planning on doing to decide whether you should "burden" yourself with the drawbacks of a big (commercial) 4x4 (like high cost, no rear seats, high fuel consumption, different road manners, etc)

Realistically, the opportunities to go offroading (outside of organised events) are slim, if you're not a farmer and don't mind ploughing up your own meadows.

Anything off road that is publicly accessible is either rather mild (like a bad dirt track) or bog. The former can be tackled in a reasonable "softroader" almost just as well, the latter is off limits unless you own your own crane (to get the yoke out again )

It's a cost-benefit analysis at the end of the day.

what_car

peasant wrote: »

IMO it also depends on the amount and degree of offroading that you are planning on doing to decide whether you should "burden" yourself with the drawbacks of a big (commercial) 4x4 (like high cost, no rear seats, high fuel consumption, different road manners, etc)

Realistically, the opportunities to go offroading (outside of organised events) are slim, if you're not a farmer and don't mind ploughing up your own meadows.

Anything off road that is publicly accessible is either rather mild (like a bad dirt track) or bog. The former can be tackled in a reasonable "softroader" almost just as well, the latter is off limits unless you own your own crane (to get the yoke out again )

It's a cost-benefit analysis at the end of the day.

the hilux has rear seats, and from reports the fuel exonomy on the 3.0 isnt that bad?


the rav 4 doesent have proper 4wd?

250882

Answer is fairly simple, its the one that I got everytime I asked anybody.
Toyota Landcruiser
LWB is more comfortable on the road than the SWB.
Peronally I love the pathfinder. Every builder and farmer has a landcruiser or trooper, the pathfinder just looks better and is meant to be fairly economical as is the landcruiser (30-35MPG i'm told).
Landrover dont do economy!!
A crewcab is handy for the back seats but there is absolutely no storage space unless you get a canopy and these leak and are easy to break into and I think there are issues with VRT.

BeardyGit

250882 wrote: »

....Landrover dont do economy!!....

Untrue. A TD5 Disco will do the same kind of figures as a landcruiser....

If I were in the market at a c. €15-20 spend I'd be looking at a low mileage and highly spec'd late Discovery II (up to 2004, possibly even early 2005) - known as the 'facelifted' model.

Comfortable, very capable and relatively economical if you don't cane it.

Reliability should not be an issue with the TD5's either.

Slig

same lights as the current modle but without all the angles, I heard they were expensive to run but have no experience of them.

Mr.Boots

I love the new Defender, drove one theother day and thought it was such a leap foreword from the old TD5, infact, i like it so much im thinking of getting one!!!

If i were the OP i would drive a few 4x4 first< just to get a feel of what you like.
I deffo wouldnt buy a pick-up.....they realy are rubish to drive because of the leaf spring suspension set up (they actualy drive better with the rear full of sand!!!)

Here are a few i would consider.....
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Land-Rover/Defender/90-Hardtop/993309/
or
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Ford/F150/lightning-svt/857076/

or
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Dodge/Ram/Ram-1500/535676/

or
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Dodge/Nitro/New-Unregistered/819167/

Slig

wow, none of them will even get 30mpg

prospect

Cant imagine those American ones would be particularly good on a steep muddy incline.

triskell

if i had the cash and not worried about the whole road tax issue it would be a landcruiser, comfort, decent off road capability, decent fuel economy and toyota reliability

vibe666

ditto on the land cruiser, you can't beat them.

i went for an old 96 import pajero myself, but fuel economy is far from great.

can't fault it apart from that tho, great car, and it's one of the ap exeed models, so it's fully loaded and hardly cost me a bean. shame i can't say the same for tax tho, it's in the top bracket.

Golferx

250882 wrote: »

...............
Peronally I love the pathfinder. Every builder and farmer has a landcruiser or trooper, the pathfinder just looks better and is meant to be fairly economical as is the landcruiser (30-35MPG i'm told).
.............

I have a 2008 Pathfinder, ELEGANCE. Great space, three rows of seats, leather interior etc.
I get 28mpg on average.

250882 wrote: »

............
A crewcab is handy for the back seats but there is absolutely no storage space unless you get a canopy and these leak and are easy to break into and I think there are issues with VRT.

No issues with VRT, however there are issues with having leaf springs in the rear.

L-M

If ur in anyway claustrophobic, don't touch a Defender. Ur right arm will be pushed up against u, they're mainly and "open-window" kinda job for a bit of room. New engine is great, old ones are as rare as hens teeth and some are over priced. New they can be fairly exspensive. BUT if u are buyin new, there's only 100 yo-yo's difference in the 90 commercial and 110. (The 90 is classed as something similar to a Fiesta van, when it comes to commercial. hence it why the small difference in price. Note they come standard with a body, seats, engine and steering wheel agus sin é.) Great fun to drive, the older ones need a bit of effort.

If not, I'd look into a Freelander 2 commercial, around 34K.

I've seen a few Pathfinders in my time, one with a head gasket gone. I heard there was big trouble with these or the Navara's, or maybe both for gearbox problems.

Land cruiser is a fine jeep, but dated, oh so very dated.(IMO so no attacks:p)

Can't say alot for the Hilux, but they are Toyota's:D