Van or 4x4 ? as i kill cars

dvjunky

Looking for advise on 4x4 , i have been using saloon cars as part of my work and i am pumping money into tires shocks bushings like crazy (15 flat tires in 2 months) , both my present and last car took a hammering , my work requires me to go off road and to places that aren't car friendly , however i am now moving to a commercial , i am looking at ether a transit connect or a ford ranger 4x4.
I know that i will get about 35-38mpg on the ranger and a possible 40 something on the connect, my question is if my car is taking a beating will a connect suffer the same fate, should i pay the extra running costs of a 4x4 ? i feel that i am paying these cost in repairs as it is and don't fancy buying a van that wont suit my work needs by running it into the ground. i wont be carrying heavy loads but need to go places without worry of damage . any advise would be good. i have had vans before but never worked them hard .

Renegade Mechanic

Underneath, a Transit connect will take the same hammering a car will off road with car like suspension and running gear up front. Id go with the Ranger myself on that front.

dvjunky

The ranger feels like the way to go , and i figure parts etc should be handy got compared to other makes of pickups , locally ford is the car of choice so no shortage of spares . A mate has a l200 and says he can get around for fifty a week when he is not working and spends a little more when on jobs, but it pays its way . if he's not just saying that to save face its sound manageable.

tomwaterford

dvjunky wrote: »

Looking for advise on 4x4 , i have been using saloon cars as part of my work and i am pumping money into tires shocks bushings like crazy (15 flat tires in 2 months) , both my present and last car took a hammering , my work requires me to go off road and to places that aren't car friendly , however i am now moving to a commercial , i am looking at ether a transit connect or a ford ranger 4x4.
I know that i will get about 35-38mpg on the ranger and a possible 40 something on the connect, my question is if my car is taking a beating will a connect suffer the same fate, should i pay the extra running costs of a 4x4 ? i feel that i am paying these cost in repairs as it is and don't fancy buying a van that wont suit my work needs by running it into the ground. i wont be carrying heavy loads but need to go places without worry of damage . any advise would be good. i have had vans before but never worked them hard .

Try an army tank-where do you be driving atal

Sir Arthur Daley

dvjunky wrote: »

I know that i will get about 35-38mpg on the ranger

Just a tad ambitious there with that mpg :rolleyes:

dvjunky

Been over a few review sites and the average is about 38mpg according to posts , driving Audi A4 1.9tdi at the moment .

MrFoxman360

WikiHow wrote: »

Just a tad ambitious there with that mpg :rolleyes:

I would agree, cant imagine a Ford Ranger doing 38 MPG under normal driving conditions. Maybe I'm wrong as I dont drive one, but somewher in the high 20s would be more in line I would imagine.

Renegade Mechanic

Be surprised what more modern, emissions focused pickups and jeeps (oxymoron or what:D) are capable of. I cant speak for a Ranger but I drove a 08 Navara, completely unladen, for a short while and got 33 mpg. The new VW Amarok is supposedly capable of 40 :eek:

dvjunky

ok , can you make any changes to a connect like raise her up a bit make it a bit more dirt happy ? , this is starting to become an issue at work as the car keeps letting me down iv lost a day or two on it already and as we all know its tight out there .

Renegade Mechanic

dvjunky wrote: »

ok , can you make any changes to a connect like raise her up a bit make it a bit more dirt happy ? , this is starting to become an issue at work as the car keeps letting me down iv lost a day or two on it already and as we all know its tight out there .

You know what? I actually think I saw something ages ago on an internet search.. Hang on...

EDIT: Not as fruitful as Id hoped but it at least outlines the difficulty involved in such a task.
http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/789-operation-adventure-transit/

Its American and it seems the Connect is only marginally lower than the Ranger so perhaps would be better than a car. Id recommend the tyre upgrade anyway. I did the same thing with two old Opel Astras, suspension lift and Off road tyres. It is not easy and in this country, anything even remotely exiting or different generally meets a stubborn "computer says no" response from insurance companies....

Bugnut

I would not use a Ford Connect for any kind of heavy work.
The Ford ranger is a fairly good 4x4 as far as I know - 2 friends had them for years with no issues.

Other 4x4 to consider would be a Toyota as they are bullet proof the best engines were the 3l TD 1996-2000 - the early d4d engines should be avoided but 06 onwards got good again.

The MPG expectations you wish to meet are optimistic IMHO
I have owned several 4x4 over the past 15 years and the best for mpg was a 1998 Toyota Hilux with an auto-box at 35mpg+ i lived abroad and the diesel was not good, however you had to keep the speed limit as there were cops everywhere looking to extort.Decent to drive but I had a lot of body roll as there was a lift kit fitted to the one I got - 4inch lift and huge wheels.
I had a Navara also a 08 and never got anything more than 25mpg out of that heap of brown stuff - horrible to drive.

The LandRover Disco TD5 was the best overall, drive, economy, reliability - swap out the airbags for a spring and shock kit( £200 ) and your laughing. Great engine, the best 4x4 to drive and regularly got over 28-32mpg .

All the figures are laden mpg figures.
Im a coded welder and carry a lot of heavy kit around

BTW Mitsi l200 are terrible to drive IMHO

dvjunky

any body know what mpg you would get on a small hovercraft thanks for the input il have to call it soon

Bugnut

Would that not be Airmiles ?

vibe666

what's your budget and were you considering go for something new?

most of the major 4x4 makers are doing an 'executive' 5 seater commercial now. pajero, disco, landcruiser.

basically almost the top spec for each as a passenger vehicle (leather, aircon, top end sound system, parking sensors, HID's etc.), but with the 3rd row of seats removed bringing them down from 7 to 5. throw in some good all-terrain tyres and you're laughing (and unstoppable).

it doesn't qualify as a full commercial for BIC unfortunately like a van or 2 seater commercial would, but it does for VRT so you get a good chunk off the price of a new one with them all being around the 50k mark with a full 5 (cruiser is only 3 i think) year warranty.

if you went for business finance on it, you pay the VAT amount up front and the rest goes onto finance meaning you get to drive a brand new top end motor for (comparatively) next to peanuts.

dvjunky

my budget is low 4000 along with my A4 , cant go higher or 2013 was a waste of time

Irish Steve

FWIW, re economy, I've had an Isuzu TFS crew cab with hard top since almost new in 2003, I don't do a lot of off road, but enough around the lanes, it has averaged 35-40 mpg since I've had it, and if I don't push hard on the motorways it will do slightly better. The back seats are not comfortable for long distances, but as I'm usually driving it's not an issue, and it can carry nearly a tonne, which is a help at times.

Can't fault the reliability, I've spent very little on it other than routine stuff, a few suspension bushes, a couple of track rod ends, a couple of shocks on the back, (the shrouds rotted out), and one exhaust box that the pipe broke on, and some drive shaft boots on the front, but that's it in about 130,000 miles.

Engine is 2.5 turbo diesel, no timing belt hassles, so while it is OK, it won't set the world on fire performance wise, but I have also towed a large trailer with over 2 tonnes on it, without drama.

The furthest mine has been is France, without any hassles. and it is very good for carrying cases of wine without strain

Tyres on mine are 245/70/16, so they tend to go over most potholes without any drama, I have (desperately touching head wood) yet to damage a tyre on mine, present tyres are top of the range BF Goodrich, on alloys, they've been on there a while now, and they are good in the wet, and also hang on pretty well in snow, which helps when the hills north of here are white.

Given your suggested budget, a Dmax, (the model that replaced the TFS) will be well within range.

MrFoxman360

Now it all depends on what you have to carry and how image conscious you are but a Suzuki Jimny or the bigger Suzuki Vitara would be tough enough and reasonably capable for off road and not drink the juice travelling on the road. Reliable too.

dvjunky

being able to carry people from time to time plus equipment would be a bonus hence ford ranger, but work is sketchy so high running cost during down time are a big worry at the moment , my last two jobs needed the 4x4 factor and im paying for it now , the van is totaly a runner for work but if in two months if i bust the sump , burn out the starter in water etc , il be sickened .the jimny and vitara would be car rates road tax wise , to costly and lacking the space i need .

Renegade Mechanic

dvjunky wrote: »

being able to carry people from time to time plus equipment would be a bonus hence ford ranger, but work is sketchy so high running cost during down time are a big worry at the moment , my last two jobs needed the 4x4 factor and im paying for it now , the van is totaly a runner for work but if in two months if i bust the sump , burn out the starter in water etc , il be sickened .the jimny and vitara would be car rates road tax wise , to costly and lacking the space i need .

If the water levels you find yourself in are as high as the average starter position on a car then I think a jeep is almost a requirement. Rangers (and the rebadged MazDa BTs) are good, as are Hiluxes and Isuzu pickups.

kay 9

The vitara is a good vehicle if not towing big weight. Good mpg too;) Just a thought.

NuckingFacker

MrFoxman360 wrote: »

I would agree, cant imagine a Ford Ranger doing 38 MPG under normal driving conditions. Maybe I'm wrong as I dont drive one, but somewher in the high 20s would be more in line I would imagine.

I've a ranger -they're actually surprisingly economical when compared to most old-school 4*4s, 35 would be very do-able if you take it handy.

pete4130

Go with the 4X4. Most 4X4's can carry 1 ton on the tray back. My work is all bush bashing here in Australia, through blade ploughed fields, sandy creeks, dirt roads most of the time. I've drive Tritons, Hilux, Colorado's (Rodeo/Dmax). Hilux is by far the best of the bunch. I've seen the Colorados get stuck in small sandy creeks and bottom out on the chassis when Hiluxs have just gone straight through. The Tritons are ok, not as well bolted together as the Hilux.

Expect about 12-13L/100km from any of them. A bot worse if in 4WD and off the tarmac.

If you want something smaller and equally as capable, see if you can get hold of a Daihatsu Fourtrack. Bit old and hard to get now. Small 4 seater but great off road. Probably not got the load space you're looking for though.

NuckingFacker

An other option is get a Hiace, I've two that we use for service work and they get dogs abuse and are often on very rough terrain. They won't break anyway and also I'm not buying the "water two feet deep bit" - go on out of that, you're just trying to convince the missus that you need a jeep.