Buying Cheap Jeep

Hilltopman

Could anybody give me some info regarding buying a used jeep. Don't need to get anything too expensive as it wont be doing much. something around a couple of grand max and preferably even cheaper. what would be good to look for like Dihatsu Fourtrak, Mitsubishi Pajero etc . something reliable and not too hard on diesel. Maybe I am looking for miracles with this price in mind but any help would be appreciated. Thanks as always

Nekarsulm

all Fourtrak's will be rotten along the rear arches and rear floorpan. Mechanically very good. Troopers not too bad mechanically either. Made sure they go into 4wd and cone out ok. Chassis rot at the back. Youngest 3.1 models now 17 years old. only buy a 3.0 if you plan to slot a 3.1 into it. no such thing as a cheap jeep, really. If you get two years out of a sub 2000 euro jeep, you are doing well.

Farmer Pudsey

Nissan Terrano a lot of seated version around 1999-2003. If you are handy and can convert to a van it a matter of blacking out the windows, removing the seats converting to a solid floor and blanking out seatbelt holders. A lot of these will have little work done as were mainly yuppie people carriers. Loads of Jeeps around that were seated and now are too dear to tax.

Greengrass1

Neighbour here bought a 02 commercial land rover discovery for 2 k Lovely jeep.
Weve a 96 discovery here. A great yoke easily pull 2/3tonne very comfortable and grearmt visibility

td5man

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Neighbour here bought a 02 commercial land rover discovery for 2 k Lovely jeep.
Weve a 96 discovery here. A great yoke easily pull 2/3tonne very comfortable and grearmt visibility

You can get a bit of body and chassis rust the later td5 engine doesn't give much trouble except for oil in the injector loom.

Greengrass1

td5man wrote: »

You can get a bit of body and chassis rust the later td5 engine doesn't give much trouble except for oil in the injector loom.

Ours has a completely re done engine. Very few problems with her. Bushings on anti roll bar and shock absorbers is all

Timmaay

We have one of the td5 discos. Mechanically not the worst but electrics are terrible, wheel abs sensors are a very common problem, the dashboard lights up like a Xmas tree when they go as it throws out the hill decent control and other stuff. Biggest problem with any of the older jap yokes tends to be rust. Whereas many of the more modern ones it can be serious engine problems, Nissans are well known for experience turbo problems, Toyotas it was lubrication problems resulting on seized engines!

td5man

Timmaay wrote: »

We have one of the td5 discos. Mechanically not the worst but electrics are terrible, wheel abs sensors are a very common problem, the dashboard lights up like a Xmas tree when they go as it throws out the hill decent control and other stuff. Biggest problem with any of the older jap yokes tends to be rust.

The 3 amigos.

Kevin McCloud

An old 3.1 trooper, 2.7 terrano. Nothing wrong with a 2.5/2.8 pajero but a rust free one is the key.
A 3.1 trooper is prob one of the best work horses out there, they will take the abuse and keep going.

dharn

I have a 95 pajero it probably worth less than 2 grand id hope to get 10 years out of it yet, I mind it well though

whelan2

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

An old 3.1 trooper, 2.7 terrano. Nothing wrong with a 2.5/2.8 pajero but a rust free one is the key.
A 3.1 trooper is prob one of the best work horses out there, they will take the abuse and keep going.

bought an 02 pajero a few weeks ago off dd, it's grand, needed a good service though. Have a 96 isuzu 3.1, drives are gone on it engine is good, what's it worth?

Suckler

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Neighbour here bought a 02 commercial land rover discovery for 2 k Lovely jeep.
Weve a 96 discovery here. A great yoke easily pull 2/3tonne very comfortable and grearmt visibility

Have a TD5 Discovery, great yoke to pull. It's had a fairly mixed use life and I'm still fond of it. Commercial so plenty of space in the back. Never had too many issues (touch wood).
Worst I had was a sensor in the roof lining that was faulty. Resulted in the ECU not recognising the key fob and it wouldn't start. Could leave you standing anytime or anywhere. Had leaky fuel pressure regulator, PS pump and just had a new starter put in. 150K miles on her but still going strong.

Greengrass1

Suckler wrote: »

Have a TD5 Discovery, great yoke to pull. It's had a fairly mixed use life and I'm still fond of it. Commercial so plenty of space in the back. Never had too many issues (touch wood).
Worst I had was a sensor in the roof lining that was faulty. Resulted in the ECU not recognising the key fob and it wouldn't start. Could leave you standing anytime or anywhere. Had leaky fuel pressure regulator, PS pump and just had a new starter put in. 150K miles on her but still going strong.

Actually I think the ecu would be a fairly common problem with them. We have ours rewired tge igntion is connected straight to the starter as the ecu was playing up a few yr ago.
150 to lical mechanic sorted it

freedominacup

We bought a 3.0l terrano last month. 160k miles but soft ones iykwim. Very little haulage done outside of ponies to gymkhanas. Replacing a 2.7 we had driven into the ground. That one owed us nothing and gave very little trouble despite the hardship. The "new" one cost 1700 and is 03. She's put up 1000 miles since we got her well over 200 with a trailer and so far so good. We had another business going at one point while we had the first terrano and we had a mitsubishi pajero sport as well at the time. I'd take the terrano any time it was available ahead of the sport. Soft , underpowered and uncomfortable.

Kevin McCloud

whelan2 wrote: »

Have a 96 isuzu 3.1, drives are gone on it engine is good, what's it worth?

€350-€400 imo, if you had a die hard looking for a donor engine for his 3.0 and was stuck you could push up to €500. What mileage is up on it?

Suckler

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Actually I think the ecu would be a fairly common problem with them. We have ours rewired tge igntion is connected straight to the starter as the ecu was playing up a few yr ago.
150 to lical mechanic sorted it

Ours was a sensor problem, not really ECU. ECU probably did what it should if the sensor didn't recognize the key fob. Have been keeping an eye on the ECU loom for oil but have had no signs yet.

Keeping them well serviced and maintained is the key to driving a "cheap" 4x4.

whelan2

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

€350-€400 imo, if you had a die hard looking for a donor engine for his 3.0 and was stuck you could push up to €500. What mileage is up on it?

168000 miles, has done very little in the last few years

Kevin McCloud

whelan2 wrote: »

168000 miles, has done very little in the last few years

That would make a great donor for a 3.0l, they would do half a million miles no problem.

Copa Mundial

Hard to believe the thread got to page 2 without the word Hilux coming up absolute workhorses and the older models can be picked up right enough.

Kevin McCloud

Copa Mundial wrote: »

Hard to believe the thread got to page 2 without the word Hilux coming up absolute workhorses and the older models can be picked up right enough.

Because they are leaf sprung?

Farmer Pudsey

Copa Mundial wrote: »

Hard to believe the thread got to page 2 without the word Hilux coming up absolute workhorses and the older models can be picked up right enough.

Op put a limit of 2K. See very few hilux's for that money. Even pre 2000 ones are higher than that on DD. At 2K he has has a limited choice.

Copa Mundial

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

Because they are leaf sprung?

Possibly, but if that's the biggest problem they have then they're surely still a contender?

The reliability of the 90's models is second to none.

Copa Mundial

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Op put a limit of 2K. See very few hilux's for that money. Even pre 2000 ones are higher than that on DD. At 2K he has has a limited choice.

After having a look on DD you're bang on their, would've thought there'd be more 90's reg ones on the go but they've been long scrapped or given death I suppose.

Kevin McCloud

Came across 00 reg lwb cruiser no test for 2k, looks good but pics are deceiving.

Brown Podzol

I bought 1992 single cab hilux three years ago for €2,200, like the one on Top gear.The clock said 120 k miles. No problem except for alternator and a bit for the exhaust. Does the work of a small tractor, fencing, bags of meal, bales etc,

Farmer Pudsey

Biggest issue with anything like this now is that car or jeep has to be in test. All vehicles must have a valid test disc on display other wise 3 penalty points. Before as long as van was taxed guards considered it in test.

This will put a lot of stuff off the road. I knew lads that used to get nearly 2 years out of a test. Pass test, tax for 3 months, off road for a month, tax for 6 months, off road for a month, tax for 12 months. Now the CVRT disc is more important than the tax disc.

This will mean that you will need a fairly straight jeep that will pass the test a few times.

Kevin McCloud

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

This will mean that you will need a fairly straight jeep that will pass the test a few times.

Or be like my neighbour where the €50 note always disappears from under the radio during the doe test.

whelan2

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

Or be like my neighbour where the €50 note always disappears from under the radio during the doe test.

all tests are on camera now, very little of that going on any more, well around here anyway

Farmer Pudsey

whelan2 wrote: »

all tests are on camera now, very little of that going on any more, well around here anyway

Yes all CVRT test centers will be on camera by year end as far as I know. Also all centers are more wary of a vehicle that has something wrong being involved in a series accident.

fastrac

Dont write off the Fourtraks. The U.K. imports were rusty from the salting of the roads there but still a few good Irish ones around.

dharn

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Yes all CVRT test centers will be on camera by year end as far as I know. Also all centers are more wary of a vehicle that has something wrong being involved in a series accident.

My pajero failed on shock absorber bushing, the tester was very apologetic, but said all machine results were monitored, and all visual tests observed by camera so 50 euro man is fecked, and rightly so, why do fellas want to drive dangerous heaps of ****e, a 5er fixed mine but cost 48 for retest , next year ill make sure they are all checked

kay 9

Knew a centre that will pass most vehicles for 200 so long as ya ain't taking the pee pee. I've not bothered myself as I like to keep my jeep going straight. Saves in the long run. I know if I was a tester I'd not be passing rough yokes on the side. Not nice to have a death or serious injury on ones conscience

Kevin McCloud

whelan2 wrote: »

all tests are on camera now, very little of that going on any more, well around here anyway

Alive and well in a few test centres here, one centre getting known as the score centre as €20 is the norm.

greysides

I changed centre over such shenanigans. I was being failed on parts less than 3 months replaced so that they could keep their fail rate within norms.

Kevin McCloud

greysides wrote: »

I changed centre over such shenanigans. I was being failed on parts less than 3 months replaced so that they could keep their fail rate within norms.

What quality parts were you buying, i see my own pajero years ago it wore out d bushes on the anti roll bar in 6 months but what actually is wore is the metal bar itself. Hard to think rubber wears metal but it does.
€1 roll of insulation tape now to build up the diameter on the anti roll bar for the test, no point buying bushes as bar is wore.