4WD

[andyBeaker]

After being snowed in for the last two years I am toying with the idea of getting a cheap 4WD so at least I can get to the top of the road and down the hill at the end.

Never fancied one, know nothing about them, always viewed them as status symbols (misguided).

Looking at less than ?2k, not bothered about image/comfort and should be cheap to run and insure. Which rules out Land Rovers, Discos, etc

1600/2000 should be enough, loads seem to be autos. Is this an issue in the real world?? Wouldn't be using off road.

Been looking at Rav4s (Toyota reliability?) and other Japanese stuff such as Vitaras (as I said, not bothered about image!!).

Tempted by a cheap Scooby but that breaks just about every rule I have set and probably not that great without winter tyres fitted in any event.

Any advice??

 

[longfellow]

rav 4 go for ever but are renowned for Lamba sensors failing, one on ours has just failed and new ones are £140 each and their are 4 of the f****rs. Considering what you are looking for and the price you wanna pay you will be self inflicting nowt but pain and expense but for 2k i would look for an old Toyota hi lux , as i say, for this kinda money it will probably resemble a dumper but no doubt it will deliver what you need from it if that is to be just a dodgem for the snow.

 

[g1948]

Just recently bought a CR-V. Probably not a 4WD you'd choose to take off-road too much, but it's great to drive, comfy, easy to park and automatic, as well as under ?1800 secondhand. We love it.

 

[karlos2000]

After being snowed in for the last two years I am toying with the idea of getting a cheap 4WD so at least I can get to the top of the road and down the hill at the end.

Never fancied one, know nothing about them, always viewed them as status symbols (misguided).

Looking at less than £2k, not bothered about image/comfort and should be cheap to run and insure. Which rules out Land Rovers, Discos, etc

1600/2000 should be enough, loads seem to be autos. Is this an issue in the real world?? Wouldn't be using off road.

Been looking at Rav4s (Toyota reliability?) and other Japanese stuff such as Vitaras (as I said, not bothered about image!!).

Tempted by a cheap Scooby but that breaks just about every rule I have set and probably not that great without winter tyres fitted in any event.

Any advice??

Rav4

I'm on my 2nd, I sold my 1st one 3 years ago and regretted it, I only got it for winter, but as soon as it was gone I realised I should have just kept it, they just go and go. So I bought another one last year for just this reason, ie: winter. I got a Jap import, low miles, twin sunroofs, aircon, etc, auto for £1500. Underneath it looks like new, it's 17 years old, and costs buttons to run and MOT. The best bit? off road, including the snow, it works, and I mean works well. The police X3 got stuck in snow, I didn't, the Freelander got stuck, I didn't, see the pattern here?
the old Rav is just a Corolla on stilts, therefore has the worlds most boring, yet reliable engine. Somehow too, they got the drive train just right, not sure if it was intentional, but somehow it just does it. They hold their value for all of these reasons. Manual versions can, (if abused) slip out of second gear when they get to 150k miles, aside from that the only recall on them was for a squeaky trim where it meets the windscreen. Not too shabby.

 

[Artemis]

Hyundai Santa Fe. Great in the snow, reliable, not expensive.

 

[The_Ormston]

Used to have a Mitsubishi Delica. Jap import, I know as I imported it.

Selectable 4wd, really go anywhere you want. Comfy, lots of toys, very thirsty. The best I ever saw was 30mpg, normally I tried to get over 20mpg. Was sad to see it go, got ?2k for it, and have saved well over that in fuel now. Typically, the weekend after I sold it, I got stuck in a muddy field.

A Delica may be a bit big for your needs, although you can probably fit the blackbird in the back. But the Pajero is based on the same chassis and running gear, so is pretty good as well. Being slightly less brick like in aerodynamics it should return better fuel figures as well.

Chris

 

[stretchie_]

If you're ruling our Land Rovers (for a very good reason) how about something like the Nissan Terrano II / Ford Maverick (Same vehicle). Has selectable 4wd so you can do normal driving in 2wd and use the 4wd when required, saving fuel. You don't want to be doing road driving for long periods in 4wd through, I think it winds up the trasmission but you'll have to look in to that.

Took a mate out on Salisbury Plains us and another Disco and the Ford Maverick, it was completley fine although it severly lacks ground clearance, having said thay, you are after a 4wd vehicle not an off roader so should be no problems.

Scooby's, I THINK the older Forrester has a selectable lo box which could prove useful in the snow when you want to control the speed of the vehicle without using the brakes.

Whatever you get don't fall into the typical BMW driver mindset or "It's got 4wd, it should go anywhere", remember that 4 x '0 grip' = '0 grip'. Get a seperate set of winter tyres for it. The tyres will also affect mileage, so if you use the vehicle year around you want a normal set of road tyres, and a seperate set of steeies with M&S (Mud and Snow, not Marks and Sparks @tu* ) rates tyres for when the weather turns.

I would think that a vehicle with either permanent 4wd or selectable 4wd would be preferable to a vehicle where the 4wd drive is engaged through a viscous coupling (don't know if the scooby falls in to this trap), as the 4wd would then only kick in after the wheels have been spinning and then it may be too late to drive out of the rut you've just dug.

Hope this helps

 

[andyBeaker]

Thanks all, lots of good stuff there (even Lumpy.......just!!)

What about the automatic - does this make any odds over a manual - don't forget I am looking at on road bad weather stuff .

The reason I ask is simply that loads of the 'soft roaders' seem to be auto, don'yt want to narrow the market un less I need to. Can't remember the last time I drove a stick shift - don't want to go back there if possible!

 

[karlos2000]

Thanks all, lots of good stuff there (even Lumpy.......just!!)

What about the automatic - does this make any odds over a manual - don't forget I am looking at on road bad weather stuff .

The reason I ask is simply that loads of the 'soft roaders' seem to be auto, don'yt want to narrow the market un less I need to. Can't remember the last time I drove a stick shift - don't want to go back there if possible!

the Rav auto boxes have low range, a 2 speed setting for slow descents and diff lock is a flick of a switch, plus you get 'overdrive' [electronic].

 

[karlos2000]

or a Mitsubishi Pinin. Small and built to last for-ever !

 

[Pow-Lo]

or a Mitsubishi Pinin. Small and built to last for-ever !

Where did you buy your Rav 4? I googled some Jap import dealers today and all the vehicles for sale were silly money.

Do the place you got yours from have a website? I was toying with the same idea as Andy but for the sake of three days a year, I' m struggling to justify it. Aside from that, I missed last years snow as I was stuck in India. F1sh1ing

 

[karlos2000]

Where did you buy your Rav 4? I googled some Jap import dealers today and all the vehicles for sale were silly money.

Do the place you got yours from have a website? I was toying with the same idea as Andy but for the sake of three days a year, I' m struggling to justify it. Aside from that, I missed last years snow as I was stuck in India. F1sh1ing

I got mine from a sole trader in Cambridgeshire. I don't get it either bud, but they still fetch ?1400+ (autos more oddly). Though if you look underneath ours, it is literally untouched, so add no rust + bulletproof engine = bit of a bargain.

I always use Autotrader.co.uk they seem to have the widest stock of all makes / models.

as for justification, my wife loved the Rav so much she sold her car (A Class Benz), she just drives the Rav. It's ample for day to day, aside from servicing I don't respect cars, so a car costing as much as a good night out is ideal. ;-0))

 

[andyBeaker]

I waqs just about to say 'does anyone have a sub £2k Rav 4 for sale', but will now say 'does anyone have a sub £2k Rav 4 or Pinin for sale'.

PowLo. there are loads of Rav 4s on fleabay, chaeap as chips. Generally seem to be 100+ miles away from me though:bang:

Karlos - never even heard of the Pinin before - do you know if this was an import or sold in UK. Ask as if imported I can imagine spares being a bit of a challenge. Plenty of them have reeeaaaalllly nice leather seats though:-0)

Funny looking at cars at this end of the market - there are 000's of decent looking motors out there for pennies - I am looking at some and thinking 'nah, that's too nice for what I will use it for'.

As an aside, the Honda CRV looks quite nice but I suspect the 'automatic' 4wd system might be a bit overcomplicated anf, from comments above, not particularly effective?? Maybe a bit too 'soft road':dunno:

 

[silverfox.xx]

Scoobie. 4wd.

 

[stretchie_]

Autobox shouldn't be a problem. I know people that use autoboxes on their trial trucks for full on off roading and off road racing, I suppose it depends on the box itself.

Some of the japanese truck type vehicles have a rear diff locker as standard, and that's usefull kit if you get stuck.

 

[Quiney]

We have a (early) CRV - can't fault it. Other than the low 20's mpg round town.

But you have no control over the 4WD. There's only the 4 speed auto stick on the steering column with electronic overdrive (or in reality underdrive, as overdrive is selected by default) So very soft-road!

 

[Pow-Lo]

I got mine from a sole trader in Cambridgeshire. I don't get it either bud, but they still fetch ?1400+ (autos more oddly). Though if you look underneath ours, it is literally untouched, so add no rust + bulletproof engine = bit of a bargain.

I always use Autotrader.co.uk they seem to have the widest stock of all makes / models.

as for justification, my wife loved the Rav so much she sold her car (A Class Benz), she just drives the Rav. It's ample for day to day, aside from servicing I don't respect cars, so a car costing as much as a good night out is ideal. ;-0))

?1400 for a good night out? hang on, we're back on the Suzanna Reid thing again, aren't we?

We both have Skodas and rack up over 40k a year between us, plus I have the two bikes (on which I rack up just over 40 miles a year) so justification could be an issue.

Saying that, I took your advice two weeks ago and bought a 27" iMac :-0)

 

[Pow-Lo]

I waqs just about to say 'does anyone have a sub ?2k Rav 4 for sale', but will now say 'does anyone have a sub ?2k Rav 4 or Pinin for sale'.

PowLo. there are loads of Rav 4s on fleabay, chaeap as chips. Generally seem to be 100+ miles away from me though:bang:

Karlos - never even heard of the Pinin before - do you know if this was an import or sold in UK. Ask as if imported I can imagine spares being a bit of a challenge. Plenty of them have reeeaaaalllly nice leather seats though:-0)

Funny looking at cars at this end of the market - there are 000's of decent looking motors out there for pennies - I am looking at some and thinking 'nah, that's too nice for what I will use it for'.

As an aside, the Honda CRV looks quite nice but I suspect the 'automatic' 4wd system might be a bit overcomplicated anf, from comments above, not particularly effective?? Maybe a bit too 'soft road':dunno:

The Pinin was officially imported if memory serves although I could be a man in orthopaedic shoes :dunno:

I remember What Car magazine writing it up as "missed it's niche because it's seriously good off road."

I recall it so well as I was seriously thinking of buying one.

 

[Duck n Dive]

years ago we had a Suzuki Vitara (swb version).

Tough little machine with four wheel drive and proper low ratio box.

Only thing it lacked was a diff lock.

Did an off-road course with it ..... amazing just how able it really was ... went anywhere the bigger stuff stuff did.

Only really struggled if the mud went above the axles.

We got rid of it after the miles had been around the clock (only went up to 99,999) more than two and half times (around 270,000 miles) ..... garage didn't ask if miles were genuine (was showing 70,000) but as we left commented that it was in really good nick!

Things replaced in that time (other than tyres/exhaust etc) was a fuel pump and a rear diff.


Towed a caravan with it as well and it managed to pull or push it into places were other tow cars couldn't.

It has a "real" ladder chassis rather than the imitation 4wd things that use the body as chassis like a car.

Not looked to see if that's the same on the latest models.

Have to say I was amazed that such a toy performed so well.

Plenty of them around at cheap-as-chips prices....

:dunno:

 

[karlos2000]

£1400 for a good night out? hang on, we're back on the Suzanna Reid thing again, aren't we?

well, you could accidentally sprag for a round of vintage Nismes-Delclou Armagnacs after a meal, expecting it to be a hundred quid, only to find it's 600 a pop.

The Pinin was officially imported if memory serves although I could be a man in orthopaedic shoes :dunno:

I remember What Car magazine writing it up as "missed it's niche because it's seriously good off road."

I recall it so well as I was seriously thinking of buying one.

Mitsi Pinin is a UK car, there are imports, the little ZR thing (link to follow) is the import and are awesome, but vety expensive. What I do know is the Pinin is made on the same Shogun production line. Mitsi officionados tell me they are built like tanks. As for off road, let's be honest, we are talking about 3" of snow 5 days a year. I live in the ruralk and hilly part if Lincolnshire, aside from the odd off road sojourn, the Rav does 99% of it's rolling on the road. Kent? come on, just pick anything at randon and it will be adequate.


Lastly, if you are serious about having a small, economical, incredibly well build 4WD, then you need one of these, a Mitsubishi Pajero ZR II, they are the dogs, import only, attract top money, and if you spend some time researching them, you can see why > http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-...zr-ii-11-manual-petrol-3-door-1995-n/87987878