Best 4x4 for Australia

I am doing a working holiday in Australia next year and would like to buy a 4x4 to explore Australia for the first couple of months. I need something reliable, not too bad on fuel and enough space in the back for us both to sleep.

So far been looking at Honda crv's and pajeros. Any other ones I should look out for or avoid?

You might be better off renting something - cars in Australia are generally very expensive and so most budgets are likely to get you something fairly old which is likely to be unreliable as a result. You only need a 4x4 if you are going to head off into the absolute middle of nowhere, so if thats your intention do you really want to do it in a crap 15+ year old second hand car?

I managed to explore Australia for 2 months in nothing more than Ford Falcon road cars..

I thought I may need it to get the most out of the country. Initially I was looking at a suburu outback wagon. 4x4 but still a car

Also I have rented before and it's a constant worry and means you have to have set plans. We would rather have the freedom of our own car.

Some form of Subaru or Toyota 4x4 would be a good choice

timmothy said:

I thought I may need it to get the most out of the country.

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I honestly don't think this is the case. There are very few absolutely must-see sights that are only accessible by 4WD.

The 'freedom' of your own car sounds like a total PITA. I had an issue with the car when I was there, a few hours later I was driving off in another car no bother. No faffing around getting it fixed, finding out what was wrong, etc.

Though with something a bit less interesting than a 4wd your money may go further and the risk of hassle might be reduced. But it might be best to rent whilst exploring and then buy a regular car once you find a job?

Thanks for the info twfox. l will look into normal cars, do you think its better to get an all wheel drive normal car?

I definitely want my own car, I am too much of a worrier and it would be a constant worry that I may scratch it or go over too large of a rock. We had it in south Africa and it stopped us going to certain places and made us have to drive extremely slowly on the dirt roads due to the rocks hitting the underside of the car.

timmothy said:

Thanks for the info twfox. l will look into normal cars, do you think its better to get an all wheel drive normal car?

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Depends where you go and when I guess? I've never once needed all wheel drive anywhere I've driven*.

I definitely want my own car, I am too much of a worrier

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See for me the bigger worry would be 'Well my shonky used car crap out on me'! Some of the stretches of road are fairly remote and I wouldn't want the worry that my car might break down.

and it would be a constant worry that I may scratch it

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This is what insurance is for. Though you can't take the rental cars on unsealed roads.

But honestly we did thousands of miles and the only time we needed a proper 4x4 was Fraser Island - so I rented one for the day.

*Ok except the above example

To see any natural sites that are worthwhile you'd need to take the northern route - West to East or Vice Versa

Toyota Hilux territory

Outcast said:

To see any natural sites that are worthwhile you'd need to take the northern route - West to East or Vice Versa

Toyota Hilux territory

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Well that's a sweeping generalisation, there are many natural sights that are 'worthwhile' that are not in the North - but if that was the case frankly driving from one side of Australia to the other and back in your own vehicle - especially with large off road segments - is bordering on becoming an expedition and definitely isn't something you just randomly do in a cheap used car because you were scared of scratching a rental!

I definitely don't want it to become an expedition and don't want to be going anywhere that is completely isolated. I would have thought a reasonably priced second hand car would however be as reliable as if I bought a similar car in the UK?

I just want the freedom of my own car, I was veering towards 4x4 due to the pics I have seen of the amazing areas travellers have gone to when they had a 4x4.

timmothy said:

I definitely don't want it to become an expedition and don't want to be going anywhere that is completely isolated. I would have thought a reasonably priced second hand car would however be as reliable as if I bought a similar car in the UK?

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We've got no idea what your budget is so can only make assumptions - you need to have a look at car prices as you'll be amazed at how much more expensive used cars are in Australia versus over here and much better the quality of our used stuff is compared to other there.

Australia is MASSIVE - you say you want to explore for a 'couple of months' - this is exactly how long I had and we still only managed to cover the East Coast. You'll presumably want to visit Sydney, Melbourne etc etc and do the coast - this is going to take your 2 months anyway and can be done in a conventional rental car. Then buy yourself something once you get a job and know the market and place a bit more?

You can then drop the car off and fly to other places - ie Alice Springs or wherever.

I have been looking and have definitely noticed that the cost is higher than the UK. My budget is $6000 so roughly £3000.

I realise it's massive. We could extend the holiday part, it just depends on how long our money lasts. We are landing in Sydney and spending a couple of weeks there and then buying the car and travelling to Adelaide via the great ocean road and then travelling up to cairns. We were then hoping to do the northern highway to Perth.

Thanks for the advice so far

timmothy said:

I realise it's massive. We could extend the holiday part, it just depends on how long our money lasts. We are landing in Sydney and spending a couple of weeks there and then buying the car and travelling to Adelaide via the great ocean road and then travelling up to cairns.

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This is exactly what I did - Melbourne > Great Ocean Road > Adelaide > Sydney > Brisbane > Cairns. It was all tarmaced highways for which my rented Ford Falcon was absolutely ideal. Then used internal flight to get back down to Melbourne, avoiding doubling the driving distance...

We were then hoping to do the northern highway to Perth.

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The Northern highway goes to Darwin, not Perth. Perth is right over in Western Australia - Perth is so far away it takes almost as long to fly to from Sydney as it does to fly to New York from London! It's closer to Singapore than it is to Sydney. This is how utterly vast this country is....

I used to live south of Perth (Forrestfield)

If you just want to get to Perth from the East side then either fly or go over the Nullabor. It'd take you probably 3 days to get across by road and is an experience just in itself.

I know Perth is a long way. Just thought it would be nice to see as much of the country as possible. Any other thoughts on the beat car/4x4 to do the trip in?

If you decide to buy, you'll probably find that an older Hilux will give you the most bang for buck. I lived in WA for 15 months and the Hilux and Landcruiser were the go to cars for the expats who weren't issued cars by our company. Thankfully I had work Hilux we could use outside of work for trips so it saw plenty of action and never put a foot wrong.

With both of those cars you mentioned panthro they are expensive to get a more modern one. In my budget they are early 90s at best. I am concerned about the crash safety rating of a car like that. I would prefer a safe car

This is exactly the point I was making. I honestly don't think you can get a reliable and dependable example of what you want for your budget - used car prices are insane, as you've just discovered.

Rent a car.

I have seen cars like a Nissan x trail for £3000 , year 2003 with good service history. Also Honda crv 2004 £3500 with plenty of service history. Pajero 1999 in good condition for £1500. It seems that the hilux and landcruiser