I'm moving to the deepest depths of the Yorkshire Dales in a few weeks and I will need something to traverse the ford and steep dirt track down to the new place, shift loads of rubbish and carry the muddy dog around.
I thought 'easy' I'll just get an old Defender. I did a bit of research and it seems that the 'scene tax' has made the price of a Defender ridiculous. You're looking at the best part of £12k for a 2005 station wagon. All for an uncomfortable wallowy 4x4 with a features list from the 70s, at a similar price to an equivilent Discovery. There must be something better.
So I thought back to my time in Dubai and what were my favourite offroaders...
- Ford F150 - too expensive for a facelift model, and thirsty
- Toyota FJ Cruiser - none in the UK whatsoever it seems
- Jeep Wrangler... Hmm
After doing some research, it seems that while Defenders are universally loved despite them being a terrible car the Wrangler is despised, and reviews seem to compare them to Luxury SUVs and predictably they get 2/5 stars.
Nobody seems to consider how great they are offroad, how fun they are: You can stick a 2" lift, offroad tyres, a metal bumper, a winch, add a soft top, take it offroad, and hose down the interior when you're done. Also it's got a modern, if basic interior and an all new chassis in 2007.
And best of all you can remove the entire hard top roof, doors and windscreen in about 10 mins on a sunny day. And they're not terrible on the road, sure it's not up there with a Range Rover, but it's usable.
So consequently you can get a 2008 model for about £11k.
Am I mad?
I thought 'easy' I'll just get an old Defender. I did a bit of research and it seems that the 'scene tax' has made the price of a Defender ridiculous. You're looking at the best part of £12k for a 2005 station wagon. All for an uncomfortable wallowy 4x4 with a features list from the 70s, at a similar price to an equivilent Discovery. There must be something better.
So I thought back to my time in Dubai and what were my favourite offroaders...
- Ford F150 - too expensive for a facelift model, and thirsty
- Toyota FJ Cruiser - none in the UK whatsoever it seems
- Jeep Wrangler... Hmm
After doing some research, it seems that while Defenders are universally loved despite them being a terrible car the Wrangler is despised, and reviews seem to compare them to Luxury SUVs and predictably they get 2/5 stars.
Nobody seems to consider how great they are offroad, how fun they are: You can stick a 2" lift, offroad tyres, a metal bumper, a winch, add a soft top, take it offroad, and hose down the interior when you're done. Also it's got a modern, if basic interior and an all new chassis in 2007.
And best of all you can remove the entire hard top roof, doors and windscreen in about 10 mins on a sunny day. And they're not terrible on the road, sure it's not up there with a Range Rover, but it's usable.
So consequently you can get a 2008 model for about £11k.
Am I mad?
