Reccomended 4x4s

StraponXG

StraponXG

StraponXG

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Girlfriends mother thinking of getting a 4x4, any basic things too look out for? She doesn't know what specific end of 4x4s, she's looking at anything from discovery to minis, but she will actually use it on farm roads, etc, so its for the right reasons.

Cheers fpr any ideas.
 
Land rover discovery 3
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or maybe should could get this animal on a farm road
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Or Mitsibishi Shogun , Jeep Grand Cherokee or if your on a tight budget something like a Vauxhall Frontera , Land Rover Discovery
 
I had a Freelander TD4 from new and it was great for 2 years then got an electrical fault where it kepp cutting out. After 4 breakdowns in 5 weeks and despite repairs at 3 different Landrover dealers it happened again so I sold it at pretty rapidly.
Other than that it was fine, my wife drove it mostly but we had a good few touring holidays around the country and in Ireland.
Oh and Landrover dealers are very expensive for servicing etc, about on par with the German marques.
 
what is her budget? Does she want new or second hand? What exactly will she be doing with it? i.e towing horse boxes, going off road etc?

My brother drives a Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.0TD and likes it so much he's going to buy the new model. It is a very well built IMO and he's never had any problems going across fields, towing and such things. My dad drives a Daihatsu Terios 1.3+ which is basically a car in the shape of a 4x4 with 4 wheel drive. It is deacent enough at going across the fields and that and handles well on the country roads, it is also surprisingly nippy but due to the smaller engine it can't tow much. However it is very reliable.
 
This depends entirely on her budget but provided it's... enormous, it's virtually impossible to do better than a new Land Rover Discovery 3 or the Range Rover/Range Rover Sport. The best 4x4xfar, as they used to say.
 
Land Cruiser is truely spectacular for pure off road ability but cannot match Range Rover etc for onroad ability. Honda, do they even make a proper offroader? C-RV is a softroaderchelseatractorthingy
 
Depends upon her needs. "Farm roads" suggests to me a muddy road, for which any 4x4 would probably be fine. Under those circumstances, I'd suggest a Rav4, which isn't going to suffer from reliability issues.
If you want a serious mud plugger, got to be a Land Rover.
 
Personally, though being a bit of a Land Rover fanboy, I'd have either a Discovery 3 or Range Rover, depending on money, purely because you get luxury + they're pretty much the best all round 4x4 cars that give you luxury and full offroading ability.

I wouldn't touch a freelander though, there are better cars in that class available. I think the Subaru Forrester is a reasonable offering, not sure if the Jeep Cheroke is in that class off the top of my head.

Or if you just want very basic, a Defender 90/110 :)
 
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[TW]Fox said:
This depends entirely on her budget but provided it's... enormous, it's virtually impossible to do better than a new Land Rover Discovery 3 or the Range Rover/Range Rover Sport. The best 4x4xfar, as they used to say.
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Hmmm... That's a strange thing to say... Most bling doesn't mean the best. It might be the new trend among hip hop stars in LA but new Land Rovers are horribly heavy and thirsty not to mention stupidly pricey for what they are. They are miles behind new Toyotas and Mitsubishis regardless onroad or offroad in almost every aspect.
 
I have a Nissan X-Trail and can't fault it both on roads/motorways and in situations that whilst not hardcore off-road, certainly a problem for most cars i.e. the farm roads and lanes you mentioned.

It's absolutely massive inside and incredibly comfortable. It is significantly bigger than a RAV4 regardless of what specs/dealers might say. I've spent a deal of time in a RAV4 and you generally need the back seats down for a big load, certainly would for a bale or two of hay).

It's fuel economy is pretty good, especially with the diesel (although I've got the 2.5 petrol which only gets 30mpg) and it's pretty fun too, never feels like it's going to tip over.
 
How about a Hummer :D

In all seriousness how about some of these.....
Toyota Landcruser, Subaru Forester, Land Rover Defender, BMW X5 or X3, Jeep Wrangler or Cherokee or last but not least a Volkswagon Touareg

Have a look at a few of those and see if you see one that she would like.
 
Zip said:
How about a Hummer :D

In all seriousness how about some of these.....
Toyota Landcruser, Subaru Forester, Land Rover Defender, BMW X5 or X3, Jeep Wrangler or Cherokee or last but not least a Volkswagon Touareg

Have a look at a few of those and see if you see one that she would like.
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Well the BMWs aren't exactly the best off-roading cars in the world. Probably quite good on-road, so therefore would be better getting a 5series :)
 
v0n said:
Hmmm... That's a strange thing to say... Most bling doesn't mean the best. It might be the new trend among hip hop stars in LA but new Land Rovers are horribly heavy and thirsty not to mention stupidly pricey for what they are. They are miles behind new Toyotas and Mitsubishis regardless onroad or offroad in almost every aspect.
Click to expand...

Fair enough if you've driven all of them, but every magazine article ive read on off roaders put the Rangey at the top of it's class and similarly the new disco is top of the pile.
 
v0n said:
Hmmm... That's a strange thing to say... Most bling doesn't mean the best. It might be the new trend among hip hop stars in LA but new Land Rovers are horribly heavy and thirsty not to mention stupidly pricey for what they are. They are miles behind new Toyotas and Mitsubishis regardless onroad or offroad in almost every aspect.
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I think you dont have a clue.

They are not "heavy" or "thirsty" - take a proper look at a Discovery 3, streets ahead of anything else in its class without a doubt. Yes LR's are expensive, but thats what you pay for ultimate mechanical prowess, the drive train, 4x4 system, gearboxes, diffs etc are miles better than any other make, especially the jap stuff.

Yes some leak (only defenders tho) and there are the odd reliability issues but just look at what's in south africa, or any 3rd world country - youll find landrovers everywhere old and new...the reason, they work forever, they do anything anywhere and they are ultimately reliable.

And yes, i do know what i'm on about with 4x4's, in fact i take delivery of my new baby (its a landrover!) on thursday :D
 
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