Spec me a 4x4 SUV

MrKnifey

MrKnifey

MrKnifey

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Joined
3 Aug 2008
Posts
3,543
Location
Nelson, South Wales
So, i am in the market for a 4x4 SUV. Mainly to take my kids to school, however I will be using it for towing the race car around the country..so it needs a tow limit of 3ton ideally.

So far I have VW Touareg in mind around 2012, with the V6 TDI

Budget around £10k

Any other suggestions on this please?

Thanks!
 
I've been looking at the Disco 4 HSE, but have zero experience. I just see them often and wanted to look at alternatives to my other family car ideas. 2012 onwards have the 8 speed, 7 seats and a decent middle row so you can seat 5 and still use the boot. £10k will be stretch mind you, they're more £12-15k for ~2012. It will break, but what 3 ton capable SUV won't? From what I can tell they're a very capable and nice place to be.
 
Touareg very good however personally didn't like the 3.0L V6 TDI on that generation, the power lag was quite meh and as my brother in-law puts it you have to be sure you wanted to put your foot down. As an aside I've no experience of the latest generation if it is the same on that.

I really like the Pathfinder personally but you have to be 100% sure they don't have the D40 chassis issues and shame they didn't do the 3.0 V9X though the 2.5L in it is a strong engine, as it is truck derived ride comfort isn't a patch on the Touareg.

Other than that as above the options really are Range Rovers, Land Cruiser or a small number of more niche offerings like the Mitsubishi Shogun or Outlander.

The other option is pickups if you don't need 7 seats, but a bit big for the school run.

EDIT: Touareg can be expensive though if anything goes wrong - can't remember exact numbers but my brother in law was quoted 4 grand by VW when something in the infotainment system went wrong and nowhere would do it for much less, ended up buying the part for £300 and doing it himself.
 
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Not a huge choice:

List of Cars that Can Tow Up To 3000kg (3 Tonne)

If you want to tow large trailers and heavier goods, you need a car that can pull 2.5t. Here is a list of cars with 2500kg towing capacity.
www.towingcapacity.co.uk www.towingcapacity.co.uk

BMW X5, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, various Range Rovers or as @Rroff mentioned, stuff like the Mitsubishi Shogun
www.motors.co.uk

Check out this Mitsubishi Shogun that I have just found on #motorscouk

2009 (09) - Mitsubishi Shogun 3.2 DI-DC Elegance 5dr Auto
www.motors.co.uk www.motors.co.uk

Mitsubishi Shogun - Towing Capacity & Weight Limit Information

Mitsubishi Shogun Towing Capacity - Quickly search for the correct model and year to find the braked and unbraked towing capacity for your vehicle.
www.towingcapacity.co.uk www.towingcapacity.co.uk
 
3 tons!? What you need is a lighter race car ;)

(I assume you have a very heavy enclosed trailer or similar?)
 
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Armageus said:
Not a huge choice:

List of Cars that Can Tow Up To 3000kg (3 Tonne)

If you want to tow large trailers and heavier goods, you need a car that can pull 2.5t. Here is a list of cars with 2500kg towing capacity.
www.towingcapacity.co.uk www.towingcapacity.co.uk

BMW X5, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, various Range Rovers or as @Rroff mentioned, stuff like the Mitsubishi Shogun
www.motors.co.uk

Check out this Mitsubishi Shogun that I have just found on #motorscouk

2009 (09) - Mitsubishi Shogun 3.2 DI-DC Elegance 5dr Auto
www.motors.co.uk www.motors.co.uk

Mitsubishi Shogun - Towing Capacity & Weight Limit Information

Mitsubishi Shogun Towing Capacity - Quickly search for the correct model and year to find the braked and unbraked towing capacity for your vehicle.
www.towingcapacity.co.uk www.towingcapacity.co.uk
Click to expand...

Forgot about the X5 but not sure what something at 10 grand would be like, I thought there was an Outlander model which could tow 3000kg but it isn't on that list.
 
Rroff said:
Touareg very good however personally didn't like the 3.0L V6 TDI on that generation, the power lag was quite meh and as my brother in-law puts it you have to be sure you wanted to put your foot down. As an aside I've no experience of the latest generation if it is the same on that.

I really like the Pathfinder personally but you have to be 100% sure they don't have the D40 chassis issues and shame they didn't do the 3.0 V9X though the 2.5L in it is a strong engine, as it is truck derived ride comfort isn't a patch on the Touareg.

Other than that as above the options really are Range Rovers, Land Cruiser or a small number of more niche offerings like the Mitsubishi Shogun or Outlander.

The other option is pickups if you don't need 7 seats, but a bit big for the school run.
Click to expand...
I had three Touaregs back to back and loved them except for that damn lag which is still there on last years model! Except it never was engine lag, it was auto gearbox lag. I soon discovered that if you were at a juntion or about to overtake then using the paddle to drop a gear so it switched over to manual there was no lag anymore.

And certainly on the last gen, the car then returned back to auto gears as you accelerated. No idea why they programmed their gearbox like that.

Fantastic towing cars and one of the few vehicles which could still tow 3.5 tonnes (max) . Used to two horse trailer with two horses in and over 3 tonnes no problem.

Shogun is a good shout. GF used to have a 2015 shogun SWB. Towed 3.5 tonnes and even had a proper low box and locking diff so with the right tyres on then no stopping it. Far mroe agricultural and toys and interior quality far behind VW and the rest.
 
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Greebo said:
I had three Touaregs back to back and loved them except for that damn lag which is still there on last years model! Except it never was engine lag, it was auto gearbox lag. I soon discovered that if you were at a juntion or about to overtake then using the paddle to drop a gear so it switched over to manual there was no lag anymore.

And certainly on the last gen, the car then returned back to auto gears as you accelerated. No idea why they programmed their gearbox like that.

Fantastic towing cars and one of the few vehicles which could still tow 3.5 tonnes (max) . Used to two horse trailer with two horses in and over 3 tonnes no problem.

Shogun is a good shout. GF used to have a 2015 shogun SWB. Towed 3.5 tonnes and even had a proper low box and locking diff so with the right tyres on then no stopping it. Far mroe agricultural and toys and interior quality far behind VW and the rest.
Click to expand...

Interesting - I've not owned one myself so not felt like playing around like that with someone else's - still quite high on my list for replacing the Navara.
 
I did consider pickups, but Im not really gaining much from the Transporter then, if anything less spec inside. I just want somewhere nice to be, as well as tow the car around then. I did consider Range Rovers etc, just scared of the reliability.
 
kaiowas said:
3 tons!? What you need is a lighter race car ;)

(I assume you have a very heavy enclosed trailer or similar?)
Click to expand...

Problem is most decent trailers are around the 600KG mark. Add another 100KG for tyres and tools. It doesn't really leave you much as most decent estates top out at around 1800KG leaving you very tight unless you are taking a kit car or MX5 sized. A BMW M3 and you are easily getting over 2 tonne.

Has the OP considered Audi A6 Allroads? Ones with the bigger engines can do 2.5 tonne iirc.

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MrKnifey said:
I did consider pickups, but Im not really gaining much from the Transporter then, if anything less spec inside. I just want somewhere nice to be, as well as tow the car around then. I did consider Range Rovers etc, just scared of the reliability.
Click to expand...

One of the problems with pickups especially with kids is actually the lack of a proper boot, sure you've got a big load area but it isn't a substitute for the practicality of a proper boot. The one I had in the US had enough space to get a couple of good size backpacks beneath the rear bench seat and that made all the difference but the UK ones don't have that or at best like mine have a couple of barely bigger than shoebox sized compartments (and one of mine is taken up by the sub-woofer).

One of the reasons I ended up with a pickup though - there just aren't a lot of options in this category and anything Range Rover or Land Rover tends to get nicked or stripped for parts around where I live if you take your eyes off it for 2 seconds.
 
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v8 petrol X5/Q7/XC90 :p not actually a joke will probably be just as efficient as the diesels on the school run and less emissions control issues for small runs assuming it'll be pootling about when not towing? We were forever having diesel DPF clean runs etc on ours for its local mileage when not towing, didn't bother us apart from rarely doing much more than 20mpg. Guess it depends what your local mileage will be like.

I assume ULEZ is not a concern?
 
sandys said:
v8 petrol X5/Q7/XC90 :p not actually a joke will probably be just as efficient as the diesels on the school run and less emissions control issues for small runs assuming it'll be pootling about when not towing? We were forever having diesel DPF clean runs etc on ours for its local mileage when not towing, didn't bother us apart from rarely doing much more than 20mpg. Guess it depends what your local mileage will be like.

I assume ULEZ is not a concern?
Click to expand...

At OP's budget you are looking at very old, high mileage cars in terms of the X5 and XC90, etc. unless you can snag a bargain somewhere and older 4x4s in this kind of category tend to start throwing up big bills sadly - often why people are parting with them at this point.
 
Rroff said:
At OP's budget you are looking at very old, high mileage cars in terms of the X5 and XC90, etc. unless you can snag a bargain somewhere and older 4x4s in this kind of category tend to start throwing up big bills sadly - often why people are parting with them at this point.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I wouldn't touch an old X5, and even being a Volvo fan, high mileage XC90? Maybe not.
 
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