Which 4x4

lewis991 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 5:43 pm Post subject: Which 4x4

Hello,

I am currently looking for my first 4x4 to do some green laneing, pay and play days and transport the dog around. I have about £1500-2000 to spend.

I had a look at a Jimny today and it was very pokey inside so was thinking about a SWB pajero.

Just a few questions: What are the running costs like on them?

Are there any major issues with them?

And are the ones with high miles going to last?

Is there anything else that I should maybe look at?

Thanks.

Stal1878 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 5:51 pm Post subject:

Daihatsu Fourtrak?

lewis991 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:02 pm Post subject:

Thanks hadnt thought about them. Are they any good? Reliable and what kind of MPG do they give, oh and how much is tax each year?

Stal1878 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:07 pm Post subject:

Tax is the old style so £200 odd a year now.
I got about 30/35mpg with the NA engine and about 30 with the turbo.
You'll want the later Independent model as they give a much better ride.
They are known to be a very reliable truck, the body is prone to rust around the rear floor/wheel arches and sills so you need to look out for that when buying one.
They are not massive inside, but if you only need it for you and the dog it should be fine.

They do run without any problems on veg oil, so if you can be bothered you can use that to get the costs down, but 25 to 30mpg is pretty standard no matter what 4WD you get.

TarkMalbot · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:44 pm Post subject:

I have the Fourtrak Fieldman TDL with no seats in the back which is ideal for my dogs. Will do anything green laning but lacks the ground clearance of the Land Rovers.

Other options may be a Nissan Terreno as I have been green laning with one and they are pretty good.

Shoguns look good too but no idea about them really.

Joeyfourtrak · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 4:44 am Post subject:

I was Looking at shoguns and pajearos but I was put off by how many were being sold on eBay with engine failures so I went for the trusty old fourtrak. I love it and right now I wouldn't have any other car/truck

GVstu · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:24 am Post subject:

Joey has a point about engines blowing on pajeros etc - they are somewhat known for that (and by engines blowing we mean head gaskets going)

There is only one known cure for it...

...maintain your bloody truck !! Laughing

I rate my pajero quite highly now that I own one - probably not everyone's cup of tea with IFS, but mine's a shortie, has enough diesel power to pull it along like a train, centre and rear difflocker to haul my tubby **** over stuff. Articulation is a bit of a moot point really but there are ways to cure it if that's what you're going for.

lewis991 · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:19 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the replies. Whatever I buy it needs to be fairly cheap to run hence why the Jimny is in the picture Smile

Off road wise it will be used at pay and play sites and green lanes.

Insurance wise there is hardly any difference price wise.

Joeyfourtrak · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:19 pm Post subject:

Well I went for the fourtrak mainly because of daily running costs. It's not bad on fuel and aslong as you don't get a bag of spanners you won't need to spend much repairing it. They are reliable beyond belief. I do like the shoguns though. Whatever you do don't rush into it as you will regret it

Stal1878 · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:22 pm Post subject:

lewis991 · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:15 pm Post subject:

What do you guys mean about not rushing into it? Do u mean shop around and have a good look around at a few??

parrotveasey81 · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:23 pm Post subject:

Madfish · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:43 pm Post subject:

There must be a reason why we own 6 fourtrak that are on the road, I like the short wheel base, but there's very little difference between the long and short wheel bases.

They're brilliant trucks and easy to do the majority of stuff yourself with a reasonable range of tools. You should easily be able t pick up a very decent one for up to £2k and have a some left over to mod to your taste. I may not be able to drive to some places in the way that Landrover's do, but i can get there in my own way (right foot and picking your line).

ivorbiggin · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:43 pm Post subject:

Its not so much what you buy but more in the way of how its been used.
All jap 4x4,s are pretty reliable it just depends on its usage.
Theres nothing wrong with the Pajero/Shogun provided its been looked after.
The shogun is less prone to an attack of the Birmingham tin moth unlike other makes such as Daihatsu Fourtrack and the NissanTerrano AKA Ford Maverick.
100k of hot miles are better than 25k of cold miles, I.E a Shogun that has never been raced or rallied with one lady owner that only used it to go to church on Sundays and has only 25k on the clock is more than likely to be more worn out than the same vehicle which has covered 100k hot miles up and down the motorways towing a caravan.

There is also an element of luck involved, i bought a low mileage (90k)Maverick 2.7 td @ £1500, the inj pump went tits up a few weeks later which cost me over a grand to recon and then it got written off a few months after that.
While waiting for the insurance to cough up, i replaced it with a high mileage Mavewrick 2.7 td (150k) ebay special cat c write off @ £600, which ive run for the last 2.5 years with no real problems.

In short, no matter what make or model you look at, its 6 of one and 1/2 a doz of the other, and may the gods be with you
At least you are looking in the right direction, youve not posted in the landrover section yet, have you?

lewis991 · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:21 am Post subject:

Nope haven't posted in the landrover section as discounted them.
The only thing that puts me off the bigger cars is the running costs against a jimny.

I currently run a focus ST which is very thirsty and ideally the 4x4 as a second/toy/fun car needs to be cheaper to run and look after.

30mpg is respectable from the fourtrack though.

GVstu · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:39 am Post subject:

lewis991 · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:37 am Post subject:

This is true and all the time I am using one car the other one will be sat in the driveway.

I won't be off road all the time, it's main use will be for taking the dog out as fed up of getting the ST covered in dog hair/mud and it really does not fair well in some of the rural car parks. But I also want to go and play in some mud Smile

Maybe the smaller 4x4 will be best/cheapest with the mud Tyres on it.... Mmmm choices.

Redfourtrak ( neil ) · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:45 am Post subject:

get a good condition suzuki sj/samurai, not a chimney or a new girly looking softroader.

gords1001 · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:47 pm Post subject:

I spent a lot of time and some cash on my sj, result is a killer off road weapon, but difficult on the road, my fourtrak is okish off road but far better, and less thirsty on road, horses for courses really. I miss my sj when off road in the fourtrak, but would not take the sj on a long ride out that did not have a pay and play site as the destination.......

With regards to reliability, both have been faultless, best most reliable vehicles I've ever owned. The fourtrak just takes abuse with no love and comes back for more. Try that with a bland rover and you'd be on first name terms with your 4x4 friendly recovery guy. Laughing

Both my cars are leaf sprung so bouncy, but when played with can give just as good articulation as a coil sprung set up, and if you want coils, solid axles and reliability, your in patrol/landcruiser territory, or you go for the jimney, I believe the cv's can be suspect as their closer to 410 cv's than Sammy ones but there are plenty out there mud plugging now to be fair. Laughing

mudplugga · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:50 pm Post subject:

I've just sold my Indy after 7 years of good service, no breakdowns and no major expense.

I bought it as a temporary measure, but it just kept going and doing everything I wanted it to do. It was the tow truck for my trialer, it took me to work every day, and surprisingly my wife and I used it to go on our regular trips to the Lake District, which is a 150 mile drive from where we live, instead of taking her newish Subaru Legacy. I just found it so much more comfortable to drive, and we liked the high seating position and the fact you could park the damn thing on the nearest pile of rocks!

It went yesterday, and I was sad to see it go. I've had Land Cruisers, Range Rovers, Niva's and Land Rovers over the years, and I've driven more 4x4's than I can remember. The Indy Fourtrack is so under rated, it really is a good truck.

lewis991 · Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:04 pm Post subject:

Thank you for the replies all the information is very useful.

I think it's going to be between a jimny and a fourtrack, jimny for cheap running and fourtrack for space/durability.

I saw a sporttrack today... What are these like?

parrotveasey81 · Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:10 pm Post subject:

lewis991 · Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:31 pm Post subject:

On a sporttrack is high mileage going to be a problem on a clean one?

parrotveasey81 · Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:49 pm Post subject:

lewis991 · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:20 pm Post subject:

Hi Guys,

What do you think to this? Should the mileage be an issue if its clean and been looked after??

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2...dius/40?logcode=p

Alex90 · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:46 pm Post subject:

Looks like a nice truck. Shame its an auto. I have to disagree witb the others on here after the experience ive had with my fourtrak. Learnt the hard way and i would never buy another. I wish i had bought a 3.1 trooper instead.

lewis991 · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:55 pm Post subject:

cool, so what are the issues with autos? I would rather a mannual but seem to be hard to come by Sad

Redfourtrak ( neil ) · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:11 pm Post subject:

Shame its not a 4x4 but a shopping kiddy colector vehicle.

Alex90 · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:12 pm Post subject:

More of a personal preference really. I hate them but others love them. They make the truck use more fuel and its just more to go wrong on an already complicated car. Offroad though some say there better than manuals as theres no clutch to burn out and it makes rock crawling easier.

lewis991 · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:28 pm Post subject:

oh ok I thought autos were generally more fuel efficent? I dont intend on doing any rock crawling.

I am a bit concerned about some of the MPG figures I have been reading, some seem to say they get 18mpg and others 25+ mpg from the 2.5td auto....