Cars & Motorbikes 4x4 Advice

$25K will buy you a 10 year old low km GU Patrol. Bullet proof, comfortable and will go anywhere you point it. Don't pay the Toyota tax...

 

At this staging, nothing serious beside driving on beach, some light offroad stuff.

 

Fuel economy also an important factor..

 

You might be better off with a soft roader in that case where you can get more bang for your buck.

Beach driving is mostly about the correct tyre pressure and momentum on the soft dunes which you'd be better with 4wd in high range.

Similar with light off road stuff. If you're just travelling along some well kept dirt roads and don't see yourself needing the low gear ratio of low range then a suv might do the trick. Just lower the tyre pressure to help with rider comfort and even just all wheel drive.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Hmmm, not 100% on this one as I haven't really properly looked into it.

I know the certain grand vitaras come with low range. But might be a bit small for a family of 5? A few backpackers up here use Nissan xtrails to get about and sometimes surpsied where I see them.

But, off-roading is addictive. It will open up a whole new world for you.

If I was in the same boat I'd get something that's capable on medium - hard tracks and gradually build skill and confidence over time.

 

The Grand Vitara XL7 has the extra space as well as high/low range. It's only a medium sized suv, so some limitations on interior luggage space (roof racks & a pod help), reasonable towing capacity however it's petrol and drinks like a fish.

 

Meh...
don’t pussy foot around. Go all or nothing. A real 4x4 or a car. Don’t go the ‘softroader’. You get neither.

For me personally I wouldn’t consider a petrol. The fuel will kill you. And the simplicity of a diesel means they go forever.

Blacky

 

A respectable vehicle!










But still not a cruiser

 

My Nissan Patrol (3.0 L diesel) even in standard set up and no mods is very capable and great value on the used car market. Nothing fancy about it but reliable.

 

In terms on a land cruiser, thoughts on these?

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Toyota-Landcruiser-2004/SSE-AD-5240724/?Cr=3

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Toyota-Landcruiser-2000/SSE-AD-5599670/?Cr=5

 

Petrol four wheel drives can gobble fuel, 30% or so more than an equivalent diesel in my experience. Your stock standard 'full size' diesel 4WD (Landcruiser, Patrol, Pajero, etc) will usually run 10-13L /100km depending on the model. Work up from there for petrol fuel economy. Small SUVs can be much better than this of course.
If you aren't doing lots of km then you might be still be better off with a petrol due to how much cheaper they sell at lower mileage as you would have seen. Fuel range shiuld considered too, as once you get out onto beaches and windy tracks, you'll struggle to get 400km out of a tank of petrol on some 4WDs unless it's got a particularly big tank.
I would always go lower km if the difference was that stark, unless you want to do proper remote travel in which case diesel is essential. Even though a diesel engine should do 250K km+ without much trouble, everything else in the car will usually start to be worn and tired after those sort of km anyway.
I have had several 4WDs, hired many for work and done countless trips with friends their various vehicles over the years. The most common downfall of some later models (particularly soft roaders or small SUVs) is ground clearance and tyre profile. Just 1 cm too little clearance can cause serious damage and stop you going so many 'easy' places everybody in a full size 4WD can go. I'd recommend 200mm clearance as a minimum. Re tyres, anything less than 60 profile should be avoided as you will be at risk of denting rims and won't be able to air down enough. If you choose a vehicle that ticks those things off, even a soft roader, you should be able to go most places you want with some sensible driving.
Having a vehicle with low range will get you that extra bit further, particularly useful for avoiding getting bogged on the beach.
Or just buy a GU Patrol and be done with it
I'm a bit biased.

 

And relatively good on fuel, I love mine.

 

A Pajero or Patrol diesel is your best bet. Landcruisers are great but the second hand market is so competitive and overpriced that $25k will get you something either very old or too many kilometres.

My biased choice would be to leave the kids at home and get the 2019 Jimny when it drops. My 2012 leaves most 4WD's for dead when it comes to serious offroading.

 

+1 for the Jimny, my old neighbor had one, we went off roading a few times and honestly the boys in the big fourbies were flabbergasted when they were standing around looking at the upcoming trail working out the best way and he just went sailing on through, we have had some serious fun in that thing

 

I was confused as to why you were lying down in the water and the car scooting away

 

There is no difference between petrol engine vs diesel. They are both combustion chambers. Old diesels are simple and little electronics. Petrols have generally more electronics and could be prone to more issues. Newer diesels have the same if not more electronics then a petrol. Plus they need extra systems for emissions regulations that petrols dont need. Dpf filters and adblue.
Buy a new diesel car becuse resale is better.
Buy second hand car petrol, purchase price is lower and if something does go wrong it will be cheaper than a diesel to fix

 

Suzuki, shut up and take my money. I love it, bucking the trend toward softer, uglier and less capable 4WDs - live axles, real transfer case, good looks. Like breath of fresh air.
If Suzuki made a four door version of the Jimny, or even a larger Prado-sized version, I'd buy it as a family 4WD in a heartbeat.

 

Hi All,

Thank you for all your feedback, much appreciated. All I have been thinking about it seeing Queensland and Australia with my family, really excites us all!

Below are the recommendations I got in order of votes:

Land cruiser 80 or 100 series ( @Blacky @bob shovel @robboat)
GU Patrol (@Rex @Anthony416 )
Prado (@Jess Peletier @Eric Wu )
NW Pajero (@Kinnon )
Mitsubishi Challenger (@JacM )

I have done some thinking I am not negotiable on the below. From the list of vehicles recommended above, do any from the above list not meet my not negotiable needs?


Price - $25,000 I don’t want to go over this. Happy to pay under $20k if can get vehicle which ticks the below boxes.
Kms - $150-200km
Seater – I need 5 people to be comfortable (camping, stay overs), 6-7 people reasonably comfortable (day trips only)
Fuel Efficeiny – This will be our family car, so I want it to be reasonably fuel effort
Petrol type – diesel
Reliabilty

The above are my not negotiables, however I also want a vehicle that is not going to prevent me from doing anything I want to do in the future. Whether that be driving through rivers, sand dunes, reasonably rough tracks or the trips I would do with a 4x4 club.

I am looking to buy in the next 2 weeks, so would like to narrow down my search before start test driving etc.

Thank you all so much!

Cheers,
Robbie

 

I would say the Nissan Patrol GU diesel (maybe 2008 onwards) is still in the game.