£5k 4x4

[CAH706]

Hi,

Could I call upon your superior knowledge to mine.

Looking for in order of requirements;

Budget £5k
Reliable
auto
Comfy
Decent kit (ideally no manual windows)
Large (ISH)
Mpg 20+
Not stupid slow

Load lugger that I can use and abuse for a couple of years.

Thanks

[sparkythecat]

Are you looking for a proper 4x4 to go off roading in, or tow a heavy trailer or horsebox, or will an AWD SUV do the job?

[Xcore]

L322

[sbk1972]

2003 ML55.

350bhp
auto / 4x4
leather
A/C
electric seats
Parking sensors
HID lights
Mine has DVDs in head rest

Paid £4K. / 89K miles.
MPG between 7 / 19mph

Used to have Pajeros / Shoguns, 5K will get you a 80K 3.2 DID LWB which will be reliable and tremendous but doesn't have the fun factor as my ML55 does.

SBK

[CAH706]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

4x4 SUV would suffice. Some off road ability required but a workhorse for shifting rubbish and getting round some muddy sites is all that's needed.

[Alex]

Jeep Grand Cherokee

[CAH706]

I had thought about the Jeep. Any particular engines etc to consider noting my reliability comment!

[Brynjaminjones]

None of the Grand Cherokee engines of the era you'd be looking are particularly bad.

It's been a while since I looked, but I'd guess that for £5k you'd be looking at either a very, very nice WJ (1999-2004) or you could probably take your pick of WKs (2005-2010).


Diesel WKs use a Mercedes 3.0 V6, the same as in MLs of the era, I believe.
Petrol ones in this country are a 4.7 or 5.7 V8, or the SRT8 which is a 6.1.

The 4.7 is a nice engine but I believe can have some issues with valve seats (or something similar) once they're a bit older, although probably only needs fixing once.
I'm not aware of many issues with the 5.7s, and they have a good bit more power.


The diesel WJs use either a 3.1 5-cyl VM Motori, or a 2.7 5-cyl Mercedes from 2002. The VM is notoriously problematic and the Mercedes one can have some issues too, although not nearly as severe.

Petrol ones are a 4.0 straight-6 or the same 4.7 V8 as in the WK, with the same issues.
The 4.0 is about as problem-free as you could hope, but just as thirsty as the V8 and a good bit slower.

[Alex]

Good summary, although I think the 4.7 was dropped for the WK.

I've got a WJ 4.0, and the engine is super smooth, indestructible, but thirsty (18mpg average).

[Brynjaminjones]

It was dropped before the 5.7 in this country but they did actually continue the 4.7 for a while in the WK, there just don't seem to be many of them about and I don't think they're badged as such!

I think that in the US they made the 4.7 until 2009.

We've got 4 of the 4.0s (in various Jeeps) in our family currently and they all seem to average about 18mpg too, although I can get over 20 if driven very gently. Not one of them has had a single engine problem though!

[S100HP]

CAH706 said:

Hi,

Could I call upon your superior knowledge to mine.

Looking for in order of requirements;

Budget £5k
Reliable
auto
Comfy
Decent kit (ideally no manual windows)
Large (ISH)
Mpg 20+
Not stupid slow

Load lugger that I can use and abuse for a couple of years.

Thanks

Facelift XC70 3.2

[tight fart]

As you've asked in the off road section, got to be a Discovery 2.

[LordHaveMurci]

CAH706 said:

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

4x4 SUV would suffice. Some off road ability required but a workhorse for shifting rubbish and getting round some muddy sites is all that's needed.

Honda CR-V would probably be more reliable than a lot of suggestions, big enough, some off road capability, comfortable & should achieve 20+ mpg.

[MrAverage]

LordHaveMurci said:

Honda CR-V would probably be more reliable than a lot of suggestions, big enough, some off road capability, comfortable & should achieve 20+ mpg.

Out of fear of being shot for suggesting a honda CRV in the offroad forum.
It is a good choice for your suggested use.

We bought one late last year and so far we are impressed, whilst I don't go offroad much I have used it recently down some ungritted single track roads and the difference between my focus and the CRV was night and day.

However if you require something more manly we have previously owned a Nissan terrano and that felt like it'd go anywhere with its pirelli scorpions. A family friend has run several shogun's for towing across Europe and swears by them.

[pcn1]

A bloody decent WJ 2.7crd and keep the change, or blow the full £5K on WK if you must have something newer !

[CAH706]

Thanks all for some brilliant suggrstions.

I've looked at the Jeep.... 7k would get me an overland with lowish miles so a bit of budget creep is fine

I do like the CRV and wouldn't be averse to that.

I do need to keep the budget sort of in check as the idea is to get a car I'm not precious about abusing!

Thanks again all. Really appreciate your time helping.

[Walter Sobchak]

Shogun,Landcruiser or Grand Cherokee would be the ones I’d look at, you’d probably need a budget creep on the Landcruiser though.

[anomaly]

I'd look at the e83 BMW X3 in 3.0d format. We had one for years and I can't rate it highly enough. Comfortable, quick, economical and ours was totally reliable. The boot is huge too.

[croyde]

How about a 4x4 Dacia Duster. The early ones, 2013 I think, must be around 5k.

Cheap cheerful and supposedly pretty OK on the rough stuff.

[Terzo123]

CAH706 said:

Sorry to bump my own thread.

Bit of scope flex but any thoughts on this;

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

For your budget I don't think you can go too wrong with a WK Grand Cherokee.

I've only just got rid of mine. I think the one advertised is strong money. I bought a 56 plate low mileage overland, the same colour for 6k, but that was nearly 3 years ago. I traded it in last. Month for just over 3k. If I had been selling it privately I would have been looking to advertise for 5, and sell for 4.5. It will probably appear on autotrader shortly. KN56ARF

Plenty of power from the 3.0. Cheap looking interior but it is very hard wearing apart from the drivers seat side bolster. Front bushes take a hammering due to its size. A remap will see 260 bhp.