Which mild 4x4 for ~£5,000?

[Mully1906]

Hi all,

Got an itch I need to scratch.

Been wanting to do a bit of off-roading/green-laning for a while and always fancied something like a big Disco 3, but upon doing some research it seems they're not exactly what you'd call "reliable". They're also probably a bit much for most of what I'd do.

So I'm now looking to something smaller like a Yeti, Panda 4x4, Grand Vitara or similar?

Any suggestions?

[Silvanus]

Dacia Duster

[MustangGT]

Dacia Duster, Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2003 onwards.

[Cold]

A Freelander 2 is a good buy for your needs. At that budget it will have some miles on it, but that will mean you won't be too precious about its appearance if you get overly enthusiastic when bouncing around the lanes.

Whatever you end up choosing remember, it's all about the tyres.

[Han Solo]

I’ve a 2000 disco 2, 165k miles, everything works (bar the sunroofs), TD5.

Fantastic.

[Walter Sobchak]

Probably a Shogun, it has low range, locking centre and some have locking rear diff will do everything as well as the Disco except the interior is admittedly not as nice and will come in nicely under budget.

[nismo48]

+1 if you can find one

Silvanus said:

Dacia Duster

[MustangGT]

Trading in my Ambient 4x4 diesel Duster today. 64 plate, 71k miles. Getting £4,700 against my brand new Prestige 4x4 diesel. New one is much more 'modern'. Old one was fine, did everything I needed but is a bit 'agricultural compared to something like my previous Octavia Scout. New one drives like any other modern car, but has nearly all the kit from a car costing half as much again.

[sparkythecat]

Cold said:

A Freelander 2 is a good buy for your needs. At that budget it will have some miles on it, but that will mean you won't be too precious about its appearance if you get overly enthusiastic when bouncing around the lanes.

Whatever you end up choosing remember, it's all about the tyres.

I’ll second that.
I bought a Freelander 2 to replace my Shogun last year and I’m really pleased with it.

[LFB531]

Walter Sobchak said:

Probably a Shogun, it has low range, locking centre and some have locking rear diff will do everything as well as the Disco except the interior is admittedly not as nice and will come in nicely under budget.

I've got a SWB Shogun of 2003 vintage. It's a stupid design and can't think why anyone would have bought one new. The rear seat access is terrible and with those up, there's hardly any storage space.

HOWEVER, I love it! Forget the diesel with its mighty expensive fuel pump, find a relatively rot free GDI 3.5 petrol and you'll have loads of fun. Mine does everything I ask of it without complaint and has all the toys including leather, electric everything and air-con which still works! The thirst is prodigious but for limited miles it's not an issue.



They do need a cam belt at 100,000 miles and it's not a cheap job but the rest of the bits are plentiful and not stupid expensive. I found this one lurking on FB at silly money for what it is and seriously inside the budget of the OP.

[Silvanus]

MustangGT said:

Trading in my Ambient 4x4 diesel Duster today. 64 plate, 71k miles. Getting £4,700 against my brand new Prestige 4x4 diesel. New one is much more 'modern'. Old one was fine, did everything I needed but is a bit 'agricultural compared to something like my previous Octavia Scout. New one drives like any other modern car, but has nearly all the kit from a car costing half as much again.

You could have sold that to the OP

[Walter Sobchak]

LFB531 said:

I've got a SWB Shogun of 2003 vintage. It's a stupid design and can't think why anyone would have bought one new. The rear seat access is terrible and with those up, there's hardly any storage space.

HOWEVER, I love it! Forget the diesel with its mighty expensive fuel pump, find a relatively rot free GDI 3.5 petrol and you'll have loads of fun. Mine does everything I ask of it without complaint and has all the toys including leather, electric everything and air-con which still works! The thirst is prodigious but for limited miles it's not an issue.



They do need a cam belt at 100,000 miles and it's not a cheap job but the rest of the bits are plentiful and not stupid expensive. I found this one lurking on FB at silly money for what it is and seriously inside the budget of the OP.

I had one a few years ago that was both LWB and a bit of a dog unfortunatley, always thought the SWB looks better and they're really good value too.
I've done something a bit silly recently and paid a fair bit over the OPs budget for a 1994 Landcruiser 80 Series 4.2 TD with triple diff locks, it's an absolute beast of a car can't wait to take it off road, although I want to find some lanes that aren't too narrow as I don't want to ruin it, it's in pretty good condition.

[Skyrocket21]

Subaru Forester: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207177...

It hasn't got good ground clearance, but will do well against a Yeti with haldex

[Matt_Tomlin1982]

Touareg 3.0 diesel

Got mine for 4k, 2008 great cars

[MustangGT]

Silvanus said:

MustangGT said:

Trading in my Ambient 4x4 diesel Duster today. 64 plate, 71k miles. Getting £4,700 against my brand new Prestige 4x4 diesel. New one is much more 'modern'. Old one was fine, did everything I needed but is a bit 'agricultural compared to something like my previous Octavia Scout. New one drives like any other modern car, but has nearly all the kit from a car costing half as much again.

You could have sold that to the OP

I just cannot be bothered with the faff of a private sale.

[camel_landy]

Cold said:

Whatever you end up choosing remember, it's all about the tyres.

I’ll raise you, a decent driver training course will make a huge difference too.

M

[808 Estate]

Grand Vitara has a good off road rep.

[300bhp/ton]

Silvanus said:

Dacia Duster

Not if you really want to off road. Poor approach, departure and break over angles. No low range. No flex and not really all that good off road tbh.

Not terrible if all you want to do is bump up a kerb or two. Or maybe into a grass field. But way out of their depth on any sort of ‘proper’ off roading or even green laning. Way too little ground clearance.

[300bhp/ton]

Mully1906 said:

Hi all,

Got an itch I need to scratch.

Been wanting to do a bit of off-roading/green-laning for a while and always fancied something like a big Disco 3, but upon doing some research it seems they're not exactly what you'd call "reliable". They're also probably a bit much for most of what I'd do.

So I'm now looking to something smaller like a Yeti, Panda 4x4, Grand Vitara or similar?

Any suggestions?

Did you get anything?

[Silvanus]

300bhp/ton said:

Silvanus said:

Dacia Duster

Not if you really want to off road. Poor approach, departure and break over angles. No low range. No flex and not really all that good off road tbh.

Not terrible if all you want to do is bump up a kerb or two. Or maybe into a grass field. But way out of their depth on any sort of ‘proper’ off roading or even green laning. Way too little ground clearance.

I've seen entirely the opposite, not a kerb bumper at all. The OP was looking at Panda 4x4s and Suzuki Vitaras originally they arent exactly big butch off roaders. The Duster is perfectly capable green laning or light off roading, the right tyres are needed though as with most vehicles. I've seen a few lightly modded Dusters that are fantastic off road. If he wanted a serious off roader I would have suggested something else, but for what it seemed he wanted, a perfectly reasonable suggestion