The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: devonlady on March 13, 2017, 07:12:13 pm
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Driving my grandson to school a few weeks ago in my Landy Defender I hit a patch of black ice on the A38, whooshed off the road, through trees and turned over. Unfortunately my poor old Landy was written off. The trees took the front off!!
I found that if I wanted another Landrover I would have to take out a mortgage!!! I've only ever driven these and took my partner's and daughter in law's advice (ill advisably) and bought a Suzuki Grande Vitara, very posh, very shiny, all whistles and bells etc. but, not for me! I don't do smart!!
Also I'm afraid to take it up the track as I don't think it has enough clearance underneath.
What would folk suggest as an alternative. If I find something Jim will pay for it and have the Suzuki . It must have the same clearance underneath as a Landrover and be a bit reliable.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
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if you're looking for rugged then Jeep Wrangler maybe- rugged and cheap Dacia Duster
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I'd say a discovery.. If you can find a good one. I bought a v8 disco 1 as a stop-gap whilst building my defender, and i love it.
They're the same underneath as a defender/series, they just have a lid with slightly more curves. Very practical indeed, and it has to be said, a better driving position than a defender.
If you don't need that size, then a freelander 2 is also a very for car. Not as much clearance as a defender/ disco, but very capable with the right tyres. They used to use them at the eastnor castle 4x4 track for pulling out people who get stuck in range rover on experience days. They're built on a modified Ford Mondeo sub frame, which is a very good thing.
HTH
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My husband is a mechanic and he would definitely say steer well clear of discovery and freelander! In fact he's outside right now fixing a discovery as it's blown head gasket and it was here last month to having something else done. In fact he's constantly fixing land rovers and hates them! ( we a.so have a freelander outside who's dash is lit up like a Christmas tree!
We have a Nissan Pathfinder and its fantastic. Toyota hilux seem to last forever.
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Get another Defender! You either love Land Rovers or you don't. And you obviously do. Will your insurance not pay for another? If you take your time, surely there will be one within your price range.
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We had a fabulous Toyota Landcruiser. You could raise the suspension going over really bumpy ground and it would tow anything out of anywhere.
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Suzuki Jimny--has the offroad ability and clearance of a landrover and has low box which many pretend 4x4s don't have. Downside it dosent have the towing capacity if this is important to you. Loads of them around at fair prices. Most have only been school run vehicles.
If you need towing...Ford ranger appears to have good reputation, and has the ground clearance etc.--Toyota hilux too enjoys good reputation. Just find one that's been a business mans tax break rather than a builders hack.
At one time if you had cut me in half id have said Landrover through the middle....but too many breakdowns and things which constantly break which shouldn't ..plus crazy prices have changed my thought processes.
I must say I have owned numerous landrovers and discoveries on which I base my comments. I haven't owned any of the other vehicles I mention ...but drove a ford ranger at work for some serious towing work (the older low geared model) and it was stunning ..im going back to the year 2000 with that experience.
No idea of your budget either ?
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When my Land Rover 90 died, nearly three years ago, I went and test drove a Mitsubishi Shogun. We then went to the LR garage next door and we were allowed to sit in a defender but not test drive it - we did look a lot scruffy and were driving an elderly Ford - The difference in comfort and safety levels was unbelievable. We bought a new, we were looking for second hand honest, short wheelbase Shogun and have not been dissapointed.
The Shogun will tow 3 tonnes (the long wheelbase one will tow 3.5 tonnes) is more economical with fuel than my old Landy. Low box and 4 wheel drive will get me anywhere I want to go and it is comfortable for those long journeys where I used to borrow a vehicle as the Landy was a tad uncomfy after 6 hours solid driving.
Would I go back to Land Rover? No but if I ever get a new engine in my old one it will be used as a local run around for the OH.
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I am grateful for these suggestions and comments, lots of food for thought! Much as I would love another Landy, I now realise my age (67) and my height (5ft 1) are against me, the Suzy has proved this.(I can see over the steering wheel!)
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I accidentally (daft but true) walked into a 'great wall motors' showroom a while back. While one generaly considers chinese stuff cr[member=36627]P[/member] they can make good relaible stuff too. If it's ground clearance and towing capability and lots of room in the cab then they have to be worth considering on price alone - so long as your not in a hurry 'cos the 0-60 time is tediously slow.
As for Landy...horrible things when you're my size. I can just about fold myself into one and manage to keep moving one limb out of the way of the others to drive it while bent forwards over the wheel to see out while scraping the back of my neck on the roof. We have a nissan x-trail for 4x4 conditions and it's OK and comfortable even for me and my short wifey.
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I have a love-hate relationship with our Landy. (I was driving down the motorway a couple of weeks ago, when the windscreen wiper flobbled a bit lower than usual, jammed on the bottom of the windscreen, exploded the wiper motor and then fell off, for example!) As a result, I only use it for the times I actually *need* to be driving a Landy, and run about in a cheap wee Fabia the rest of the time.
Of course the upshot of that is that fuel+insurance+tax+repairs means that it costs me about £1.50 a mile to run (and that's in an uneventful good job it was just the windscreen wiper that fell off kind of year!).
BTW, would a Subaru Forester have enough ground clearance and towing capacity for you? They seem to have a fanatical following amongst those who own them.
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I've just had the chassis of my FourTrak welded up to pass the MoT. I need a tiny tow truck that can turn on a sixpence and it's done that perfectly for 13 years (and was secondhand when I bought it). 4X4's seem now to be all chrome and attitude and there's nothing in the way of a reliable workhorse out there.
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I loved our Toyota hilux, would go anywhere I asked it, but OH with the purse strings decided on a van. May have regretted it as he carries firewood up half mile of lane in snow :-).
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If you want a propper 4x4 Ford Ranger or Isuzu Denver, or an older Hilux from before they changed the design - The denver has more grunt (2.5 vs 2.2) but is also more expensive and gets lower MPG.
(Nissan Navara or Mitisubuishi L200 are also an option if you have lots of money, but the cheaper second hand ones tend to have issues - the Navara in particular is notorious for HGF and other engine failures)
If you want a pretend 4x4 either the Suzuki Jimny or the Dacia Duster (if buying the duster get one newer than '13 as they moved the production from India to Romania and the build quality got much better.) Skoda Yetis are okay if buying new or nearly new but i wouldnt buy a second hand one without a decent warranty as high milleage examples are prone to DMF failure
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I agree with Stufe35 we bought a Jimny from new 3 years ago £12,000 and its great, copes with all terrain, tows our sheep trailer no problem, drags in the hay, loads all the feed and there is plenty of room for the dog. Snow, mud, floods don't bother it .....we love her :thumbsup:
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Whilst big soft moose says a Suzuki jimny is a pretend 4x4 ..I have to disagree. Its one limitation is a low legal towing weight. Its major advantage is a proper low ratio gear box which allows for true off road driving and towing work.
Its offroad ability propably exceeds many larger 4x4s because of its light weight. Given the correct spec tyres its almost as light on the land as a quad bike...but much warmer ..and can also be used for the school run and the supermarket.
They are plentiful and reasonable second hand and run on simple proven technology.- not a long distance machine..but then neither is a landrover !
For me a pretend 4x4 is one with no low ratio--.
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whats your budget? around 2 grand? buy another landy!!!!
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I couldn't find a Landy for under £7, 000!! You don't happen to have one for sale, bazzais?
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I couldn't find a Landy for under £7, 000!! You don't happen to have one for sale, bazzais?
That's where the discoveries come in.. Or even some rangies. Avoid the p38 range rover like the plague, but the L322 is cool. Google will show you the difference between those 2.
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Buy a landy at that price so long as you have another £3k for fixing it and another vehicle to get around in for the 1 week :excited: every month it will spend in the garage being fixed. :excited:
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I have still got my Jimny that was my runabout (could get two bales in the back too) when I had access to a work vehicle but having moved and being more remote (and having to do my own towing now), I needed a bigger vehicle so ended up with a Shogun Sport. It's comfortable for normal use and has a few mod-cons, well they would have been in 2005 when it was made, but also has a low box and feels like it could tow anything.
I've kept the Jimny though and we use it for bobbling around the school farm and grounds as needed. Both very handy cars that are good at their respective jobs!
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I have plumped for an elderly Toyota Riva, cheap enough not to worry about if it gives up the ghost after a couple of years. Anyone interested in a shiny Suzuki Grande Vitara?
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Problem is you have had the best (Defender) so although there are some good trucks out there nothing will be the same. They are marmite and not sadly the most reliable and well built in their later years but still tough go anywhere beasts that wrote the script.
It's in a different class to the defender but the Suzuki Jimney is a tough little truck as long as you don't expect it to be like your defender!
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People with Jimneys, how's much mpg are you getting ?.
My friend has one, reasonably new, and she only gets 35 mpg, my Honda CRV gets 45-50, and it's about twice the size.
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Wife had a Jimny until recently. Only used as local runabout, but I would say 30-35 mpg was about what we got. (1.3L petrol).
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Wife had a Jimny until recently. Only used as local runabout, but I would say 30-35 mpg was about what we got. (1.3L petrol).
Same size as my friends, surprising for such a small car.