Which biggish 4x4?

Landrover Discovery Tdi. With rear seats folded or out (Eight bolts into captive nuts, dead easy) it has much more room in the back than a Range Rover .. and is bloody comfy.

Very reliable with 'proper' servicing .. don't skimp on fuel filter, air filter and all (including diff and gearbox) oils ... ;)

Also very cheap, mostly rusty but good ones are out there and even a basket case can have new wheel arches, rear floor, sills replaced pretty reasonably. Very capable offroad .. ;)

Never thought of the Disco because the ones I've seen have had the old Landie/Rangie rust problems. Is a diesel auto available? I like to have both hands on the wheel when pitching old boats along. I know it will affect the economy but having driven my old Rangie and the works Grand Cherokee, I know I wouldn't want to be trying to fight the steering and the shift at the same time.

Sounds like I've made the list longer not shorter by getting opinions then :)

If you want to lug stuff, then get an estate[1][2]. They're cheaper to buy, fuel and maintain and better to drive. Once you've finished lugging stuff, flog the estate and if you still want a fun off-roader, buy a fun off-roader, rather than getting something which is a bit shit at everything.

[1] it turns out that a landrover discovery can carry substantially LESS than a pug 405 estate, and the available volume is much less usefully distributed. The owner of the disco' was quite miffed to discover that. [2] or a van. Vans are quite good for lugging stuff about...

Hmmm.

Hmmmmm. I'm not sure that they are 'reliable' insomuch as 'easily fixable'. My disco' owning friend spends a lot more time maintaining it than he had to on any of his previous more conventional cars, even though he's had some early-90s fords.

His is a ~97 2.5 Tdi thing, which he drives very gently and slowly everywhere, but he is quite pleased if he manages to exceed 25mpg. The thing also wallows like a boat if you don't drive as if en-route to a funeral, so I wouldn't describe it as being particularly comfortable. Also the seat-belt mountings in the rear are specifically deigned to cut off the blood supply to your head, and possibly decapitate you in the event of a crash.

The tyres do last quite a long time - something that said friend is inordinately proud of.

I can't help but have my eye on

I'll put in the usual and expected plug for the Exploder. I finished my rebuild of bits underneath a couple of weeks ago, transformed the way it handles and stops - a reminder to me how wear of components creeps on bit by bit. Anyroad up, good for high mileages, handles better than most

4x4s and it's more than adequately fast.

It also has a load bed that's as big as as the big Volvo estate.

I can agree with that, like a waterbed.

Didn't you buy one though?

Got a new job?

Indeed I did, hence I know what I'm talking about. If hI ad found an Exploder from 2006 onwards for sale with LPG the Jeep wouldn't have been in the frame. As it was, the Jeep was the right fuel at the right time at the right price.

As previously posted, it's slow, soggy and has sloppy steering. If you're used to 4x4s it's OK, and it does well off road but it's not a patch on the Exploder for size, comfort, handling, ride quality or load-lugging ability. And it's a long way down on bhp.

I've just been offered an Exploder for a car I'm flogging on ebay, even though I could do with a LHD 4x4, I really don't want an Exploder :(

I'll be after an LHD load lugger at some point in the near future...

Mike P

Sadly not yet, but worked out how much redundancy will last me how long, and what has already hit the bottom of the depreciation curve so I can't lose much on. Life's too short to sat home moaning about being bored and being a total miser with cash in the bank.

That way I can have something to do the load lugging while DIYing/shifting shit and if need be sell it when done, or if a job comes up, keep it for playing with.

Insurance/road tax will take up a disproportionate amount of that budget unless you get a total bargain you can definitely sell on for a profit. And cheap old 4x4s tend to go expensively wrong, meaning you risk the whole lot if an uneconomical repair crops up. You can't really afford to risk your capital when you can't guarantee your income.

Just hire a van FFS

If your intention is to sell it on, avoid it. If you intend to use it until it drops at least consider a test drive.

Fairly sound advice, though if you are handy and net-aware then the cost of parts need not be an issue. I replaced, as a preventative measure, the shocks, disks, wheel bearings and brake calipers on the Ford this year. Shocks £18 each, bearings (hubs complete with studs in fact) £30 each, calipers including brake pads £20 each, disks £40 each. The rest was just my time to fit and on a mucking big vehicle these are easy jobs provided you have a torque wrench that goes up to 250NM, a breaker bar, axle stands rated up to 3 tonnes, and a decent set of sockets.

OTOH, you're right, this is no time to fritter away capital.

And I suspect that whereas the Ford costs me £150 a year to insure for permanent use UK/Europe with breakdown and legal insurance included that anyone living close to Liverpool and not being a geriatric will pay much, much more. A condition of my insurance is that no one under 30 can drive the Ford because "it's too powerful for young people".

I know when I had the Rangie, with the same company I'm currently insured with, with the LPG, Lift kit that was fitted, unlimited mileage, with my no claims, the cover was £250 FC protected no claims, for upto an 8 litre engine.

I have 2 years more no claims at the moment, would try to add it as part of a multicar to see if that will cover both with the same no claims if I can.

I know about 5 years ago, I had the pretty modded Celica GT4, and the Saab Turbo convertible both covered by the same company as I'm with now, and the last renewal I had, but didn't take because I was selling the Celica before the renewal date, was £850 for both cars, again unlimited mileage, all mods declared. Same town address too, but different postcode area.

It's a J plate, '92, 4.0. With overdrive, apparantly.

4wd doesn't seem to be working, but - as always - the bloke with it reckons it's just a dodgy switch.

I could buy it, but it's not got a towbar, and that's why I'd want a LHD

4x4 so it'd end up being a bit expensive for what it is.

There's that, and I don't have a clue what it's worth. Spanish import.

Not a 4x4, but just did an unlimited mileage quote for a Saab 900 T8 special edition hatchback, comprehensive with legal cover and uk/european breakdown which is a bonus, £141.28.

That isn't bad.