I’m looking for a reliable 4×4 banger to get me through the snow and up into the mountains this winter. I’ve been looking at the Subaru Legacy estate. Big enough to chuck a couple of bikes in the back with kit. A friend runs the same 4×4 model and recommends it in the snow. Any thoughts, experiences or recommendations?

My Volvo XC 70 has done well. Good in snow. 26mpg. Big.

It’s currently sorned on my drive with a dent in the door and needs a new front shock. You can have it for £500…

My better half has a Freelander, will do everything you need – not sure on the age/condition though of a 2k one…

octavia 4×4, rare but probably get highmiler

SubAru has a good rep, but look into the repair costs if something does go wrong. I hear parts can be expensive.

Any FWD estate with decent winter tyres could do the job too but use a lot less fuel.

Robbo’s XC70 sounds a good deal.

THe Octavia is good but rare/costly.

There are a number of other oddball 4×4 versions of regular cars like golf, berlingo etc but these are hard to track down.

Loads of old Audi Quattros to be had as well but the Legacy will do the job. Don’t be tempted by LPG converted ones though, the Head Gaskets seem to fail on them IME.

Get yourself a Mitsubishi Legnum VR4. 4wd, 2.5 V6 TT, 276bhp std….

I’m quite liking Robbo’s Volvo deal. What year is it? I take the point about high costs for Subaru parts. I’ve just had to have the fuel pump on my Nissan Navara reconditioned for silly money! Hence that’s getting sold to recoup the cost. (there’s always city idiots who’ll pay premium prices for 4x4s when the snow finally comes)

Watch out for tyre costs. A mate had a Volvo AWD and you had to keep the tyres pretty well matched in terms of wear otherwise they claimed it would knacker the driver train. Which usually meant changing the lot every time a pair got a bit thin.

I thought that was what diffs were for, to accomodate wheels rotation at slightly different speeds but hey, looks like Volvo think otherwise.

Sounded like twaddle to me but can anyone explain this?

Get yourself a Mitsubishi Legnum VR4. 4wd, 2.5 V6 TT, 276bhp std….

Kind of this. I doubt you could get more 4×4 estate for £2k. Not all that cheap to run though.

Audi A6 quattro – high miles diesel will do the job for you.

had 2 GTB legacy turbo’s for the last 5 years (a ’96 and a ’99) straight from japan.. absolutly brilliant cars. subaru parts are cheap on ebay, as there are alot of crash damaged impreza’s around, that get stripped for parts.. bought a whole replacement engine for 500 and fitted myself no probs..
30-35 mpg @70mph on motorway, down to about 10 if you start getting all colin mcrae..
3 bikes plus three guys and gear all in the car no probs
superb in snow, literally drove rings around an x5 that had got stuck last year
oil change every 8-10k, runs ok on 95 ron but alot better top end on 98..
was thinking of getting rid of mine as i have used it 3 times in the last 6 months..

I thought that was what diffs were for, to accomodate wheels rotation at slightly different speeds but hey, looks like Volvo think otherwise.

I think that was the case for slightly older Volvos (you had to keep tyres worn roughly the same – in practice I guess this just means swapping tryres front/back to keep wear similar), but certainly not on more recent models (i.e. XC90).
Some diffs can’t cope with ‘large’ tyre diameter differences and it’s certainly not limited to Volvo, Audi was def the same at some point.

Nissan Terrano 5 door, ideally the 3.0litre version. Proper 4×4 with transfer box, tough as boots and importantly has a mechanical limited slip differential on the rear axle, so in short as one wheel looses grip the other wheel keeps turning. Can keep up with nearly all other 4×4’s and although the boot space in standard form isn’t great with the back seat folded it is massive. Some models even have a small foldaway jump seat in the back, making them a temporary 7 seater, so good versatility factor.

Less glam than the subaru & Mitsus of the world, but more practical.

Our 1995 Audi A6 is awesome in the snow, front wheel drive with Mud and Snow tyres, kept on all year round. Snow is no bother, ice creates problems though, same for any car mind.