Hi Chaps,

Now we’ve moved into the sticks in Scotland, and live on a hill, in a valley, we’ve been advised by our neighbours to invest in a 4×4 for the winter.

It also needs to be a day to day commuter vehicle for my missus, so ideally needs to not be ridiculously thirsty.

Does anyone have any suggestions of vehicles up to about £6k, I’d prefer to pay less – but it all depends on how decent the vehicle is to drive, the mpg it’ll return and how reliable it is.

Thanks for the help chaps 🙂

Ricks

Nissan XTrail. 40mpg. Super car.

Panda 4×4 or older Audi Allroad… both on “winter” tyres all round….

I was surprised at where my diesel A3 quattro went on summer tyres… on winter tyres o road it would be even better. Depth of snow on the road would have been the major factor…

Depends on where you are and how serious the winter may be deep the snow may be, plus just metalled roads or proper off road…..

Do you need a full on Disco Landy or a Subaru type of thing?

as rick says, a fiat panda 4×4 on winter tyres will go anywhere…. plus nice and cheap to run… i had one a couple of years ago and the during bad snow we had in late ’10/early ’11 the car was unstoppable…

not my car btw :

a yak sounds like an eco alternative, will cope with all weathers/terrain, pull a sled or cart, and provide much amusement.

– stands ready to be ridiculed by 4×4 enthusiasts –

I have a Toyota RAV4 from 2006, 56 plate. Basically a two wheel drive car but you can run in 4WD at low speeds, it’s got me through foot deep snow around the Surrey hills without insident. If I lived in Scotland I’d probably have a set of wheels prepped with snow tyres for the winter.

I commute over 60 miles daily, it returns 40mpg+ and has been brilliantly reliable. Bought with 20k mileage and now just over 110k. You can pick up the same car for around £6-7k with 50k miles now.

Added bonus is my bike fits inside without removing wheels, seat post etc… 😀

I would recommend an X-Trail, but would avoid the 2.2 DCi as this engine is not the most reliable. I had a 2.2 di which did 37mpg and was nice to drive, sold it at 114K miles to someone on here who is very happy with it, but if I was buying another I would probably go for a 2.5 petrol as these do 30+ to the gallon and don’t have the potential turbo issues of an older diesel. Go for the SE as this has leather, the cloth seats mark really easily (but clean up well). Something like this ?

Bloody hell, that looks like a great buy

Proper Winter tyres on spare wheels and some snow chains. Otherwise you will just spin all 4 wheels in winter and trash the rubber through the summer.

What do your new neighbours drive?

Subaru Legacy/Forrester/Outback maybe.

Most 4x4s will manage the majority of snow / ice conditions. I’d echo the thoughts of investing in a second set of wheels and tyres that are winter only. Makes a big difference.

I’m a bit of a land rover fan personally and for that money I’d be going for a td5 disco, but they are the tpe of thing that needs a bit of upkeep, and return roughly 28 to 30 depending., but I don’t mind that myself.

Chain- really Not required. Its scotland not the alps. Our roads are bad enough as it is

Winter tires a must – check the compound though as alot of agressive mud tires are sold as m and s and they are waaay too hard.

Just for the hell of it…

Subaru Forester, had our ’06 since new and its been excellent. We have winter and summer wheels, (as legal requirements), and I’d buy another tomorrow.

December 7th

My wife has just changed to a 3 door 04 Rav4 – she gets an average (on the computer) of 39.4 mpg.

My wife has a 56 plate Freelander td4, even on standard tyres its never had a problem with snow/conditions etc.

30mpg on auto and a ‘lead’ right foot.

But a new(ish) Panda 4×4 looks a laugh.

Ive got a Nissan Navara for sale, runs on 2WD for day to day use then you can switch to 4WD on the move.

Ive still got the Dakine pad for the rear tail gate so you just plop the bikes over the back and away you go.

Im in Scotland too…

Nissan Navara HERE

Dirtdiggler, out of interest what sort of MPG does that return?

My wife has a 56 plate Freelander td4, even on standard tyres its never had a problem with snow/conditions etc.

We run a Freelander 2 here and get over 40 mpg even with my lead right foot. Not had it in snow, but had it in pretty much any other non-tarmac condition without a peep!

EDIT: And unlike the Navara (which is about as unrefined as a tractor engine attached to a cart), it’s just like a car when it wants to be.

Jimny stupidly capable little beast.

Id trial a jimny anyday over my landy if i wasnt addicted to v8 … But as per my landy id neer run it as an only car – horrid place to be

Navaras not a bad place to be but ill never have leafers it the only time i get sea sick in car !

Walkinshaw l200 is why i want – koni coil overs all round and its a very car like place to be – had one in ukraine and really like it compared to hilux pieces of crap we usually get !

My freelander manual does 40 mpg and ever never had problems getting around in the lakes in the snow with Goodyear wranglers on,got up and down the struggle out of Ambleside in the snow

For snow capable my fwd lwb transit on std tyres through the last 3 winter’s in the lakes never got stuck

You know ive never sat down and actually figured it out for myself. The guy i bought it from did allot of motorway miles and says he easily got high 30+mpg without issues and also around 30mpg around town.

Its a proper 5 seater so family and stuff fits in no worries with the added bonus of the pick-up bit at the rear.

More than welcome to come have a look, you local?, im in Fife

ask1974 – Member

Dirtdiggler, out of interest what sort of MPG does that return?

According to Autotrader, 45.6 mpg combined, which if accurate is quite amazing….

According to Pistonheads “real world mpg” around 35 mpg on a run, 32 mpg on local runs

According to Autotrader, 45.6 mpg combined, which if accurate is quite amazing….

I’ve always found that the lowest mpg official figure is nearer real-world.

And I’ve got to agree with others, Freelanders and the other proper SUV’s are car-like – double-cabs are not.

Also what about looking at Quattros, Subaru’s and the like – or since its only a few days where the conditions are bad, just spend a grand on something for those days?

Double cabs have come along long way recently. If you dont buy poverty spec .

A good friend has a 2005 rav4 for sale. Its in great condition. They need to sell it due to very unforseen health reasons. Car is located in Leeds.

trail_rat – Member
Double cabs have come along long way recently. If you dont buy poverty spec .
POSTED 40 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

I drive a navara for work. It’s an underpowered, rough, uncomfortable tractor. It’s not even that great off road.

If you want something to lug a tonne of stuff down a gravel track then they’re great, but if the primary use isn’t load lugging, then buy something else

If that x trail linked above (Raindogs post) is for real I’be bee off buying that without hesitation. £4k for 46k miles with all of the bells and whistles. What a bargain!

Is it a poverty spec ?

The walkinshaw l200 i had was indistinguishable from the outlander the boss had inside !

Forester. You can pick them up dirt cheap. The only down side is high fuel consumption. But balanced against overall usability and reliability it’s a no brainer.

Had an Isuzu Trooper a few years ago, 3.0 turbo diesel, an absolute beast….unstoppable, laughed in the face of snow and ploughed through it like a tank, superb but very thirsty.
Now have a Mitsi L200, good but the shape is long and thin so it does unfortunately ‘swing’ around in the snow (not much weight over the rear axle being a pick-up), better than non 4×4 but requires a little finesse.

Honda CRV. My mate will be selling his 52 plate auto 2 litre petrol sometime around end of October ( I have already got first dibs). We used it commuting in the deep snow last time we had some and all around us were falling off the road (well BMW’s lol) but seriously the electronic 4 wheel drive was really impressive when it neeeded to kick in. that was on standard tyres too.
there is another face change of the CRV due out so the older will be going for slightly less money too and in your budget you may be able to afford a very early diesel version.

For snow capable my fwd lwb transit

You must have a very light right foot when needed as the swb’s I’ve driven are very spin happy, a greasy hill start at the lights can be quite interesting! And show it some wet grass…

I drive a rwd Transit now and that is much more capable on the slippy stuff, though it will still bog down on grass quite easily and needs a light foot in the snow.

My a4 avant on Goodyear winter tyres has been unstoppable but on 18″ summer tyres it wouldn’t make it off the driveway. Lack of ground clearence would probably rule it out for you tho.

Nowt wrong with a Navara if you buy the right one. Mine’s 190bhp, returns 33mpg combined and has a low ratio box, cruise control, steering wheel controls, electric leather heated seats, power fold mirrors, electric sunroof, dual zone climate control, 7″ touchscreen sat nav, with hard drive for music, DVD player, bluetooth, USB, reversing camera, automatic headlights, rain sensing wipers etc.

The engine is a tad noisy and leafs can be a bit jittery, but I always carry a few hundred kilo, so aren’t too bad.

Beyond your price range as stated above, but a basic 4×4 Dacia Duster looks amazing value at £11k. No a/c or even cd player, but £100 and a trip to Halfords could sought out the music and you might not need a/c in Scotland.

Just thought I would mention it, might be some finance deals available. I think they are for January 2013 delivery.

Hyundai santa fe (05) at this end, bought in 08 for 4.5k at 60,000miles. Still had 2 years warranty. Now done 130,000 and apart from putting a set of tyres on it ( BFG All terrain) and servicing it, we have had no problems at all. It returns 35/36mpg with the lead footed wife driving ( I get 42+ on a run). Fantastic in the snow with perminant 4wd does mis having a low box though. I also run a Landrover 90 as my daily driver and a Suzuki sj for winch competitions so have a good idea about 4wd’s.

So for me as a daily driver a Hyundai has it ( and yes we will be getting another if and when this one goes!