Low cost 4×4 for towing?

Looking for a cheap 4×4 for towing a horsebox, needs to be a ‘proper’ 4×4 with a low range box as the box and two horses can weigh 1-1.5 tonnes.

Max of £4K, looking at something like a LWB pajero, Hilux surf, Isuzu Trooper etc.

Are there any that I should particularly avoid? The troopers and imported Pajeros look pretty good for the money.

Chum of mine hauls his horses around the hills of Pembrokeshire with a Trooper and it’s a beast! Really impressive towing ability. Basic, nay Spartan, interior though, but as a tower it’s tough as old boots.

For 4k you could pick up a horsebox (wagon)?

My wife tows with her Freelander, its probably a bit ‘dicky’ on the weight but we live in a pretty flat area. We are though looking at a wagon as she doesn’t mind towing the box, but hates the reversing and general hitching/unhitching etc.

troupers – tough as old boots
pajeros – similarly tough

hilux surf towing – like to blow HG when worked hard.

I need to use the 4×4 as a runaround also, so a horsebox isn’t really an option.
Thanks for the info though, anyone else have any suggestions?

Isuzu Trooper FTW

i have an Isuzu TF pick up truck and it is great. Basic and truck like but unbreakable*

*apart from when it leaked electricity last weekend on the drive to the Quantocks but I don’t think the extra beer fridge helped

Do you need a proper 4×4 with low range? We tow a pretty heavy trailer across muddy fields with a Freelander. Its been fine so far. Its pretty good as a car the rest of the time, although OK rather than brilliant for putting bikes in the back.

Unfortunately we do need a proper 4×4 with low range.
I live in South Wales and our yard is at the end of a lane with very steep inclines along its length. Father-in-law uses a landcruiser 3.0D which is ideal, he used to have a nissan x-trail and we had to offload one of the horses and walk it the 2 miles instead. His car isn’t always avaialable and I can’t afford the 23 grand he spent on his so will have to settle for something more lowly.
I’ve done a bit of calculating and the box is 900Kg and each horse in the region of 500-600Kg, I could be easily pulling 2 tonnes plus all the tack loaded in the car. The ‘soft’ 4×4’s aren’t heavy enough for this and can’t pull up the hills.

An imported Pajero is probably ideal for what you are looking at, I have a short wheelbase version, cost 4 grand six years ago and is still going strong and is regularly used to towe up to 3 tonnes. I have only had one issue with it when on a steep off camber fire road where the trailer got the better of me.

Best value will be a disco. cheapest to mend by a long way and most old things will need mending sometime. Landrover products except freelanders will pull 3.5 tonnes legaly. nowt else does.

disco is the cheapest to fix by a long way – unfortunantly they need fixing alot – thats from a land rover owner – albe it a defender but know plenty of folk with discos. discos like to rot out on the boot floor and arches body mounts and seatbelt mounts – if you can weld/fabricate then alls well and good and the gear box/transfer box/diffs likes to shit them selfs. – course all above could happen to a paj or a trouper also – and be a daft ammount more expensive to fix – how ever pajs and troupers are a **** load cheaper to buy.

if it was my money it would be a disco – cause i now realise where to look for the issues and what to listen for.

unfortunantly its quite easy to disguise **** discos to the unknowing public 🙁

Nissan Terrano.Had one for 9 years to pull a caravan.Went around europe with it and coped with mountains no problem.Fantastically reliable,low ratio box,2.7 diesel,could pull up to 2600kg braked trailer.Sold it to a friend and its 11 years old now and has just passed its MOT again with no work needed.Never spent anything on it apart from the routine servicing.I cannot recommend these highly enough and seem cheap to buy.Only negative point is fuel consumtion but no worse than most other four wheel drives.
Discoveries really are crap,stick to the Japanese.

Discovery is cheap and has a 3.5 metric ton towing limit. Other than the defender not many 4×4 out there with that limit, most hi lux e.t.c are only 2.5 ton limit.

Bit left field, but a quick google turns up a Kia Sorento for £4500. Proper 4×4 with ladder chassis and low range. No image at all, so cheap to buy used.

Father in law has had two, and no issues with either (apart from a turbo pipe coming loose).

I’d go for either the Kia Sorento as cheshirecat says or even better would be the Hyundai Terracan

2.9lt diesel and massive amounts or torks!

I run the same engine in my Kia Sedona people carrier it will pull anything, but it’s only two wheel drive, the Terracan is a proper 4×4 and can be picked up at good prices.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201103377578022/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/terracan/make/hyundai/quicksearch/true/page/1/radius/1501/postcode/ox171je?logcode=p

Here’s Parkers review of the Terracan for a read.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/hyundai/terracan-2003.aspx

2800kg towing limit, so not as good as a Discos but enough to cover what you need.

I suggested a Disco as They seem cheaper than jap stuff. Less than a grand buys a year MOT

Pajero, if only for the name.

Landrover products except freelanders will pull 3.5 tonnes legaly. nowt else does

There are other 4×4’s with a 3.5t towing limit, but none of the pickups or soft roaders can manage it. You don’t even need a 4×4, this can tow 3.5t if you pick the right engine:

I have the same van in high roof and that will tow up to 2.8t, (and does regularly, a huge 2.8t horsebox) though probably not up a steep and slippery welsh lane. Its only a 2.3l rwd with a standard 5spd box after all 🙂

But seriously, consider a Diahatsu Fourtrak. They are bombproof, cheap and tow 3.5t. Just be careful you don’t by a workhorse that has spent its life towing cattle across someones farm or has been reversed into footwell deep salt water every week to launch a boat! It even looks like it means business…

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1995-N-Daihatsu-Fourtrak-Tds-Fieldman-Light-4×4-Utility-/110689028688?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19c5948a50#ht_1043wt_1139

Was your fathers X-Trail a petrol model? my 2.2DI didn’t have much trouble towing a laden iveco daily pickup up a very steep hill this year in the snow, the tow rope actually broke!
Also towed my fully laden van, about 3 tons up the same hill when the battery was flat.

Shogun here. Replaced a 300tdi Discovery. The Shogun has been near faultless after a head replacement. New ‘head, valves, cam and gaskets around £250 on fleabay. Easy DIY repair. Tows better than the Disco. Cost £1400 four years ago, still worth a £1000 as scrap. All it does is tow huge loads everywhere. 🙂

4L Jeep Cherokee. You’ll get at least £2K in change which will offset the lower mpg than (some of) the alternatives.

TheFunkyMonkey – Member
Was your fathers X-Trail a petrol model? my 2.2DI didn’t have much trouble towing a laden iveco daily pickup up a very steep hill this year in the snow, the tow rope actually broke!
Also towed my fully laden van, about 3 tons up the same hill when the battery was flat.

It was the 2.2. The main problem is the fact that being a farm lane, its full of potholes and the like, so you have to take it really slow with a live load. Delicious smell of fried clutch if you try to do it fully loaded.