Maybe some advice on 4×4's

Morning,
It looks like I might have some work up on them there hills and I need a cheap set of wheels for access.
Anyone got any recommendations for a cheap, simple 4×4 that can “softroad.”
Don’t need anything big or burley but my budget is small. Around £1000 ideally.
I was thinking of a tin top Vitara as I need to take tools so would need security.
It’ll only be farmers tracks so nothing difficult to traverse.
It only needs to take two people.
Cheers
Tim

Lada Niva.

Old Freelander, the 3-door one?

Anything 4×4 around that price is likely to need work. If it was my choice I would go for a Daihtsu Fourtrak. They are cheap, easy to work on, reliable and can take a lot of mistreatment.

2WD with decent tyres might open up a lot more options at the £1k mark.

Land Rover series 111 or an old 90 although these are beginning to appreciate in value now.

Lada.

The little Vitaras are quite respected by off-roaders.

Fourtrak. I am a Landy nut, but look at how many scruffy old Fourtraks you see trundling around Snowdonia. That shoud tell you something. A 1k Landy will be a bit of a shed unless you are lucky.

You won’t get a decent 90 or series 3 for a grand. It’s likely they’ll need a new chassis, bulkhead or both and will be a project. A Freelander for that kind of money will be a dog, most likely the petrol and there will be engine problems ahead.

A nice Fourtrak like this (not mine) or something similar. A Vitara might be ok, or maybe a Jimny. Maybe an old Isuzu Trooper commercial?

Old vauxhall thing whatever it was called- similar to Isuzu I believe?
Frontera!

At that price point, there’s only ever going to be one winner 😀

Samurai!

I wont be held responsible for the next 3-4 of these that you buy, or the subsequent modifications/desire to learn how to weld

As said above, forget a Landy 90 or SIII for that money – they will not be in a good state.

Tdi Discovery. Plenty around for sub £1k

Suzuki Jimny. Toyota Rav 4.

Or an old Awd estate….Subaru Imprezza/Legacy, Volvo, etc. The estates you can normally pick up for next to nothing.

Land Rovers and the like fetch a massive premium. I wouldn’t touch them unless you want to do some serious off-roading.

Discovery for a grand you can get lucky esp if you look for the less desirable v8 or even worse the mps !!!!

Look at the boot floor , sills ,arches , chassis

The rest can be fixed easy , the above can only be fixed with some welding skillz

Samurais if you can find a non tin wormed one are a good option , jimnys seem to be keeping under the radar quite well atm and are cheap , started to creap in more to the rtv trials and showing them selves to be very capible off road. One guys got stock bar some bfg ats and is current club champ ….so light and nible and can turn on 6 pence

Ive seen a few tidy series peak up around 1200 quid up here in scotland – so tidy infact im looking for a 109 or stage1 v8 at around 3k to replace my van now i no longer commute to work in my car and want a tow truck for my 90.

McMoonter – Decent ones that come with a years ticket? I spent ages trying to find a good one and struggled finding anything under £1500 which didn’t have major rot, need a lot of welding or had engine troubles. In the end I spent about £2400 for a late 300tdi with FSH and a mint chassis.

Not sure if I would want to rely on a sub £1k Disco for my work though. Mine is used for bikes, dogs, towing and general bimbling 🙂

Mr grim

My buddy bought a reimported 95 french model with no rot any where with 90k on clock for 1700 recently local.

Had the standard leaky sunroof in the rear but some silicone sealant sorted that out.

Has been a peach – was too nice to cut up and use off road so its become his road car and tow truck

Although the snows back in scotland so we will be in a wee peak in prices atm.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1996-LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-TDI-BLUE-300-tdi-/261005080014?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cc51d75ce

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-300-TDI-COMMERCIAL-BLUE-MOT-TAX-AUGUST-/120895109565?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1c25e8f9bd

McMoonter – Decent ones that come with a years ticket? I spent ages trying to find a good one and struggled finding anything under £1500 which didn’t have major rot, need a lot of welding or had engine troubles. In the end I spent about £2400 for a late 300tdi with FSH and a mint chassis.

Agreed, they can be a minefield. I paid £1700 for mine, with an unwelded near pristine chassis and body. Mechanically it was good but I found a stone in my header tank which helped blow the head gasket. Once I found the source of the problem it was a cheap and easy DIY fix.

But for a pure off road work horse, they are hard to beat.

My buddy bought a reimported 95 french model with no rot any where with 90k on clock for 1700 recently local.

Which is some 700 notes over what the OP wants to pay. 🙄
I’d still fight the corner of the Lada, the one I had was faultless and used on a daily basis for a 120km commute (round trip). Rock solid, easy to work on and AWESOME as an off roader.

Aye and it was mint . My point that you have completely missed in your quest to be right at all costs is that if you look youll find a ratty round the edges one.

I viewed a few when looking for a 3.9efi for my 90 and there were some with at least a years life in them with tax and ticket cheap as chips – last summer.

I was looking for something that was truely shagged body wise so i could offer just above scrap value for engine and rear axel

At that price your looking to get a year out of it tops imo….. Its gonna have some kind of rot so longest mot wins imo

Oh and although you can still find them new down south , i havnt seen a niva on sale new or used in a good 15 years … Know a boy local with 2 mind you.

Just back from ukraine where they are vehicle of choice – although the bolga rwd with winter tires copes just as well

I used to have a discovery 300, a few mates had 90s & 110 landrovers and a few had Suzuki sj410
On the road my disco was great and off road was good fun but the suzukis were amazing in deep bogs. Regulaly had a few of them linked together to pull out a swamped down landrover in the tracks where the Suzuki had already got through.
I never bought one though as I did too many on road miles to give up the comfort of a disco.

Aye and it was mint . My point that you have completely missed in your quest to be right at all costs is that if you look youll find a ratty round the edges one.

Oh and although you can still find them new down south , i havnt seen a niva on sale new or used in a good 15 years … Know a boy local with 2 mind you.

Mechanically it was good but I found a stone in my header tank which helped blow the head gasket. Once I found the source of the problem it was a cheap and easy DIY fix.

Happens more often than you’d think. Thom Westcott had a similar issue with her lightweight in this months LRM.

trail_rat – Member
Oh and although you can still find them new down south , i havnt seen a niva on sale new or used in a good 15 years … Know a boy local with 2 mind you.

Then your not looking hard enough… 😉
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/19/watch-fifth-gear-drive-across-england-in-a-brand-new-lada/

Home

little bit more than the budget though…

I said im aware of the new ones for sale down south and i watched that 5th gear and briefly thought about it as a cheap option but their towing capacity are crap and they are prone to rot big time . Spoke to some folk in ukraine about them they are the russian samurai . With the uaz being the land rover equivalent.

Sorry missed that (glanced through the thread), the other draw back of the ‘new’ version is there emissions, talkin of them being in the £400 road tax bracket! (ouch!)

Yeah given the smell inside some of the ones i was riding in i. Ukraine they dont emit as much as ingest . Smelt like a petrol tank inside the cab !

Jeep Cherokee (from 198-something to 2001). Petrol version is peanuts and bombproof (although you may need to tow a tanker as it does about 18mpg). Diesel engine is very sensitive to coolant problems but runs very well if you look after it (it’s a bit rough and ready as far as diesels go, but easy to work on).

You won’t pay more than £2500 for one, at an estimate.

I was thinking of a tin top Vitara

watch sills for rust. apaprently when it starts they rot through in no time. happened to ours and mechanic said it was coomon with suzuki’s generally, vitaras particularly

+1 for Vitara rust-watch

I had a long wheel base, needed about £500 worth of welding just to pass MOT. So I traded it for a Ka, which two years later needed the same…

Nissan Terrano TDi if you can find one for the price.
My SWB one is 12 years old and has only ever needed the routine brake pads,servicing,tyres etc.
Engine is derived from Japanese taxis and is built to cover mega mileage.Tough as old boots and better to drive than a Daihatsu Fourtrak.

Or, would something like a Subaru Impreza or Legacy suit? 4wd and easily capable of handling farm tracks and fields.

Edit: There’s a bunch available for £1000 on Autotrader, others as well.

2nd the Lada.
Mine was great. There is all the help you will ever need on the web. They are more niche than a niche thing.Good compromise. Excellent off road, nicer than an S3 etc on road. Petrol so easy to fix and tough as hell.
Disco for a grand is possible. Jimny’s are fun but under a grand? Hmm. I like mine. Its relatively civilised.
I have had 6 landrover products as well. The90’s and current 110 are nicer to use than a series but won’t be worth having for £1000. An old Rangerover would be good or the Disco. Had both. Nice on the road but a bit more fiddly than a 90 to fix.
Jap will be more reliable but more expensive to fix.
Avoid any electrics that you can. They will die.

Have look at difflock.com

you will struggle finding a lada niva – most rotted away

I just bought and sold a LWB 1999 trooper 3.5 V6 for around £800 with 12 months mot, and in very clean cond

fourtrack would also be good

You would get a nice cherokee if you can afford to fuel the 4.0 go for it, very very comfy over the rough stuff

avoid landrover stuff, not good enough value for you budget

honda type thing

Not the most off roady but maybe worth a look