OP, I’d be interested in the Legacy to send to Ukrain as a first responder vehicle when you come to sell.
Thanks

You all slag me off everytime I mention my choice. Series 5 L200 Mits. I love it and had an earlier L200 for 13 years before.

No slagging here, that’s what I was going to say. I’m surrounded by farms and every single farmer has a 4×4 pickup of some flavour so there must be something in that. I had one of the previous shape models for a few years and aside from fuel consumption it was tremendous. Especially useful in the bad winter in 2017/2018 when the village was effectively snowed in, I was pulling cars out of ditches and doing shopping runs into St Andrews for the neighbours no problem.

We bought a new Discovery 3 in 2005, and ran it for about 225,000 miles until it died.
It was a great family car, but very expensive to run.
We replaced it with a nearly new Dsicovery Sport (65 plate), which was much nicer to drive, and had plenty of room inside. However the rearmost seats were not terribly comfortable for the children.
The DS got much better consumption (45 vs 30 mpg approx).
The DS had a huge amount go wrong with it, and we got rid about 18 months ago (approx 120,000 miles).
We’d have kept it until it died, except that it kept going wrong.
The EGR went, then the DPF.
The steering column collapsed (£3k) and it took a year to get LR to warranty it.

I still miss my LR90 though. If they weren’t so unbelievably overpriced I’d have one as a resto 2nd car.

We looked at an Evoque but reading the owners forum with all the oil change issues and sagging leather seats scared me to death, so we didn’t even get to a test drive.
Q5 or Tiguan, I currently have the new Q3 and its a great car.
4X4 for mud or snow? winter tires do a great job in snow.

Get a Land Rover/Range Rover if you want to go to remote places and break down there. Or possibly on the way there. Or possibly before you start.

Get an Evoque if you want to do all of the above but dont like to be able to see out of the car or put anything in it.

My twopenneth: Second-hand Honda CRV SE in 4wd flavour. Big, comfy, well built, well spec’d and capable. CRV’s are not hugely exciting but provided its been serviced and the brakes and clutch are ok, it should be a decent car for what the OP is looking for.

Anything from JLR will be a reliability lottery. Expensive if you lose.

Berlingo with winter tyres?

We had a couple of Evoques and Discovery Sports at work. None made it to 3 years, let alone the 6/7 years most vehicles are kept. Just not worth the reliability hassle.

My Dad had two Evoque’s.  Great for cruising on the motorway, heading out for lunch etc – terrible the rest of the time.  If we went camping with them and their dog, we’d normally have to take half their stuff in our van as the back is stupidly small!  Avoid.

I had a Mitsu Outlander for a couple of months while my ASX was being rebuilt at the beginning of this year and I think it’d be perfect for what you’re after.

Loads of space, very comfortable on long journeys, easy to drive and manoeuvre in tight traffic and the AWD set-up worked perfectly when I needed it.

Did motorways, country lanes, low level off-road (farm type environment – I work at a land based college) without missing a beat and as my first experience of a hybrid I wouldn’t hesitate in getting one as my next car.

If dogs are going inside and bikes outside consider the height.

Any person with their priorities the right way round would put the bikes inside and the dogs on the roof…

I’ve got a Volvo XC60 2.4 D4. Lovely and comfy. 46mpg, loads of boot space.

My OH loves LR’s, and has had two.

Both from new through to 110k and the second to 80k – both went pop (torque converter in the first, turbo in the second).

She’s in a Kia Sportage now, coming up to 4 years – she has horses and tows a lot – the only thing she hates about the Kia is the badge.

And our eldest fixes them for a living, Manager at a LR Specialist where it’s notable that none of them actually own any JLR cars…

It’s a real shame, as they are really nice cars to be in, and drive – just that we want to own them past the end of the warranty.

To be honest I’d steer clear of all modern Land Rovers. Most of my friends with them have found them to be nothing but trouble reliability-wise. And they’re not cheap to fix.

Subaru Forester

Bombproof 4×4 Estate.

Land Rover Discovery. TDV6. Worst car ive ever had.

Ate wheel bearings & driveshafts. Air compressor went. So did the fuel pump. The gearboz (auto) was a problem too.
I have and Isuzu Trooper which i called my Land Rovers special tool, because it had to tow it more often than not.

Dont buy a Land Rover/Range Rover, theyre at the bottom of reliability league tables for a reason.

However when it did work, it was good to drive! 😀 buy something other than a LR, like others mentioned above.

Long term landy lover, but echo all comments. Have owned several defenders and latterly a FL2. When you reckon the FL2 was the most reliable and cheapest fix, eek.

Just bought a Toyota highlander. Very happy with it.

Just bought a Toyota highlander. Very happy with it.

Never heard of them – is there only one?

I’m a part time postman and all roads on my route are single track with passing places. I’ve come to assume that Land Rovers have appalling gearbox failures as almost everyone I encounter can’t select reverse gear, will blo through a passing place and fail to move back 6 inches 😜

Regards big 4×4 on snow and ice.
My experience was they went very well. Stopping the humongous things however was less successful.
Three times my little Yaris came to a rapid stop on winter tyres, while I watched a 110, 130 or Patrol slide neatly into the ditch alongside me.
Mind, they could drag their dented body out of the ditch well.

Imo, on road or gentle tracks, something like an Alltrack/Scout/XC60 is better than a full gnar-machine.

And I too have relatives who’s Evoque (white paint and leather, natch) had total electrical failure in the fast lane of the motorway, and thier replacement 72plate Disco Sport has now spent 3 weeks in the dealers, and they swapped the loaner new Defender as that developed an airbag fault…

@the-muffin-man good point.

There is nowhere in Wales where you need a 4×4 or SUV unless you own land or need to leave the road for work, etc. There are a few BOATs that get you nowhere really useful but otherwise if you have got stuck in the mud you have probably left the public road. I suspect the same is true for most of Scotland.

Having had (so far) very good experiences with the other halves late model FL2, considered a Disco Sport. Was very much put off by huge amounts of negative comments about the reliability of the newer 2.0 diesel engine on newer ones (they did have the 2.2 earlier, but wanted a newer vehicle). After a lot of shopping about, I went for a Mazda CX-5 with the 2.2d – well built, drives nice, really happy actually. Contrary to some comments about not needed 4×4, well i guess yeah that’s right, but when you live rural and encounter lanes covered and mud and other crap, then it is very nice to have the additional security of 4WD.

Disco sport, early 2.2’s are a great engine but early build cars are plagued by electrical faults as is Land Rover tradition. The 2 litre diesels are a bit more sorted as cars, but the engines have got huge oil contamination issues. Wouldn’t touch with yours.

We’ve got a kodiaq 4×4 with the 150bhp petrol engine. It’s quite nice but when someone caved the door in and it was off being mended I got the use of a bmw m340i xDrive estate. Oh that was nice. Get one of those.

Contrary to some comments about not needed 4×4, well i guess yeah that’s right, but when you live rural and encounter lanes covered and mud and other crap, then it is very nice to have the additional security of 4WD.

4wd is great for getting going and making progress.

The extra weight of these vehicles means stopping is much harder on slick surfaces than with smaller and therefore lighter cars.
Tyres have a much greater benefit, and you can get 4wd ‘normal’ size and weight cars.

These big cars are less secure and safe for road use, even in bad weather.

What a ‘full size’ and ‘full on’ 4wd brings is proper off road ability and ground clearance. Something just not needed for UK rural roads.

absolutely agree – i also have a big lump of a pathfinder, with a small rear towing lift and proper ATs (not muds tho), which we use for towing a digger and other crap around. That is a total pig for normal driving, even on ‘degraded’ and crappy roads, and you need to apply for permission to stop well in advance. For our normal day to day around here (rural Devon) the CX-5 (and the old FL2) seems pretty much spot on to be honest – it’s relatively light in the grand scheme of SUV type things at 1700kg, its big enough to be a family car, it’s got enough clearance for getting into lumpy gate holes for single lane passing and its got a sort of electronic faux ‘off-road’ mode in the traction control which is just about good enough to pull you out of said gate holes when they’re muddy. Probably going to put some very mild ATs on it for the winter. But in short, i’m definitely a proponent of 4WD in whatever vehicle – i just think it’s safer.

I live in very rural Norfolk, we joke that if you own the farming estate you drive a Subaru or Volvo, if you work on the estate you drive a Ford, Mitsubushi or Isuzu 4×4, if you’re the land owners wife and are dropping kids to school you drive a Land Rover….

Thanks all, some really good input and lots to think about. Much appreciated.

Some test drives are in order, for sure.

@thebrick

There (sic) usually fit a pretty big prick inside

Is the ‘b’ in your username meant to be a ‘p’?

As mentioned earlier, with all the stories of unreliability I found this list interesting, especially as the perennial STW favourite the Octavia is allegedly more problematic.

https://www.whatcar.com/news/25-most-unreliable-cars/n24146?utm_source=sfmc&utm_term=StoryButtonOne&utm_content=13902&utm_id=ba66f408-7e6d-41c8-8a10-1daaa4928113&sfmc_id=36037551&sfmc_activityid=34182223-de7b-44c7-a308-3002be7fe58d&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_22_10_2022

There are some interesting entries there, thanks.

When it comes to new cars, it really does seem that, in particular, Hyundai and Kia are rightly building a huge following.

As a petrolhead, this is a hugely fascinating time.

So I went for a wildcard – a Renegade Desert Hawk.

A better reliability rating than anything LR. The boot is plenty big enough for the two dogs.

I’ve put a cargo rack on to carry camping gear and/or general holiday gear. I found an excellent outdoor company who specialise in wet/diving gear so I’ve bought suitably waterproof duffels and boxes for said rack.

I had a Jeep Patriot a few years back and had kept the Thule foot-pack and bars. So that saved a few quid too.

The Jeep comes with a detachable towbar – with electrics – so I can utilise the Buzzrack that I already own.

The Desert Hawk has a 2in lift from the factory. I picked it up in Horsham. Drove down to Hove. Then made the trek to the Peak District.

There’s far less roll that the Navara that I had a couple of years back. It’s a very pleasant place to be whilst you wait for protesters to f*ck off.

Overall I’m incredibly happy. And yes, I have actually *needed* to get it muddy already…

Curveball… Subaru outback 2.0 diesel

4×4, roomy, ground clearance but not massive tyres, reasonable mpg, solid build quality, good to drive.

I find mine cheap to run/maintain.

my outback diesel has been many things. Cheap to run isn’t one of them. Although the goodwill short block replacement at 120k (£7k repair) from Subaru meant it is still on the road at 160k and passed its last MOT with only two bulbs out.

I was gutted trading my Legacy in for the Jeep. It was on 158k miles and going strong.

Basically an Outback.

But needs must, and all that.

Renegade Desert Hawk.

A what??? {Google’s} – oh yeah wife’s friend has a blue one, lives at the end of a rutted bumpy lane and doesn’t drive it slowly, it’s been a good car for them.

Must admit that I was impressed by this.

I’ll never use the car like that, at all. But I enjoyed the video nonetheless.

You mean a pointless bit of vandalism, filmed by a camera tilted on its side, that is of no relevance to anyone who wants to get from a to b in Wales?

It’s strange how all the trees and shrubs grow out at an almost 90* angle. 😉

Probably a heavily modified/bodged driveline as well.

There are *very* few SUVs/OffRoaders that will genuinely do that unless they have been tweaked. Heavily.

A JLR product out of warranty? 😵