Softroaders – your thoughts

Part of my job involves tramping up and down forest tracks to a bothy we use, which is putting a bit of strain on our current car; a VW Touran, as it doesn't have the clearance to safely navigate potholes and the like.

As a result we've been looking into getting an older 4x4ish vehicle which has enough room for the 2 dogs and a fair bit of kit, and which isn't a nightmare on the 40 mile road trip that comes before the forest roads. At the moment, I'm between the X Trail, CR-V and Rav 4 in order of preference. I've discounted the Freelander because of the reliability issues, and the Forester because I just don't like it.

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of any of the above 3 cars abilities on wet/slushy/snowy rough trails etc.

Which Forester? The new one is a lot nicer than the old one. My mate who is a forester himself had the same requirements, and he studied all available cars and decided the Forester was best. New shape mind, not the old shape which is gash.

Or the Legacy sounds ideal.

Had an Allroad until recently. **** awesome on snow. Quick (enough), roomy, comfy on road, handled rough stuff very well. Bit thirsty (2.5 V6 TD – 30mpg), but that's to be expected on these things. Can be got for reasonable money now too.

There is also Volvo XC70 if You would consider A6 Allroad or a Legacy Outback or the Suzuki Grand Vitara which is comparable to a Rav 4.

What year Rav 4/X-Trail you looking at? I had a mk. 2 (2000-2006) Rav 4 for just over a year and it was good, never had any problems, pulled nearly a ton of boat no worries. Got it muddy a few times and never had any issues, 4wd system works quite well. Drives well on the road, really comfy and nice to drive. Took tons of stuff in the boot and the rear seats slid forward, and came out really quick if you needed extra space. The 2 litre petrol I had used to average about 28mpg, 32 on a long run and around 25mpg with the boat on and the back of the car rammed with camping gear. I had a look at a few X-Trails but prefered the Toyota.

Lots of nice alternatives, but as I've set myself a budget of £5-6,000 absolute tops, they're a bit out of my league. I'd knocked the Grand Vitara off my list as it doesn't seem to have a great reputation reliability wise – or at least not in the same league as the CR-V and Rav 4.

If I went with looks, I'd go for an X Trail, but I'm a bit nervous of their reliability, especially the diesels, some of which seem to go through turbos and intercoolers like sweeties. Trying to pick one up with a reasonable mileage in central Scotland seems to be next to impossible as well.

I just sold a mint Allroad for £6000 (In Scotland). 2000 model on an 'X', with 99k. Check eBay – they can be had in your budget.

I haven't had much experience of the other 2 but i can highly recommend the X-Trail. Yes the looks are a little, agricultural, but underneath they are great, reliable, handle well on-road and perform extremely well off-road. The diesel engine is a jem in my opinion and they have a pretty good size boot for all the kit.

did about 15,000km is an x-trail it was ok plenty of road noise petrol with a small tank so visited a lot of garages. Not much more room than a large estate car. Was ok off road though as it belonged to the mother in law wasn't allowed to take it on the beach 🙁

Octavia 4×4 – amazing where it will go & great on road performance

I think ground clearance and ruggedness is the issue, rather than 4×4 per se.

Look at the road tax side of things – if our X Trail was a year younger we'd pay £400 a year road tax! It has a good 4wd but isn't that big inside if you want space.

Keep the VW and go get a cheep Landi or Suzuki SJ for the little bit of offroading you are doing

We have a 53 Rav 4 but not the 4WD version, just front wheel. Great car, plenty of space, fuel economy ok and never missed a beat. I occasionally drive an X-trail in work, but prefer the Rav.

I am planning on keeping the VW long term, but the thought of doing 40 miles on the M8 in a Land Rover makes me cringe TBH. I don't want to get anything too crappy looking, as I run my own small business and I don't want to rock up to a group of clients in something that's falling to bits (also don't want to arrive in an X5!)

Forester is an option, although it seems to sit pretty low to the ground, even compared with the Rav 4. Had a look at a couple of them in my price bracket and they don't look as bad as I remember.

Keep the VW and go get a cheep Landi or Suzuki SJ for the little bit of offroading you are doing

+1. No point in saddling yourself with 30mpg just for the odd few hundred yards of track… If that's what it is.

We have an 06 Rav4 and touch wood it has never ever given us a days trouble. Make sure the 60k cambelt service was done and you are good to go. Great car loads of space and great on the motorway. Sounds like just the car you need. We have the 2l Diesel.

I think foresters have more ground clearance than a Rav4…

Might enjoy this

It's about 2 miles of track, badly potholed, and over winter was impossible to get up in the Touran, partly because of grip and partly because everyone else rolls up in 4x4s or minibuses and leaves two deep furrows and a ridge of snow all the way up the track.

Used to do a lot of forest tracks and disused railway lines in an old astra van, not bad as long as you remembered where the sump is. So something van based may give the extra clearance you want, if not the performance. The astra' prowess probably had something to do with its air of disposability though.
Not aware of Vitara issues, know of a company one with intergallactic mileage that gets nothing but abuse.

Subaru Outback if you really don't like the Foresters look. Just a Legacy lifted a bit higher.

2nd the Octavia 4×4. Used one when working in Scotland and it's surprisingly capable off road, handles well on the road and never dropped below 45mpg.

Would a big bag of gravel to fill in the potholes be cheaper? 😉

Just fit spring extenders and the biggest tyres and wheels you can get in there 🙂

The chap who has the Forester previously had a Hilux, of which he got shot because it was too crap on road. That changed to a 4×4 Octavia, which wasn't good enough off road. The Forester seems ideal, and everyone else at his new company has one too.

Beware 2.2 diesel X Trails !!

Mine had a sucession of Turbos and Intercoolers (caused by the hop up/ factory boost to 136hp on the 54> plate mk1 models)

I am a 'forester' to trade and now drive a Freedlander 2, just clocked 105k and never missed a beat.

Cheers

Lots of people round my way are picking up cheap Mitsubishis, Warriors and L200 pickups and the likes for similar duties and hauling bikes/boats etc around. Lots of the 4×4 club run the wee Susi Jimmys/Rhinos.
Something like and old AA/RAC/crewcab style van with rear seats for family?

highlandlogger..heard the Toyota Rav is`nt much better

Found this vid while searching for reviews online.
5th Gear SUV test

I couldn't help but notice the smirk on Vicky Butler Henderson's face when she's discussing/fingering the 'joystick' handbrake during the CR-V roadtest.

Freelanders dont have reliability issues any more than other cars in the TD4 model. The 1.8 petrol version was crap admittedly, but even this can be remedied (if not already sorted under warranty) with a little DIY effort for relative peanuts!!

Bought a 55 plate Hyundai Santa Fe recently, 45mpg, so far handled tracks to telecomms sites well, not the best looking motor but good to drive.

Wanted to get a Terracan but the ones I looked at didn't have 5 full seatbelts!

still running a 2.2 diesel xtrail 135,000 miles no mechanical issues still fine.

Tried Rav's and thought the seats were tiny and had no back support

Mine had a sucession of Turbos and Intercoolers (caused by the hop up/ factory boost to 136hp on the 54> plate mk1 models)

But with a normal driver it would probably be OK?!