which 4x4 is the best

[donald9826]

I have about about $20 000 budget to buy a 4x4 and was wondering if you guy's would recomend a forby, i don' t have any 4wd experience and something for beach and bush would be good.
i am thinking of a 2001 land rover discovery 2.5-litre TD5 at this stage.

thanks
don

[Tangles]

dont do it youll get addicted like the rest of us ,,, no seriously you cant go wrong with a Patrol, Landcruiser or Pajero.. i dont know about discoveries... suggest you check out the forums re reliability or issues on any of them and make up your mind.
One thing, id buy something cheaper and put 6k into accessories like tyres/suspension/recovery gear etc so its specd up for what you want... id get an older patrol or Landcruiser myself for 10-14k and spend rest on accessories, tats my advice

mike

[Leigh77]

All depends on how serious you want to get with your 4wd-ing. If you are happy to leave it relatively stock standard then for $20000 you could get a nice 80 series, Hilux or GU Patrol.

But as Igusto said, you could always look at getting something a little cheaper which leaves a budget for mods (tyres/suspension and so on.)

Take your time and test drive as many vehicles as you can. Even if you spend a day travelling the car yards "pretending to be interested" just so you get to test drive each brand of vehicle.

Find the one thats right for you...as you are the one thats going to drive it.

[Poodroo]

Most 4wd's are good but only limited to the driver ability. Only thing I can say about the Discovery is they are a good 4wd and reliable but more costly than most on repairs apparently. I have been on many 4wd trips with others and can honestly say that they all perform great these days. I have nothing against Toyotas, Nissan, Holden, or Mitsubishi but can only speak on experience with the Pajeros. My wife and I own two Pajeros and neither of them I can fault with regards to performance. Mine has the 3.0 litre V6 in it and has reasonable economy and performance for a 4wd and the wife's has the larger 3.5 litre V6 coupled with an auto gearbox. The 3.5 litre provides loads more grunt but the economy is substituted somewhat. The thing is it is ultimately your decision and what you like in the end. When you ask the question about what 4wd is the best 9 times out of 10 you will get a biased opinion ie: Nissan drivers will say Nissans are best, Toyota drivers will beg to differ etc. Good luck and feel free once you have purchased your 4wd to give us a PM and we can organize an outing to up your experience in it.

Regards,

Poodroo

[kingtin]

Dunno a lot about 4bys but this is my laymans observations.

I have an 89 Pajero and a 99 Prado and both have handled offroad well. If I had the choice at the time, I would have gone a later model Paj instead of the Prado. The Prado guzzles juice, particularly when towing, and although it can pull more weight then the Paj, it doesn't like uphill at all and I'm often in 2nd with the Prado whereas the Paj would take it comfortably in 3rd.

I also find that when slowing at red lights, if there's any ruts in the tarmac then the Prado grabs at 'em and doesn't come to a halt as smoothly. That may just be the tyres though (BFG) as I've had the vehicle checked out and it's ok. It certainly doesn't handle as well as the Paj, even though the Paj is a lot older.

The paj is on it's 3rd engine btw and nobody could give me a reason why they blew. The first time was around 20000ks and I have a feeling that despite being told differently by the seller, that the timing belt had never been changed at 150000.

kev

[whynott]

Can't go past a G.U. Patrol

[BenDover]

I Had a 99 hilux, then a cruiser for 3 years. But can honestly say patrol for comfort and reliability wins hands down. But power wise they are crapppp!!! If your serious about 4wding then anything with a live axle front is tough... Namely cruiser or patrol. Anything else with out live front, brakes and bends under tough conditions.
But most mid range 4wd's are good for road, beach and low grade hills.
And poodroo, drop me a line when your 4x4ing next, have to test the new donk out after its run in. Do you guys run lockers, winches and extreme tyres?
BD

[QldKev]

I paid (just over your budget) $22,500 (inc transfers) for my 100 series TD. Love every moment of it. It already had steps/bullbars/tow. I added CouplerTec and CB. Shop around there are a few good buys out there. Now for some decent rubber

PS. Its actually grey, just looks white in the pic as I had just got back from 4wd'ing

[Poodroo]

I Had a 99 hilux, then a cruiser for 3 years. But can honestly say patrol for comfort and reliability wins hands down. But power wise they are crapppp!!! If your serious about 4wding then anything with a live axle front is tough... Namely cruiser or patrol. Anything else with out live front, brakes and bends under tough conditions.
But most mid range 4wd's are good for road, beach and low grade hills.
And poodroo, drop me a line when your 4x4ing next, have to test the new donk out after its run in. Do you guys run lockers, winches and extreme tyres?
BD

I will give you a call when the original donk decides it wants to give up but 362,000 klms on and still no signs of tiring. I guess I can't complain about that really as I am getting my monies worth out of it.

Kev I guess it sounds like you too are pretty happy with the Pajero's performance. Mine is a 1993 model and the wife's is a 1995 model and both are giving a flawless innings.

Poodroo

[finding_time]

Nissan drivers will say Nissans are best, Toyota drivers will beg to differ etc. Good luck and feel free once you have purchased your 4wd to give us a PM and we can organize an outing to up your experience in it.

Regards,

Poodroo

In this case it's very easy to tell who is telling the truth................the ones that say Nissans are the best are the truthful ones!!!!

[finding_time]

Seriously though if i was looking for a good 4x4 ( not a mums taxi) the things i would want are.

Live axles first and formost!!!! Anything with IFS can be left off the list, its fairly hopeless as it has limited up travel and no drop if wound up and is only there for road comfort eg mums taxi.

Strong drive train. because if you break something here it expensive.

Good supply of aftermarket extra's eg suspension, lockers,differant gears.

So we have culled the list and are left with in your price range, toyota 80 series, nissan GQ and maybe GU's, and landrover county's and discos and some of the jeeps( disco's and jeeps do have a few reliability issues though)

Ian

Ps. i say again the above list is for good vehicles that can be turned into great 4x4's but if you just want a beach vehicle or a rig that will get you from the curb to a picnic table , most will fit your needs.

PPs. and before all you pajero boy's jump down my throat ,next time we do a trip if i can find a nice bit of track i'll show you what i mean

[Poodroo]

Well Ian I went back to Mt.Mee and did "The Hill" not once but twice in the Pajero so it isn't that bad a 4wd. But as I said earlier I'd be happy with a Nissan, Toyota, and most 4wd's for that matter. At least I am a non-biased Pajero driver.

Poodroo

[finding_time]

Poodroo

While that hill is the best bit of terrain on that track, it's not really what i'm talking about it's probably going to take a demo to show you what i mean. I really do think it's about time we organized a weekend away to somewhere like

www.levuka.com.au

This is a great camping area and has some good tracks, if it's been raining it has some impossible tracks as well another option would be Mountain View 4x4 park down toward Beaudesert.

I think we should organize a M/G at levuka awesome place


Ian

or www.levuka.com.au/4wd.htm it really is this pretty

[BenDover]

Hey poodroo, I ment my new donk mate... We should all take our 4x4's to the local compton rd tracks or even ormeau tracks. (none of this sunday driving stuff)Everybody who's interested can come (especially those who are looking to buy their first 4x4) would be a big eye opener. All 4bies welcome, and put them all through there paces. Make the hills tougher and tougher and see who makes the last extreme hill. But i garantee some trucks wont even make it off the road and over the bolders into the tracks!!! They will be parking and walking
I will be missings a front locker and winch but ill be the official recovery vechile
BD

[finding_time]

Hey poodroo, I ment my new donk mate... We should all take our 4x4's to the local compton rd tracks or even ormeau tracks. (none of this sunday driving stuff)Everybody who's interested can come (especially those who are looking to buy their first 4x4) would be a big eye opener. All 4bies welcome, and put them all through there paces. Make the hills tougher and tougher and see who makes the last extreme hill. But i garantee some trucks wont even make it off the road and over the bolders into the tracks!!! They will be parking and walking
I will be missings a front locker and winch but ill be the official recovery vechile
BD

Not a great idea Ben there's just to much damage to be done in those places if you not 100% sure what your doing or feeling pressure from the crowd, but yes i would be a real eyeopener( i'm not trying to be condecending but most of it's fairly extreme.) Lots of ROCK too

Ian