Cheapest 4x4 on a budget?

[Grendel]

This sort or thread has probably been done before but can’t find any in the search.

So I was wandering what is the best 4x4 you could buy for under £1000?

It doesn’t have to be pretty but must be road legal and a reasonable drive. Reason for my curiosity is I own a motorcycle and a sports car. I was thinking after changing my job I may no longer need the bike for commuting but don’t want to put lots of miles on the car so the other option is sell bike for £1k and get a everyday vehicle and a cheap 4x4 would seem a bit more fun than a bog standard hatch back.

The list I can think of are:

Vitara (seems cheap but why?)
Pejero (translates in Spanish badly)
Fourtrack (Fairly Old but good engine)
Cherokee (probably too petrol hungry)

 

[havocsdad]

you can pick up a landrover discovery, maybe a bit tatty but the 200tdi engine is pretty robust, and if you're mechanically minded pretty esy to work on and parts are cheap from the specialist suppliers

 

[widu13]

What do you need a fourbe for? Proper stuff or soft roading?

Vitara is okay, can suffer with rust, only petrol engines at that age. Limited axle travel.
Pajero good off roader, well specced but quite juicy- 25 mpg for the diesel. Parts cheap and easy to fix.
Fourtrack, good off roader, brilliant 2.8 diesel engine often transferred to LRs, body and chassis awful- renowned for literally falling apart if not looked after carefully.
Cherokee, good off road, a bit niche and VERY thirsty. 15 mpg tops.

For a grand try a Suzuki SJ series preferably the 413.

 

[Grendel]

Probably use it manly for road as the everyday vehicle and a bit of soft roading since already have too many expensive hobbies to start kitting out a proper off roader. Also would prefur SWB.

Must admit I do like the look of the Rav 4 but not within the £1k budget.

 

[Green Weasel]

Pajero- er yes ,a "handy" little vehicle to be sure

The Suzuki SJs are simple ,reliable and easy to keep on the road (if you know a good welder ) but they are a bit long in the tooth now and tend to get snapped-up and hacked about by off-roaders when they do come up for sale . Not much space in em and not brilliant fuel economy for a small engine in a small vehicle .

Elderly SWB Vitaras are cheap and reliable enough though some of the same comments apply to them as above . Hard-tops for obvious reasons tend to be more rust free than the soft tops and are also more secure if you have tools ,dogs or gear to carry .
I am biased as I've been using a 97 Vitara for the past few years which apart from consumables owes me nothing . Before that I had an SJ. I confess I sold it to an off-roader for more than I'd payed for it four years earlier .
There will always be a market for crashed,bashed ,rusty or blown Vitaras or Sjs so if your under a grand bargain should fail you'll get something back.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

It depends how many miles you would be driving, but if its only a few per day, i'd be tempted by an old early series III land rover, or maybe even a series II. I'm biased becuase i love land rovers, but if you want a fun vehical that you can strip down in the summer for roof and doorless driving, is good off road, and is overall cheap to run, then the land rover may be an option. I have an old series III. The miles per gallon is awful- maybe 12-15. But, i pay a little over £100 per year for fully comp insurance which includes breakdown cover, it is tax exempt, and the parts are very cheap (i.e. £30 for a complete new exhuast system) and easy to work on yourself- even if like me you have no skill!

If you are going to be driving any distance in it though on a regular basis, an old land rover wouldn't be my choice, and as per one of the above posts, i'd go for a early discovery- much better value than a Defender of the same spec, and you should be able to get around 30mpg if you drive it well. Just check the boot floor under the carpet and the rear door as these areas are very prone to corrosion.

Land rovers are exceptionally capable off road as they come- you don't need to start kitting them out with expensive add ons to do some quite extreme off roading!

 

[Manacles]

For cheapest I'd recommend a Suzuki Vitara the old version can be had for next to nought and they are reliable and surprisingly capable on and off road. If your intended mileage is not too high a series 3 Landie is a good bet, easy to work on and cheap parts a go-go, watch out for the fuel bills though.....

PS the Vitara is cheap because it was considered a bit "girlie" in its day, all tosh of course but some people are influenced by sexist twaddle.

 

[789987]

For cheapest I'd recommend a Suzuki Vitara the old version can be had for next to nought and they are reliable and surprisingly capable on and off road. If your intended mileage is not too high a series 3 Landie is a good bet, easy to work on and cheap parts a go-go, watch out for the fuel bills though.....

PS the Vitara is cheap because it was considered a bit "girlie" in its day, all tosh of course but some people are influenced by sexist twaddle.

looks pretty manly to me

 

[Manacles]

looks pretty manly to me

Oooh matron! The saloon version was in black/dark blue or white, best look for one of those colours....

 

[Andy BB]

A cheap 4x4? There is no contest. A Ssangyong/Daewoo Musso (or Korando in the swb version) - the 2.9 diesel, either natural or turbo. An excellent owners club for technical info and parts, an engine/gearbox made/licenced by Mercedes Benz, fully galvanised bodywork and chassis, huge amount of space in Musso boot. And runs on veggie oil without modifying!

 

[789987]

thats one ugly front end though!

 

[Andy BB]

That is true! However, they look a bit better in just one colour......And its primarily that look that contributes to their cheapness. But there is more usable space inside than there is in a Landcruiser, for example.

And at the end of the day they drive much better than a Discovery, return around 30mpg - more if you're easy on the pedal - and the seats fold down into two 7ft beds! We tried this feature out once, and wifey - not known for her love of roughing it - slept 7 straight hours in a French lay-bye and said it was one of the best night's sleep she could remember!

 

[Andy BB]

Here's one - very expensive imo - on ebay at present, but pics give a good idea of space inside these beasties.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-DAEWOO-MUSSO-TD-GREEN-/280664341765?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4158e5fd05

 

[fast but dim]

i've had half a dozen 4x4's in the last few years, only two for under a grand;

i've had a sub 1k SJ, it was an excellent offroader, but terrible on it, noisy, small and impractical. it was however great fun to own and drive.

i replaced it with a swb pajero after doing my homework. I paid a little over the odds for mine, 130k, couple owners, some history, and all the toys for £950. i stuck some tyres on, lifted it 2" (£130) and although it's not as good offroad as the sj it will still go anywhere i want it to:

It's got aircon, e/w, e/m and will sit at 70 all day. plus it went through it's last mot no trouble the kit and build quality is excellent. IMO for a grand you'll struggle to get better than a swb pajero. leave the shoguns (more rust). bear in mind they're small, if you're 4 up there's little room for baggage.

 

[fast but dim]

ps. I suspect the bloke who bought the sj off me would sell it on. Plus, as a serial 4x4 flipper i could also be tempted to sell

 

[neoaliphant]

Does anyone have any experience of the rav4?
Im after a cheap 4x4 as well
i need it for mainly road use, I want a safe vehicle, with good mpg

Al

 

[DaveWL]

You see - I was going to say you should be able to pick up an old but decent Defender for that money.

But just had a browse and buggered if I can find any I'd touch with a barge pole for less that £2K ...

When'd they get that much more expensive ...?

 

[Grendel]

Does anyone have any experience of the rav4?
Im after a cheap 4x4 as well
i need it for mainly road use, I want a safe vehicle, with good mpg

Al

I was wandering the same since would prefer SWB. Apparently they have a 5th gear pop out problem so I’m told?

 

[forestwalker]

I'm going to buy an old ('88) Nissan Terrano for less than the UKP1000 in a few days. They are supposedly quite capable, and ok on road. No greenlaning in Sweden, but sometimes crappy dirt roads (in particular when the loggers have been over them) and in fall sometimes suddenly 20 cm of new snow. So a Land Rover is overkill, but something that can handle *deep* puddles, deep wheel tracks, 10 cm of mud, 20-40 cm of snow is what I want.

 

[Gill]

I can vouch for one of these and they do what they say on the tin fantastic!!!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MITSUBISHI-DE...7508011?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19c57d562b