The best 4 x 4 to start off with?

[Irish Rover]

Hi All,

I am guessing that ye folks might get this all the time, so yes another newbee seniors!

I am a new kid in town when it comes to 4x4's. I am currently living in Australia and want to clock up some mileage exploring this fascinating country.
There is great off road country all over so im thinking it would be great to get my hands on a 4x4. I have driven 2 before and enjoyed the experience greatly.
The trouble i am having is knowing which make yr and price is good? I am willing to spend between 15-20k Aud.
Can anybody recommend a good starter 4bee or point me in the right direction? All comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Irish Rover

[known 2]

tough question, do u mainly want it for traveling, touring our country?.
most makes and models will do this for u, but if ur after a larger 4wd, look at the late GQ or early GU patrolls. or 80 seresi landcruisers. both make great tourers. and deisel will give u far better range. Or if u want a bit more comfort check out later model pajero's in that price range. u get more for ur money. though if u plan to go wheeling the 4wd parks and tougher tracks. aswell as travel. stick with a patroll or criuser.

[DamTriton]

First a few questions...

How much on road/off road do you intend to do?

"Serious" 4WDing or made/dirt roads only? Towing a van?

Budget for fuel? Do you mind 22 mpg, 15l/100km, 7km/l, remembering that Australia is bloody big, 4000km around the coast of one state! (WA), probably about 18000km around Oz and that is without touring any of the interior. People take years to go around on "the big trip", as it's known. Definitely not a "couple of months touring..." to see everything in Oz.

What size vehicle and how many travelers with you?

Gut instinct is to recommend a Nissan GQ wagon or Ute, or Toyota Landcruiser, preferably in diesel (both about 4.2 litres). Well known, spares everywhere and a good basic mechanical package.

[Suspension Stuff]

Same as above. It will be different for other countries but for Australia I suggest a GQ Patrol. Spend way under your budget so you can afford to put heaps of goodies on your truck. It would be even better to buy a Patrol that has all the goods already in it.

If you have 15-20 grand to pay for the rig plus accessories then the direct injected late model 80 series would have to go in the short list with the Patrol.

Shane

[jonamaphone1]

for 15 - 20grand, dont buy a GQ patrol (older about 1989 - 1998), yes they are a tuff truck, but if you are going to be doing alot of traveling then stick with the nicer interior of a GU patrol or a 80 series landcruiser. diesel is more economical UNLESS you can find a petrol model on gas. just remember you cant buy gas in the outback so i would definately go a diesel.

when you buy your 4wd, take it to a mechanic and get them to at least change the oil and filter and have a VERY GOOD LOOK at everthing else.
make sure you tell them where you are intending to take it!

after saying all that there are companys that hire out 4wds to people going touring. it would save you alot of this hassle and definately $$$.

[zagan]

buy something sold in Australia, don't buy an import it'll be dearer fix up/parts wise and be harder to get special extras as well.

[V8 Rangie]

I reckon a Disco TD5 would be the best. Nice to drive.. they do under 10L/100k (or 16L/100 for the 4.0 V8) and come standard with all the comforts. Offroad a Stock Disco will eat a Stock GU or 100 series anyday.

As for parts.. Landrover dealers are in each capital city of Aust.. would take 1-2 days to get anything anywhere?? dunno why everyone has a go at rovers for being hard to get parts would be the same for anything??

Discos are so common these days.. TJM, ARB make all the accessories for them

Personal preference though. Take them all for a drive and that will make your mind up very quick

Camo

[V8 Rangie]

PS not having a go at Jap 4x4's ( I like their diffs :-) )

Ive had landcruisers.. but personally would prefer to take a rover around Australia

[Harrow]

for 15 - 20k you could get a nice 80 Series landcruiser coumfy and for that money you could pick something up that is already set up for touring.

[Suspension Stuff]

I reckon a Disco TD5 would be the best. Nice to drive.. they do under 10L/100k (or 16L/100 for the 4.0 V8) and come standard with all the comforts. Offroad a Stock Disco will eat a Stock GU or 100 series anyday.

As for parts.. Landrover dealers are in each capital city of Aust.. would take 1-2 days to get anything anywhere?? dunno why everyone has a go at rovers for being hard to get parts would be the same for anything??

Discos are so common these days.. TJM, ARB make all the accessories for them

Personal preference though. Take them all for a drive and that will make your mind up very quick

Camo

I would get a Disco but it is harder to fit bigger tyres on it which may or may not be a problem for you. For me this wasn't a problem because I am friendly with my grinder but the diffs axles wouldn't survive a 33" tyre the way I would want to drive it.

The other reason is the high roof. It is hard to get a full length rack up there. I have seriously considered chopping a roof so it was level.

Disco's also won't fit quite as much gear.

The Disco Series 2 would have to be the pick. I don't think any other Rover would be reliable enough for where you are going and yes you would save a packet on fuel.

If you do go for the GU it can only be a 4.2 Litre, don't consider a 3.0L.

Shane

[ddr]

buy something sold in Australia, don't buy an import it'll be dearer fix up/parts wise and be harder to get special extras as well.

Dont listen to crap like this. People love spouting this line which is in most cases a mass over exaggeration of reality.

[Suspension Stuff]

buy something sold in Australia, don't buy an import it'll be dearer fix up/parts wise and be harder to get special extras as well.

Dont listen to crap like this. People love spouting this line which is in most cases a mass over exaggeration of reality.

I had something go wrong with my 80 series at Alice Springs. They had the part on the shelf. If it were anything else bar a Patrol I am sure I would have spent an extra week or maybe more in Alice Springs. Invariably things do go wrong so I think this is a factor.

Shane

[ddr]

buy something sold in Australia, don't buy an import it'll be dearer fix up/parts wise and be harder to get special extras as well.

Dont listen to crap like this. People love spouting this line which is in most cases a mass over exaggeration of reality.

I had something go wrong with my 80 series at Alice Springs. They had the part on the shelf. If it were anything else bar a Patrol I am sure I would have spent an extra week or maybe more in Alice Springs. Invariably things do go wrong so I think this is a factor.

Shane

What your saying is NOT what he is saying. Your saying that anything other than a Patrol or Cruser would struggle to find parts in out of the way places. He is saying that things like a Surf, Terrano, Early Prado is hard to find parts for anywhere, which isnt true.

While parts for these vehicles & other non common 4wd's in outback towns may find it harder to get parts thats common sense. Im sure that in Weipa youd struggle to get parts for a HSE Range Rover v8Tdi which is an Australian Released car, just as you would most cars not common in the area. But its not true to say that parts for a Surf etal cant be had easily or mostly as readily available as most other vehicles.

[stilivn]

Mate if its a tough truck you want go a 80 series turbo diesel, cheaper on petty than a petrol one and alot more capability, very nice interior too, might take some time to track one down for 20 grand but will prob find its got all you need.

[zagan]

buy something sold in Australia, don't buy an import it'll be dearer fix up/parts wise and be harder to get special extras as well.

Dont listen to crap like this. People love spouting this line which is in most cases a mass over exaggeration of reality.

I had something go wrong with my 80 series at Alice Springs. They had the part on the shelf. If it were anything else bar a Patrol I am sure I would have spent an extra week or maybe more in Alice Springs. Invariably things do go wrong so I think this is a factor.

Shane

What your saying is NOT what he is saying. Your saying that anything other than a Patrol or Cruser would struggle to find parts in out of the way places. He is saying that things like a Surf, Terrano, Early Prado is hard to find parts for anywhere, which isnt true.

While parts for these vehicles & other non common 4wd's in outback towns may find it harder to get parts thats common sense. Im sure that in Weipa youd struggle to get parts for a HSE Range Rover v8Tdi which is an Australian Released car, just as you would most cars not common in the area. But its not true to say that parts for a Surf etal cant be had easily or mostly as readily available as most other vehicles.

I own a Terrano, the rear axle completely fucked up.

$900 to fix 2 weeks in the workshop

and lucky to find another good wrecker axle after ringing 4 wreckers, it actually has a 2003 pathfinder rear axle bearing because they couldn't get another bearing from nissan for it.

The bearings in the wrecker axle were also burned out so no good to anyone anyway

This is in the city.

The orginal quote was $240 to get both rear bearings done, this jumped to $500 once they seen it was a Terrano, the parts and lack of parts to get pushed it up from there.

That's why I say stick to something sold in Australia, because if your out in whoopie-doo and something does break don't expect it fixed anytime soon and will cost you a hell of a lot more than what it'd cost to fix a land crusier or a patrol or hilux etc.

A surf might get by without major problems but it was also sold in Australia,

the Terrano wasn't so parts can only come from nissan and they don't go out of their way to stock them plus there's so few in the wreckers and depending on what your wanting, you might not be able to get a part from a wrecker in the first place, there's also no 3rd party Terrano parts either so you have to pay top price for the smallest of parts simply because your forced into buying from nissan.

Your little thing about the range rover... yeah sure the workshop might not have the parts but at least you can get range rover to send parts over to you so the problem is fixedin a few days.

instead of having to ring around 10 different places and hoping you get sent something you can use.

It's simply a word of advice, I'm not forcing people to only buy patrols or land crusiers.

I do like the Terrano it's pretty damn good just can't break it.

[Irish Rover]

First a few questions...

How much on road/off road do you intend to do?

"Serious" 4WDing or made/dirt roads only? Towing a van?

Budget for fuel? Do you mind 22 mpg, 15l/100km, 7km/l, remembering that Australia is bloody big, 4000km around the coast of one state! (WA), probably about 18000km around Oz and that is without touring any of the interior. People take years to go around on "the big trip", as it's known. Definitely not a "couple of months touring..." to see everything in Oz.

What size vehicle and how many travelers with you?

Gut instinct is to recommend a Nissan GQ wagon or Ute, or Toyota Landcruiser, preferably in diesel (both about 4.2 litres). Well known, spares everywhere and a good basic mechanical package.

Hi

Firstly, Thanks everybody for the feedback.

Secondly i will go into a few more details.

I intend touring a lot, so a large comfortable interior, reasonably fuel efficient and reliable would be good. I live in Brissy fulltime so there is plenty of Islands and country to see to start me off. I would like to get into hardcore offroading but would like to start on the basic package so i have the knowledge to handle the basics first.

Please share your thoughts on a recommended make or model

Thanks again!
IR

[bogged]

Please share your thoughts on a recommended make or model

How long are you here for? 12 mths? life? would make a difference to me what you should get.

how tall are you? How many people? how much shit? how long trips? Day trips, or you wanna do a lap of the map ni one go??
So many questions, but more info will give a better idea on what you should get.

If you wanna start of touring, there are any of a dozen rigs that would suit, and you dont need to spend big coin on any of htem to make good tourers.
GQ, Jackaroo, 80, Pajero, breadbox and the list goes on and on...

I'd look for something that is already setup, www.exploroz.com.au and the trader section maybe a good place to start.

But if you wanna go hard core, Qld makes it harder to mod rigs and rego or drive on road legally compared to other states.. All this will change in the year 3937 when these new regs come in (sarcasm), but for now, I'd go and drive a lot of cars and see what you fit in, and what you like.

Anyway, give as much info, and pics of ya missus to make the question easier to answer..

[coxy321]

As for parts.. Landrover dealers are in each capital city of Aust.. would take 1-2 days to get anything anywhere?? dunno why everyone has a go at rovers for being hard to get parts would be the same for anything??

Parts shouldn't be an issue. From what gather, most mechanic/4x4 shops have complete spare parts cars sitting out the back.

Seriously, for $20k max, i'd go a late Nissan Patrol GQ 4.2 turbo diesel, or a Toyota Landcruiser 80 Series 4.2 turbo diesel. Manual of course. Great tourers, can be built super tuff (well, the Patrol can anyway), plenty of room, very capable, no issues with spare parts. Do yourself a favour and find one that has all/most of the usual 4x4 accesories already fitted to it - otherwise Mr.ARB and Mrs. TJM will be more than happy to chomp into the remaining money you have.

Most importantly - HURRY UP AND GET YOUR ARSE INTO A 4X4 AND SEE OUR GREAT COUNTRY!!!! TELL YOUR GUINESS DRINKIN' BUDDIES ALL ABOUT IT!!!!

Good luck,

Coxy

[coxy321]

Or being from Ireland, you could travel the whole country, then buy a 4x4 just before you jump on the plane back home....... just a passing thought.



Coxy