Help me choose a 4bie

[Trublusk8er]

After much dreaming, working and saving i finaly have enough money to buy my first car. And i just HAVE to have a 4x4. Have about $12,000 to spend. Done abit of wheeling with mates and the more i do it the more addicted i get.
Heres what im looking for in a 4x4:

I am a hardcore fisherman with a small tinny. So i need a car that can tow my boat on the beach through soft sand. Also am a sponsered sandboarder so i really need a car that can handle bog.
Has to be a deseil.
Want to be able to go through scrub and bush so im gonna wanna give it a lift.
Doesnt mater wether its a tray back or wagon (would like a tray for fishing gear but not priority)
Only needs to be a 2 seater.
Not really look for a rock hopper just sand beast.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Also note i am a total newbie to forbies and cars in general lol

[chimpboy]

I reckon you want a GQ Patrol coil ute.

Jason

[Trublusk8er]

thanks chimpboy.
does it matter what year

[mickyd555]

92 onwards came with coil cab on the ute, but i dont know iff youll get a decent one for $12 000.

[Trublusk8er]

yeah just priced them. and there about $14,000+

[mickyd555]

look at a wagon for now, you can always sell it later and upgrade to a ute.......or do a chop and give yaself a extracab......

[tankekwee1972]

Sold my 1991 GQ TI 4.2 diesel for $10,000 a month ago..... it had 320000K on the clock. It was a 7 seater with full electrics, bullbar, tow bar, UHF, CD player, 5 Motorway MT (85%) on 16" rims and another set of 5 Wrangler A/T (10%) on 15" rims...... It was a good buy for the new owner i must say.

Use the above as a guide and work out what is reasonable for your 12 grand.

[Trublusk8er]

thanks for that. will definatly use that as a guide

[lay80n]

HJ60, tough car that will tow and carry gear. Get a good one and it will last a while too (just watch rust !!) Not the worlds fastest car, but will go pretty craazy places without much work, carry big loads and is reliable doing it. Will fit in ya price catagory and maybe leave room for descent rubber and maybe a lift. While a wagon, it can be made into a ute too, or look for a 75 series ute too. Just a though too.
Layto....

[ISUZUROVER]

Land Rover Defender 300Tdi 110 ute (1995-2000).
Land Rover Defender 300Tdi 130 ute (1995-2000).
Land Rover 120" ute with factory 3.9 ISUZU diesel engine (not easy to find) - (1986-1990).
Land Rover Defender 200Tdi 110 ute (1992-1995) - but make sure the gearbox is good.

They have an aluminium body, so as long as you keep the chassis, door frames and firewall rustproofed you will have no rust problems. And though some people may complain about the driving position, IMO they are more comfortable than a hilux, cruiser or a patrol.

The 130 and 120 utes both have an enormous tray (130 has 1.5 tonne capacity). Engines are reliable (especially ISUZU), the 200/300Tdi can be easily tweaked for free, and the ISUZU can be fitted with a turbo.

[-Mick-]

ifs hilux. Bit of comfort (relative ) plenty of storage etc, diesel, will tow a tinny happily and plenty of bits available

[Trublusk8er]

Thanks very much for the help guys. All very usefull
Would your recomendations change if i wasnt looking at a ute.
Just i thought that i utre would be light and therefore better in the sand. But have heard that this may not be the case as the bigger 4x4 have bigger engines witch compensate this

[Trublusk8er]

Went around the local caresales places and saw 4 nissan teranos.
3: 1990 models (all autos)
1: 1993

None were over $10,000 the the higest Km was 173,376 on the 1993 model (even though some car salesmen wind the clock back).

I have heard a few bad things about them but they are very cheap considering they are a turbo desiel.

Just wanted to know whether these would be any good on the boggy beach

[Dee]

ifs hilux. Bit of comfort (relative ) plenty of storage etc, diesel, will tow a tinny happily and plenty of bits available

we have a dual cab tray back hilux, and i have a patrol, and i can tell you now that the bit of comfort does not come from the hilux. i even have heavy duty suspension in the patrol and its comfort rating kills the hilux tenfold.

If you read a few fourby mags, you will find they talk about make/models quite a bit in there.
A month or two back i think one did a "top ten buy" guide for 4x4s... GQ patrol was number one.

and, basically the type of rig for what you want is a GQ patrol. hands down.

if you wanted something more beginner, easier to mod, trail type offroader thing then some/most may say a zuk. but you want to tow, beach drive etc so i wouldnt even look past the mighty patrol...

[-Mick-]

we have an ifs lux for work and its pretty good. The solid axle fronts are rough for sure but I rate the ifs versions as all rounders

[crispy zook]

there is a really nice serria ute in the 4 sale section

got every thing bar the desiel n only 6 grand

[holeyhardtop]

a search will reveal that a GQ is your friend, best of the bunch for reliability and purchasing power.

[munga]

could also buy a tidy mq patrol (3.3 diseasel) for about half or even a quarter of your price ceiling.
pisses on a 60 for value if youre looking for a beach basher to weekend with your mates in.

[flame suit status: ON ]