4x4

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ohboy

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hubby has finally agreed i can look at 4x4's, but need advice on which ones to look at, i love the disco but he's heard some bad things about them, so im asking you guys for your help please which one do you have and how good is it? would need to tow a 16.2 and 13.2 price range up to £5000 many thanks
 
I've got a kia sorento, not had for long but so far impressed. Its not a 'prestige' make but means you can pick up a much newer model for the £s. I've also had good towing from older Grand Cherokee and Isuzu Trooper. These were both petrol and mega thirsty, but very powerful. The kia is slightly better on fuel but not much....nothing will be economical!!
 
I would recommend the kia sorento as well, you'll get a good 04 or so plate for £5k.

Go for an automatic xs. The auto is VERY good for towing (ours is a manual, and it's good, but i have a few friends withthe auto and they rave about theirs)
the XS, rather than the XE gives you the leather seats and aircon etc and it won't cost you any extra.

It won what towcar of the year a few years running and it's one of the most economical full size 4x4's you'll find.
 
I have a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee (there was a model change that year and mine is the newer one) which cost me £3k, and which I think is just fabulous. It is much more 'car-like' to drive than most 4x4s, but is great off road and tows really well. I went for a petrol engine and converted it to run on LPG (cost of £1.5k) - big petrol cars are much much cheaper to buy than their diesel equivalents (because they are normally sooo much more expensive to run), but on LPG mine costs about the same to run as my old diesel estate car even though it has an insanely large 4.7litre engine!

My husband is a big car buff and chose the Jeep as being the most modern and reliable car we could get for our £3-4k budget. Discos are notoriously unreliable, so we stayed well clear of them. We would ideally have loved a Land Cruiser, as these are fab, but they are ££££, so we could only have afforded an ancient one on our budget.

Hope some of that helps. Good luck with your search!
 
can't say whether the kia sorento are good at towing but have maximum towing weight of 2,800kg whereas a discovery can tow 3,500kg
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I had a disco & loved it. Been without one for a few years & looking again now. As with all cars you get good/bad ones. I had mine 4 years & it NEVER broke down in the whole of that time.
 
I have a 2006 discovery 3 HSE & i must boast that it just fab
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It was bought for towing my mare, although i have not towed with it myself yet, the disco 3 was highly recommended for its towing ablity, stability. It also has low range
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I LOVE my disco---it is old, (1995) has its quirks but is a reliable work horse, starts first time every time- was a god send in the recent snow.

Tows like a dream and I don't worry about trailer weights etc as it can safely tow a house
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.....I can fit my family and feed and tack in without any problems at all..... insurance is cheap, tax not much more than my previous car (VW Golf tdi) and not bad on the diesel. I use it as my everyday work/yard/towing cehicle. Parts are easily available.

That saying, OH hates it......but then again, its not his car
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True that the sorento can 'only' tow 2.8t, but that is ample for the majority of laden double horse boxes. Also, the newer sorentos, 2006 on, can tow 3.5t.
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I use the low range option when reversing the trailer to save the clutch, which you wouldn't need to do with an auto, other than that i have never needed the low range box.
 
Hyandui Santa Fe, Auto, We got one which is still covered by its 7 year warrenty, can usally pick them up fairly cheaply and they are quite luxiery inside.

One thing to say abwt the landrovers - look up the most reliable 4x4! they are one of the worst one on the list if i remember rightly
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I have an auto LWB Mitsubishi Pajero. Love it
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Its 14yrs old only cost me 2k a year & half ago. Has every gadget possible oh and a handbook in japanese
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Tows my ifor 510 with 2 full up 16.2's on no problem at all.
Was also pretty handy for getting to work in the snow
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Insurance is about 350 a year with RAC.
Road tax £190.
 
Also have an 01 TD5 Disco Auto, and love it, Very smooth travelling for the horse and tows brilliantly
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Previous to that we had a 97 disco and he towed fantastically too, only reason we changed was because we wanted to update as the disco is our only car, well apart from hubbies work van .

Before that we had a jeep cherokee, it was brilliant but unfortunately the head gasket went on me whilst towing down the motorway
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Col x
 
I had a swb mitz pajero which was brilliant at towing but it was about 12 yrs old and when things started to go wrong on it the parts cost a lot. Ive now got an izusu bighorn (jap version of trooper) and touch wood had it over a year and its been brilliant. But like all 4x4 its thirsty
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Only bad thing I would with buying Japanese imports was some insurance companies wont touch them.
 
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