How much do 4x4's cost to run??

[silvershadow81]

Following on from my inability to get my horse to the BRC Championships, my next idea may be to change my car to a 4x4.

I have had a quick look on autotrader and it looks like I could get a younger car (4x4) for not toooo much money.

I just wanted to know how much they cost to run??

I only do 8 miles a day so dont think the desil will be too much???

How about tyres? MOT? all the other usuals?

Any info would be great!! (my car is a little Punto so costs me pennies to run each year!)

 

[spaniel]

tbh I think from a Punto with miniscule running costs to a 4x4 will be a shock. It will totally depend on which 4x you go for and how you drive as well as the mileage. Everything is so variable that I think a good plan is to decide which vehicle you want first and then start looking into the nitty gritty.

For info my N reg Discovery drinks about a gallon of diesel every 25 miles doing short runs around the lanes and thats without the weight of a trailer on the back so I would reduce this by up to 10 miles. A set of winter tyres was £200 and tax is getting on for £200 per year.

Im not sure of your age but you will have to factor in insurance as well. I suspect im a good deal older than you but I have full NCB and pay just over £300 per year fully comp.

 

[MizElz]

Mum has a Shogun Sport, 2.5l diesel. She does about 12 miles on average a day, and puts in £100 a month ,or thereabouts. OH has a Nissan Navara 2.5l diesel, his mileage is variable sometimes but would average to about the same, and his costs him £75 every fortnight!

 

[Loubiepoo]

A lot I'm afraid.

 

[silvershadow81]

Im 26 and insurance fully comp is £80 per year on Punto due to years of NCB!! Does the tax vairy if it is disel (sp) or petrol or is it done with what the litre engine it has?

What would the minimum engine size required to tow a 575kg horse and trailer?

I would only run it to work, yard and back each day, which is the 8 miles round trip. My OH has a new car which we use for longer trips so we would only need it to 'work' when we take the horse places.

Does anyone know what the cheapest 4x4 would be for getting parts?

Im assuming a british made one??

Sorry for all the questions, this is all very new to me!!

 

[c7mlm]

[ QUOTE ]
A lot I'm afraid.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ditto . i had a pajero 2.5Td lwb. was getting 25 mpg. first month it cost me £550 in diesel needless to say i sold it in the 2nd month. i know use a nissan navara aventura double cab if i need to tow. am lucky that i can borrow it of my dad. he has had the engine chipped at a cost of £1300.00 but is getting over 35-40mpg so worth every penny. i then bought a normal car for every day.

 

[spaniel]

Your tax will depend not only on engine size but also on year of manufacture just to complicate matters further!

 

[louisevictoria]

I used to put about £75 of diesel in my mitsubishi pajero, and that would last me 2 weeks if I was lucky and not towing my trailer. The tax and insurance weren't too bad. But it is a big shock compared to running a small car (eventually I couldn't justify keeping it after I sold my trailer).

 

[claire1976]

I've just sold my Toyota Surf as it was costing me too much to run. I was putting £30 a week in diesel and I hardly do any mileage. Now I run a 1.1 saxo which costs me only £30 a month in petrol!!

 

[Wishful]

Fuel consumption depends on the speeds you are doing. Presumably the 8 miles/day is all on country type roads, rather than motorways. The fact that a 4x4 has a big frontal area will hit the fuel consumption. Also you will have a big powerful engine, which will not be as efficient as a small car. Diesel prices are going up quicker than petrol at the moment as well, but you don't want a petrol 4x4!

Tyres will be more expensive as they are larger, but you are less likely to have grounding damage on the underside if you go up rough tracks (not sure how relevant this is - for OH it's very useful). MOT will cost the same. Insurance will cost more, as a 4x4 will be a higher insurance group than a Punto.

Maintenance wise, there is more to go wrong in the transmission system with the 4wd, which will also cost if something goes wrong - maybe go Japanese - less likely to go wrong!

 

[silvershadow81]

I just drive through town and down the hill to work (I could coast down to save fuel!!) ;-)


This has been really useful to pick all your brains!

I throw about £20 in to the punto which lasts me just under three weeks! I think the biggies will be maintanence and fuel. (I think I can cope with insurance going up as i currently pay hardly anything!)

Are there any other cars (not 4x4's) which would be able to pull 575 kg and trailer?? Im assuming these cars may be cheaper to run??

(I have never been that much into cars, so apologies for the continual questions!!)

 

[Wishful]

Not really, you need the weight of a big 4x4 to control the trailer.

Also, given that you won't be doing motorway miles in the 4x4, a different car which was powerful and heavy enough to cope wouldn't be much more trouble - the motorway miles are what makes the difference as the efficiency is so much worse.

My OH has a CRV (which would be too small and light for towing), and it is about as efficient around towns and villages as it is cruising on the motorways! Headwinds on the motorway ruins fuel consumption!

 

[Rowreach]

I am shocked how much some of these ^^ cost to run. I have a 2 year old Suzuki GVSL7 (like it's a big one). It wasn't particularly expensive to buy, the tax is £205, the insurance fully comp with full NCD is just over £200, I put about £50 of diesel in it every 2-3 weeks, it is very light on the diesel, even when towing, and very reliable (being Japanese).

I would rather tow with a 4x4 than an estate car personally.

Hope this helps

 

[Law]

I do a lot of mileage to work and back and fuel was costing me about £400-500 a month

My lovely Pajero now lives on the drive and I put about £30 a month in to tow a few miles most weekends

Insurance was not much, less than £250 yearly and tax is £101 per 6 months.
I run a little diesel car for work now which saves me a fortune

 

[kit279]

If you want to bring down your 4x4 costs, I would seriously recommend getting a LPG conversion. LPG costs 50p per litre and the conversion costs about 1200 pounds plus you get a discount on your road tax for being more environmentally friendly. Even better if you can find a 2nd hand car already converted. I'd recommend it even more now the price of fuel is so high - think about it, the price of fuel always goes up and never goes down!

I would also get the smallest size engine you can get away with whilst still safely towing your horse and trailer. Insurance wise you are now over 25 so your insurance automatically is less but it will still be more than your Punto.

 

[VictoriaEDT]

a small bloody fortune! I have a new navara outlaw and she costs me £400 last week for first service and does 395 miles to £78 of diesel (soon to be mid 80s as diesel has gone sky high) x

 

[kit279]

You might get away with a non-4x4 but it does put a lot more strain on the engine since they're not designed to tow so you may find your maintenance costs get very high very quickly. A heavy estate like a Volvo would probably cope but you must check the weight specifications and how much your trailer weighs. If you plan to trailer anywhere other than a road, you may struggle to tow as the 2WD just aren't up to the job in the mud and you can get very inconveniently stuck!

 

[fairhill]

I switched from a punto to a nissan terrano in January, and it's a big difference in cost

Mine is £210 a year to tax.
I drive about 8 miles a day too, to the train station, then to the yard, and a tank of diesel costs me £50 (and counting!) and lasts for about 3 weeks. That's without towing anything.
Insurance wise it's cost me £300 extra for the year, and that's with full NCB etc.

You might find you're better off hiring a small lorry to get to shows if you don't go out very often.

 

[happihorse]

I have a Nissan Navara which I use for pulling the trailer. At the moment I get a lift to work but that is about to change and I will have to travel about 8 miles each way to work. It works out at a little under £40 a week in fuel for commuting to work. I didn't mind paying for the pulling power I get out of it, but have decided that in the long run I am better to invest in a small lorry and run a small car for work. It just works better all round.

Although the tax will be more for two vehicles, I think they are planning to increase the road tax for 4x4s substantially, so it probably won't cost more in the long run.

Now all I need to do is find a really nice second hand small lorry ...

... a 3.5 ton Equi-trek Sonic would be a dream!

 

[Bozzy]

I'm also debating this at the moment, I only bought a new Vauxhall Corsa last year and although I have transport available to me from friends, I don't always want to have to rely on them or go where they're going.

Doubt I could afford the increased costs of a 4x4 (We had a Terrano a few years back which I loved but service/tax costs were so high and that was when diesel was a lot cheaper) or the cost of a lorry as well as the corsa.

What's the average cost of hiring a 3.5t lorry for a day?

 

[fairhill]

[ QUOTE ]
What's the average cost of hiring a 3.5t lorry for a day?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's about £100 a day

 

[newtonpark]

a tad more than a punto...

i have a 3.5l petrol LWB Shogun...

tax £99 per 6 months
INS £220 PA...

fuel per week....£40


Tyres..just replaced 4..£70 each
Brake pads alround..£205
Full Service....£145...
the above costs are WAY below Dealership as my OH's cousin owns a garage!

 

[silvershadow81]

ooohhh id be interested to know the answer to lorry hire question too!!

 

[pinktiger]

just sold my 4x4 and bought a lorry, cant afford 70pw on diesel!! mine does 21mpg tyres cost 100 atime and b very careful of the band for rd tax your new 4x4 falls in!! think the bad rap 4x4s are getting from the government is only set to rise!!!1

 

[Bubbles]

Bozzy I've been paying £95 a day for a 3.5T lorry, which seems to be the going rate.

 

[burtie]

[ QUOTE ]
I have had a quick look on autotrader and it looks like I could get a younger car (4x4) for not toooo much money.


[/ QUOTE ]

That is because they now cost a fortune to run, with the car tax going up and the price of fuel it is very expensive, mine costs £2 in diesel alone to do a 10 mile round trip to the stables so 5 miles costs a pound and this was when diesel was about 1.05p per litre. I did look into changing mine but it's effectively worthless and as I do few miles I'll stick with it.

 

[newtonpark]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have had a quick look on autotrader and it looks like I could get a younger car (4x4) for not toooo much money.


[/ QUOTE ]

That is because they now cost a fortune to run, with the car tax going up and the price of fuel it is very expensive, mine costs £2 in diesel alone to do a 10 mile round trip to the stables so 5 miles costs a pound and this was when diesel was about 1.05p per litre. I did look into changing mine but it's effectively worthless and as I do few miles I'll stick with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

the tax bands are bonkers.....

my Shogun 3.5 is 99 per 6 months (1998)
OH L200 2.5 TD is 120 per 6 months (2002)


i did have a Baby 4 x 4 last year as a run about a 2.0l Kia Sportage (2004) and that was the same tax band as my OH's!!!

crazy

 

[ladyt25]

I want to know where everyone's insured?! My insurance (cheapest) quote for my new 3 dr Suzuki Vitara (1.9 Diesel) is just shy of £600!!! At the moment i don't even know what i am paying (abotu £75/mth ins?). had a Soft Top vitara before but it kept breaking down so i gave in and went for a new car to get the warranty!

I think is the same tax band though so £205/yr, the tyres on my last one (same size as this) were £80 each but they weren't the cheapest available, fule i put in about £50 and that generally is lasting me nearly 2 weeks (I do 24 miles a day to and from work with a lot of that being sat in queues!) so i don't think that's too bad (cheaper than me getting the bus every day!).

Guess it depends if you really need a 4x4 at the end of the day. I feel I do as a car can't cope with the wear and tear of going down the track to our field and certainly can't be used across the field when any work needs doing.

I probably can't really afford mine but what the hell, you only live once!

Oh but do check parts costs - found out last year Suzuki parts are NOT cheap!!!

 

[xxzoeandmerlinxx]

Not read other replies, but I have a Kia Sorento..... it costs me £85 (this was 2 weeks ago and deisel has gone up again since) each time to fill up and this lasts three weeks or 400 miles.

Tax is going to be £300 (i think) and tyres are expensive too as big..... £100 ish each from what I remember.

I would rather pay this than be stranded at the yard though..... but as soon as I dont want to tow anywhere it will go!!!

 

[merlinsquest]

Ooops that was Mummy merlins quest not Zoe..... she really doesnt have her own car!!!!