Is it that much dearer to run a 4 x 4

I love driving 4 x4 's and we have had them for the last 25 years as we need the off road ability to get home in bad weather! I also like being able to see over hedges and walls on country lanes!

I do not think about the cost, as it is essential for us, but then we cut back/go without other things in order to keep animals and live in the countryside, so I guess it is a matter of personal choice.

My previous 4 x 4 was better on fuel because it was not in 4wd all the time and I got good mileage from it, often doing 50mile round trips for work.
 
I suppose I could put it into plain english... as not sure my mpg are! I put £40 into my Sorento per week.... its 3 miles to the stables and I go twice a day and I also potter around town, going to morrisons/tesco (I live in town)
 
I have just swapped a diesel car for a 4x4 as I live in the country and have a young son and another on the way. I wanted something 'safe', large and to pull a single trailer.
After doing all the research the most economical 4x4s under £10,000 were a CRV or an Outlander, both offering 43 mpg.
I just traded in my vw Beetle tdi for a Mitsubishi Outlander warrior diesel- I figured CRVs are for old men. The Beetle, according to VW did 52 mpg. The Outlander does 42mpg even when switched to 4wd. You can put it in 2wd to gain more fuel economy. I can say that the Outlander DOES actually do 42 mpg.
Tbh I haven't noticed much of an increase in fuel bills. I think I drive more 'conservatively' in the Outlander - I used to razz about in the bug (pre-baby) as it was so fast.

SO if you want an 'economical' 4x4 the best you can do under £10k is an Outlander or a CRV. And a single trailer. otherwise just hire a box.
 
I have a 2000 td5 disco, and because i work locally and have the horses at home i only spend about £60 a month on diesel :).I dont tow often but i find it invaluable for carrying hay, feed etc, and in bad weather. I feel safe in it on the motorway too.
 
I sold my Suzuki grand vitara as fuel costs were too high for me to justify keeping it, was costing over £400 a month in fuel and I can't tow so all I was using it for was taking water barrels up the field in the boot and for the dogs. Now have a Peugeot 107 and run it for less than half what I was running the vitara, can just about fit the dogs in but can't get water barrels in it and close the boot!!
 
Devonshire dumpling, it really depends how many miles you are doing, I put about £80 a fortnight and it does about 270 miles on that,
Suelin, it a low milage fully serviced 04 plate, returning 21mpg without the trailer on the back!- its absolutely shocking on fuel, runs like a dream and pulls well, so I don't know why.
I can't bear for anything to be wrong with it as I would hate to break down with my trailer on the back. Even had to replace the arial the other week as it was making a cluck going up and dowN (lol its my OCD). Where on earth some people get there figures from is beyond me. oh and I an a quality assurance auditor for a living, so hope to goodness my caluclations are correct!
 
OHs Mitsubishi pick up costs quite literally twice as much to run as my Audi A4 (diesel). I had a half cocked idea about replacing the Audi with a Discovery but I couldn't take the pain of the fuel consumption, am now thinking about getting an Audi Allroad or an A4 Quattro, I don't tow with my vehicle so at least that's not an issue for me.
 
we have a late 06 plate 2.5 TD sorrento my OH uses for work as he only drives 20 miles a day and then i use it to tow with. It pulls my Ifor trialer and 600kg horse and we go once a fortnight to have a lesson and with me driving 5 miles to yard to pick up horse and trailer then to lesson and back then 5 miles home it is 60 miles round trip up and down hills and windy roads (half of it on A road so you can do 40-50 ) but resy is country roads at 30 ish. our kia towes lovely and costs me £15 in diesel to do this 60 mile trip.maybe a little less as we always seem to have a bit more left than we went with by the time we get home. We have to faff about and turn round etc at both ends too. we took it to nottingham the other week from Norfolk 22o miles i think and it cost us £40 and we were doing 70 mph on the A1 from Peterborough to Nottingham. so we are pleased with it and it has heated leatrher seats and is comfy and nice.
 
swampdonkey said:
looks like no new 4x4 for me then. Glad I looked into it tho, although disappointed.
Don't think anyone near me hires out small 2 horse lorries although this sounds the best idea.
Maybe I should buy one of those and hire it out to others :) my new business enterprise!
Thanks for all replies
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As someone else said, why not hire a 4x4 and the trailer if you're not going that regularly.

We have an old discovery, which hubby uses for his short two mile journey to work and for pulling trailers, horsey and non horsey. We also live in an exposed area, so get bad weather and roads.

I drive 200+ miles to work, and use a focus. When there has been bad snow I have occasionally taken the Disco, and it costs a second mortgage on the motorway. If you're doing 50 miles a day, its not the everyday car for you!
 
The simple answer is yes. Certainly not advisable for commuting. Think of 30mpg. Tax may be higher than you pay at present, although insurance can be very variable. Certain manufacturers vehicles are more reliable than others. Consumables such as tyres can be more expensive although servicing costs seem to be similar to lesser vehicles.

As someone else mentioned, consider how many shows you intend to visit a year. Hiring as required may be cheaper.
 
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I've had a succession of Landrover Defenders which are not cheap to run if you think in terms of fuel alone. But I have found them to be very reliable (others will disagree!), parts are easy to find secondhand and not too expensive. I do most of the servicing myself.

Yes, I think a LR is an expensive luxury for most but I find I use the 8x5 trailer a lot -- hauling hay, fertiliser, gravel, etc. -- and also for towing the horse trailer.

I really ought to buy a small cheap runabout for local journeys but never seem to get around to it! I love my LR!

I hit a lorry with one LR, bought the salvage, and rebuilt it myself. It passed the MOT first time and when I sold it I made at least £2,000 on the deal!
 
A bit surprised that nobodies mentioned it but what about a 4x4 with dual fuel such as petrol/lpg. My oh runs one which does 28/30 mpg but with LPG being under 80p makes it economical to run
 
Clannad48 - How much room does the tank take up on your oh's car. I know someone who had their Discovery converted and the tank just seemed to take up so much room in the back that it put me off the idea.
 
EmmaC78 said:
Clannad48 - How much room does the tank take up on your oh's car. I know someone who had their Discovery converted and the tank just seemed to take up so much room in the back that it put me off the idea.
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I went to see an lpg disco once, it had a huge tank in the boot and it looked very crude(not sure if thats normal or not) but it put me off. I also tried a jeep lpg, i cant remember the tank so it must have been fairly small but the jeep only got 16mpg so worked out the same as running a diesel anyway. Obviously the smaller less bulky tanks hold less which mean less miles before you have to fill up again.
 
Running a 4x4 is exhorbitant, worst mistake I've ever made. I have a SWB Shogun and only use it if it's icy, snowing or I'm towing. I bought a motorbike for the twice daily trip to the yard because I just can't afford to use the truck for a 7 mile round trip twice a day. I sometimes get very wet.
 
Im glad i live on the isle of wight nothings far away. Ive got a mitsubishi pajero SWB 2.8 diesel and my drive to work is about 6miles away that i do 4-5 days a week and my horses are kept about 1-2 miles away. I only put in £40 a week in diesel i used to have a vauxhall corsa 1.4 petrol and that still cost £30 a week mine doesnt work out to much more.
 
His lpg tank is 'doughnut' shaped and takes up the space where the spare wheel should be in the boot. His car was converted at new and has one of those bottle kits if we get a flat tyre. We also have AA cover. We have looked at converting all our cars to the same and have been quoted between £1k to £1.5k to have it done professionally.

With lpg at less than 80p a litre you make the money back if you do high mileage (as he does) and it has increased the resale value if he wanted to sell.
 
weebarney said:
I went to see an lpg disco once, it had a huge tank in the boot and it looked very crude(not sure if thats normal or not) but it put me off. I also tried a jeep lpg, i cant remember the tank so it must have been fairly small but the jeep only got 16mpg so worked out the same as running a diesel anyway. Obviously the smaller less bulky tanks hold less which mean less miles before you have to fill up again.
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Yes agree and if LPG was that good it would be more popular!!! sadly it's not that economical as a liter of propane has less energy than petrol so if you were getting 25 mpg on petrol gas would be high teens , also causes running issues unless you have a sopisticated system (£1500 upwards) and can dammage the engines valves/ cylinder head, tank is small or takes up a lot of space, and some insurance companys wont insure due to the increased risk of fire.. the conversion doesnt add resale value sometimes the opposit as a lot of car dealers wont touch them ,
 
Mine isn't too bad. I run a 2.9TD Hyundai Terracan and when not towing I get 32mpg on a motorway run (which is what I do)

My other car is a 1.4 petrol Seat Ibiza and I can get 45mpg out of that if I drive very carefully on the same run.

Insurance isn't that different but I am old and have years and years of no claims so it can only ever be so high.

My 4x4 is on an 05 plate (so before they changed the tax brackets yet again which they did in 2006) so my tax is about £500 a year on the big car and £200 on the little car.

Tyres, hardly any difference if I shop around. Repair costs, no more expensive on the truck and it's very well behaved.


Hope that helps :) The thing is with us is that if we didn't have the truck we wouldn't have some tiny, poxy small diesel, we'd have a Jag or a 5 series or something so in comparison it's actually pretty cheap to run :)
 
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Lpg by us is steadily creeping up and frequently they are all empty too. Mind you, so is the petrol half the time!
The speed the price has gone up and the amount means I wouldnt consider here.
 
We are extremely fortunate in that we can afford two vehicles, a skoda fabia VRS that is the 'family car' and what I use for work (electric push bike in summer) and we also have an L200 4x4 twin-cab pick-up and it's a BEAST to feed!

However, we have a 510 IW trailer and a couple of hippos for horses, so it's needed!

It also does all the mucky jobs like the dogs in the back as they get mucky in this weather....

It cost me £30 in fuel the other day doing about 80 miles towing! :eek:

I couldn't afford to run it as a normal car!

We also have it on a duel-insurance thing with the skoda, and that has saved a packet. Both vehicles, fully comp and protected no claims...less than £45 a month. :D

It's due for taxing end of feb though, we will feel it then!
 
I have a landrover freelander 2L diesel, and I've got to say with the mileage that I do (home - horses - work - horses - home) it's only approx £10 more expensive in fuel each week so I put £40 in the tank instead of £30.

Insurance was a jump for me as i'm only 21, but tax is only £30 more expensive per year than my old petrol corsa.

I do love my freelander and couldn't go back to a little poxy car like i had before. So much room for tack, feed etc etc. Can fit small bales of hay in the back and water butts if I fold the seats down - can now go and pick up hay + straw by towing grandad's trailer rather than paying an extra £££££££ for delivery.

Can tow one horse in a light trailer so now got some more scope as to where I can go .......... I find my freelander to be quite economical on fuel considering I do a lot of 'inner city driving' stop starts in traffic on the way to work etc.

:):)
 
I drive a freelander. It's useless for towing, it could just about tow my horse on a skateboard, I reckon and a tenners worth of fuel gets me around twenty miles. No matter whet my mum says about it being a proper 4x4, its useless.
 
I have a 3litre v6 Shogun sport.
My other have had a 3 litre jag.

You can imagine our fuel costs!

We both love our cars and don't want to give them up.

Although I would like a small lorry instesavil the trailer.
I like my car when driving in the wet and down out lanes and its great for my dogs.
 
I have just scrapped my Terrano, bought for exactly the same reason as you! paid 2k in August 2011 for it, prob spent 1k on it and god knows how much extra on insurance, fuel (extortionate) and tax .... It turned out to be hideously corroded underneath and I scrapped it. Saying that, I fricking loved it and was gutted to see if go x
 
OP, why don't you put money aside every week as a fund so you will have it ready if you need to hire a horsebox. If you look around and make enquiries I expect you will find one you can hire occasionally.

We have a L200 pickup which I think is pretty heavy on fuel, but it is a big vehcile, and an ancient Discovery which seems to use less mpg and is nicer to drive, but the on-going costs for a 4 x 4 are steep - licence, parts.

Some people only have a 4 x 4 and keep it for towing/horse things at the weekend and use a small car for work, but you are doubling the costs. Ifyou get an old 4 x 4 you need a good mechanic, preferably your OH.
 
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