Land Rover Defender or Daihatsu Fourtrak?

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I_am_a_cucumber

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It looks like we finally have to give in and buy a 4x4. :( Our car is constantly fully of hay/haylage and the suspension has already gone once (prematurely) due to driving down a rather rough track.

We are at the moment considering either a Defender or a Daihatsu Fourtrak.

Does anybody own either? Or has owned one in the past? What are your experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly... Any perferences?

We don't have a trailer at the moment, but might buy/borrow one in the future, so the 4x4 would need to be able to tow one (single trailer with large-ish pony).

My preference is for the Defender (based on ... not very much, mostly aesthetics :D), but I've heard very good things about the Daihatsu.
 
I love our defender (not technically mine as I don't drive) and dad (driver:D) loves it too. It is 24 years old and pulls our very heavy rice trailer with 2 horses no problems.
We bought ours cheap as it had no MOT but it was so cheap to fix (parts are very inexpensive) that it still worked out cheaper than buying any other 4X4.
They are also very cheap too insure.

Dad loved his so much he convinced my grandad to get one too:D
 
I love my Defender.Fourtraks are good dont get me wrong but the body work seems to give up way before the engine.My Defender is 13 years old and still pulls two heavy beasts and a Ifor williams 511 no problem what so ever.In the summer when all the hay and feed carrying is done i will just hose out the back of it.I wouldent have any other 4x4.
 
Love my defender, its cheap to insure, very reliable, just keeps chugging along. I would think a Fourtrak would cost more to repair when necessary and would never last as long as a Landrover.
You need extra security on a Defender they are very nickable....as I found out 18 months ago.
 
i had a fourtrak and loved it . very basic but fab for towing .the engine was fine but body work killed it .cant comment on defenders but i know fourtraks are highly rated. not many about now though.
 
I had a fourtrak for years and loved it but athough it was mechanically sound the body work and underneath was rotting away with rust so had to part with it. Very hard to find one without rust!
 
I think the fourtrack would be better but only if it was very tidy, a landrover is good if you have a mecanic in the family otherwise avoid , the older troopers , shoguns, land cruisers
are good tow vehicles it depends on your budget, I would look for something well looked after avoid the low mileage tatty ex farm or site vehicles.. something that has done a few miles and been used as a car is best ....
 
A Defender every time (they are good enough for the farmers) Good tough vehicles.

I have always had Land Rovers love them. At the moment I have an X reg (BMW Engine) Disco comfortable for both Horses (When towing)and people. Mine gets loaded up with all the horse gear and the dogs.
 
we had a fourtrak, paid a lot of money for it but it was in mint condition, had never towed, full body kit type job on it, plus was a rare case where we had air con and electric windows.. shame some ******* wrote it off.

the plus sides. much more compact than most, easy to park in small spaces,
it pulled really well, we done a trip to the horse trust at the time of the amersham thing, and we were full to the roof of the trailer with feed etc (naughty but deff over weight) but the fourtrak was way ahead of a brand new mistubishy (sp) that was also towing.

it was basic in side and really not a speedy beast, 70 on a motorway was bumpy and noisy.

we used to use ours for playing in the field, deffinatly a brillant off roader and we had some major fun!

oh .. insurance you can still insure cheap if you have 7 seats as classed as an estate, but the actual boot space in it was tiny.

never had a defender only a discovery.
 
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Defender, Defender, Defender, Defender.... I wouldn't have anything else.

They're slow, rattly, leaky, you can't hear yourself think in one and they have the turning circle of the ark royal.. but you can't help but smile as you chug along:D
 
Thank you for all the feedback! :)

Hmmm, my preference would be for a Defender, but it looks like OH is keen on the Daihatsu now. He thinks it might be too difficult to find a Defender as they are so sought after. I don't know ... just as well neither of us is indecisive ... With any luck we'll have made a decision before next winter ...
 
Hubby has got a fourtrak (mobile dog kennel), pulls really well, easy to drive and didn't even break when I put it in a ditch last year when driving in snow, not in 4WD (oops) :o
 
If I had the choice and the money, defo a Landy Defender for pure power

Have you considered a Mitsubishi shogun ?
 
We love our old (A reg) Defender 110. Absolutely full of character. Not the smoothest of rides (if you want smoother rides, that's what LR built the Disco for), but fantastic workhorses, reliable and usually very much adored by their doting owners. Ours has even got the old fashioned sliding windows!

A certain titled lady my OH is acquainted with has deemed that "a scruffy old Landrover Defender is socially acceptable whereever you go!" - so there !
 
I_am_a_cucumber said:
Thank you for all the feedback! :)

Hmmm, my preference would be for a Defender, but it looks like OH is keen on the Daihatsu now. He thinks it might be too difficult to find a Defender as they are so sought after. I don't know ... just as well neither of us is indecisive ... With any luck we'll have made a decision before next winter ...
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I'm with your OH - I have always wanted a fourtrak.

As far as I'm aware, the Fourtrak went out of production about 9/10 years ago, so even if you get a late model, it's already going to be getting on a bit - I think finding a Defender will be much easier.
 
We've had two Fourtraks, brilliant vehicles, can tow a house and not know it's there. As others have said though, the youngest one you'll find (if you can, they're like hen's teeth) will be a Y reg I think, and the bodies give out a long time before the mechanics. It was hard to consign ours to the scrap heap but we now have a Nissan Terrano LWB. The same size engine/towing capacity as the Fourtrak, just with more passenger comfort. Look on AutoTrader and there are loads at good prices and they seem to be able to do 150,000 or more very easily; ours is a 04 with just 37000 on it and was a fraction over £5000, absolutely immaculate in, out and underneath, not even a towbar on it. Seems far more economical than the Fourtrak too. Son has a SWB version, had it 3 years and it goes anywhere. His vehicle was the only one that could get where the quads went on a recent hunting trip to Scotland, the LRs couldn't get anywhere near it!
ETA, the boot on the LWB is amazing, I can't even reach the back of it even with the seats still up and I've carried nearly 20 bags of feed in it too!
 
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have owned defenders and disco's and now have a fourtrak. It's awesome. so much better than the LR's, all of which have rusted to death long before the engine had had enough. The fourtrak is much better built and tows brilliantly, and has yet to be found to struggle with anything we've put it over!


plus, the repairs/spares/parts are much cheaper. Recently had the radiator done on the fourtrak - came to £300 inc labour and vat. Compared to £500 for the radiator alone on a disco.

the fourtrak is no longer in production, but there's plenty out there, and many of them haven't had much mileage on them. The only thing to be wary of however is that many have been farm vehicles so have had a bit of a hard life. Try to find one that's been used for towing a caravan or horse box on road rather than a farm vehicle. Our has now done 110k miles and still runs like new - even at minus 20 degrees C!
 
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I've got a Fourtrak. Have had it 7yrs and it's 18yrs old!

I love it.... except that it has really starting costing me a lot in repairs. Recently it's had a new clutch, new brake calipers and pads, and now the fuel pipe is leaking....

I'm not sure what to do...whether to carry on and hope for the best or look for something else. Thing is, I only use it for towing a couple of times a week, as have another ancient old small car for everything else. (Trying to preserve the Fourtrak you see!!)

So maybe I should go back to one car and be filling up on fuel every week at £60+ and wave goodbye to old 'Trackie' :o(
 
I have a Daihatsu 4 trak - great towing car!

If you are looking, I will be selling it in the next month for about £800 as its non LEZ compliant from next year and we live in the LEZ!
 
i have a 1989 imported fourtrak, not a spot of rust on it. its much quicker than the landys. i also offroad and greenlane it, have out done a landy many times.... had it on its side twice not a mark on it..
 
maxapple said:
I have a Daihatsu 4 trak - great towing car!

If you are looking, I will be selling it in the next month for about £800 as its non LEZ compliant from next year and we live in the LEZ!
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Is yours a Commercial Fourtrak?

As reading all the gumfh on the LEZ website it seems to suggest that Fourtraks will be OK???

I'm just outside the LEZ and now the boundaries are changing, would step foot into it at times, so your 'Trackie' would be no better than mine :o( boo hoo
 
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