zeolite Posted October 2, 2005 Posted October 2, 2005 Having a rethink about the Z-fleet and decided that I need a bigger towcar for towing the race cars so I need some advice as I know nothing about 4x4s. There are plenty about and some of the older ones are very cheap but I have no idea about running costs and reliabilty. I was looking at a '93 Shogun V6 with a LPG conversion. Seemed to be the business. All advice welcomed.
jamie_wood Posted October 2, 2005 Posted October 2, 2005 Shogun's , whether Diesel or petrol are greedy on juice. Fairly reliable though. Parts aint the cheapest but the reliability area compensates for that. Stay away from Discoverys and landrovers. They cost a fortune to run and repair. They chew shocks, bushes, steering boxes, cylinder heads...the list goes on. I would put my money on the likes of a RAV 4. Its cheap to buy and run. They are very reliable and are good off road. They drive like a car (compared to the shoguns and troopers) and are good on petrol If you want to go and look at some one weekend then gimme a shout if Im home and we can go hunting for a Farmer wagon
zeolite Posted October 2, 2005 Author Posted October 2, 2005 Jamie...Disco's were out anyway cos Yvonne can't reach the gear lever. Although I might have cosidered a 7 seater V8 LPG ravs are too small for what I want. I want a LWB to get all the spares and tools in. Thanks for the offer Jamie. I will take you up on that.
zeolite Posted October 3, 2005 Author Posted October 3, 2005 LPG is very cheap. Does anyone know anyting about the downsides of running a car with LPG?
ScoobyAndy Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 ive got a mate running a fleet of cars on lpg and theyre running brilliantly. freelander V6, shogun 3.5 V6, vw golf gti and previously a bmw 325. theres very little drop in power and perfomance and economy is great. though hes also very lucky in the fact that hes got his own tank on the farm (lucky devils getting his gas even cheaper)
zeolite Posted October 4, 2005 Author Posted October 4, 2005 Getting very confused now! Some say old rangies go forever, some say they are money pits. Some say Shoguns are very reliable, some say they are soft and prone to blowing up. Heard some very good things about Cherokees though.
ScoobyAndy Posted October 4, 2005 Posted October 4, 2005 rangies do go forever parts are easily found and very very cheap. personaly id stick with anything that comes out the landrover factory but iam landrover mad shoguns.. havent heard of too many problems with them and afterall theyre typical jap engineering jeeps... expensive parts, very technical, look hideous sorry to add to the confusion again Andy
Derek FKS 85 Posted October 4, 2005 Posted October 4, 2005 Anything as long as it's Japanese. Stay well away from LandRovers of any description, (that came from a mate who is a LandRover mechanic). What you want is a Rav4 5 door.
gus the bus Posted October 4, 2005 Posted October 4, 2005 I've had two Scooby Foresters one of which I ran to 148k miles withoot a blip! The other I sold to my old man which he loves to bits and is still running about in. Well worth considering if your needing that type of vehicle! Gus
AlanG Posted October 4, 2005 Posted October 4, 2005 Another one to confuse you... Toyota Lancruiser Colorado. I've had mine for 4 years and has been faultless. 30 to the gallon (3.0 diesel), wife finds it easier to drive and park than the Audi. Can be an 8 seater if you want or have a long flat load area for all yer kit. I knew nothing about 4x4's when i bought mine, but if it was good enough for the UN and all that stuff you see on telly, it was good enough for me. Haven't regretted it for a moment and would have another one in a minute.
zeolite Posted October 4, 2005 Author Posted October 4, 2005 I got told that Jeep parts are dead cheap and easy to get from any motor factor. Also you can get a Jeep engine for £500. Rav4 is too small I am afraid.
p1ggm Posted October 4, 2005 Posted October 4, 2005 going by the stuff we get in the work, incluing a lot of farm vehicals i would say a shogun or trooper STAY AWAY from any landies, pi$$ poor build and spend more time in the garage than on the road, and when the get a few years old the chassis will rust pretty bad, along with the front suspension cones, the heaters are a waste of time in the 90/110 range rovers are nice, but again old ones rust, the upper tailgates rust badly and buckle then dont lock, bonnets rust through, propshafts eat the u/j's like nobodys buisness and they brake pretty easy troopers go on forever, seen them in all states and they can be complete wrecks but will always start and run(also the vauxhall montery cause its a trooper is quite good) shoguns i think are good, has all the toys normally, and dont need welded every year and can put up with a lot of abuse, downside being if you need to buy parts from mitsi, jeeps are good to, not sure about the looks of them, as most come in green, but they are nice in blue....turbo diesel engine is an old design, but they all seen to work well, we have replaced a couple of rear diffs thou crvs are good, but they eat props, and look a bit odd iho freelanders have a k sieries engine if you go for a petrol.....enough said i think sang yong or however its spelt... good merc engine and box in the older ones, but again a soft car, and most bits have to come from dealers and cost a fortune, not sure about the new ones think thats most covered
zeolite Posted October 5, 2005 Author Posted October 5, 2005 Thanks for that P1GGM. Been looking today and in the sub 3k market I have found a lpg cherokee which seemed OK, a 3.1 duty trooper which I will look at later and a lpg 3.9 Vogue which I will look at on Thursday.
p1ggm Posted October 5, 2005 Posted October 5, 2005 3.9 vogue is good, but again its a landie, if you get one that hasnt been usd off road then they are good, guessing it will be an auto, if so they eat brakes, which is nothing unusual for n auto, they have plenty power, and it will probably have air suspension, good comfy car for the motorway, if any advice is needed about them i would recommend crow engineering, very good landie place jeeps are good, cant really fault the ones we get in, they can put up with abuse, most parts are unavailable from motor factors thou but with the exception of a rear diff, and an alt i dont think we have had many probs with them, they seem to be etting more popular, we have a y plate for sale atm, apart from the stupid price on it its like a x5 inside, all leather, all the toys and good looking too in dark metalic blue
scoobykev Posted October 5, 2005 Posted October 5, 2005 Just to add to the confusion, i heard jeep cherokee's were getting a lot of welding to the chassis as they were rotten underneath, this was on the older models, my94 ish but was happening when they were still quite new, might be worth checking for fresh underseal Or how about a grand vitara lwb, my wife drives an 02 plate td(peugot engine) never given us any bother and a bit bigger than the rav4, also with a proper transfer box. would cetainly stay clear of the older range rovers, expensive to fix,and they need fixed a lot!! stick with the japs, landcruiser 4.2td vx.
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