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Nov 17, 2011 19:11:34 GMT
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I know some people hate these 'what shall I buy' threads, but this is more a 'what was it?' thread!
Seeing the 'shall I buy a Shogun' thread, coupled with the forecast bad winter, and that my wife is rather poorly and may need to get to hospital or hospice at short notice, I am wondering about getting a 4x4 of some sort to see me through the winter.
I know about SJs and Nivas, but any other suggestions for something small/cheap that will get me through any snow if needs be, will be reliable but won't cost me an arm and a leg to buy? I've trawled the bay of e, Gumtree and Autotrader but nothing peeks my interest.
Oh and budget is ideally around the £500 mark, it will not be a daily so fuel consumption is irrelvant!!
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Nov 17, 2011 19:15:17 GMT
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subaru justy  |
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Nobody dies a virgin, because lifes curse word us ALL
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Ads 19
Posted a lot
My old r19
Posts: 1,351
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Nov 17, 2011 19:16:59 GMT
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does it have to be small? but budget dictates that. the little KIA sportage, diahastu sportrack or rav4 should be within budget
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Ads 19
Posted a lot
My old r19
Posts: 1,351
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Nov 17, 2011 19:18:09 GMT
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subaru justy, or pug 405 4x4 merc 4 matic as a bit of lateral thinking
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LowStandards
Club Retro Rides Member
Bigging Up The Sum Sum Man Since '99
Posts: 2,650 
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Nov 17, 2011 19:24:29 GMT
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I drove a Fiesta ST up to Monyash (peak district) and encountered 2+ feet of snow, not the ideal car (in fact it was a shocking car, 2l mondeo lump in a fwd fiesta with a stupid low ratio gearbox and wide tyres), but it coped perfectly well!
What i'm trying to say is a 4x4 is only good at pulling off, it turns into a normal car once moving (something most 4x4 drivers seem to forget)
I suggest keeping what you've got and some thin winter tyres, job done, cheaper etc...
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Nov 17, 2011 19:35:24 GMT
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Subaru justy, snow tyres, raised suspension, olive drab, bull bar & spotlights FTW  lol |
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Nov 17, 2011 19:53:25 GMT
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Frontera will be cheap, but if its on road tyres it wont be much better than a 2wd, i would suggest buying a set of proper snow tyres for your road car and/or a LSD is probably a better idea.
We run 4x4s a lot and on road tyres (or worn out knobblies) they are worse than a normal car when it snows because of the extra weight, the extra ground clearance wont help much if you cant even get off your drive.
Four times no grip is still no grip.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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Ads 19
Posted a lot
My old r19
Posts: 1,351
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Nov 17, 2011 20:45:01 GMT
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i remember 2 years ago. was running a fiesta with months mot, and realistically wasnt going to get another. brilliant in smow. a fwd with decent tyres makes all the difference, was using it to push stranded vans up stupidly steep hills to help keep roads clear, and more importantly get bits to my mot man who fortunately was snowed in.
By contrast musso was great for few days then crashed it into a ditch after spinning on a cattle grid.
My Cherokee however was great and never had to use 4wd. tyres are key
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Nov 17, 2011 20:47:47 GMT
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What they all said, unless it's a RWD with little weight over the back, then your current car with skinny snow tyres will be better off than something 4wd with wide road tyres. A spare set of wheels, plus a set of snow tyres will come in well under your budget for most cars.
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Last Edit: Nov 17, 2011 20:50:00 GMT by RobinJI
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Nov 17, 2011 21:48:36 GMT
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Another vote for justys ;D I had my little scoob last year,with normal road tyres on it didnt get stuck once! Wont be using it in the snow this year tho,have the trooper with A/T tyres on,looking forward to playing  |
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1984 Subaru GLF Hatch
1983 Skoda 120LE Super estelle
1977 Subaru DL Wagon
1978 Datsun 120Y Coupe
1995 Skoda favorit estate
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Nov 17, 2011 22:27:35 GMT
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The 'daily' is an automatic Galaxy (the mpv not the yank tank!!) on 215 tyres. We encountered some smoothed snow on a very slight slope last year and it took me 20 minutes of digging, shovelling, gritting and rocking to get the damn thing moving. I know what you mean about FWD on decent tyres. Two years ago I was doing a 60 mile commute everyday in a Rover 200 hack with some knobblies on from the rally car. The only time I didnt make it in to work was when muppets managed to block every single road out of Wareham! I caught a glimpse of a small 4x4 the other day. About the size of an SJ (or perhaps a little smaller) but more rounded. Might of been a Daihatsu Terios, but I cant find any pics of the back end, and I only saw it from behind. Anybody know anything about them?    |
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Nov 17, 2011 22:41:16 GMT
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Subaru Justy or Fiat Panda..... or Lada Niva, they're great....
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This is now a clicky linky!  |
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Nov 17, 2011 22:41:39 GMT
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Fiat Panda 4x4
Mk2 Golf Syncro
Little agile all roaders that don't cost an arm to run.
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Some days you just need to take a grinder to an inanimate object, just to make your day a tiny bit better!!
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Nov 17, 2011 23:27:45 GMT
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In last years snow, my little Pug 205 didnt even flinch at the snow we had running on its 135/70/13's
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Nov 17, 2011 23:38:41 GMT
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I guess an auto Galaxy is always going to be a pain in the snow even with decent tyres on it, makes sense to buy something 4x4. if its just for traveling in the snow they will all be much of a muchness so hunt for something cheap that already has some half decent tyres on it.
a lot of older 4x4s are only part time 4 wheel drive so if the road is patchy its difficult to leave them in 4x4 all the time and the one time you that you cant be bothered to shift it into all wheel drive is the one time you'll slide into a ditch, i stuck our Mazda pickup into a hedge last year, although once it was in 4x4 it soon pulled itself out again, wasnt the trucks fault, it was me being over confident and going around a few stuck cars on a hill.
something easy to get in and out of seems like a good idea if your better half isnt well, some of our shorter or more portly mates have trouble getting in the Surf even with the sidesteps on it, what about something like a 4x4 audi or even an old Sierra?
Both could be fitted with steelies and cheapish snow tyres quite easily, kind of depends on the roads in your area, its rare to encounter deep snow on normal roads down here in Essex unless you go looking for it so a full on 4x4 may be overkill.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,546
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Small 4x4 or 4WD?skinnylew
@skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member 11
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I've been thinking similar things recently, I know when it snows I will be called into work and would prefer the warm drive in. No point taking the Octavia vRS with its low profiles and wide 17"s. lol Problem is everyone has cottoned on to the fact people are buying them around this time of year so cheap 4x4's are few and far between. A Subaru Legacy/Justy might just creep into to the £500-750 bracket or a Forester just under £1k. Cherokees are fairly cheap as are Shogun/Pajero's but still £500-1000 generally. I would be happy with something I could use for hauling stuff and 4x4 but Delica's don't tend to drop below £1k for a ropey one!! ;D There was a Range Rover classic for sale on here for £600 with a 2.8td Daihatsu engine in what looked to be very good nick - absolute steal at that price  |
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Last Edit: Nov 18, 2011 0:18:00 GMT by skinnylew
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what about the good old landrover  |
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what about the good old landrover Only problem with them, you wont find one for £500 |
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Last Edit: Nov 18, 2011 2:10:22 GMT by joem83
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stefan
Posted a lot
If it isn't broken fix it till it is
Posts: 1,598
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As above if you could find a Mot and a landrover defender or 90 in the same place for £500 I will buy it but don't think you will
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POWER IS EVERYTHING WITHOUT CONTROL
1985 Honda jazz
1997 Saab 93 convertible
2010 transit 280
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RA40tony
Europe
Rollin' rollin' rollin'
Posts: 768
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Got a friend with a Terios Auto who does off-road regularity races and its pretty good with the mud tyres he has fitted. But someone else I know with a Terios and normal tyres managed to drive it into a big ditch on a mountain road while going skiing.
I've invested in another set of wheels and snow tyres for the daily Octavia Scout and its unstoppable... so another +1 for snow tyres.
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1979 Toyota Celica GT. Currently Gone.
1975 Toyota Celica ST. 13x7 Allycats, "the stick" applied. 100kW 4AGE... Sold
1963 Karmann Ghia - Lo & Slo, Sold.
1965 VW Fastback - cruising
1953 Oval Ragtop, work in progress...
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lol
Ax GTi Turbo