Some (personal) 4x4 advice please

[LSP Vehicles 11]

Hi all, 

The Mrs is on at me, we got another littleun on the way and she's got it in her head she wants a 4x4 Give me a nice saloon any day of the week.

However, these are well out of my knowledge or expertise. Obviously it's RR Sport around 2008/9, the 2010 Facelift is a bit of a stretch. I am extremely reluctant on one of these, I'm of the opinion an X5 would be more reliable, better built? Form what I have been reading, the 3.0 V8 would the most "reliable" better version? I am not worried about maintenance, I'm pretty handy at maintenance. What worry's me the most is reliability. I get one and it goes wrong, will be my fault, not the cars lol

Did consider the ML but they are bit, well, bland, ugly and the Q7 is just mahoosive. That said, if they are better mechanical, reliable options then I will defo consider them.

 Just after some advice form those with much more know how than me please :-)

Many thanks

[Rory RSC 596]

X5's and Q7s are the best of the bunch in my opinion. 
I steer clear of older ( and newer ) Land Rover products as much as possible.

[Halfpenny 114]

Not sure why a baby requires a 3.0 V8 4x4.We brought up three kids with nothing bigger than a C-class. ...but, anyhow..

Suggesting a 10+ year old RR would be strong grounds for divorce in my opinion (mental cruelty). I hate the things, and the d*ckheads that drive them. We have sold and serviced plenty over the years and almost every one has given grief in some way. The electrics are the work of the devil. They have been on my do not buy list for a while. 

Last year I ran around in a 3.0D X5 for about 6 months. It was 7 years old from one elderly owner (son's girlfriend's uncle...).  Only about 60k with FBMWH. Unfortunately the bastard thing ate its autobox on my watch...for reasons unknown.  We have all the BMW diagnostic kit and do steady business through the workshop. I would not say they are particularly reliable cars - no better than average.

These days I value reliability above all. For your mrs I'd suggest a RAV4 if she really wants an SUV - not much street cred but they are reliable.  Otherwise something like an Auris Hybrid Estate.  These have the Prius drivetrain. We see some of these coming in for service (local taxi drivers) and they must be just about the most reliable machine on the planet - its only ever fluids, filters and friction parts...

[justina3 518]

Sod 4x4 I would be looking at a nice a4 or 320 estate far better car for your money and almost just as much space, you would get far more for your money as well. 

 

[CRW 73]

21 minutes ago, Halfpenny said:

These days I value reliability above all. For your mrs I'd suggest a RAV4 if she really wants an SUV - not much street cred but they are reliable

Exactly.  Since we had our first child 6 years ago we have run 3 different Rav's, all of which have been spot on.  Boring and not that quick but have spent nothing on them. Admittedly they were all under manufacturers 5 year warranty when we bought them, but the current one is now 6 years old with nearly 70k on it and other than tyres and servicing, we haven't spent a penny on it. (Probably famous last words!)

[metcars 397]

So, depends what you need it for. Proper 4x4 are great for towing, driving in bad conditions, ‘extreme dog walking’, going fishing, fetching white goods home from makro etc. But, it’s the height that wins, because women love putting kids in baby seats in the back without having to stoop! Try doing that a couple a day and you’ll understand? 

[Frank Cannon 812]

CRV, Sorrento, Santa Fe, forget the German tat unless you like bills

[LSP Vehicles 11]

1 hour ago, metcars said:

So, depends what you need it for. Proper 4x4 are great for towing, driving in bad conditions, ‘extreme dog walking’, going fishing, fetching white goods home from makro etc. But, it’s the height that wins, because women love putting kids in baby seats in the back without having to stoop! Try doing that a couple a day and you’ll understand? 

I do coach cricket, so the space would help, but you nailed it with the height! That's exactly her point lol

[MattR 177]

xc60. Normally looked after by their owners beforehand.

[metcars 397]

1 hour ago, LSP Vehicles said:

I do coach cricket, so the space would help, but you nailed it with the height! That's exactly her point lol

I had four kids! I saw what my wife had to put with putting them in and out of whatever car I let her drive lol. The 4x4 was a gift for her back! My wife drove a shogun. It was unstoppable. I was like a lot of guys and a little anti 4x4, but as they, happy wife happy life! Get her one!

[petrol head 46]

If you want reliability stick to anything Japanese. We have had 4X4 for donkeys years in various countries, so my experience is...............X5 is ok, but my god its boring, few issues with the ones we have sold, wouldn't recommend. ML, built is Alabama, you shouldn't need to ask more! Q7's have all been spot on, a bit less boring than the X5 IMHO. However we always end up back with a Range Rover, the build quality is terrible, but they are great to drive. We buy late models and flip them, buying a 10 year old one is financial disaster. 

[David Ayers 171]

Sub £10000 I would agree Rav4/Sportage/CRV/XC60 all good and reliable.

If you want the height then an S-Max/ Galaxy etc offer better value, mpg etc. They will have a more useful boot space and, if you need 3 child seats in the rear, offer individual seats which move independently. After all they are designed as kid carriers, unlike the Chelsea tractors.

Top tip. If you feel you have enough kids and don't want a vasectomy then buy her a Zafira.

Because if you do you won't be getting any "sexy time" again!! 

[BHM 994]

Sod running one of Land Rovers 10yr old products. I’m definitely in the ‘forget the German tat’ camp, at 10yrs old they’ll of had a few uncaring owners who couldn’t afford to change the oil, never mind any other maintenance. Utter scum wagons & not exactly durable - keep a few grand spare in case of a catastrophic failure.

Rav4s can be rotboxes (admittedly age/location dependant, and personally I think they’re a miserable car to drive), Vitaras rust for fun, CRVs (we’ve had loads but this will be our last one) are a reasonable shout BUT the later the worse as the days of bulletproof Honda engineering is a distant memory. 

Someone mentioned S-Maxes/Galaxies, I rate them, but if it’s a 4x4-style vehicle that’s required I’d say XC60/XC90. 

[MarkTVS 209]

Ok I’m going to go against the grain here, I always buy this type of stuff, personally I wouldn’t buy a pre facelift Range Rover sport though as they are very dated looking now in my opinion. If you do buy a Range Rover make sure it is the 3.6 TDV8 as it’s a brilliant engine, not had many issues other than boost pipes cracking etc. They can be expensive to maintain but I love the driving position and comfort so I don’t mind it. If you do manage to stretch to a facelift try get a Bali blue one, it’s a rare colour and brilliant for resale point of view

X5’s are also good, I would avoid higher mileage x35 d’s though as have had bottom end trouble with a few. Common for rear airbag issues but only £40 per airbag to replace. I would only buy an M sport model aswell and the 7 seaters seem to be the best sellers for resale 

For all out reliability it has to be a Mercedes ML or Volvo XC90, Volvos are best on fuel but a bit underpowered and old manish. if you get a late 2011 Mercedes ML grand edition they look fairly fresh, have the nice piped leather inside and aside from eating abs sensors for fun I would say they are the most reliable of the bunch.

 

[Martin F 15]

7 hours ago, Frank Cannon said:

CRV, Sorrento, Santa Fe, forget the German tat unless you like bills

Exactly this ! 
 

My wife has a 19 plate Cx5 after three previous Mazda’s and not a spot of bother. But as the daily hack we have a 2006 diesel X-Trail, don’t care about it getting car park dings, the kids can put their feet all over the leather and it never lets you down. As a bonus you can fit a 65” TV in the back if you get a little exuberant at Curry’s, and you can tow easily enough with it

[Bmx Bandits 52]

X5 would get my vote, owned two a 3.0d se 7 seater and a 35d M sport and kept each for a year and made money on both.

They are superb cars, look for one that hasn’t had to many owners and with good history and invoices for work if possible.

The 3.0d is a lovely engine, I took the wife and kids down to the south of France the year before last with no complaints at all.

The 35d is a twin turbo and does go so well, once driven it’s hard to go back to the 3.0d

I bought both from auction with problems, se looked sorry for itself, needed two rear airbags and air compressor, and as MarkTVS said the bags are cheap and readily available. The 35d was a 2 owner car with full history but had a multitude of random warning lights on start up so came really cheap. As soon as I looked thought the invoices and found one from a garage who 6 months ago fitted a Lion battery, I changed the battery for a decent make and bingo problems fixed!! I still regret selling that car!!

Apart from servicing the only thing one needed was a sat nav drive which I bought from BMW and wasn’t that expensive and was easy to install and didn’t even need coding. 

Edited December 7, 2020 by Bmx Bandits

[FHP11 8]

Would probably avoid Land Rovers. As nice as a 2010 Disco 4 is to drive, they are just a money pit. I ran one for a bit. The repairs cost more than my mortgage each month. Although if a Land Rover is a must, I'd go Freelander, there is just less to go wrong and they are a bit more dependable.

X5's are a nice shout, never had much grief from them although am aware there are some costly issues that can occur.

I'd also recommend the Grand Cherokee. Great kit and good value for what you get.  Not sure what your budget is, but if your looking at a 2010 Range Rover, I'm sure you'd get into a 2013 with decent mileage.

Would avoid the ML just as the interior is a bit drab and you still pay good money for them. XC90 feels prehistoric inside. 

 

 

[Frank Cannon 812]

19 hours ago, MarkTVS said:

 

X5’s are also good, I would avoid higher mileage x35 d’s though as have had bottom end trouble with a few. Common for rear airbag issues but only £40 per airbag to replace. 

 

£40 for an airbag.....you have my interest Mark

[Halfpenny 114]

19 minutes ago, Frank Cannon said:

£40 for an airbag.....you have my interest Mark

I think he's talking about rear suspension air bags, rather than SRS airbags. You can get pretty cheap Chinese-made suspension air bags but we normally fit OE Dunlop - around £90 ea.

[Frank Cannon 812]

4 hours ago, Halfpenny said:

I think he's talking about rear suspension air bags, rather than SRS airbags. You can get pretty cheap Chinese-made suspension air bags but we normally fit OE Dunlop - around £90 ea.

[CCC 31]

I’ve got an X5, arguably too big now the kids have left home, but useful for chucking wheels and parts in, and worth more to me than I’d get for it. I’d recommend getting the auto box flushed around 75k miles. 
 

Downside is that’s it a real pain to park due to its width so getting kids in and out maybe hard in many car parks.

we had an FRV as the family hack when the kids were young. Not exciting but the most practical (and reliable) car we’ve ever owned. Barely a penny other than routine servicing in 140knmiked and 12 years

Edited December 8, 2020 by CCC

[Halfpenny 114]

25 minutes ago, CCC said:

 

we had an FRV as the family hack when the kids were young. Not exciting but the most practical (and reliable) car we’ve ever owned. Barely a penny other than routine servicing in 140knmiked and 12 years

Great practical motors those, especially the petrol 1.8 6-speed - much better than the CMax and Scenic.  Sold a few over the years and no headaches.

[Frank Cannon 812]

Good shout FRVs, used to sell a few of these, good old buses, drive well, proper old school Honda build.

.... rot like a 70's Sud though

[BHM 994]

I cannot think of any motoring question where the ideal answer would be FRV. I got the impression the question was referring to quality rides, I’m afraid FRVs are pure “Last price” immigrant motoring at its best. I think I’d rather take the bus.

Edited December 9, 2020 by BHM

[Bmx Bandits 52]

The only thing that I could never get used to about driving an FRV was now near the driver is to the side window, whenever I turned my head to the right it alway used to take me by suprise. I know it’s so they could fit three people in the but I never got used to it. It never stop them selling though so it’s probably just me