Help with a change of car.

Starting a new job on Monday my other half is considering changing his car. The office he will be working at is at a farmhouse accessed by a potholed and semi-flooding dirt track, which means a small 4x4 is on the cards. He is currently thinking on a second hand Suzuki 'Jimny' has anyone any experience of these please. Any other suggested makes would be good too.

 

How about the older Rav4? The newer ones are a lot bigger

 

Mmmm, not so sure about the Rav4 Ellen, although there's good and bad in all makes my daughter had one of these and it was nothing but trouble. Thanks for the idea.

 

You can't go far wrong with an old Landrover Defender. They'll go anywhere.

 

No idea, but ....

Congratulations on your new job Mr Sheal!!!!! ​

 

Second hand "challenger" tank.

 

FC..... the 4x4 isn't that necessary, but these vehicles tend to be the ones that have more height between body and ground. It's most definitely a farm track about 600 yards long and the entrance to it has what you could only term as a ford across it at the moment, the puddle is that big. The rest of the track is potholed some deeper than others. He took his little Getz down it last week gingerly, you should have seen the state of it when he got home!

Clueless...... he would love a Defender but it's too expensive to run. We need something with a smaller engine which is why we're thinking Jimny. This will be a second car replacing our Getz as a 'runabout'.

 

I had a Jimny!!!!! Really loved that car!! He will LOVE it!!!!!!

Val

 

You can't go wrong with one of these
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=n...jPBcfwhQeipoHQDg&ved=0CE4QsAQ&biw=995&bih=524
The room inside when all the seats are down is fantastic and you will be surprised as to how much you can load in the back.Our next door neighbour where we used to live had the Jimney and he called it the tip over car as there was issues with them tipping over at one stage and also found there was no elbow room as the car is so narrow.

We were looking at thwe Defenders the other week and I asked if you get a ladder/orange box with them as they were so high up to get into the seat and me being a short arse,there was no way could I step up into the dam thing

 

Or, if you want a 'better tank' (can't shoot as fast, less well armoured and more expensive, but better according to the yanks), get an M1 Abrams

 

If there's water in the equation than a diesel engined car is a better bet as there's no spark plugs or coil to get wet.
No personal experience of the Jimny but have seen a few and had a colleague who had one and they are not robust vehicles. The Vitara might be a better bet, though read the reviews on it.
Best 4WDs we've had -
Landrovers - Hard as nails - though the more recent ones are over sophisticated compared with the earlier Defenders and 'Series' models.Very thirsty.
Land Cruiser - Toyota short wheelbase. Tough as old boots but still good for 'normal driving' Will go anywhere, but expensive. (Wish we still had it!)
Jeep - Had two, pretty tough though nothing like the above, but very good, fast and comfortable for normal driving.
Suzuki - Grand Vitara. Great load carrying capacity, very thirsty and expensive to run though a less 'agricultural' ride than the Jeep.

 

I'm thinking of buying an A10.

 

Sorry everyone, but I'll repeat! It's a 'second' car that will probably only be used to and from other half's work place, he will be the only one using it. He doesn't want anything big or expensive to run and our 'first' car does all the lugging.

Dave.......thanks for the info about a diesel engine car, we'll take that into consideration.

 

Just had a thought. Do you really need 4wd if it's just potholes that are the problem. 4wd is great for mud and snow but front wheel drive and good suspension may be all you need for a few holes in the track.