Cheap reliable Daily 4x4 ;)

The Suzies bring good money from girls here. So they don't figure as cheap as chips at all.

The least way to reliably go 4WD is an F-150. The base model is cheap as new, and stays cheap as a used truck.

Alternatively, Jeep AWD estate models are cheap, if a bit less rugged and a bit less off-roady-capable as standard.

If you live down a track that gets snowed in none of those 4x4 cars are any good, you need some ground clearance or you'll get stuck anyway, if the floor is resting on the snow the wheels wont get you moving whatever your driving and a proper 4x4 will give you a get you through a good foot or so extra snow.

What ever she picks don't put road only tyres on it or it'll be no good anyway, we towed a Nisan Navara up the road this morning and a Freelander last night, both had road tyres on and both should have been at least as good or better than our truck, but we have AT's on it so it digs into the frozen snow on top instead of just wheelspinning.

Not really, i've driven through conditions like that in 2 wheel drive cars in the past, modern stuff has loads more problems because of the low profile wide tyres everything is fitted with these days, I got 30 miles to southend along the closed A127 through a foot of snow in a mk2 granny many years ago and towed a mates broken down stacklight merc back, the granny was a heavy car with tall (for the time) 15" wheels that were fairly narrow 185's, lots of weight on a small contact patch will dig you in find some grip.

ost modern stuff would be a hell of a lot better on skinnier wheels and tyres, which is exactly how most full size 4x4's are proportioned, a 2 ton truck on 205 tyres withe benefits of the body being 18" above the floor and the ability to drive all the wheels will out class any 4x4 car in snow.

Of course they are no easy to stop if they do start sliding.


In this case if the lane gets deep drifts i'd pick a proper 4x4, and if it doesn't i'd buy her a set of skinny wheels and some winter tyres for them. I've had plenty of 4x4 Sierras and they are not much better than 2WD ones in the snow on the standard low profile road tyres even with skinny rims on they are ok on normal roads but they soon ground out and lose traction if it gets deep.

As PopUpToaster points out (and ANY 4x4 enthusiast knows too well) tyres are the critical factor that no 4x4 is exempt from.

Don't believe the hype with 4x4's, they are a much of a muchness in terms of capability, especially in terrain like UK snow. The right tyres can make a supposedly terrible 4x4 seem like an unstoppable 4x4, the wrong ones will do the opposite.

For a woman who just wants a daily that can get through the snow I'd suggest something that's full time 4wd (no complicated engagement) not too high to climb into (some women hate scuffing their clothes on sills all the time) and reliable, but not too big and cumbersome.

I know a girl with a Vitara who had to be rescued from the bottom of a hill because she just couldn't physically move the transfer case lever into 4wd.

The ground clearance issue is a fair point.

Keep well away from Jeep or LandRover if you want reliability. Some of their owners will argue otherwise but the general trend of complaints say it all.

Go Japanese, something like a short wheel base Shogun or LandCruiser Colarado, Rav 4, Vitara etc...

Unstoppable really. With half decent tyres of course.

My dads been out in his passing stuck defenders, range rovers, J 4x4s etc.

Again, a lot of its down to driving style but if you stick it in low range, feet off the pedals and let it do what it wants it seems to just keep plodding on anywhere!

But the running costs of a large 4x4 will be almost double that of a Mondeo. They are far from cheap to run!! Why can't she just stay at home for a few days while we have snow?

Mine's a Ford Maverick (Nissan Terrano II by any other name) 2.7TDi SWB.

Quicker than a TD5 Disco (mine's, erm, tuned!), 26mpg round town and up to 35mpg on a long run (I run in RWD only on the road), boringly reliable/dependable, and I've not been worried about getting stuck anywhere yet. I've fitted AVM manual hubs to replace the weak-spot standard fit auto hubs and a set of Toyo Open Country A/T tyres. I haven't needed to use 4WD on the road this winter ;D

Dale

I'm not even going to bother listing all the things that these are capable of because by now you should all know how underated/overlooked these amazing machines are.

£1,000 buys you a corker leaving you some spending money for 2" lift, mud tyres and cool wheels....although they are still very, very capable straight out of the box.



I rest my case.

Well said, a lot of the advice in this thread is OTT and hasn't really considered the OP's criteria. Yet another "Buy what I've got" thread.

No don't, seriously! Chances are the 4x4 will have already nuked itself with neglect. You really really have to look after the 4x4 on these cars for them to survive