Hi All

I am considering trading in my lovely van for something a bit smaller and want a 4x4 for the height. I want something that is big enough for a double dog cage in the back where the dogs (dobermanns) will be comfortable and for all my junk (ie chairs, fridge/coolbox, dog equipment, bags etc.)

Does anyone have any opinions (silly question) please on the pros and cons of various 4x4's

Christine

Hi Christine

We bought a Daewoo Musso last year, and have to say can't fault it yet.

I can carry 8 Borders in my fitted cages in the back with ease and have carried both Rotts and GWP's in there too.

The back seat folds down completely flat, so loads of room for all those extra's that we cart about :-D :-D

Very comfortable and fairly economical considering the size. I reckon a trip to Wales and back cost me about £50-60 but if the aircon is going a little more.

Its comfortable to drive, with lots of added extra's

Jayne

Hi Jayne

I have just had a look at their web site and they don't even mention a Musso :-( , haven't heard of these so will try to find one elsewhere.

Thanks
Christine

Just had a look and there are some secondhand ones on a site called www.carzone

Jayne
:-D

Japanese are VERY reliable, boss had Range Rover (crap!) Isuzu, Ford Explorer, 4 Runner (toyota) 2 Land Cruisers (Toyota's and great) and now Lexus RX300 SE, NO problems with the Japanese cars, the worst one was the Range Rover. Space wise Land Cruisers are HUGE.
Dawn.

We've got a dhaitsu fourtrak fieldman which is a tin back. Excellent for the dogs as there is loads of room and no windows in the back. Can fit 5 dogs very comfortably. Only negative thing is only two seats. Excellent off-roader as well.

Helen

get a landrover, its the only choice :D

Hi Sam

Unlike some I am not a masochist :D

Remember, you have mentioned what travelling in your landrover is like!

Christine

yes but now I have my new one its soooo different......if you want a 4x4 to take the kids to school & go off road in sainsburys carpark then fair-do's....get jap junk but if you want a proper vehicle made on solid steel chassis (none of this monococque stuff) that will truly get you & your dogs anywhere, with loads of room as well, then go get a Defender....nothing compares. :)

Sam its the jap junk that has won the Paris-Dakkhar rally the last 10 years running and all the jap junk that is in the the top 10 vehicles to finish every year, of course if your taken in by the slick American sales patter then get a landrover (farmers car), its got to be a Mitsubishi Shogun for me, I've pulled my mate out in his Best 4X4 X far ? more then once this year, and check out the Shoguns in Australia where its not uncommon for a Shogun diesel to do 400,000 miles on one engine. And I've got numerous pictures of tractors pulling defenders out of a bit of mud, from my time in the army.

Best regards

Robert

yes robert well thats why the landrover has just been voted the best vehicle ever by Top Gear viewers....sorry but didnt notice any jap junk coming close! :D
We have had old 80" and more recently defenders on the farm all my life plus a few more years on top...nothing can top them & if one need towing out by a shogun then it s probably down to driver error!!!
You cant calve a cow with the bumper of a shogun :) & you wouldnt get a shogun more than 50 yards across the moor places we have to take our landrovers (not talking discos or freelander here, but PROPER landrovers!)

My husband's dream car is a Landrover LWB Mk2A (whatever that is! ;) I say he can have one as long as it's red!
:)

JG you CANNOT have a RED Landy......its blasphemous! :( Landys are GREEN GREEN GREEN!!

I saw the perfect Landy recently - red, lwb, safari roof - and the numberplate P4NTS.
I sooooo wanted it!
:)

Ours is blue, blue, blue!

Helen

Top Gear viewers are not exactly what you would call subjective people, and I note theres no mention of the appaling reliabilty of Landrovers, another accolade they've taken is the JDPower most claims on warrenties :)

Best regards

Robert

Ah, but even a non-mechanic can mend a nice, ordinary, old-fashioned Landrover, Robert. And you can carry wet dogs and bales of straw in the back without worrying about spoiling the upholstery!
:)

You will find that Land Rover are a major sponsor of Top Gear !! they couldn't mock the afflicted could they?
Dawn.

I'm about to get an Isuzu Trooper - diesel - will do about 300K and you have all the electrics and extras - you can get an S reg one for about 10K :)

We've got a BMW X5, fantastic motor and not too bad on the diesel consumption. Very comfortable and spacious loads of room in the boot, for the dog, also a dobe, we dont use a cage though. It also has a sliding floor in the boot, so there's less strain on your back lifting things in and out.
Bev

Christine,

If you want a real 4 x4 you cannot go past a Range Rover.

My hubby and I watched a show the other night about them and you know 80% of all every made are still running in the world and they are very old now..

We bought a people carrier this time and only reason never got the RR is it was too high for my garage LOL but it still may come yet?

Regardless of your budget there is one to suit. IMHO of course :-)

Pam

So far I have test driven a Discovery and a Trooper (the Trooper had not yet been checked out and screamed the whole time as there was an air leak somewhere) - the only thing is I am supposed to be getting a smaller vehicle - there is a lot less room in them, but they are not exactly smaller and there is nothing elegant about them either. Am off to try some others next week. After driving vans for the last 13 years or so a car is going to seem strange and somewhat cramped I think :)

Christine

Hi Christine,

I have been too busy not been on for a few days.

Won't need to tell you but the freelander although quite nice is not even close to the same catagory as the Range Rover.. sadly.

The X5 is nice if you want to spend that kind of money.. I personally could not risk that money with animals getting in and out.

I now have a Zafira, a little down in market from what I am used to but I am , was and still am pleasantly suprized. The full consumption is excellent 53 ish MPG , 2.0td , is it very nippy, the space in the back is excellent. I caqn get 4 westie size cages in and my grooming trolley no probs. ( we tried it out)

I have only had it for about 6-7 months but alreay put 13K on it and really pleased with it overall. SO MPG is important to me..

Over and above all that I bought it from the Motorpoint car sales as a new import and got near £5 off the UK price for it and it is a vauxhall not an opel..

Pam

I agree re the x5. after losing 13k in a year on a 330i in depreciation alone i wouldn't touch another BMW

Between Fiancee and I we have owned a Range Rover, Discovery and a freelander. So no prizes for guessing who is the only manufacturer of 4 wheel Drives we will touch. The later models with the new diesel engine are very economical. Space wise I would suggest the new TD5 discovery however the rear seats in the Freelander fold back completely flat which doubles the space so depends on your budget. Look for one that does not have the lovely colour coded rear bumpers whilst they look great they are definately not designed for the claws of dogs jumping in and if you have a large breed that you cannot lift up they will within a few weeks be scratched to hell. We are looking at a new Defender now so 4 models from the same manufacturer has to say something.

Found a site where you can compare What Car

Christine

We had a Freelander to use when the Range Rover was being fixed AGAIN! The side panel inside fel off when you shut the door, it had done under 1000 miles. The Range Rover was so useless it was unbelievable, at 4yrs old it needed £2000 spent on it to keep it on the road, the electric management system had broken, airbag, alternator and ABS warning light kept coming on, the faulty alarm system meant the damn thing didn't work half the time, and the car door locks popped up and down ALL THE TIME you were driving! You only need to look at the reliability surveys to see which cars are the most reliable, and reliability is what matters most of all really.
Dawn.

We sold a Freelander for the X5 because it was so noisy you couldn't hear the radio or yourself speak, the insides were so plasticy and badly fitted. It was very poor. The model we got was all singing all dancing too so not the bottom of the range. Wouldn't have another one. Servicing was expensive too, yes even compared to the BMW. We didn't have any mechanical faults with it though, bought it new and only had it a 2 years so would hope we didn't. It was just a really rattly motor.
Bev

We've just started looking at 4x4's as we want something more solid and safer than our current estate car. We have a lot more research to do but so far are looking at a Landrover Discovery. Seems to be very safe and my dog loved it when we test drove with a friend, so the "paws up" is a good sign :D

The friend is a roofer who has horses, 2 dogs (Flattie and Goldie) and uses his vehicle for lugging scaffolding etc about. He wont have anything else now.

Have just been to a dog activity weekend; met another friend who had a Defender and as he works a lot on various estates miles from anywhere, will sometimes sleep in it with his dogs. In fact he slept in it all weekend and seemed fresh as a daisy when he emerged

I have heard the Freelanders are not so solid and safe so we won't be going there.....

LIndsay

i love my mitsbushie 4 life,it got a sepated cabin for the dogs so i can jet wash it out and you donot get the smells in the car part,or the noise,it cheap to run, easy to park,long travel it comfortable,it like a pick up truck with a cap on it with a sunroof and tinted windows,i get 90 mph out of it and more,it looks like a estated car on bid wheels.

I have a new Jeep Cherokee Sport. It is a fantastic car. Very economical and loads of room with the back seats down. They really cheap too compared to the others ( shoguns, discoverys, landcruisers etc). However if your worried about losing space why not go for a Toyota Lucida, they are a japanese import similar to the toyota previa. They come in a diesel 4wd and have 8 seats all of which can be folded out of the way. They are great to drive. I only parted with mine as I needed more pulling power.

Debbie

I am looking to buy a Mitsubishi L200, I have a Galaxy at the moment, but I find it too small, when we take all the dogs (6) shepherds.
So I have been looking on the internet for the Mitsubishi, but as I want it it for private use only, I dont want to have to pay VAT on top Any Ideas where to look for one?
Charm

you will have to pay commonerical use on the insurance on the L200,i have had mine for 2 years it great,

I never thought of having to pay commercial insurance....how much is it?? I used to have a Midi Van, which was difficult to get insurance on private cover. So that is a factor when considering buying the Mitsubishi.
Charm
PS, what breed do you have??How many sheps do you think the cab would comfortably hold??

i payed about £550 last year it due in sep this year,but i have been driving for 26 years with a good record, i have flatcoated retrievers at one time 5 adluts and a spainsh water dog all together lay happy in it,

BEV,

Only one comment , the freelander could never live up to anything that costs nearly 3 times as much as it. I do know what you mean though as I am not as impressed with the freelander neither.

THe freelander to the X5 is like a metro to a Jag.. if that makes sense.
:-)
BFN Pam

I guess you are right Pam, you probably only get what you pay for, as the saying goes, but the Freelander wasn't cheap either, and a really nice looking motor, so we really expected it to be a bit more plush than it was. The X5 is worth the same amount today as it was over a year ago, due to the waiting list for them:D not selling though, even though we have been approached on more than one occasion in the street. With regards residual value we lost an absolute fortune on the Freelander and BMW have, I believe, the second best residual value after Mercedes, not sure about all models, so perhaps the Mercedes 4WD I think it's called ML might be worth a look Christine, I have a friend with one who loves hers, she has a cage for her Weimeraner in the back, so has quite a bit of room.
Bev

HI Jaffa,

No getting away from it the X5 is nice as hell... :-)

I up until recently have had BMWs till just about 6 months ago. My company subsidised them for me but they were cars.

When I started showing more than one dog it had to go, so although to begin with I felt like I had went very down market I am really quite happy with my Zafira. It is the 2 nd from the top of the range one. SO has all the gadgets and I bought it new.

I am a bit more greedy with my dosh as I am getting older and although alway have a nice car I could not spend 40-50k on one , I like my money in my house making money for me..

I was driving around today looking at all the 4 x4 s seeing if I could see one I thought would do for Christine.. funny how our virtual world seeps into our lives eh??

Take care.. You'll be " fair posh" whist the X5 is in high demand.

Pam

I have tried most everything and have eventually found something no-one has mentioned - an X-Trail.

Stopped off on way home at Co-op from trying out various Landrovers and Toyotas, none of which suited because of size, price, consumption etc etc and there was a lady parking this vehicle that looked very manoverable and had a boot big enough for a double cage. Stopped to have a chat and she had only just got it and like me had tried all sorts. Went to try a demo and liked it! Not as high as I wanted but I can't have everything I suppose

Christine

Admin edit

Hi Christine,

Well done. Have you found one , or have you just decided??

Hope it is nice when you get it..

Pam

Hi Christine.
The Nissan X Trail is the replacement for the Terrano they did which was identical to the Ford Maverick, both companies have now withdrawn those models, Ford have a new Maverick (not unlike the X trail) and Nissan bought out the X trail. The other that may suit you is the Honda CRV, nice motors and the size, price range of the Nissan, probably a bit taller than the Nissan.
Dawn.

We're looking at getting an SUV in the next couple of years and the Honda CRV is at the top of our wish list. The X-Trail was nice, but I felt it drove a bit more like a truck than the others. However for load space it definitely has more than others in it's class! And the gadgets are awesome!

Wendy

One to cross off your list is the Jeep Cherokee.
It would too small for the Doberman and twin cage. We have 2 Wheatens and with the dog guard in place there is enough room for them but you wouldn't get chairs etc,
We can only get one cage in the back of it and we could do with a cage with a door in the side rather than the end!

Al

A definite DON'T, i'd say is the LandRover Discovery. We have one, and even with the seats down, can only fit one cage in the back (GSD size) With the seats up there's no room for anything. Ridiculous for such a big motor. So, we're selling ours and we're going to buy an old Landrover (long wheel base) As far as I know, they're the best!! Very good runners, loads of room.

Take care

Lisa

What do women know about cars then?. cant be a great deal. Theyu havent even been allowed to vote for that long.
Mick ( drunk again ).

LOL Mick...

Pam

Bring the cage when you go car hunting. :D Then you can see if it really does fit.

The cages I have are ones that would normally be used in the house, 1 x 4' and 2 x 3' but I will have to get another one specifically for the vehicle, or, get a full dog guard for behind the seats with escape hatch, a divider and a door guard. Has any one done it this way with just the three pieces rather than the whole cages?

Christine

Christine,

Did you get that new car yet ??

Well an update on the Landrover performance.

My brother came home from Canada I gave him my new car yesterday.

Wait for it..

A woman( Mondeo) smashed into a Land rover who then smashed into the back of my car.. nice yes. Nobody injured luckily.

Well Mondeo is wrecked, my car has a good bit of damage and the Landrover well it had one scratch on it , not even noticable.

So there you go, safe as stone houses..

Pam

No pamela, just 3 times the size and weight of a Mondeo!
Dawn.