Whats everyones opinions on new 4wd vehicles.

Do what most people do. Weigh up the pros and cons, matched against the intended use, and go with the vehicle that is the best compromise. Most of the cons can be eliminated or minimised by the use of aftermarket parts, and if you are further down the ownership queue, someone else will have sorted all this out for you before you strike the issue.

Don't let the fact that a few boxes aren't ticked, deter you from taking on the ownership of a new 4WD. Not all bad in my book.

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Originally Posted by PAT303

If it was just me JC I'd spend 15K but it's the boss thats the trouble.It's a sad state of affairs when we have to think which is the least crappiest vehicle to buy out of all the vehicles on offer and how much money needs to be spent just to make it then do what a 20 year old vehicle would do easily. Pat

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I thought that repairing a vehicle that is used for work purposes is a complete tax deduction in the year the repairs were done no matter what the cost,wheras the purchase of a new vehicle is depreciated over years.
My first Rangie I completely rebuilt in or I started in 1984 to rebuild it (1978 2 door). In the end I had spent over 25 grand but everything was done ,motor gearbox diffs etc etc.All this was a tax deduction that I claimed as I was self employed without any problems. Why did I do it because I needed to get rid of money legitimatly to reduce my tax on something that benifited me. As I say that was a long time ago. Unfortunately I lost the rangie to a fire in 1989 after going to retreive my wifes V8 Holden wagon that had been stolen and that ended up 200kms south of Perth, so I claimed on 2 cars that month through insurance.
was a Bad month and year that one.
Brad:)

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Originally Posted by justinc

Pat,

I get asked this by customers quite often, and my answer? I pointed to my RRC with the Isuzu transplant, or now my Isuzu county which will have a new A/C system, uprated seats and soundproofing etc and short of SRS and ABS etc etc it will do EXACTLY the same job for 1/3rd of the cost. Obviously it is my choice and most of them look horrified at owning such an 'old' vehicle, but those people may one day have to accept a tow from another 4wd traveller driving another 'old' vehicle.

Real outback touring in the true sense still requires the same parameters as 30years ago, simplicity, reliability and economy.


I will be buried in my 110.:)


JC

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Yep for me the RRC with the Isuzu is my ideal 4wd. But how much to set one up like this? Once you find a good example of an old vehicle, fit it with the Isuzu and then reco complete drivetrain, like reducing annoying backlash tougher axles/cv's.

I am in this predicament now. I need something bigger than the 96 Tdi disco as the kids are whinging about one arse cheek on the reYar wheel arches and am in need for a seven seater with more room for gear and kids. So where do I look?
Tdi Defender? Don't like the narrow rear door, poor seats and too archaic for wife, kids think they look cool done up though.
Td5 update? No way don't like the elecs, like the car itself though.
Do I look at a GU 4.2 diesel? This is the only other 4wd I could look at, outside of LR but they are exxy and in demand.
I don't want fancy elecs, ABS SRS etc. I for one will be sticking with the older style of 4wd.

G'day Pat and everyone. With retirement pending in Jan 2013 I started sussing all fourbies in Sep 09. Strongest contender was D4 but I also gave
LC200 and ML300 a serious look. Final decision nine weeks ago? An August
04 D2, TD5 with 77,000 k's on the ticker.

I took the view I'd rather spend $32k, then tart the thing the way I wanted and get out of it for much less than spending circa $100k on something too big or overly complicated. The high tech and weights of the newbies scared me, as did the "take the whole package or leave it" approach when considering factory options.

My Disco is an ex Sinney show pony, concourse condition; didn't think I'd ever find something so good. The city slicker accessories are now almost off and serious kit now being installed. Cheers ... Ray.:)

Pawl
A good D2a is the go,7 seats & more room.As for the electroncs,there are very few problems with them at all.I have had 10yrs of D2's & had no electronics problems at all,ever,& they have done a lot of hard work in remote areas.

The number of D2 electronics problems on this site are few & far between,compared with other issues.

I would be more concerned about keeping the D2 well maintained than worrying about an electronics problem

My opinion is that I can't afford a new GOOD one and the new ones I could buy aren't worth having.

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Originally Posted by Tombie2

We are the reason vehicles are built like they are.. Simple.

How many family men on here have a DVD for the kids when traveling?

How many want rear A/C?

Less body roll? Give me DSC, ACE etc...

Integrated iPod? Yes please! I don't know how to make a $0.20 CD

Climate control so I don't need to adjust a dial 20cm from my finger tips... Absolutely.

Steering wheel volume buttons..

Dimming lights inside... Please.

A dong dong sound so busy me doesn't leave keys in or lights on... Yep that's handy.

Or a poster on here once going insane because he had to press the open door button on his key *twice* to open all his doors... Oh the horror that is modern life with a vehicle!!!!

Nope... Modern 4wd are a product of our making. They tow the larger things we desire and are more multipurpose then ever,

And all of them meet their design criteria... Just maybe not yours/mine. But they suit the core market.

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Actually the things you mention here are really not expensive at all. The expense comes when the car company integrates the electronics into the car to much. I have a van with rear 15inch LCD screen front 7 inch touch screen with dvd, bluetooth, gps, sd card and a lot more, its all chinese ebay stuff and cost me less than $500 all up. If the system breaks you just buy the latest and improved one cheap and replace it. Complex things become cheap and easy to fix over time. Disk brakes and ABS are a good example of this, the first disk brakes on the jag we inboard and not self centering so they were a nightmare to adjust and expensive, these days someone like me can rip off a disk, replace calipers, pads all in an hour with basic tools, same for the electronic stuff I just mentioned, I installed the lot very easily.

But if you have all this stuff sitting throughout the car with computer modules in every panel and a million connections, which is how manufactures like to do it, then you will have expensive problems.

Expense comes when a manufacturer makes something unique for a car, but what LR could do is use 10 years old off shelf ABS, electronics and all that and you can have it all, cheap to buy, replace, access etc.

alas its a pipe dream, ebay aftermarket is the only way to achieve this.

Couldn't agree more Pat. Which is why we bought this for our outback travelling.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/02/100.jpg

Not everyones piece of cake, but extremely capable. The only vehicle electronics are the speedo and the radio, both non essential items. Suprisingly comfortable and the extra long leaves give a very smooth ride both on and off road.
The OKA is designed to be pulled down and re-built, parts are easily sourced and reasonably priced. Ours is a 1996 model and cost under $30K with 150K Km on the clock and had done very little off road work. I've spent a further $15K re-fitting, re-upholstering and sound proofing the interior, building the back on the tray, 6 new wheels and tyres and upgrading the axles and diffs (LSD's front and rear) and re-setting the suspension. What we've now got is essentially an outstandingly reliable simple and capable 4WD. Fuel consumption is around 16 litres/100Km both on and off road though soft sand does push this up a bit.

I agree with your sentiments on the 4WD offerings from the major suppliers Pat but don't know anything about whether Mitsubishi's are any good or not.

Deano:)

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Originally Posted by pawl

Yep for me the RRC with the Isuzu is my ideal 4wd. But how much to set one up like this? Once you find a good example of an old vehicle, fit it with the Isuzu and then reco complete drivetrain, like reducing annoying backlash tougher axles/cv's.

I am in this predicament now. I need something bigger than the 96 Tdi disco as the kids are whinging about one arse cheek on the reYar wheel arches and am in need for a seven seater with more room for gear and kids. So where do I look?
Tdi Defender? Don't like the narrow rear door, poor seats and too archaic for wife, kids think they look cool done up though.
Td5 update? No way don't like the elecs, like the car itself though.
Do I look at a GU 4.2 diesel? This is the only other 4wd I could look at, outside of LR but they are exxy and in demand.
I don't want fancy elecs, ABS SRS etc. I for one will be sticking with the older style of 4wd.

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Pawl, I would shudder to think, even with me doing most of the work, and subletting A/C, Intercooler and exhaust pipework, etc etc to people I know in the trade. I am changing to a 110 for the extra strength and room, but was really impressed with the RRC. A 110 doesn't need to be too archaic either, with a new Airconditioner, seats, soundproofing, tint, upholstery and stereo etc etc it is still simple yet very liveable:)

JC

An associate of mine is looking to upgrade his wife's D2a to a D4. The first thing he complained about with the D4 3.0 diesel...there's no dipstick! How can he tell how much to top up the oil! Apparently the 2.7 has a dipstick so he'll be happier with that version.

These vehicles are simply not designed to be serviced by owners.