An efficient 4x4?

[SunnyJim]

So Powerswitch has a 'SUV Fan Club Corner'

Easy Tiger!!! Just a means to an end.... a horse awaits you know....

[fifthcolumn]

All electric 4x4.
This can be done. If we don't fall off the olduvai cliff these will be available:

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/12/08 ... v-on-ebay/

I think phoenixcar in the USA makes an electric truck like this for about 25000 quid.

[fifthcolumn]

http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/vehicle ... ix-suv.php

It ought not to be too too difficult to import one of these and at 25000 quid + import duty, shipping etc the price isn't too bad.

[emordnilap]

There are ev makers and importers in these islands - http://www.evfinder.com/index.htm

[mikepepler]

That's a lot of money though...

[Kentucky Fried Panda]

Absolutely, if I was a vehicle buying sort I'd be looking for something small, easy to repair and economical to run.

I suppose something else you should take into account is vehicle security. When fuel price has doubled or rationed vehicles that run on the smell of an oily rag will very very to your average car thief. Mazda pick ups for example are very easy to open and steal...

[mikepepler]

Well, the bottle of injector cleaner that I've now run through our Polo seems to have done the trick - efficiency was back up from 45mpg to high 50s. Nice to know it wasn't a sign of mechanical old age. So now I'm less urgently interested in the 4x4.... also because the ground is drying out now, so there's less need for it.

But I think I will look at the matter again in the autumn, before everything gets soggy again. I'm also wondering if the current rapid changes in oil and financial markets by then might have gone far enough to help inform my decision. Who know, if house prices are plummeting then maybe we'll not get a 4x4 and save the cash towards picking up a bargain cottage near our wood?

[Joules]

We have previously owned a Land Rover, dont get one unless you want regular trips to the garage..

Right where do I start?

Most 4x4?s are girly impostors of a real off road vehicle called THE LANDROVER DEFENDER 300 TDI?. I THANK YOU!

I cannot praise my landy enough;

I would recommend a Landrover, by the way!

I appreciate that a Land Rover is the best 4x4.

In a few years you will be standing on the galvanised bonnet of the defender screaming
?? come on you wood thieves, I have a chainsaw to cut through the carcass of you?re bodies, I will make soup out of the chewy bits, the defender and I will forward charge at you ten at a time. Go back to your villages and tell them this wood has a DEFENDER!!!!.

They really are quite good.

Land Rover (Defender) best 4 x 4??depends how you define best.

...reliability is simply not up to Jap standards. This might not be a problem in the UK, where a breakdown might be an (expensive) annoyance.

... Poor reliability in outback conditions is a killer. Just about everybody doing that kind of travel used (and still uses) Toyota Landcruisers, Daihatsu Fourtraks (a brilliant 4 x4 ? simple like the Land Rover but 10 times more trustworthy), Mitsubishi Shoguns etc.

This was a while ago, and I?d expect Land Rover to have improved a bit since then, but you only have to look at JD Power or similar to see the Jap stuff is still miles ahead.

All the best,
Dan.

I'm thinking about a long-term investment of a workhorse that I can run on used vegetable oil. I assumed an older Land Rover was the obvious choice, but it's contradictory reports like the above that make me wonder... what I can't understand is how something that is supposed to be indestructible can have such a poor reputation for reliability.. I mean... how does that work...? My brother has a relatively new 90 (or whatever it's called now) and it's been shockingly bad. All the internet reviews say that the likes of the LandCruiser are infinitely superior, but you don't see many old ones about...

For what it's worth, I've narrowed it down to a choice of an old Defender, old Discovery, old Landcrusier or old Grand Vitara and it will just be decided on the best example of whichever one comes along... the rest is in the lap of the gods... Any one of them could be brilliant, or any one could be a complete disaster. ?4,000 - ?8,000 should be plenty.

Joules.

[fifthcolumn]

That's a lot of money though...

I've come to the conclusion that peak oil doesn't mean the end of cars. It just means that the middle class and the working class will no longer be able to afford them.

From that perspective, pre-peak oil induced recession I think this is about as cheap as cars are going to be for us in our social class for at least the next generation.

i.e. if you can't afford a car that costs 25 grand now then you won't be able to afford a half decent electric car five years from now when things are really tight.

I'm not sure how I fee about that but I think that's about the truth of the situation we face.

[emordnilap]

i.e. if you can't afford a car that costs 25 grand now then you won't be able to afford a half decent electric car five years from now when things are really tight.

25 grand? Yikes! The thought of having that much money! Let alone wasting it on a vehicle! 25 grand...

There again, motoring has never been as cheap.

[skeptik]

No lampoon, honestly!!

It was so strange seeing such a masculine workhorse in pink, i just had to speak to the owner.

An efficient 4x4?

[fifthcolumn]

25 grand? Yikes! The thought of having that much money! Let alone wasting it on a vehicle! 25 grand...

25 grand on a five year lease probably costs somewhere around 500 quid a month.

A significant chunk of change to be sure but put into perspective: someone on minimum wage living with their parents could conceivably pay for one of those things and then have a competitive advantage if they decided to run a little business at the weekend....

So not quite as expensive as it looks on the surface.

[SunnyJim]

25 grand? Yikes! The thought of having that much money! Let alone wasting it on a vehicle! 25 grand...

25 grand on a five year lease probably costs somewhere around 500 quid a month.

A significant chunk of change to be sure but put into perspective: someone on minimum wage living with their parents could conceivably pay for one of those things and then have a competitive advantage if they decided to run a little business at the weekend....

So not quite as expensive as it looks on the surface.

25K on something that rusts and depreciates!!! No chance! What a waste of money. I'd rather get a horse.

The Vitara is great Mike. Does everything I need, isn't too thirsty. I've hauled logs, moved fencing, sheds, chicken houses, water buts etc etc. It's fantastic. And it was ~?2k. Once I've moved everything I need, and prices have dropped I'll probably swap it for one of those 4x4 fiat panda's or something, although I don't think they are that efficient either are they? Maybe I'll take the plunge and get a nice cob.

[mikepepler]

Yes, I think the Vitara looks like a good bet, though an old RAV4 might be an option too.

Right now I'm just waiting though. The way things are going its hard to know what's the best thing to spend money on, a 4x4 or a tonne of rice!

[Bedrock Barney]

Thought I'd give you all some light relief, what with oil prices, powerswitch forum outages etc etc.

We've just bought a 1994 Range Rover Classic 300TDI and....wait for it....wait for it.......will be selling our Toyota Prius.

There is some method in our madness. We'll use our Volvo V70 bi fuel for day to day travelling, visiting family etc. The big beastie will become our camping vehicle complete with top box and tow bar mounted bike rack. It will also pull a trailer load of wood etc. Probably only do 3,000 - 4,000 miles a year. Parts are very widely available and it is old enough to mean it is not too complicated.

We will also be able to escape across the fields when we see the MZB's heading our way in 2012.