Which 4x4?

[HenryF]

So I am looking at getting a 4x4 for my first car, primary uses include:

- Offroading on a shoot, which includes going over wet, boggy fields and woodland tracks
- Beach Launching a small boat over hard to medium sand
- towing a small boat (gross unbraked trailer weight= 350-400kg)
- Commuting 10 or so miles per day as well as motorway use relatively regularly.

Obviously insurance plays a big part in this as I am only 17.

I have looked at the following:

- Freelander TD4
- Suzuki Jimny
- Suzuki SJ410
- Nissan X-Trail
- Series 2 defender
- 300 tdi disco

(I am aware this is a landy forum, so excuse the suzukis and nissan )

At the moment the freelander is taking the lead.

Also any opinions on the best insurance company to go to would be great

Cheers, Henry

 

[vilguy]

op2:

 

[HenryF]

op2:

 

[MrNasty]

Heh, all will become clear soon, standby
:5blurk5:

 

[heatseeker872591]

well i can only comment on the freelander td4 as i have owned 2 and had no trouble at all. the td4 engine is chain driven and very reliable, all head gasket problems from the early k series petrol and l series first diesel engines have been rectified. only thing i didnt know until recently was the 4wd is run on a vicsous coupling system which needs looking at if the freelanders done over 70k miles and possibly needs changing as if this seizes then it causes a chain reaction of evens causting strain on the drive train and transmission and all that (im not mechanically minded lol) and very expensive to fix. but i think tbh is cos you are only 17 i think insurance would be your main concern? i seen lads your age paying £2000 for a 1.1 citroen saxo. god knows what a 2.0 turbo diesel will be for you?? wish you all the best tho and hope the info i have given you helps

 

[HenryF]

Thanks Heatseeker

My Dad contacted our insurer (NFU) who deals with the other cars we have and he asked about both a freelander and a corsa (for comparison)

And it really isn't as bad as I first anticipated (i mean in comparison to the corsa, i mean the quote is still huge).

To insure me on a 1.2 corsa will cost £1900 and on a freelander £2300, so to be honest they are not a million miles away from each other so I think it is doable, it is just finding the right insurer (Why I came here)

Can anybody 'clear up' what the first two replies are on about, I am a bit confused.

Cheers

 

[Kizzeh]

They never rectified k series headgasket issues because it's was engine design. Just one of those things.

They never rectified the L series headgasket issues because there wasn't any. L series engine is a very strong engine but with bmw taking over landrover they added their own engine.

Different ird ratios in the 2000 and earlier freelanders though which makes vcu checking more important

 

[heatseeker872591]

well all i can say is its nice to have £2000 to spend on a years insurance policy in the first place, i know i would never part with that sort of money on insurance. i know its alot harder for young lads these days when they pass their test. i passed my test when i was 18 and then didnt drive or have a car for 2 years as i didnt have a job till then . but my first car cost me £1295 to insure and even that in my eyes was expensive.

anyway im sure you will get some help soon from other members. all i can say about the freelander td4 is what i said previously, but bare in mind something i forgot to mention is they are not brilliant for off roading, hardly any ground clearance and it will bottom out if you are not careful. no low range or diff lock either. its just basically a simple but yet complex part time 4wd system which is activated when the front wheels lose traction then the back wheels kick in.
my brother used to have a jimny and that was surprisingly good off road much better than a freelander but bare in mind this is a landy forum so cant talk about that too much lol

 

[HenryF]

well all i can say is its nice to have £2000 to spend on a years insurance policy in the first place, i know i would never part with that sort of money on insurance. i know its alot harder for young lads these days when they pass their test. i passed my test when i was 18 and then didnt drive or have a car for 2 years as i didnt have a job till then . but my first car cost me £1295 to insure and even that in my eyes was expensive.

anyway im sure you will get some help soon from other members. all i can say about the freelander td4 is what i said previously, but bare in mind something i forgot to mention is they are not brilliant for off roading, hardly any ground clearance and it will bottom out if you are not careful. no low range or diff lock either. its just basically a simple but yet complex part time 4wd system which is activated when the front wheels lose traction then the back wheels kick in.
my brother used to have a jimny and that was surprisingly good off road much better than a freelander but bare in mind this is a landy forum so cant talk about that too much lol

Well...I hope I can pay a bit less than £2000 for an insurance policy

I know they aren't brilliant off road, but I am not using it for anything too technical. As I said only for fields and tracks.

But the reason they draw me is that they are pretty good on the road when compared with the jimny or the sj. Also they have a higher tow capacity so towing the boat will not be too much of a problem, whereas with the jimny, it only has an unbraked tow limit of 350kg, so my boat is right on the cusp of being illegal!

Cheers

 

[heatseeker872591]

Well...I hope I can pay a bit less than £2000 for an insurance policy

I know they aren't brilliant off road, but I am not using it for anything too technical. As I said only for fields and tracks.

But the reason they draw me is that they are pretty good on the road when compared with the jimny or the sj. Also they have a higher tow capacity so towing the boat will not be too much of a problem, whereas with the jimny, it only has an unbraked tow limit of 350kg, so my boat is right on the cusp of being illegal!

Cheers

have you got the category licence b +to tow tho? ;-) its an additional test nowadays for new drivers lol

 

[HenryF]

have you got the category licence b +to tow tho? ;-) its an additional test nowadays for new drivers lol

I'm looking into that, I won't be towing until next summer so will have plenty of time.

 

[Vincemcdonald]

For launching a boat I would recommend low ratio box or an auto. A good Disco 300 tdi auto would be great but at your age I would go for the Jimny.

 

[bukko]

For launching a boat I would recommend low ratio box or an auto. A good Disco 300 tdi auto would be great but at your age I would go for the Jimny.

Yep, and when you get bored with it you can convert it into an amphibious car

 

[SES88]

I know of a nice blue Freelander TD4 thats available

When I were 17 9 years ago I paid £1932 for my first years insurance on a 1.1 C2. Then proceeded to pay over £2k every year for about 5 years while i bought sillier and faster cars. Try Admiral/Elephant, their group of companies was always best for me, I still use them, got both my Freelanders insured with them now for comfortably under £500 inc business use...

 

[MrNasty]

You might as well go for a Jimney, they are generally reliable, some of them did have clutch issues on the early ones though but I would think that would have all been resolved years ago. SJ's are just too old now. Get a Jimney, run it around for a couple of years, then look at a bigger 4x4 when your out of the silly insurance age.

 

[heatseeker872591]

i find admiral are only good for first time customers insuring a new policy with them keeping it at a low price then when the renewals start coming through then boom they start rocketing up the prices. think best policy is go with a new insurer every year tho tbh haha

 

[HenryF]

I know of a nice blue Freelander TD4 thats available

When I were 17 9 years ago I paid £1932 for my first years insurance on a 1.1 C2. Then proceeded to pay over £2k every year for about 5 years while i bought sillier and faster cars. Try Admiral/Elephant, their group of companies was always best for me, I still use them, got both my Freelanders insured with them now for comfortably under £500 inc business use...

Is it in the for sale section? And I will check out admiral

For the type of launching I am doing, low ratio isn't needed. The car is only used to tow the boat down onto the beach, where it is unhitched and hand launched (only need the 4x4 to prevent getting stuck in the sand)

 

[SES88]

i find admiral are only good for first time customers insuring a new policy with them keeping it at a low price then when the renewals start coming through then boom they start rocketing up the prices. think best policy is go with a new insurer every year tho tbh haha

So do a quote online and get them to match the cheaper price, thats what I do. Works out well, especially with multi-car (me and wor lass have 3 cars)

 

[SES88]

Is it in the for sale section? And I will check out admiral

For the type of launching I am doing, low ratio isn't needed. The car is only used to tow the boat down onto the beach, where it is unhitched and hand launched (only need the 4x4 to prevent getting stuck in the sand)

It's not no, it is lifted and has AT's fitted though, which will aid your field treks

Need to get it machined polished before I start officially advertising it. Have a spy through my profile and go to "threads started" (ignore the FL2 one), you'll find my FL1 thread somewhere.

 

[Danielsand]

I think the Freelander would be suitable for your intended use. However,.....don't for a minute get sidetracked believing that you have "full fledged" 4X4! As other said,....it's ALL WHEEL DRIVE vehicle, and only part time at that. Even the term "all wheel", is a lot of times misunderstood (research and you shall find!).

Hippo will be fine for your needs. As the needs (wants) change, so should the vehicle.

As far as "Popcorn" post,......in these forums when one posts something like this, he/she is basically saying "this should be interesting discussion, and free entertainment, got my popcorn out, and waiting for action".

Since you mentioned several vehicles of interest, there is bound to be some diverse opinions, hence "action" and "popcorn".