Which one?

[Cookee]

Now I have a puppy (see photo) and a soon to be wife (in the spring) my current fleet of vehicles limit me to taking either the wife or the dog, so I'm looking to upgrade the Holden 2 seat pickup with something a little bigger, I went in a VW toureg the other day (the V10 one) and was very impressed how much car you can get for the money if you are prepared to get a 3-4 year old one, so it got me thinking what else is there and what would you guys recommend as an option - BMW, Volvo, Lexus, Porsche, etc?

Holden will be going soon, but probably not until after Chrimbo - £11,000 or near offer, it really is an amazing car, rare but all parts are easily available through Vauxhall dealers!

[codprawn]

Take a new shape Range Rover for a drive - they really are lovely. Disco 3 not bad either.

Some great bargains around at the moment.

Best prices are from main dealers.

http://www.stratstone.com/vehiclesea...nge-rover.html

Also look at the price of used jags. Some awesome cars around. £15 - 20K buys you a hell of a lot of motor.

Depends what you want.

And before you criticise Jag watch the Top Gear economy run. Over 1000 miles on a tankfull from a big barge of a car.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Take a new shape Range Rover for a drive - they really are lovely.

And if you find one with all its trim still intact .. let me know

[Chris]

Ive just bought a 3.0 litre V6 Touareg and its brilliant, having had RR Sport and Disco this is definately a nicer drive. It also pulls the Osprey as though its not there so should be good to tow a larger rib with no problems either.

I would give the V10 a wide berth unless you are really into towing combine harvesters across fields.

[Ian Sharlot]

Originally Posted by Chris

I would give the V10 a wide berth unless you are really into towing combine harvesters across fields.

It'll be a Landcruiser for me, just in case you'd want to tow a combine harvester across a field.

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Take a new shape Range Rover for a drive - they really are lovely. Disco 3 not bad either.

Some great bargains around at the moment.

Best prices are from main dealers.

http://www.stratstone.com/vehiclesea...nge-rover.html

Also look at the price of used jags. Some awesome cars around. £15 - 20K buys you a hell of a lot of motor.

Depends what you want.

And before you criticise Jag watch the Top Gear economy run. Over 1000 miles on a tankfull from a big barge of a car.

............... Which model Jag do you suggest that would compare to the other SUV 4X4's then Codprawn??

What's wrong with the Range Rover Sport? I'll keep the Smart car for commuting and the 4X4 for towing and transporting wife + dog, so low mileage which means a petrol one would be a possibility if it was cheaper?

Bigmuz - Is the trim bad on RR's?

Chris - Why not the V10 - is the the fuel consumption or the reliability?

Having had the Holden V8 with 400hp I want something with some teeth!

[Day Dream's]

If I was you I would stay well clear of disco 3 and rr sport, I had a disco 3 last year and I spent more time pulling and pushing it around then driving it, after a lot of letters to landrover they eventually cane back and told me quote 10% of discos are turkeys, nice reply, then the dealer would not take it nack to trade up to a merc, I managed to trade it against a toureag 3 litre and am very happy with it, I thought the 2,5 litre was underpowered!, a friend of mine had a rr sport that required an engine after 2000 km. I also had a audi q7, very nice machine but very big, and the toureg seems quicker even though the have the same engine.

Also consider landcruiser for a real workhorse and good resale value.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by Day Dream's

If I was you I would stay well clear of disco 3 and rr sport, I had a disco 3 last year and I spent more time pulling and pushing it around then driving it, after a lot of letters to landrover they eventually cane back and told me quote 10% of discos are turkeys, nice reply, then the dealer would not take it nack to trade up to a merc, I managed to trade it against a toureag 3 litre and am very happy with it, I thought the 2,5 litre was underpowered!, a friend of mine had a rr sport that required an engine after 2000 km. I also had a audi q7, very nice machine but very big, and the toureg seems quicker even though the have the same engine.

Also consider landcruiser for a real workhorse and good resale value.

Not related to "Gavin" are you by chance..?

[doggypaddle]

i would stick with the Holden................within a year or so you may be glad of an excuse. sorry dear you cant come theres no room for you and the dog!
I really regret changing the landrover pickup into a hard top sometimes!
seriously though sticking with the aussie vauxhall theme how about a monaro or a VXR8??

[iandl]

Hadn’t seen a Holden pickup before, reminds me of my ford p100 cosworth replica pickup I had about 12 years ago (loved it)
4x4’s …now…. I would be looking at Toyota landcruiser or Hi-lux Intimidator pick up …..Ive seen to many faults on Land rover/Range rovers of late ……saw a 55 plate range rover with the dash hanging off it …the bolts securing it had cracked allowing it to droop. ….
The guy that owns calls it Fonti …..cause its always fallin to bits……..This car hasn’t even been off road ….

I’v never worked on a car so much since I got the discovery ….for me now ..a Japanese 4x4 be it car or pickup ….did like the look of the modified Hi-lux intimidator that the top gear team took to the pole

Plenty choice about now

Cheers

I

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Cookee

............... Which model Jag do you suggest that would compare to the other SUV 4X4's then Codprawn??

What's wrong with the Range Rover Sport? I'll keep the Smart car for commuting and the 4X4 for towing and transporting wife + dog, so low mileage which means a petrol one would be a possibility if it was cheaper?

Bigmuz - Is the trim bad on RR's?

Chris - Why not the V10 - is the the fuel consumption or the reliability?

Having had the Holden V8 with 400hp I want something with some teeth!

There is no similar Jag - but for the same price who cares when you can get a n XKR which is not far off an Aston for a lot less money!!!

There is nothing at all wrong with the RR sport. It's just that the normal RR does most things better and is a better 2nd hand buy because they depreciate more.

I was looking at a 5yr old RR and it was immaculate - no sign of dodgy trim to me.

The Land Rovers don't always win the tests for nothing - they are always being voted 4x4 of the year etc these days.

My mate has a Porsche Cayenne - it is pretty good but more a jacked up estate. It's the V8 so pretty quick but the RR isn't far behind.

People keep attacking the RR for reliability - my mate's Cayenne is always in and out of the dealers - the last time for about 4 weeks. They gave him a 911 while he was waiting. They have now given his wife a brand new Boxster FREE because of a major cockup - it was that or go to court.........

There is NO SUV that can be a sports car - the physics are all wrong. Some are closer than others but then they suffer when it comes to any sort of off road use. LR have stayed closer to the theme than anyone else.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by codprawn

There is nothing at all wrong with the RR sport.

Yes there is ... its too damn small

Originally Posted by codprawn

I was looking at a 5yr old RR and it was immaculate - no sign of dodgy trim to me.

Thats because

1. Someone stuck all the bits back on before you looked at it
2. You had your LR/Cod glasses on

iandl posted the same 'tacky trim' thoughts just before you, so were both wrong ?

Originally Posted by codprawn

My mate has a Porsche Cayenne - it is pretty good but more a jacked up estate. It's the V8 so pretty quick but the RR isn't far behind.

Pants .. the supercharged 4.4 V8 RR would easily get burnt off by my old 4.6 X5 and the X5 is slower than the Porche especially the Turbo. I was dissapointed at the RR power output, that said its fast enough for a 4x4

Originally Posted by codprawn

People keep attacking the RR for reliability

Gosh .. do they ? I wonder why

[codprawn]

Well the RR is certainly no worse than an ML or Cayenne in reliability terns from what I have heard.

Of course the more stupid needless toys you stick on ANY vehicle the more problems you will get - electric handbrakes for example...........

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

iandl posted the same 'tacky trim' thoughts just before you, so were both wrong ?

no they just send the crap ones to Scotland and all the working ones go to Wales...

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Well the RR is certainly no worse than an ML or Cayenne in reliability terns from what I have heard.

Of course the more stupid needless toys you stick on ANY vehicle the more problems you will get - electric handbrakes for example...........

Give its due .. its king off road and good for towing, but the switch gear & trim is from the cheap plastics department at plastickyplastics.com, which is co funded by I cantbelieve I justblew40grandonthat.co.uk

[whiteknight]

Have you all -except Cod- got it in for RR's?
I had a 2005 RR sport until this year. Never had a problem with it...no trim problems and always found it had plenty of power.
Just bought a new RR sport at the beginning of this year. Lovely car to drive with plenty of towing capability.

[iandl]

Originally Posted by whiteknight

Have you all -except Cod- got it in for RR's?
I had a 2005 RR sport until this year. Never had a problem with it...no trim problems and always found it had plenty of power.
Just bought a new RR sport at the beginning of this year. Lovely car to drive with plenty of towing capability.

you must have got the good one

I'm with bigmuz on the tacky plastic stuff ...offroad a few times and now the glove compartment door wont stay shut now

I

[whiteknight]

i hope i have the same luck this time then!

[Cookee]

Ok Ok - Time out gentlemen!

I have crossed Range Rovers off the list - they don't care much for them on Boatmad either!

For the record it doesn't have to be big, and if it isn't oversized that would be an advantage! I only need it for occasional towing, but being able to tow heavier boats would be a big plus, I am never going off road in it, so I won't be needing Land Rovers famous off road abilities regardless of how good they are.

So:

1. heavy towing capacity
2. Four seats
3. Not gigantic, smaller is fine
4. big headroom not required (We are both well under 6'!)
5. Petrol is an option if cheaper to buy
6. Budget around £20k

Does that make it easier?

[Nasher]

SWB or even LWB Shogun 3.2TD
Smaller Landcruiser

Nasher.