4 or AWD, live on a snow prone shingle road, need to get home to Hilux . Need decent boot space, spare wheel not waste of space saver, cruise control, reasonable economy, reliability, nearest garage 1 hour away. don't need to haul a rugby team anymore. Fancy a little bit of "niceties" It's time to trade in the Surf and have some thing else I'd be proud to drive. Happy with a few K's and not brand new. I have googled and reviewed and "Dog and Lemon" ed, Am now a well reviewed confused wannabe SUV owner. HELP.
mopeds,
Oct 28, 8:21pm
Landcruiser post 2000
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 5:49am
First thing, ignore everything in dog and lemon guide. It's a dog. Second, seems you don't need an off roader, just a awd with decent suspension and gravel road handling. So, does it need to be SUV or will wagon suffice?
ruth725,
Oct 29, 5:56am
old habits die hard! maybe I don't need SUV but was thinking of ground clearance with the shingle road I live on, and still coming to terms with the fact that petrol will be cheaper in the long run, was so used to farm diesel, and really don't need anymore than 2.5 lt. I would love a wee bit of class though, but careful what you wish for eh! So fancy the BMW X3 2006, but sounds like expensive to service and repair?!
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 6:30am
I'm a euro car lover, but would hesitate to recommend when your so far from any service and maybe there is no workshop that specialises in euros. Would a Mazda CX-5 be big enough? Excellent all rounder, can be had 4 wheel drive, great 2 litre diesel or reasonably frugal 2.5 petrol. Can be had in upmarket form with leather, heated seats etc.
kazbanz,
Oct 29, 7:03am
Have a look at the Suzuki SX4 it sounds like it would be perfect for you -based on your description.
daryl14,
Oct 29, 7:37am
So Euro drivers need to live within one hour of a Euro specific service centre nowadays? You're so full of it sometimes. Go and have a word with yourself.
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 7:42am
Eh? What's your beef, Please explain. My comment should be taken in context of op question. 'Hesitate to recommend ' .
socram,
Oct 29, 7:45am
I'll get totally shot down for this, but I really don't care. Freelander 2 TD4. In 11 years of ownership, apart from servicing costs every 20,000kms and a total of 4 tyres across two vehicles, zero expenses.
Just selling ours today at 62,000kms and sticking with the same underpinnings for its replacement. No, I haven't listed it on TM.
Dog and Lemon guide is the real lemon.
brapbrap8,
Oct 29, 8:14am
Subaru Outback wagon, very nice car to drive, and still has more than adequate ground clearance and a good 4wd system.
bjmh,
Oct 29, 8:17am
why get shot down,thats an honest reply from a genuine owner. good on you
gpg58,
Oct 29, 8:48am
vitara, outback, xtrail , not sure which have silly spares though, but you could just carry a proper spare and use old space for tow ropes tools etc.
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 8:54am
No shots fired. Case of early ones infecting opinion on all of them. Good machines. What have you rep,aced it with though? New disco or evoque maybe?
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 9:00am
Op, my experiences with BMW, and even worse Audi, has been that when parts are needed if garage simp,y gets from main dealer they can be stupidly priced, yet OEM parts can be bought from independent suppliers at ordinary reasonable prices. Nor should it cost more to service. My experience has been that I need a workshop who is familiar with them and works on them a bit, and it happy for you, or them, to seek reasonable priced parts. My BMWs have served me very well with minimal costs over many years. So, if you like x3, check if workshop near you is confident to service it. Just my opinion based on experience. Is it a diesel or petrol one you have seen?
intrade,
Oct 29, 9:11am
you will have a problem because 2005 onwards = everything is unreliable full of electronics crap from rules and regulations forcing all the crap to be added . The cars whom would be reliable due to only having the minimum standard are not available in nz
intrade,
Oct 29, 9:13am
how far do you drive in one hit is t 50km or more? nearest garage 1 hour away. also what makes can they service do they know what fueltrim is and how to diagnose ? what scantools have they got and what training? thats things you need to find out , because if they got non of the above then you might as well push your 2005 onwards down a cliff when its broken as they wont be able to fix it either. = you can only have 80s and 90s cars where is not to much stuff to guess at what is wrong
This is a sample of a fail only to try and make you understand what new cars do now on a mid 2000 car you can have a fault in your heated outside wing mirror and the car wont start the engine as the fault cryples the whole system. nissan and mercedes to name just 2 have such cars where a fault similar to this will cause a non start.
martin11,
Oct 29, 9:22am
My Audi is cheaper to get parts from the Audi Agents than it is from the likes of Repco and Super Cheap . Mind you in the 3 years I have had it I have only needed filters and oil; .
bwg11,
Oct 29, 9:27am
Rav4 or Xtrail.
msigg,
Oct 29, 9:40am
Yes to some above, xtrail, subaru, prado would be my pick,(might be too big for your liking) yes some of the mazda range are also great, Yes reliability is the key, have a word to your mechanic when your in town again. The dog and lemon gide is to be taken with a grain of salt, I haven't read the latest ones, the very early one was good, especially if you were looking at high km examples. See whats out there, what do your friends drive, Good luck.
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 9:41am
I got them to quote parts for a cambelt and water pump change on the v6 2.4 and it was bonkers, well over twice Oem parts suppliers. But maybe on servicing items they're fine. Just shows you have to shop around.
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 9:44am
Op, Intrade is very very knowledgable but does have a bit of a thing about electronics and scanning etc. His point that you'll need a garage with correct scanner to get read out. That's true with any modern car though.
msigg,
Oct 29, 9:55am
tamarillo as above that is correct, but you only need to scan if somethng goes wrong, A good modern car should be very reliable, my old mans 2009 toyota has done 250 km with no problems and will do another 250k, most vehicles should be like this, The over complicated/all bells and whistles stressed out machines may cost you more, as there is more to go wrong.
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 10:01am
Yes of course, only need to scan when there is a fault or warning light.
socram,
Oct 29, 12:11pm
New disco sport was just too expensive, but got a really great deal on a new Evoque, as a (minor) facelift model is due out shortly. Also a buyer for the Freelander prepared to pay more than the trade in, so we are happy bunnies!
tamarillo,
Oct 29, 12:12pm
Very trendy! Nice.
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