#“Right, I need recommendations for dirt-cheap diesel Land Rover type thingy”
Yesterday I read rumours of early winter snow in Ireland. We've had a couple of winters of either "surprising" snow or horrible floods in Bandon. It's time to embrace my inner mucker and buy a proper farmer-style SUV. I'm not talking silly frou-frou soccer-mom pretend-off-roaders, I want something that can go up a vertical cliff in low gear and do 4000 mpg on diesel.
The preferred specs are as follows:
- Less than 5k
- Mileageirrelevant
- Diesel
- Full-time proper 4WD
- Possibly low-ratios selectable
- Maybe lockablediffs
- Possibly 7 seats
- Can go through Irish floods without noticing them
- Can drive on snow without noticing it
- Can also do the Cork-Dublin return run in one day without me going deaf or losing my fillings/sanity
- Can do 120kph cough comfortably
- Utterly reliable (my 10 y/o 120,000 mile Mondeo has never once let me down)
- Must have 8-track player with Demis Roussos carts :-)
Whilst I've long hankered after one of those black Land Rover Defenders with the exhaust going out the roof, my guess is that they fail on 10, 11 and 12?
So oh Twitter/Facebook/Posterous gurus, what do you recommend? Some big old Japanese yoke? I've heard you can get 2003 Range Rovers for 13k so I assume I can get something lower down the food chain for the target 5k or less. Also any recommendations for where to buy?PreferablyMunster.
Oh and what's the story with insurance/tax on some big diesel behemoth? Did the Greens make it difficult? What mpg do these things do anyway? I can do Cork-Dublin return on a tank of petrol in the Mondeo.