I have gone through the same process of choosing a 4WD (budget up $55,000, + if really impressed by something).
Criteria other that price were;
*Towing capacity of around 2.5 Tonnes with appropriate ball weight provision. Vista weighs in at 1600Kg and 165Kg ball weight.
* Reasonable fuel economy towing and commuting in city traffic.
* Must have selectable low range.
* Reliability
* Must be a wagon.
* Comfortable interior, seats and driving position.
* Reasonable suspension particularly on poor roads.
* I have no brand loyalty
* I hate squandering money (banks and motor vehicles are top of my list of those that want to ge their hands on my money)
For the money all 4WD’s are a crap drive (my opinion) and the object of the exercise was to get the least crappy drive at the lowest price NEW. Look at what can be bought for $50,000-$70,000 in a conventional passenger vehicle and there are some very nice wheels available that are amazing to drive. By comparison 4WD drives are positively boring and agricultural in their road manners.
We were paying cash. Yes I own it. I do not have an ABN.
Four wheel drive vehicles that may not be crap to drive possibly include LR Discovery 4, VW Toureg and Porsche Cayenne. Look at the buying premium though! Suzuki Grand Vitara Prestige with the V6 is also an exception, however it is not up the towing duties.
Vehicles we considered were Ssangyong Rexton, (because I already had an Actyon Sports that stood up well to its duties) Mitsubishi Challenger, Prado and Isuzu MUX. Jeep looked tempting!
I did not test drive the Prado as a family member had just bought one and I drove that. Impressions were that it was solid and drove quite well, however the $70,000 drive away price was very steep.
Test drove an up-spec MUX and I thought it was OK. In fact there was not a huge difference between it and the Prado on the road. Price was about $52,000 from memory.
Next up I organised by phone a test drive in a top-spec Mitsubishi Challenger at Toowong Mitsubishi. We booked a time and was assured the vehicle was in stock. Went in at the specified time and was greeted by “no mate we don’t have any Challengers in stock” You can however test drive a Triton as it is the same. I told the sales manager he had a future in ‘comedy’.
Last drive was the Rexton. I could not fault the drive when compared to the Prado and Mux. Drivetrain is smooth responsive. Negatives were only 4 airbags, skinny spare and lack of availability of aftermarket accessories. We do not carry rear passenger normally so airbags were not a major problem and the spare can be replaced by a full-size. Towing limit is 2.6 Tonnes (3.2T overseas). GVM is well within our requirements. It met major criteria and allows us to do other things with our hard earned.
A factor often mentioned is the poor resale value of vehicles like SsangYong. Compared to say a $70,000 Landcruiser Prado, I know for a fact that it is not a concern. I paid $37990 for my vehicle. That is $32,000 less that a Prado. Invest that for say 5 years (the life of a modern diesel before trouble???) at 5% or put it into Superannuation at a nominal 8% and I think the sums will look pretty good. If both vehicles had private finance, the equation would be even better.
To date the Sy has covered about 6,000km with 3,000 of that towing the Vista. It tows with ease and fuel economy towing has been 10.5L/100 lowest and 12.00L/100 highest. Like mentioned in another thread, as a ‘modern’ 4WD, it is effortless off road and I believe it will go anywhere we want it to go. Service intervals are 15,000Km. I believe it is well capable of completing the task.
I am not suggesting anybody buys a SsangYong, I am however suggesting looking outside the ‘square’. There are viable alternatives. If money is not a criterion, consider all of the above as useless junk.
Poll
