Need vehicle suggestions for around $3000

[repete]

WRONG. They are all a good choice EXCEPT the Disco 1. I owned a D1 and Im not downing it.......because Im a mechanic. if I was not mechanically inclined this vehicle would have been a nightmare. Very decent off road, but weak axles, you cant lift them very much without all kinds of expensive up-grades to keep them from wobbling and to keep the driveshafts from exploding on you, horrible electronics/wiring. I bought a D1 rover for its off-road prowess and "camel trophy" reliability......I was very uncomfortable in this truck reliability wise, I was constantly waiting for something to go wrong and it was stressful as hell. Get a Cherokee with the rock solid 4.0 motor, lift it 4", run 33's and your good for 95% of anything that a newby is gonna do.

Are you for for real??? I have made over a 100 mile daily commute in a Rover for over 10 years with nearly 0 problems!!! That is a commute with the Alaskan winters and have NEVER been left stranded! In all this time the only thing that has failed on my 24 year old Rover was an alternater! whoa thats something to be "scared" of! not to mention i had over 200K miles on that truck!
My "off Rover" is a 1987 that i got for $200.00 the prior owner punished this truck SO HARD,and tried to kill it! he drove on it OFF road for over a 1/2 hour with the temp gauge peged bent the tie rods and trashed countless other things, AND he still didn't kill it!
I wouldnt be one bit conserned with an older Rover. mine is lifted 2" with 265/75-16's, and absolutly nothing more than OME coils, and it tracks like an arrow in all seasons. good luck to you!

 

[repete]

Not to mention, as hard as I have wheeled mine I have NEVER broke an axle!

 

[repete]

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/72186-96-land-rover-disco-I-for-sale

Here you go. Even in Cali!

 

[scrubber3]

Some people are afraid of what they don't know. Which is why they drive jeeps, fords, and the like. If they only knew that rigs like ours are made overseas for places that do not have road systems like ours and need a very reliable/ capable machine. What killed the Montero here was the fact that Americans said it rode too "truck like". Guess that's why the Cherokees did okay here. They don't have a ladder frame like our true sturdy rigs and drive like a car. Kind of defeats the purpose of having an off road rig if you ask me. Have you seen the new grand cherokee and explorer? They are station wagons. Crossover cars!!! It is sad really.

I will stick with an awesome rig made for overland use like a Montero, Trooper, Disco, LC, and the like. Big beefy drivetrains that don't need aftermarket support to get where you want to go. Just buy one and drive it. All the while have the confidence that you haven't had to modify it into unreliability. I really love the fact that the American people still flock together and buy jeeps. It keeps them out of my parts drawer and keeps the price of these rigs down. You know, supply verses demand?

Anyway, like I said before.... Get yourself a jeep or ford as those will suit your needs just fine

 

[Alaskan1Ton]

I wasnt crapping on Rovers, rovers are an Iconic 4x4 that have impacted the 4x4 world greatly. Im saying that for a NEWB like this guy obviously is when it comes to wrenching and working on stuff that the rover might not be the best choice. I wasnt speaking blindly, like I said I OWNED A D1 and from my experience with MY ROVER it let me down, maybe I had the ONLY lemon rover on the planet, who knows, but I couldnt sell it fast enough. PARTS availability was a bitc* and no one can argue with me about that. Unless you live in freaking Europe Rover parts are expensive in America and not many people carry them so ya gotta special order and wait a month to get a freaking $300.00 WATERPUMP. Heck I know guys who buy every rover they see off craigslist so they got a yard full of parts trucks when something goes wrong. That being said my opinion is that a rover is not a good choice for a newb mechanic and driver off-road. IS a cherokee better than a rover...heck NO, but parts are available at Napa in just about every city in the states. Do I support a unibody?...NO, they are dumb. SO relax fellas, I know your a loyal bunch, but geez.

And to the guy who runs rovers hard and never busted an axle shaft..............you talking stock shafts or Ashcrofts etc etc?. What size tire do you run on stock shafts comfortably?. You can run a 33" decently, a 35" is really pushing the limit and ya better have a soft foot and no locker, any bigger and no way, your just asking for trouble. Im betting your running ashcrofts and other expensive aftermarket goodies.

So to repeat myself I think a rover is an awesome platform........sure they could fix some stuff like the electronics, the head gasket problem still plagues MANY rovers, the rotoflex is retarded engineering, the V8 engine leaves alot to be desired for road travel, off road in LOW the torque gets you by. The gas mileage is OK but could be better. 3" lift max(some lucky guys get 4" with no probs but even rover gurus say anything over 3" and you start running into issues), 33" tire is about the max. but ALL designed vehicles have things to be fixed right?.

Rover good stuff............tough frame, coils at all 4 corners, flexy, comfy, stylish, iconic, cool steering set up, turning radius.

I guess I wanted a vehicle that could run 36" tires and up and that could be lifted 6", the Rover wasnt the vehicle. Camel trophy Rovers did amazing things in almost stock form but I wanted more than that. I have heard many times that a rover on 33's will get you anywhere you wanted to go but I didnt find that to be true in Alaska and only due to very deep water crossings and sometimes endless deep mud bogs. The rigs I ran with were monsters that idled along over huge rocks and logs and endless mud and I just couldnt keep up with my D1 on 33's so I was left wanting bigger tires which meant more lift which meant axle upgrades which I admit is part of the game. Anyway, my rover kept having various problems and parts were costing me plus the wait to get them. I didnt have confidence in my Rover and thats important to me, I was almost waiting for a major breakdown, no good for me so it had to go. SO godbless all you guys who swear by rovers, they are awesome cool rigs and I still come on this forum so I can look at the pics of them in the desert somewhere with the awning pulled out and someone smiling enjoying the freedom it gave them to get away.

 

[aka rover]

Alaskan1ton

Just because whatif and repete from the network have lots of parts in there yards doesnt mean they need them to keep there trucks going:sombrero:

 

[repete]

Well said Spencer!

 

[Alaskan1Ton]

Alaskan1ton

Just because whatif and repete from the network have lots of parts in there yards doesnt mean they need them to keep there trucks going:sombrero:

LOL whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Martinjmpr]

the only suvs that met these requirments for me were the explorer and the blazer/jimmy. we chose the explorer, because we got a screaming deal on a little old lady model. owned it for a year now and are very happy with it.

Actually, I think that's a great suggestion. The pre-IRS models (I think the Explorer got IRS in 2002?) are pretty decent. I'd say 99% of them are "soccer-mom mobiles" which is good because it means it hasn't been wheeled or abused. They have the very soft "soccer mom suspension" but that can be fixed with aftermarket parts. My last domestic vehicle was a Ford Ranger and it was solid and reliable for 93,000 miles. Best of all, they are dirt, dirt cheap.

Around here you can buy an driven-only-on-pavement Explorer with under 100,000 miles, and put a lift kit and new tires on it for less than the cost of a clapped out, 200k mile 4runner.

 

[Buliwyf]

Are you for for real??? I have made over a 100 mile daily commute in a Rover for over 10 years with nearly 0 problems!!! That is a commute with the Alaskan winters and have NEVER been left stranded! In all this time the only thing that has failed on my 24 year old Rover was an alternater! whoa thats something to be "scared" of! not to mention i had over 200K miles on that truck!
My "off Rover" is a 1987 that i got for $200.00 the prior owner punished this truck SO HARD,and tried to kill it! he drove on it OFF road for over a 1/2 hour with the temp gauge peged bent the tie rods and trashed countless other things, AND he still didn't kill it!
I wouldnt be one bit conserned with an older Rover. mine is lifted 2" with 265/75-16's, and absolutly nothing more than OME coils, and it tracks like an arrow in all seasons. good luck to you!

You have a point. It seems the Rovers are the most unreliable, and most reliable vehicles. I've seen them go through ^&* and back, and I've seen some that couldn't stay out of the shop at all. Bottom line still is: If you're a Master Technician in school, and happen to be a Rover fan.........then you'll soon be a wealthy man.

They aren't for newbs, and they aren't the easiest trucks to modify.

OP, If you increase your budjet to $5-6000 you can find plenty of Jeep YJ's and early TJ's in decent shape. As long as you don't plan on getting too carried away those are cheap and easy to work with. As long as you stay near stock they aren't expensive. It's when you really start modding them that it all snowballs. Trimming the bumper, adding good tires, and lifting an inch is all many folks need.

I mean you said this was just going to be a weekend toy right? So why bother with an SUV? A simple Jeep YJ/TJ with 32" tires is more capable in stock form than many think, and in my opinion more capable than everything else on your list. And it'll cover the miles you're after as long as you don't lift it too high or put tires on too large.

And nothing with 4 wheels is more fun than a soft top Jeep.

 

[brussum]

Voted for the 4Runner, but I agree you'll have problems finding a nice one for low price. I bought my 1996 4Runner back in 2007/2008 and paid about $7K for it. It was a cherry single owner vehicle. It was very capable, smooth, and good looking...I miss driving it. For the money, the Cherokee's probably the way to go, although I've always had a thing for Troopers. I wouldn't touch a $3000 Land Rover.

 

[4x4junkie]

^^^^ bronco is a good suggestion as well.

i was in a similar position to yours.

i wanted something
domestic, for cheap parts
midsize, for size and mileage reasons. tight trails
ladder frame, easier to upgrade, stronger
good safety rating.
large aftermarket support
good forum support
easy to work on
under $3k purchase price


the only suvs that met these requirments for me were the explorer and the blazer/jimmy. we chose the explorer, because we got a screaming deal on a little old lady model. owned it for a year now and are very happy with it.

loaded with two adults, a baby, and enough luggage, toys, baby paraphenelia for a week long stay and the folks house in idaho, we pulled down a 16.5 mpg average over 1500 miles. i was impressed. unladen on the freeway we get 18 mpg 17 in town.

we purchased a 1994 explorer for $1700 from and older woman that used it to commute from az and back. when purchased it had 98k miles on the odometer. we spent $600 on tires, $120 on a radio, and $70 on an egr regulator solenoid. thats it, i am not counting maintence items; filters oil etc. the bumpers i got for free.

View attachment 81648

i have heard that the automatics are sketchy, but no problems with ours so far. it came with an oil cooler and i installed a trans temp sensor.

i like that the hubs can be unlocked, that gave us another mpg, the 8.8 is fairly stout up to a 35" tire. based on a ranger platform. lots of forums available. the ranger station, explorer forum, dezertrangers, and i am sure i'm forgetting some. plus it's not a jeep.

good luck in your search!

:iagree:

 

[rxinhed]

My vote was for something else.

I've had good luck with my Monteros and Dodge Raiders.

Second, I like the Dodge Ramcharger for roominess, capacity, and parts availability.

My friends also enjoy Suzuki products:

Their Monteros:

Happy trails,
Russell

 

[red87]

Another vote here for a Montero. No other vehicle in your list will get a factory rear locker for 3k. They have a lockable center diff too so that give you 2wd, AWD, 4hi and 4low. Fully boxed frame and BIG axles front and rear.

 

[scrubber3]

Guys come on. Stop suggesting the Montero. He doesn't want that. He wants a Toyota, Jeep, of Ford. Those will suit him better.









Stop giving our secret away. The more people that drive it, the more expensive our parts and rigs will become. I like having people ask what on earth I am driving because they have never seen one. Or at least one like mine.