Off Road vehicle decisions, help!

Look at a new Mitsubishi Montero Limited. They have all of the comfort and
luxury of a Land Rover for 80% of the price and are as equally agile and
tough off road. Split fold up rear seats and removable third row seats give
lots of useable cargo room. The sun roof is huge and a person in the back
seat can stand up through it. I never understood the Discovery rear sun
roof. I use my rear roof for cargo and my roof rack ends where the sun roof
starts. The spare tire is mounted on the rear door and with the rocker
panels removed clearance is as much as I need. This is my second one and the
first new one. I've taken it over everything short of extreme rock crawling
in the southwest desert with nothing more than upgraded tires. It's traveled
well over 2,000 miles of desert off road and because of the unibody
construction there are absolutely no squeaks or rattles. Mine is a mountain
goat and gets me in and out of some tight places. It's small enough to get
into spaces where a Hummer or even a full size pick up would have trouble
and still large enough to hold a complete camp with supplies for a week. I
can mount an extra tire, gas cans and tools on the roof. Back in town and
cleaned up it's almost a luxury car.

My second choice would be a Chevy Tahoe Z71 5.3L

Bob Walker

"TooPlaneCrazy7" > wrote in message
...
> Hello everyone,
> This is my first post to this newsgroup.
>
> Last week I had the fantastic opportunity to go offroading in a Land Rover
> Discovery on the beaches of Padre Island...a 30 mile stretch of nothing
but
> sand dunes, mud, and tall grass. We packed 7 people (including the driver)
into
> the vehicle and went through all kinds of difficult terrain with no
problems. I
> was sold on the vehicle!
>
> But, I've heard that Land Rovers are expensive vehicles to repair since
it's a
> foreign car and that one should NOT even consider buying a used Land Rover
> since you don't know whether it leaks oil, etc.
>
> What other 4x4 vehicles do you guys recommend for the CASUAL offroader? In
> South Texas, where I live, the land is relatively flat. We have sand dunes
on
> the coastline, but the majority is brush land.
>
> Give me a reason why not to go with the Land Rover (other than price). My
main
> priorities in an offroad vehicle is the following: 1.) 4x4 2.) cab space
(4
> doors, but 2 is fine) 3.) bed space
>
> I am leaning towards a pickup. Toyota vs. Ford.
>
> Also, the lighter the vehicle, the better offroader, right?

I think most of you guys who replied are getting way over the top for this
guy. Firstly, we need to know what TYPE of offroading you want to do. Do you
want it for fun (and not your daily driver?) or are you wanting this for
cruising the weekends only?
I would suggest something way cheaper, both to buy AND to fix, until you
decide exactly what you want. You are going to have to learn to drive all
over again to 4WD.
Good luck, make it cheap and fun....no worries about the dents and damage
then.
Cheers from a Kiwi living in the USA.
"TooPlaneCrazy7" > wrote in message
...
> Hello everyone,
> This is my first post to this newsgroup.
>
> Last week I had the fantastic opportunity to go offroading in a Land Rover
> Discovery on the beaches of Padre Island...a 30 mile stretch of nothing
but
> sand dunes, mud, and tall grass. We packed 7 people (including the driver)
into
> the vehicle and went through all kinds of difficult terrain with no
problems. I
> was sold on the vehicle!
>
> But, I've heard that Land Rovers are expensive vehicles to repair since
it's a
> foreign car and that one should NOT even consider buying a used Land Rover
> since you don't know whether it leaks oil, etc.
>
> What other 4x4 vehicles do you guys recommend for the CASUAL offroader? In
> South Texas, where I live, the land is relatively flat. We have sand dunes
on
> the coastline, but the majority is brush land.
>
> Give me a reason why not to go with the Land Rover (other than price). My
main
> priorities in an offroad vehicle is the following: 1.) 4x4 2.) cab space
(4
> doors, but 2 is fine) 3.) bed space
>
> I am leaning towards a pickup. Toyota vs. Ford.
>
> Also, the lighter the vehicle, the better offroader, right?

I think most of you guys who replied are getting way over the top for this
guy. Firstly, we need to know what TYPE of offroading you want to do. Do you
want it for fun (and not your daily driver?) or are you wanting this for
cruising the weekends only?
I would suggest something way cheaper, both to buy AND to fix, until you
decide exactly what you want. You are going to have to learn to drive all
over again to 4WD.
Good luck, make it cheap and fun....no worries about the dents and damage
then.
Cheers from a Kiwi living in the USA.
"TooPlaneCrazy7" > wrote in message
...
> Hello everyone,
> This is my first post to this newsgroup.
>
> Last week I had the fantastic opportunity to go offroading in a Land Rover
> Discovery on the beaches of Padre Island...a 30 mile stretch of nothing
but
> sand dunes, mud, and tall grass. We packed 7 people (including the driver)
into
> the vehicle and went through all kinds of difficult terrain with no
problems. I
> was sold on the vehicle!
>
> But, I've heard that Land Rovers are expensive vehicles to repair since
it's a
> foreign car and that one should NOT even consider buying a used Land Rover
> since you don't know whether it leaks oil, etc.
>
> What other 4x4 vehicles do you guys recommend for the CASUAL offroader? In
> South Texas, where I live, the land is relatively flat. We have sand dunes
on
> the coastline, but the majority is brush land.
>
> Give me a reason why not to go with the Land Rover (other than price). My
main
> priorities in an offroad vehicle is the following: 1.) 4x4 2.) cab space
(4
> doors, but 2 is fine) 3.) bed space
>
> I am leaning towards a pickup. Toyota vs. Ford.
>
> Also, the lighter the vehicle, the better offroader, right?

>I have to agree, it's all about purpose....do you want somthing you
can go and get seriously muddy in at the weekend and do the school run
during the week, or is it going to be purely a fun-machine?
>personally I'd go for either a Unimog (why settle for less?) as you
can pick a 406 quite cheeply and it will get you through ANYTHING, or
at the other end of the scale a Suzuki Sahara (put some big shocks and
some monster tyres on and your away!)...but both of these are
obviously highly impractical for anything else!
>Of course there is a vehical that can perform both roles
happily...and than can only be a landrover either the 110 or the 90
depending on how much family you have!
>Anyway, I hope this helps?
"willie" > wrote in message >...
> I think most of you guys who replied are getting way over the top for this
> guy. Firstly, we need to know what TYPE of offroading you want to do. Do you
> want it for fun (and not your daily driver?) or are you wanting this for
> cruising the weekends only?
> I would suggest something way cheaper, both to buy AND to fix, until you
> decide exactly what you want. You are going to have to learn to drive all
> over again to 4WD.
> Good luck, make it cheap and fun....no worries about the dents and damage
> then.
> Cheers from a Kiwi living in the USA.
> "TooPlaneCrazy7" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello everyone,
> > This is my first post to this newsgroup.
> >
> > Last week I had the fantastic opportunity to go offroading in a Land Rover
> > Discovery on the beaches of Padre Island...a 30 mile stretch of nothing
> but
> > sand dunes, mud, and tall grass. We packed 7 people (including the driver)
> into
> > the vehicle and went through all kinds of difficult terrain with no
> problems. I
> > was sold on the vehicle!
> >
> > But, I've heard that Land Rovers are expensive vehicles to repair since
> it's a
> > foreign car and that one should NOT even consider buying a used Land Rover
> > since you don't know whether it leaks oil, etc.
> >
> > What other 4x4 vehicles do you guys recommend for the CASUAL offroader? In
> > South Texas, where I live, the land is relatively flat. We have sand dunes
> on
> > the coastline, but the majority is brush land.
> >
> > Give me a reason why not to go with the Land Rover (other than price). My
> main
> > priorities in an offroad vehicle is the following: 1.) 4x4 2.) cab space
> (4
> > doors, but 2 is fine) 3.) bed space
> >
> > I am leaning towards a pickup. Toyota vs. Ford.
> >
> > Also, the lighter the vehicle, the better offroader, right?

>I have to agree, it's all about purpose....do you want somthing you
can go and get seriously muddy in at the weekend and do the school run
during the week, or is it going to be purely a fun-machine?
>personally I'd go for either a Unimog (why settle for less?) as you
can pick a 406 quite cheeply and it will get you through ANYTHING, or
at the other end of the scale a Suzuki Sahara (put some big shocks and
some monster tyres on and your away!)...but both of these are
obviously highly impractical for anything else!
>Of course there is a vehical that can perform both roles
happily...and than can only be a landrover either the 110 or the 90
depending on how much family you have!
>Anyway, I hope this helps?
"willie" > wrote in message >...
> I think most of you guys who replied are getting way over the top for this
> guy. Firstly, we need to know what TYPE of offroading you want to do. Do you
> want it for fun (and not your daily driver?) or are you wanting this for
> cruising the weekends only?
> I would suggest something way cheaper, both to buy AND to fix, until you
> decide exactly what you want. You are going to have to learn to drive all
> over again to 4WD.
> Good luck, make it cheap and fun....no worries about the dents and damage
> then.
> Cheers from a Kiwi living in the USA.
> "TooPlaneCrazy7" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello everyone,
> > This is my first post to this newsgroup.
> >
> > Last week I had the fantastic opportunity to go offroading in a Land Rover
> > Discovery on the beaches of Padre Island...a 30 mile stretch of nothing
> but
> > sand dunes, mud, and tall grass. We packed 7 people (including the driver)
> into
> > the vehicle and went through all kinds of difficult terrain with no
> problems. I
> > was sold on the vehicle!
> >
> > But, I've heard that Land Rovers are expensive vehicles to repair since
> it's a
> > foreign car and that one should NOT even consider buying a used Land Rover
> > since you don't know whether it leaks oil, etc.
> >
> > What other 4x4 vehicles do you guys recommend for the CASUAL offroader? In
> > South Texas, where I live, the land is relatively flat. We have sand dunes
> on
> > the coastline, but the majority is brush land.
> >
> > Give me a reason why not to go with the Land Rover (other than price). My
> main
> > priorities in an offroad vehicle is the following: 1.) 4x4 2.) cab space
> (4
> > doors, but 2 is fine) 3.) bed space
> >
> > I am leaning towards a pickup. Toyota vs. Ford.
> >
> > Also, the lighter the vehicle, the better offroader, right?