Old Soldier replied:

G'day,

I wouldn't set much store by anything written by a motoring journalist. Half of them don't know what they are doing, and the other half haven't got a clue :)

Most of the time they sit in their plush offices with an occasional, "controlled conditions - escape" into the bush in some 4WD or other - at all times assuming the mantle of "expert" in this area.

At the end of the day they are journalists - nothing else.

A wise friend of mine once told me that if I wanted to learn how to make money trading on the stock market I should not take any notice of journalists, brokers and the like, but should seek the council of people who are actually out there trading and being "bloodied" by the market. If you want good real estate investment advice, dont talk to RE salesmen, find someone who is doing what you want to do and learn from them.

The same principles apply to 4WD.

You need to do your own comparos and then get out and talk to the people who own thes vehicles - either in real life or here in this forum.

They will tell you all about them - warts and all.

If you want to compare specifications side by side, Holden runs an independent comparison for Rodeos on their website at:

http://www.holden.com.au/www-holden/action/modeloverview?modelid=9006

Do your sums, talk it out with people who own the vehicles, do your own test drives, and away you go.

At the end of the day it's your call [and your money].

I would not let the opinon of a motoring journalist influence any purchasing decision I made.

Enjoy the bush

DennisN

Hedonist replied:

JLH - IMO one of the better resources is at www.goauto.com.au - this is general automotive rather than 4WD specific, but they include comprehensive road reports on most 4WD models, and .

I assume you've already looked at the likes of www.overlander.com.au - independent comparison reports are hard to come by, but IMHO these guys try to be objective.

Cheers,
Pete

Briz replied:

I really agree with what Old Soldier has to say.
I was amazed to recently find out how small a staff some 4X4 mags operate with.
In the end their opinion is worth no more than anyones.
Less if you cosider they may be influenced by the companies who place ads with their mags or provide "junkets".
I have been a reg on the Overlander forum for a week or three and I see a few from there regularly visit here as well.
It's currently down so I have joined here for a forum fix.
You will certainly find 4X4 reviews on the Overlander site but bear in mind what Old Soldier says when reading.
Cheers.

ACH replied:

Hi JackLivesHere,

I also basically agree with what Old Soldier says, but as long as there are some specs provided on the vehicles in the comparos, at least it gives you a starting point, and if you can get thru the "journo waffle" you may find a snippet of useful info. I highlighted because I've found that ALL the current 4WD mags are guilty (to a greater or lesser extent) in making anything from minor to blatant inaccuracies when it comes to specs!!!

Do as OS says, get out there and drive 'em all!!

JackLivesHere replied:

Thanks for the replies. Yeh I understand fully the "swayed" reporting, but my main interest is specs, (eg: fuel consumption).
Have test driven a few and been building my own opinions but always good to hear another point of view.

ExplorOz Team - David replied:

Well based on this post I have decided to take the bold step of putting Vehicle specs up on ExplorOz for all current makes and models of 4WD vehicles. Yes this is a big task however I have managed to source some data from Skip at westcoast4x4. So hopefully soon this information will be available on ExplorOz.com.

David