help with buying a car/apology

Whoever told you that Ford Explorers have a lot of mechanical problems obviously does not know much about the vehicle ,, 6 years never a spanner put to vehicle except for standard servicing and maintenance,,modifications [drawer system,dual batts and rotronics,comms gear,ect,ect ] ....170,000 klms TOTALY RELIABLE.

depending on how much weight you want to put on a roof rack you would probably need to go to a car with a gutter as the ones without guttering cannot take a lot of wieght i believe toyota and nissan with gutter are supposed to be able to take about 100ks on roof including rack which is only a spare tyre and a couple of jerry cans (fuel and water)i dont know if explorers etc have this gutter but you get a rack with full length gutter suporrt and it helps spread the load so be aware of the weight factor
steve89 nissan looking foward to august and more travelling

Mate, i would be looking at the Nissan Pathfinder. It is probably the most carlike fourwheel drive out there with a decent ammount of offroad capeability. Auto only, but a bloody good one, good, powerfull 3.3ltr V6, lotsa luxury extras in even the base model, and you could pick up a good 2nd hander, with 40-60k on it for low thirties. A new ST will set you back a bit over 40k. If it were me, i would stay away from those americans, have had mates with lotsa Jeep troubles (petrols), and the mechanical setups of both are a bit odd. The Nissan has proven to be a reliable vehicle, and in my opinion is the best medium tourer, mainly because of there comfort and reliability. Also, checkout the Prado. Not a bad medium tourer, but a bit expensive, and not as good onroad as the Pathfinder. Anyway, good luck, get out there, and have a bloody good time!!
Tristjo.