Bundera, Sierra, Rocky or Vitara...

andy
i used to own a sierra as a weekender and to commute to and from work. there a great car will go anywhere the big cruisers etc would go (even standard like mine was) runs on the smell of an oily rag, tough and very reliable. but rough riding over rough ground. a mate owned a rocky/feroza no major probs, tough and reliable.
any of these will be great for weekend and road. hope this helps cheers col

andyg,
The sierra in my profile was picked up last month for $5000 it's a 96 model coily, you can pick up earlier leave spring models a fair bit cheaper.Vitaras are a bit dearer but have a few moor comforts.
Cheers Dave....

Andy,
My wife had a Sierra very economical, parts were very accessible, insurance was cheap. We went for a slightly later model, early ones tended to be very agricultural rather than agricultural. Loads of space for we weekend day out without the back seats obviously. We had the small flap part of the roof over the driver come off due to some dodgy clips, quite frightening at the time very funny now. Engine has a few aluminium bits that tend to rot out if the right antifreeze mix wasn't used, ours did an inlet manifold something to be aware of. Hope this helps. Oh and brakes can be interesting.......

For Reliabity it would be hard to go past the bundara, best off road as well. The petrol 22r motor is extremely long lasting and trouble free. Timing chain at about 300000ks only issue. THey will do 11s on the road.
Cheers Pete

hi andyg456, have you considered a swb patrol gq. They are reasonably economical on lpg ( roughly 500 k -115lt ) very capable with a minimum of mods, a cinch to park as they are very monouvarable and reliable and are right in your price range.

Sierra through and through. Rockys are a little heavy on the fuel and Vitara's are cronic fuel guzzlers.

You can get cheap Sierra if you look hard enough. There is one in town here for $7500 but htat would be a rip off unless its got 50,000km on it!

Suspensions lift etc are great for them and dont cost that much. Parts are easily accessable for them and not too expensive.

My li'l Sierra had 310,000km on it when I bought it and paid $2500 6yrs ago, it was a '91, I crashed it and bashed it through nasty 4wd tracks and in the paddock as a bull chaser for 6 months. I spent $150 on a tyre and sold it for $2500!! It then travelled around oz and later sold to the bloke next farm up from here and he uses it as the burrier - get - around and farm car.....

Bundera's are the holden version yeah? Im pretty sure they are the same as a Sierra...everything pretty much the same....

Laura

Hi Andy not sure where your located but there is a Suzuki Vitara 3 door 4 sale on Northern Rd Penrith. Silver in colour.I would say 2000/01 model didnt stop so dont know how many klms. Has 8k on the windscreen. I have had 5 zuks. 2 vitara's, a baleno and 2 barina's (rebadged zuk). Obviously not all 4wd's but reliability plus and as said above run on the smell of any oily rag for memory about 550/600k to 45 litres for the 2000 vitara. The later model we had (2000) was brilliant. 2 litre motor, plenty of get up and go air,steer,elec windows,etc. Only got rid of it due to space, the other ground clearance but to be fair I was trying to do things the hilux's/patrols with lifts were doing so then bought a lux. My wife loves the new zuk (traker) but the V6 is as thirsty as the prado. Friends come down from queensland in one and was using 13/14L per 100 standard, no mods,road tyres, I get better from the prado. Go the zuks brilliant vehicle plenty of parts available. The only thing I coulnt get was a snorkel for the 2000 model dont make them (well didnt then). Regards Steve M

Hi andyg456, I regularly go out on some very soft beaches with a friend who has a Bundera and am amazed at how easily he flies across the soft surfaces. I do ok in a 2.8TDi Pajero but the Bundera goes really well. His hand brake is crap though.

G'day Andy
Coupla points regarding your wish list and some of the responses.

1/. Suzuki Sierra - very capable, lightweight vehicle. Small motor so doesn't carry loads well. Rough little buggers but lots of fun.
2/. Daihatsu Rocky - 30+ mpg if you find a diesel. Outstanding reputation for reliability. Getting a bit old now. The motor was the same as what was in those 2t-3t Daihatsu council tiptrucks from a good few years ago.
3/. Daihatsu Feroza - 1600 petrol. Good little weekender tripper / town car with style. Heavy duty drivetrain compared to other brand lightweights.
4/. Vitara - Put your money into something else IMHO
5/. Toyota Blizzard was not just a rebadged Daihatsu. It had smaller, less powerful toyota motors.( as the sales figures showed )
6/. Bundera - Good unit but suffered from toyota habit of underpowering its vehicles so it had something to offer on the next upgrade.
7/. SWB Nissan - Not fussed on the interior quality myself but a damned good general purpose unit. Again diesel may be an option.
8/. No I dont hate toyotas. I have owned one and was very pleased with it.