What 4wd should I get

Why would anyone want to pay for a 4WD if your not going to use it????

Firstly, women think and do strange things when they are pregnant. Wait until she is "unpregnant" and see what she thinks then.

Secondly, a 4WD for city commuting makes no sense. They are more expensive to run, more expensive to maintain, hard to find a place to park and are less safe than say a Falcon or Commodore or Camry. It would be cheaper to hire a 4WD for those occasional trips out in the bush. Camping would be great fun with three small children and an infant!

I think, buy a territory on gas.

Open road.
For 30k you could get a Mercedes ML270 around 2000 model. 7 seats 6 litres / 100k and the safest 4x4 for that price. For $100 you could get the snip so the seventh seat won't be needed. Eric.

Thought about a territory on gas. Be a bloody great machine for a family. Put an ARB sticker on the back, and tell your wife its a 4x4.

Much cheaper options available than diesel 4x4's. I know there's great wank value driving a 4wd around the city, but if you're not going to utilise its off road capabilities, I'd steer clear of a forby.

Do you think you'll be safer in a 4wd?

I know she doesnt want a van but try and get her to sit in a 4b then take her and put her in the newer shape tarago, sliding doors either side, rear seats that slide back and forth that will make it soooooo much easier for getting a baby into let alone the other kids, and all at a decent level, no strained back climbing up and down, no dented doors to the vehicle beside you when the kids fling the doors open as they slide either side and will save you $$$ in repairs to the other car, running costs and have all the safety features plus dual aircon for the summer and most of all you can use the very rear seats when one of them is driving you nuts and can put them up the back so you dont hear them LOL. Even a Toyota Kluger will do the same job and take you down that dirt track you might go to as they are AWD. You will pick up a 2 year old kluger with low klms for that money and are excellent on fuel which now is a major thing and great safety features. Regards Steve M

Both the cruiser and Prado seem overkill for the job at hand but if that is what your wife wants then who am I to say don't do it LOL!!! I would get her down to drive as many "mid-sized" 7 seat fourby's as she can to get a clearer indication as to the one that is easiest to drive and park for her, especially seeing she will probably be in the drivers seat more often than not round town. Even awd's will do the "occasional trip out to the bush" so 4wd ability does not seem an issue as I see it.

Gas gets an extra "excise" on it soon so this may add to running costs to consider if you want gas option?????

My wife loved our 96 Pajero and we did have a good run out of it but it was very thirsty. Just my wife and my thoughts...... more or less confused now? hehehehe

Cheers, Trevor.

Hi Mate,

Any increase in efficiency of having a diesel will be outweighed with the high diesel prices, so it's no point having one unless you really want a diesel - others may differ.

Most engines aren't suitable for LPG and you'd have to rebuild the head the make them suitable - I know as I did this for my Hilux, although had a burnt valve in the first place. You should check with manufacturers about LPG compatibility prior to installing it or purchasing your vehicle, as you could be up for $3000+ to rebuild the head.

As Far as I know, Ford's 4Litre 6cylinder in the Falcon and Territory is one of the most suitable LPG compatible engines off the shelf. This is why most taxis are Falcons, as they run LPG without expensive rebuilds.

From this, I would recommend a Ford Territory and then have it converted to LPG. While the territory may not be as good offroad as a Landcruiser or Patrol,it will be cheaper to run and be able to go wherever you want to go anyway.

I hope this helps and please research the LPG compliance of any vehicle prior to having LPG installed.

Regards, Will.

For what it's worth we travelled in a 4WD from Adelaide to Red Centre with another family who had a 4cyl people mover. There were 5 kids between the two families.

The 4wd (Prado) had better fuel economy and a much larger tank, so less stopping.

The kids all preferred to travell in the people mover due to the extra room inside, which is much bigger than the 4WD, and had more versatile seating options.

The Prado, like the other similar sized 4WD (Pajero etc) are not true 7 seaters, the amount of leg room is so small, only kids can be in the back, and even then it's tight. You then lose the vast majority of your luggage space.

The Prado handled dirt roads and highway cruising much more easily that the PM, as yo would expect.

Cheers

Open Road

When we had a young family of four, we got a Mitsubishi people mover, which was the micro-bus back then. It had a tiny motor, but pushing the 'bus' along, meant it wasn't really much more economical than other vehicles. It seated seven (with school age children you always have extras). It was four wheel drive, although the wheel were so tiny. When our elder son got his licence, he used to take his siblings and/or friends to the coast camping. Once they met a visiting 4wd club tackling (and tearing up) a sand dune. They were on two ways talking each other up this 'difficult' route, and talking of needing the winch. As they were a group, they kindly offered to let my boys go through. Up they sailed without any problem, with the tiny wheels, tiny motor and micro-bus full of teenagers. Modern people movers of what ever brand are far more car like in appearance and performance, and would have plenty of room for a family of six and some camping gear.

Motherhen

from a pregnant womans perspective....do as your told!!!!!!!!!! (and no Kev i am not prega's , anymore)

Friends have just bought a 2nd hand prado cos they have 4 kids, and the tradjent thing blew its head, they bought it for the same reason....the odd camping trip on a dirt road somewhere.

Another friend has a toyota van for her 4 kids....its bloody huge! and she has more trouble trying to park it than what I did in the landcruiser. I wouldnt drive it...there is no front protection and its soooooo long!

What ever you do...dont bleep her off ...... !!LOL!!

Plus, getting another car is just the start of the problems unless you already own a massive house!!....4th changes everything....!

Hi Open Road,
If your wife wouldn't know what an ARB sticker is, chances are she doesn't really have the same defination as you regarding what is a 4WD. I would hedge bets that your wife would consider the Territory (and any other AWD) in the same category she refers to when she says she will "only drive a 4WD". What us mums like is the elevated seating, and the ease of constant loading and offloading of kids bags, babies into carseats, toddlers who can't put on their own seatbelt, endless loads of shopping, and the wagon-style boot that is great for bringing home bulky toys/furniture/goods for the salvo bins etc. Although we have a Landcruiser for our bush trips, I chose a Kia Sportage for our urban use. It wouldn't suit you, as it only seats 4 - 5 but is great for me. My point is us find out what the specific features are that are important to her and use that as a guide. eg. I hated the struggle to fit the cruiser into a space outside the kids school. A midget car would pull out and I couldn't get the cruiser in. With the Sportage I can park in the smallest of spaces so although I could've got the larger Sorento, I chose the smaller vehicle. The other feature is how much space does it leave to move around the vehicle when its in the garage. I like to load/unload kids, dog and shopping with the vehicle fully inside the garage and have room to not be scrapping up against the wall. I am also shorter than the average female so the ease of loading height makes AWDs a good option for me. As you would well know, with kids its all about finding how to make life just a little bit easier. My examples are of course not your issues, but I hope you see my point in what features a female approach to choosing vehicles could be. There may be more to this "I'll only drive a 4WD" slant that you know. It's worth getting into the logistics to see if there are practicalities involved for your wife and the type of vehicle she has in mind. Horses for courses, anyway, good luck with your choice, hope you'll get the chance to go camping one day!
Michelle,

How about a 6 seater Falcon on LPG with the bench front/column shifter auto?
Toyota Kluger or Territory

Have a look at the Hyundai Terracan, similar size to Prado.

You should be able to pick up a good, low km, V6 with some of the 5 year warranty left for around $20,000, maybe less. Fit LPG (the details are on www.terracan4wd.com) and it will as cheap as chips to run.

I had one for nearly four years and it was a great vehicle.

Jim.

Gday Open
I would be getting myself a TV set ....
Murray

Pajero. Any from 2001 onwards with injected LPG.

It's a genuine 7 seater 4WD that drives like a normal car.

Hi there, a lot of opinions on this thread. The debate about 4b's is always exciting....
My 2 bobs worth is....a Discovery SE7 TD5. Has 7 (roomy) seats, is stylish, very economical, comfy & 30k should get you an 02-03 diesel.
I'm on my second and love em...I think people only bag them cause they are an import...yes, older models had their share of probs but ALL cars do.
I also do agree that if off road is not important than there are more Practical solutions out there.
Cheers & Good Luck
Jason

My suggestion is to get a awd Ford territory . heaps around & no worries on parts. A lot quicker than nearly any 4wd on the market.
Only down side is there's no ground clearance , but wouldn't concern you as you won't be doing any 4wd'ing .. my 2 boobs anyway