Tiny 4x4, or ?

[sloth]

Thoughts and opinions please

I'm considering getting a little vehicle specifically for going out surveying, rather than taking the family-mobile everywhere. I reckon something a bit more of a work vehicle would look better, and people might stop asking if I'm lost when I park in odd places and start looking up! Sign writing would probably help with that too...

I don't need to carry more than a few small bags of gear, and I only really two seats. It will be mostly main A road miles, so something frugal would better than something that can pull a back leaning beech over. 4x4 would be useful but not essential, and lastly the cheaper the better.

I have even seen and wondered about several suzuki jimny for around a grand, but I've always laughed at them in the past. Or maybe just a little corsa van, or...???

 

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[Daniel Jiggins]

Fiat panda do a 4x4 :-)

[swinny]

maybe a diahatsu terios too?

 

Spelling?

[s.varty]

don't laugh at the Suzuki, they are serious bits of kit

[AHPP]

don't laugh at the Suzuki, they are serious bits of kit

 

Small Suzukis are great. Cheap, light, reliable, go anywhere. For that reason, I always recommend people get Land Rovers. I like the idea of competing against people with massive handicaps.

[Ukulian]

Jimny's are brilliant. They'll go anywhere, have two comfortable seats and an excellent 4wd system.

The only problem is they only come in 1.3 litre petrol and it is not he most frugal of motors.

(now if they put a modern 1.2l diesel lump in them they'd be the perfect little motor)

[pete23]

yep the little jimmys are more than capable of a lot of stuff. great little trucks

[wrsni]

don't laugh at the Suzuki, they are serious bits of kit

 

Indeed they are, we've three. A 1.3 Ignis which we've owned from new, now has over 100,000mls and runs as sweet as the day it was new. A Liana hatchback which we bought secondhand for buttons probably because it was a Liana, and we've just bought what you should probably get, an Ignis 4grip 4 wheel drive which is impressing us greatly so far (but then we knew it would which is why we bought it).

 

If looks and image matter look elsewhere, aside from that they go like stink, are incredibly simple, drive really well, but the biggest thing is their reliability and general toughness, it's just at a level that most european car owners simply wouldn't think was possible.

Edited September 14, 2014 by wrsni

[sloth]

My first car was an old tin can panda, and in the alps a decade ago the 4x4 version was everywhere!

Sounds like I should take the jimny more seriously, what sort of mpg does the 1.3 petrol give? I imagine insurance must be cheap as chips too...

 

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[Ukulian]

I used to get 30 / 32 mpg on short runs but not much over 38 on a long haul. That was on an 08 plate. By short, I'm talking one to two miles, where the auto choke used to kill it consumption wise, and runs it was getting hammered.

Had all the extras too, like air con, leccy windows etc. I would get another. :-)