Need advice for SUVs good on the beach

[mosler]

I am currently in the market for a used SUV. I say I'm looking for a used vehicle because I'd like to spend less than $12,000. The primary reason I want an SUV is that the vehicle will drive about 100 miles per year off road in 4WD on sand beaches. I have a family and would like the space that an SUV provides for car seats/baggage etc. so I'm not interested in a truck.

Since most published reviews of 4WD capabilities don't deal with performance in sand, I thought this might be a good place to ask around. I also undertand that the wear and tear on a vehicle is significantly greater if you're using it on the beach regularly, so again you folks would have the best insight on the matter. Based on what I've shared below, I'd love to hear your opinion on which vehicles you think would fit the bill.

Below are some of the things that are important to me:

-adequate 4WD capabilities including the option to be in 4-HI or 4-LO
-afordability of maintenance and repairs and I guess a low frequency of required repairs
-middle of the road cargo space (i.e. not RAV4 size but also not Excursion size, somewhere in between)
- at least light towing capability, say up to 3000#

Also, what's the minimum horsepower required to get through some of the soupy sand out there?

Because of cost, I'm looking at vehicles manufactured in the late 1990's. Odds are that I'll be buying a vehicle that hasn't been using 4WD heavily but now will be asked to.

Which year/make/models have performed well for you over the years? If you had to buy an SUV made in 1999 to use for driving the beach, which would you choose and why?

Thanks for your time and any thoughts you have to share.

[audiracer]

firstly molser i would like to welcome you to the forum

as for your question: toyota land cruiser or mistubusi pajero are the ones that spring to mind for what you want

but there are lots of other on the market.

[wayne]

Welcome i've got a landrover freelander never taken it on the beach though my misses would go mad if i got it stuck anyway look at this web site in the freelander section they seem to take their's on the beach with no prob's and some might be near you iam sure they be more than happy to help you out.
www.muddyoval.com

[cbr6fs]

You want a Land Rover Discovery mate.

The Discos off-road abilities are legendary.

They are fairly common so you can take your pick of the best,
Get a turbo diesel, it's not really HP you want for off-roading and general day to day driving, torque is more important, of which diesels have plenty

There are plenty of Land Rover clubs around, find 1 locally and i am sure they will be more than willing to give you advice on buying second hand; you might even be able to convince someone to go along with you.

From my experiences of main dealers on this side of the pond, the service has been extremely bad, the prices are usually sky high and after sales service extremely poor, I don’t know what they are like over there, but there are usually many specialist Land Rover Service companies around.

There are a few Land Rover specific magazines out there.
The ones i know of in the UK are:

Land Rovers Owners International http://www.lro.com is a good one.

As is Land Rover World http://www.landroverworld.co.uk/

And http://www.landroverenthusiast.com

They are reliable, fantastic off-road, loads of spare parts and tuning companies, a great wealth of knowledge, no matter what you want to do someone has already done it and passed on their experiences for others to learn by.

The only other is the JEEP, but I am guessing the Wrangler is to small for your needs, and in my opinion the older Cherokees just do not cut it off-road without major work.

Buy a Disco, save some cash back for a winch and some sand spikes and your sorted mate.

Cheers Mark.

[cbr6fs]

I've just been having a quick look around, and it seems the Diesels are a bit rare over there, the ones i saw for sale were mainly V8's.

In the UK a V8 would not be practical due to the price of Petrol here, but from my experiances in the states, even though everyone was complaing about the fuel prices, 6 months ago, petrol was still as cheap as chips compared to Europe.

From a quick look around you can get a Series II around a 2000 model from about $10000, that leaves you with change for a good winch, sand spikes and some good tyres.

Found this site for you, the guys seem really helpful.

Cheers Mark.