What is the best family 4x4?

Question

We currently have a Land Rover Freelander as our main car and want to upgrade it to something bigger (not new). I am tempted to buy a Range Rover, but i'm quite naive when it comes to cars & herd some bad press about them. Are they any good? (the petrol versions)

Answer 1

Landrover discovery 200tdi

Answer 2

Well I wouldn't touch the Range Rover or Disco for that matter they're extremely unreliable, the Disco handles like a Pig on stilts and has no power! Range Rover a lot better but you have to pay alot more and still reliability is lacking.
Depending on how big your family is and of course do you need to go off road??
I have a Jeep Cherokee 4.0l running on gas equivalent economy of 40 mpg they're great comfy reliable and have loads of power, they're OK for a small family but lack the space inside of most 4x4 but are in a different league to disco's.
Probably the best bet if you need a large 4x4 is the Toyota Land Cruiser loads of room very reliable and if you get a petrol you can probably get a good price due to them being rather thirsty then you could get a Gas conversion depending on what type from £1200 - £1800 fitted you can then run the kids around for the same price as a saloon car and put out half the emmissions to boot! So when your dropping the kids off and all those doo-gooders are moaning that you don't need a 4x4 because they reckon there guzzlers you can confidently tell them if they don't run on gas your creating less impact on the enviroment than they are!
Hope that helps.

Answer 3

Go for a Japanese one (and I'm a Jeep owner). Jeeps suffer from lack of interior space. Range Rover only has 5 seats, while the Disco's a bit high & 'wallowy'. The Hummer is 4 seats, and 4 seats ONLY.
Nissan & Toyota have best reliabilty & choice of diesels/petrol engines, Ideally go for 7 seats.
A diesel engine will usually run on vegetable oil if it's not too new (newer ones with Common Rail engines can be a bit fussy), don't forget to pay tax, unless you use old veg oil.

I know you said Petrol, but try a test drive in a diesel & see how you feel. If you do go off-road (or tow), then you'll really appreciate having a diesel's torque.
If you just want a comfy car with 4WD for the road, then go for an Audi, Jag or Suburu - you can get into more car parks!

Answer 4

It depends on what you intend to use the vehicle for. Range Rovers are excellent 4x4's but pricey to maintain and to run even the 2.5 diesels. Like most used car sales take a motor technician with you, if it needs work you'll need very deep pockets.

You can pick up some good bargains by looking around and keeping your mind open. My sister bought a 55 plate Jeep Cherokee 3.0 Diesel Automatic (Brand new at the time) for a little over 15k. She swears by it (about 33-35 mpg combined). Incidentally it runs on 2 wheel drive until you select 4x4, making it slightly more fuel efficient and less wear on those tyres.

For a 4x4 city dwelling, taking kids to school motor, then there are plenty but the Nissan x-trail isn't bad.

Answer 5

We have a range rover. We have 3 kids (2 teenagers and a small one) and we are very comfortable in the range rover. We have a dog which sits in a travel crate which fits more than easily in the boot. My advice to you however would be to get a diesel, not petrol. 4x4's are very greedy, and you get better torque with diesels. Stick with the land rovers, you cant go wrong!!!

Answer 6

They are not bad the New ones that is. Solid but not the most reliable, but the fact you have a freelander does say you know nothing about cars.

The new discovery comes with 7 seats now, I have just ordered a Audi q7 4.0d V12. Its not out yet but what a car that will be. The q7 smaller engines are fantastic aswell. Don't buy a Bmw x5 though

Answer 7

well, we have a jeep wrangler right now, however, my husband will keep that and we will be buying a jeep wrangler 4-door when they come out next year.
that is my personal opinion.

now, if jeep wasn't making a 4-door, then i would be looking at honda.
honda has a Pilot that is a 4-door, seats 7-8 comfortably and ets pretty good gas mileage for it's size.
it has all kinds of safety features and has won awards for safety.
also, it runs 6-cylinder, however, when you are on highway and cruising along, it will shut down to 4 to conserve gas.
another thing i liked...
it tells you when you need an oil change (only every 10,000 mi...seriously!!!) or if a tire is low on air.
they are very smart and rated VERY high with consumer reports.

now, if you want something a little smaller, then check out honda elements.
they look kind of funny at first, but they really are great SUVs and have lots of interesting features.

have fun car shopping!

Answer 8

Land rover great clearance,lousy gas mileage. Look at companies like Honda,Mitsubishi,Ford's Explorer. Also General Motors Envoy is a really well built family sized vehicle.

Answer 9

Best Family 4x4 Uk

Answer 10

Dodge Durango... not the new models though, they look hideous... I'm talking about the models from 98 or whenever they first came out to 2004. I have a 2001 Durango and love it... it's not HUGE like the Expedition or Tahoe... but it's also not too SMALL like the Jeep Liberty, Ford Escape, etc. It's PERFECT. But, that other person is right... you really shouldn't worry about the 4WD option... just get the Durango and you'll be very pleased. (There are Durangos in the UK right???)

Answer 11

With present gas prices, I'd seriously consider a different type of family car. Save the gas money and take the family on a nice vacation instead. Cances are, you'll seldom ever put the thing into 4WD anyway.