Your Car 4WDs / SUVs

[Blues_Man]

Great post khanate!

i thought it was a sad rant...his inlaws own one ...but they are ok ..everyone else who owns one is a lemming .. talk about taking generalisation to the max .
FWIW a lot of people rely on their 4x4 to get to khanate could only dream about .

 

[hawkeye23]

i thought it was a sad rant...his inlaws own one ...but they are ok ..everyone else who owns one is a lemming .. talk about taking generalisation to the max .
FWIW a lot of people rely on their 4x4 to get to khanate could only dream about .

His inlaws are in territory where one is required. I have no issue with that Blues Man. What I object to are the knob-jockeys (male and female) who chose to drive them in a vein attempt to disguise the fact that they CANNOT drive!

 

[khanate]

haha...places i could only DREAM about???

go longhousing in the DEPTHS of the jungles of borneo, THEN feckin' tell me about 'places to dream about'. malaria and cholera anywhere your eye cares to look at.

what about bullbars? christ, nothing concusses a four year old quicker than a sharp knock to the head with about 5 tonnes of pure upwardly-mobile aspirational eastern suburban 4 wheel drivery. yeek.

 

[Klyntonius]

My parents got a 'Cruiser. Gets used for 4wding/camping/hunting, towing heavy trailers and equipment etc. Pretty much a required vehicle for their purposes. Much prefer to drive a Commodore in traffic though. Far nicer and easier to drive around town and can't understand why people would buy one to use in the city.

Also on the topic of saving ourselves from ourselves (as those in government like to do), we could also mention the dangerousness of Jap turbos, convertibles, anything with less than four wheels, anything with more than 4 cylinders, has greater displacement than 2 litres or weighs more than 1500kgs.

 

[Copernicus]

I'm hardly surprised that their are increasing numbers of these things on the roads back in Aus. It seems as though practically every marketing trend the seppos begin gets ended in Aus. I don't think there would be near as many 4WDs as there are on the roads here (and let me tell, those things are bloody spic and span, wouldn't have even seen a dirt road, 90% of them). I reckon that Aussies use them a lot more often for what they're intended to be used, though - all those 4WD tracks and remote roads even in Vic are attractive, but they don't exist in any shape or form out in this corner of the world. Not to say that the Toorak tractors are a blight, but that's just typical of people with money to spend and not nearly as much brains

 

[theFAJA55]

I've got a Land Rover LR4 2011.... Ive had them ever since I was a farmer back home.... Brand loyalty is my excuse now!!!

I still like to drive through the big puddles on the road around Indianapolis too... That's urban offroading right... plus I get points when i drive past a bus shelter and splash them

 

[Herbs]

Gotta love the nonsensical rants of the inner city anti 4wd yuppie brigade. They don't want one so they think nobody should. Piss poor attitude.

 

[BomberFletch31]

I don't own a 4WD. I find them bloody annoying when one pulls up to my right at a stop/give way sign blocking the view of the road I'm trying to turn into ...

Having said that, I have no problems about people wanting to buy 4WDs, even for the school run. While I find them a tad annoying, people have the right to waste their money on these fuel guzzling monsters should they choose to do so, and not be berated by others because they made a choice that doesn't conform to other people's preferences.

 

[theFAJA55]

You must drive a Prius or something???? whats the difference between that and an actual delivery truck pulling up next to you??

 

[BomberFletch31]

You must drive a Prius or something???? whats the difference between that and an actual delivery truck pulling up next to you??

I don't, I drive a Falcon. And I find either a 4WD or a truck pulling up next to me as annoying, because I'd have to wait until it leaves the intersection before I can get a clear view.

But as I said, as annoying as it is for me, people have the right to choose a 4WD if they so wish, even if they are gigantic fuel guzzlers ...

 

[theFAJA55]

I don't, I drive a Falcon. ]

Mate if I could get a falcon over here.... id buy it tomorrow!!! The problem is, It snows here in Indy for about 3-4 months of the year and they dont make the falcons in AWD/4WD

My wife drives the Land Rover most of the time 1) For protection.... 2) her job is 5 miles away so rarely have to fill up and 3) I drive my Cadi CTS4 to work!!!

 

[Collingwould]

Gotta love the nonsensical rants of the inner city anti 4wd yuppie brigade. They don't want one so they think nobody should. Piss poor attitude.

funny, I used to be totally against 4WD's also, until I got married and had a kid, we fully considered ALL options, wagons etc. My wife has disc problems in her back and preferred the high position to load up the boy. Plus the high ride is awesome - I don't deliberately block people's view either

As per the OP, it's an '06 Lexus RX350, and I did NOT buy it because of the Collingwood connection, in fact my wife (who doesn't follow footy) chose it in the end. I preferred the X5 but they're much more expensive for what you get. Plenty of mod con's in the RX, including my wife's fav: the auto rear hatch

For the size, the Lexus is really just like a tall sedan, my brother-in-law has a Volvo XC70 and it's much longer. I haven't checked the dimensions, but I'd be pretty sure the footprint of the RX is smaller than that of a Falcodore, so it kinda dispels part of the myth of ALL 4WD's being road hogs.

Oh, and FWIW, we didn't buy it to be a 4WD recreation vehicle, it's our only car and it's does everything for us. The fuel consumption is good and it drives better than my old '99 BMW 3 series that it replaced! might good drive is the Lexus. Also thinks it looks better than next doors Territory

 

[Herbs]

Actually, quite a few of the newest diesel 4wds have excellent fuel consumption figures. Much better than some of the larger 2wd cars that are around.

 

[MKMatty]

This thread, what a laugh.

4wds aren't needed in the city, I get that. But that doesn't mean no one should own one.

Take my family for instance. 6 people in our family, we live in the country and own three 4wds. In the country a 4wd makes sense, we use ours off road, we've travelled across Australia in them 4 times. use them in the local forests and on the beach. For a large family in a regional area it makes sense to own a large car. Particularly for me. I work an hour from home and dont get home until midnight. I would hate for a roo or other native animal to go through my windscreen on my way home.

4wds are stupid in the city. Furtherest I ever drive into the city when I go to the footy etc is to the nearest train station. But to each their own.

 

[kfc1]

personally i hate them...

'economically' speaking, people have been marketted to perfectly. they have been told "you have two kids? protect them with a four-wheel drive!", and that is why something like 2/5 of all car sales are now 4wds...

they are not safe AT all. they are death traps. roads have been designed to cater to regular sized cars (such as the 1.9 million kilometres of the skirting rail around this country), and now that cars have gotten larger, all that is shot to sh*t.

they're marketted as 'family cars'. has anyone ever tried to bloody get out of one of those nissan patrols??? i'd hate to be the disabled mother in law trying to get in/out.

and it's all image. think about the office-bound middle manager. he pulls 10 hour days five (sometimes more...) days a week, and in between being stuck in an office, and getting GRILLED by his missus for NOT 'spending enough time with the family', the only place where he's NOT being told what to do or being emasculated is in that 45 minute gridlocked traffice jam trip to and from work. the only place his overweight balding self is no long some 5 foot, 100 kilo submissive type, and is now a prado driver...

that's just my opinion, really...

gotta love the fuel efficiency, too...9 ks per litre...that's terrible. but then there's the diesel engines which, unfortunately, chew up our ozone layer...

they are a status symbol nowadays...it's funny watching all the bored housewives clog every road around a primary school JUST to drive little junior the 3 minutes it takes to their home. why are women driving them??? it makes NO sense!!! i thought they only appealed to the paper-pushing marketting/real-estate types who think they're 'letting their hair out' in their market and demographic researched jeep cherokee...

they rollover, too...don't take corners too fast, either...

also, poor rear visibility...you're five times more likely to run over a kid (maybe your own...) while reversing out of your drive way in a fourwheeldrive...

4wds are a stupid fashion trend which cost tens of thousands of dollars. it's pretty stupid, really...we need to follow every thing america has already done, don't we? there is SERIOUSLY no need to own one in the city or ANY urban setting. if you do go up north or bush, rent one for the prescribed anount of time. instead of spending $60000 for a car you use, what, 4 weeks a year, spend HALF of that, and buy an practical car. why do people buy one when they say "i go to the snow". you drive on a ROAD you moron. what difference does it make? seriously...

the appeal to the "sucking my way up the corporate ladder" carrie bradshaw type (who end up becoming 'soccer mums') and the frustrated corporate types. you'd think with the way urban planning is going these days (people moving into the inner city into apartments with SANCTIONED carspaces and TINY ROADS), people would want a SMALLER vehicle...it's SO stupid. and what about the DUMB names??? ford escape? escape from WHAT??? southland shopping centre??? land rover discovery??? a discovery of a LARGER BLIND SPOT. suburu forester? more like DE-forester. automotive corporations are selling EMANCIPATION to the masses in the form of an IMPRACTICAL vehicle. you know that the CONSTRUCTION cost of a ford falcon is MARGINALLY less than the constrution of a ford expedition. yet the RETAIL value is like, nearly twice. that's why they are promoted and marketted. notice how ALL the ads feature some part of nature, as if you're EVER going to go there. i love how some people use the "four weeks annual leave" excuse to spend twice as much on a car that is a death trap.

why do people buy them? because they were told to.

they aren't safe at all...the width of a 4wd tyre is MINUTELY larger than that of a sedan's wheel. often the 4wd's chassis and everything else is TWICE as heavy as that of a sedan. they obscure traffic and cause accidents. people who buy them because "they'd rather do damage to someone rather than be damaged" often regret the 'vehicular manslaughter' conviction before the second week of their 12 year jail term.

like little lemmings, people are told to buy them, and buy them they do...

my partner's family have a property in central nsw, and they NEED their fwd. the terrain is UTTERLY rough. 4wds aren't meant to be on paved roads. google it if you want studies and research on it.

and because the market is currently FLOODED with 3 year old second hand 4wds, these are the types of cars future P platers will have easy access to. this is so typically endemic off our greedy, excessive mentality. that's another word; EXCESS. you don't need it, hell, you don't even WANT it, but you MUST keep up with the jones. you're mortgaged up to your eyebrows, you've maxed out all three of your credit cards, and car repayments are draining you, but who cares, you LOOK LIKE you can afford the car.

status.

i love the 4wds that have the shaded cloth. that to me just shows how SHELTERED and 'taken care of' the car will be. it's a family car. nevermind the housewife couldn't drive her toyota starlet to begin with, let's get her a car twice as wide and thrice as big. it's safe. people are stupid. ABSOLUTELY stupid. they should be outlawed and BANNED in the cities. if you go up bush, rent one for the week. how much will it cost you per week? $1000??? if that...compare that one grand to the 25 grand extra you paid. it's TOTAL excess and serves no other purpose other than showing off the fact you can AFFORD it.

and how contradictory is the entire 'luxury' 4wd??? luxury? is there ANY luxury in driving at ALL??? has anyone ever driven 10+ hours interstate? it's anything BUT luxury. and how the hell are leather seats and cup holders 'rugged'? they're not. it's all clever marketing and image which people sop up.

i love that x-trail ad. rugged good looks. yeah right! look at the 1970 landcruiser. that's rugged. i love how they are associated with 'extreme' sports like off road bmx and mountain climbing. the people who buy these cars are bloody regional managers. go manage something you twit.

gah. it's such a toss, really.

good rant, would read again

 

[Balony_pony16]

Is anyone up to date with the new 4WD dual cab market? Need some thoughts on the Nissan np300 v the new ford ranger coming out in a few months. What I can gather is the Ford ranger has a heap of safety sensor features which im not that fussed about, but other then that they seem around about the same.

Thoughts?

 

[kfc1]

Ford girl says buy the ford, you buy it

 

[Herbs]

Only looked at the new Navara, not driven one. I hope they're a vast improvement on the previous model. I had a space cab D40 Navara as a workute and it was a complete POS. The Ranger is nice though, but consider the Mazda BT 50, it's much the same as the Ranger but cheaper. Isuzu D Max isn't as flashy but is tough and reliable.

 

[Klyntonius]

My old man got a BT-50 and it's nice to drive for a big ute. Comfy, handles well and excellent power. He got it with a bullbar and canopy and other stuff for less than a stock as a rock Ranger. Rangers are good but in my opinion overpriced. The best advice I can offer is to do your research on exactly what you need/want from a ute, test drive options from a short list then go to work on getting the best deal you can. Good luck with it.

 

[Yoda_]

Is anyone up to date with the new 4WD dual cab market? Need some thoughts on the Nissan np300 v the new ford ranger coming out in a few months. What I can gather is the Ford ranger has a heap of safety sensor features which im not that fussed about, but other then that they seem around about the same.

Thoughts?

What'd you decide on going with?

 

[Balony_pony16]

What'd you decide on going with?

I was asking for a mate I was helping him decide. He went for the Nissan NP300 after years of having a D40 without problem. The Ranger comes out later in the year.

I did how ever buy his D40 on the cheap, fully kit out with:
lift kit
Bullbar
rear Bar
Fox Suspension
New 2k touch screen music/sound system
New off road tyres just on
mags

I voted for a np300 so he didnt change his mind on selling me his D40

 

[Balony_pony16]

My D40 out on the SA Far West coast

 

[Yoda_]

My D40 out on the SA Far West coast

Looks good mate

In the market for a new twin cab turbo diesel for a work/play car (Carpenter by trade)

The ranger has the best towing capacity (5t up from the 4.2 - 4.5 most others in the same class have) but it does gauge diesel a bit more. (Looking at between 600 700km per tank of diesel - towing a trailer. Guy I worked with bought last years model).

I'm not overly concerned about running costs, it really is about how you drive your vehicle that'll determine the output of the engine.

The Navara in a cost benefit analysis seems like a reasonable choice. A brand new D40 is what? $40,000 base model, $50,000 with a tow pack, canopy, roof racks and some extra upgrades?

The other one I don't mind the look of is the Holden Colorado but having done little research on it, I'm not sure what it has to offer that the D40 doesn't

 

[Balony_pony16]

Looks good mate

In the market for a new twin cab turbo diesel for a work/play car (Carpenter by trade)

The ranger has the best towing capacity (5t up from the 4.2 - 4.5 most others in the same class have) but it does gauge diesel a bit more. (Looking at between 600 700km per tank of diesel - towing a trailer. Guy I worked with bought last years model).

I'm not overly concerned about running costs, it really is about how you drive your vehicle that'll determine the output of the engine.

The Navara in a cost benefit analysis seems like a reasonable choice. A brand new D40 is what? $40,000 base model, $50,000 with a tow pack, canopy, roof racks and some extra upgrades?

The other one I don't mind the look of is the Holden Colorado but having done little research on it, I'm not sure what it has to offer that the D40 doesn't

I paid 24k for my mates navara (trade in price) after he put 14k extras on it... I have since spent $400 on dual fuel filter, $1000 on Rhino Line tray (mate is a stone mason and trashed the tray), and get my razorback canopy next week

On canopy I went razorback because they are steel canopies that dont need those internal support bars if you wanted a cage ontop. Razorback are rated to 400kg whilst the fiberglass canopies like ABR, Genuine canopies, Caddy etc... are rated about 75-100kg

I must say, of all the extras on my D40 the suspension is just awesome... Fox suspension aint cheap though, but thank god my mate paid for it haha

On the fords I have heard their sheer size can be a bit of a issue if you drive heaps in captial cities, if that is the type of time the will bother you. But by the looks most the new series are going that Ford Ranger American truck look so proberly not a issue anymore as they are all the same size.

 

[Lebbo73]

The thing that gets me about most 4WDs, even the larger ones, is the serious lack of carrying capacity compared to a conventional station wagon. have a look at the back end of a Falcon or Commodore wagon compared to a typical 4WD - the Falcodore has much more usable luggage (or dog) space in the back. And the passenger capacity is about the same - and yet some people buy them becausde they're "bigger"

The exception is the Ford Territory, which is a genuine large wagon, and a great piece of work in my opinion. A Ford dealer told me their wagon sales have gone through the floor because all the wagon buyers are buying a Territory and I can see why, especially since the price is so similar.

I own a Ford Territory SZ Titanium 2011 RWD. We bought it because they are great for our long trips we make to North Qld. Great luggage space and reasonable fuel economy being a diesel. Plus, I have 3 daughters who like inviting friends over so the 7 seats is one of the main reasons we bought it. Not to mention the multiple times we have taken the grandparents on trips with us. Our main car will always be an SUV from now on.