[wren57]

Bored at work today so doing some internet browsing. I'll be buying a big dog soon and don't want it to ride around in the BMW so I'm looking for a cheaper SUV/truck beater. Also want to keep the ~70k mileage on my 07 BMW down if possible. Stumbled across this beauty:




http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-...item4841286e1d

Would love to snag it for around $5k. Anyone have experience with these cars?

[JBE90335]

if you can afford an 03 or newer i'd search for one of those as they made substantial improvements that year. Also, if you want something reliable and cheap to maintain i'd look for something more along the lines of a Pathfinder or 4Runner.

[DLE]

If it's something to mess around with I would get the Land Rover. I know a few people from school that drove them and they are always fun to drive around. And in my opinion, don't look half bad.

[DLE]

Oh and when we go to a lake around campus, it pulls boats and trailers pretty well.

[wren57]

Originally Posted by GMAC63

if you can afford an 03 or newer i'd search for one of those as they made substantial improvements that year. Also, if you want something reliable and cheap to maintain i'd look for something more along the lines of a Pathfinder or 4Runner.

03 was a new model year and has quite a few issues. 04 is too pricey for what I'm buying it for. I would however rather spend $5k on something cool than $3k on something meh.

Originally Posted by DLE

If it's something to mess around with I would get the Land Rover. I know a few people from school that drove them and they are always fun to drive around. And in my opinion, don't look half bad. Oh and when we go to a lake around campus, it pulls boats and trailers pretty well.

Yeah, it may see some light towing duty. I do have a 17' Boston Whaler docked up at the beach but it might need pulling out of the water.

Looks like the Ole Miss logo. You a student there?

[Davin]

That one looks good and so do the older ones like the defenders

[wren57]

This is the only part that bothers me:



Seller says that it was traded in by a mechanic. So that makes me think that a mechanic picked it up in late 2010, couldn't fix it and traded it in. He only drove 5k on it in 7 months. Hmm.

[TroyDeJ]

my dad had one and it was the only car i ever knew that would slow down going down hill, gas mileage in this thing would make you shit a brick (realistically 8-10 around town). My dad had it when gas was $1.75 and it still sucked to fill up.

[DLE]

Originally Posted by wren57

[
Yeah, it may see some light towing duty. I do have a 17' Boston Whaler docked up at the beach but it might need pulling out

Looks like the Ole Miss logo. You a student there?

Yup, I'm going into my sophomore year at Ole Miss.

Do you go to Alabama?

[wren57]

I did. Graduated a few years ago. You have PM.

[ceb]

Originally Posted by wren57

This is the only part that bothers me:



Seller says that it was traded in by a mechanic. So that makes me think that a mechanic picked it up in late 2010, couldn't fix it and traded it in. He only drove 5k on it in 7 months. Hmm.

Older Land/Range Rovers were the only cars aside from Yugo where parts would fall off as you drive. This isn't an old wives' tale either; I was driving behind a RR one day and the right rear taillight assembly fell out and banged around being held on by the wires. I pulled up next to the driver at the next light and he said both the driver's side taillight and passenger side foglight had fallen out previously.

Older British cars are the cheapest way to buy a money pit. Been there, done that.

Why do the Brits drink warm beer? Because they have Lucas refrigerators.

How do you know when there is something wrong with your Jag? When all the instruments start working.

I owned two new Jags. Both of them had the hand brake cable rust in place during the winter when two years old. The fix (for 1800 Pounds) required dropping the axle. Needless to say I figured out that the brake would work twice if I soaked it in WD-40 - which I did to pass inspection while I waited on a rebuild part from the states.

[Silver-Bolt]

4Runner

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by wren57

03 was a new model year and has quite a few issues. 04 is too pricey for what I'm buying it for. I would however rather spend $5k on something cool than $3k on something meh.

Pretty sure '03-'04 was just an LCI improvement along with minor mechanical enhancements. It was not a totally new model.

Anyway, they're generally pretty shitty as far as reliability goes.

[wren57]

Yeah, they do require a good bit of regular maintenance, but I'm handy and have a full set of tools in addition to access to a great friend who is even handier and has even more tools and maybe I'll stop this runon sentence here. Also it wouldn't be my only car, so working on it in my garage wouldn't be a big deal.

The 03-04 have the 4.6L engine whereas the 99-02 have the 4.0. However, the 4.6 is prone to oil pump failure which for some reason requires replacement of the entire engine so... no thanks.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by wren57

The 03-04 have the 4.6L engine whereas the 99-02 have the 4.0. However, the 4.6 is prone to oil pump failure which for some reason requires replacement of the entire engine so... no thanks.

They also crack heads and exhaust manifolds regularly.

[TK-421]

Originally Posted by Davin

That one looks good and so do the older ones like the defenders

this

When I was a kid, we had a Range Rover Classic (almost identical to the one Clarkson used in the Top Gear Bolivia Challenge). That thing was a beauty and a beast. But my favorite definitely has to be the Defender. Too bad it's no longer sold stateside

[lcrain]

Not all that reliable of a car, but they are fun. I would get a toyota of some sort for sure. Land cruisers are awesome, very reliable cars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1991-...item2eb6624c53