Track records for different vehicles/years

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pupeno
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Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by pupeno »

Hello preppers,

Some time next year I want to buy an old SUV to be my bug out / camping vehicle. My plan is to get something old/cheap to improve it with my dad as a project. I still want to get something reliable. Are there some stats of how reliable different vehicles turned out to be? Of course, we'll thoroughly inspect the one we might buy, but I want a general idea... for example, were Land Rover Freelanders 2002 good? What about Jeep Grand Cherokees 2006 and so on.
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sniper 55
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by sniper 55 »

It might be worth checking forums for vehicle owners of say jeeps or whatever, these often show up regular on known problems with the vehicles.
I don't know of any sort of comparrison sites for track records, but they may be out there somewhere.
I don't know about jeeps but landies have a number of well known issues, I know that they used to have trackrod problems if used off road a lot, and I seem to remember a handbrake problem? Been a while. Same with range rovers, if I remember rightly the air suspension had a bad reputation, they were also known for electrical faults and I think heater issues.
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oldman
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by oldman »

You may want to look at this site:

https://good-garage-guide.honestjohn.co.uk/mot-results/

If I had a choice I'd get something old, pre-electronic, just because it will be simple to bodge if you can't get parts.
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jansman
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by jansman »

Toyota Hilux for me.I have had two.I sold the first cos I needed some quick cash.Bought another as soon as possible.It carries all sorts of shite,passes every MOT with no scary bills.Toyota is the go to brand in Australia,a tough environment if ever there was.
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Mortblanc
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by Mortblanc »

Difficult to recommend for you British since many of the vehicles carry different badges over there and many of the engine features are different. We also tend to put more miles on our vehicles more quickly than you fellows do unless you are commercial/business drivers. U.S. vehicles average about 20K miles a year.

Plus the attempt to "improve" one can be a problem with all the engine restrictions one faces, as well as the "unit body construction" of today. About all one can do is install a roof rack, new bumpers and a winch.

I bought my first Jeep in 1970. It was a 1948 model and I drive it until I was out of university. When I graduated and got a "real job" I bought a new Jeep.

There have been very few times since that 1970 date when there was not a Jeep product in my driveway. I have rolled the 200K miles figure over on at least three of them without having any major motor or transmission work done. I drove one until the doors actually fell off, welded them back on, gave the vehicle to my daughter and she put another 60k miles on it before it caught fire and burned to the ground during a wildfire. It had more than 250K miles on an untouched engine and was 20 years old at that point.

I have a 1997 Cherokee in the drive at present. The square model famous world wide. 4L engine, auto transmission, as most are over here, 4wd. I am just short of 200k miles and have never turned a bolt on the engine or transmission. Re-did the front suspension three years back and rebuilt the brakes from the wheels up last year. Normal maintenance for a 20 year old rig.

I limit it to short trips and close camping runs now, use it as a general hunting and fishing rig to pull the boat. It will do more, much more. I towed a 30 foot caravan for 100 miles using it a few years ago. I just don't do more anymore!

They quit building my model in 2002, so I do not know what I will replace it with, probably a Grand Cherokee, but the ones I see for sale are all trashed and my own is in better shape, so why change? I may go back to the original CJ body style when this one dies.

I have also had good luck with Ford products. I have owned several full sized Ford trucks and drove them until they were "vintage". There was a 1963 model I drive well into the 1990s and a 1975 model I drove until 2001. One excellent 1993 Ranger that I cranked 500K miles out of, driving it on the job, before I sold it to a dealer in Mexico. It is probably still bouncing around in the Sonora Desert.

Right now I am driving a 2006 Ford Escape as my daily driver. It is holding up well, drives well, and I expect to get another 10 years use from it.

There have been a cluster of other vehicles I have owned that were "average", A Mitsubishi PU, a Mazda PU, a couple of full sized Chevys, many "family cars" and such.

As another person stated, the Toyotas are good vehicles too. I drove a Toyota Hilux for a decade and actually sold it for more than I paid for it! It was the fastest small pickup I have ever owned and would do an honest 100mph on the R22 gas engine using our low grade American fuel.

If I were in GB and wanted to buy a good used utility vehicle it would probably be a Toyota PU. It has a proven track record, rugged, fuel efficient, and has parts available to drive it into eternity.
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unsure
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by unsure »

it all depends on if its your daily driver or not . YOU wouldn`t want an old series 3 landrover in winter . discovery 1`s are still around and at reasonable money , p38 range rovers do have a lot of issues , air springs to heater control motors .
some thing jap , isuzu maybe . can`t realy fault them apart from the chassis rots from the inside .
YES i walked away mid sentence , you were boring me to death and my survival instincts kick in .
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pupeno
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by pupeno »

I do like some Land Rovers, but I hear a lot about how they used to have reliability issues and then they got better. But since I'm planning to buy something old (90s or 00s), I'd need to know when they got better.

The other one that I like that can be within my budget is Jeep Grand Cherokee. About their reliability I hear nothing but good things; but, I'd rather use data than anecdata for this.

The MOT pass rate for a 2002 Grand Cherokee is about the same as for a Discovery of the same year:

https://good-garage-guide.honestjohn.co ... rokee/2002
https://good-garage-guide.honestjohn.co ... overy/2002

I'd certainly stay away from low MOT pass rates, but it's probably not the whole picture. I'd like to know how often each of them ended up in at the workshop.

Regarding the modifications, it'll be mostly superficial: installation of winch, maybe snorkel, android auto aftermarket unit, HF, VHF/UHF radios and the antennas, storage system, maybe solar panels, etc. I'm not planning on touching the engine.
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Citizen H
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by Citizen H »

From my side, if Im bugging out due to civil disturbance or natural disaster having a mot would be my last concern, in regards to Land rovers you'll probably will get comments about your neighbours wanting to rob your Bug out Vehicle at the 1st sign of trouble etc, as for me Im kind of "I'll be alright on the night" take a lesson from top gear, get a old Volvo or Mercedes estate, or you could go down the Toyota Hilux route, do let us know what you go for in the end and how the project works out,
Im just hoping for the best and preparing for the worse.

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preparedsurrey
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by preparedsurrey »

Over here in the UK the square type jeep Cherokees had a reputation for rotting and breaking rear diffs/ axles. On the plus side the 6 cylinder 4.0 engine is good, the diesels were a bit poor IMO, an LPG conversion makes for an affordable sensible daily drive if you live close to a filling station that has it.

The Grand Cherokee has a V8 option which unfortunately also comes with lots of electrickery bits to cause issues as the years march on. Makes an excellent tow car mpg is reasonable on a run.

Range Rover Classic + Discovery like to rot, usually cheap to keep on the road if you can weld yourself.

Diahatsu Fourtrak - the thinking mans series landrover, unfortunately like to rot on a diagonal drawn from halfway up the rear door down to midway along the drivers door, no pattern body panels are available either.

80s Land Cruiser/ Nissan Patrol, most have been exported already. Tough things.

Ford Maverick / Escape in the states really liked the 2003 3.0 v6 we ran, only really parted with it due to the low legal towing limit and me not being bothered to convert it to LPG. Would definatly buy another if we could get over the towing weight.
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unsure
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Re: Track records for different vehicles/years

Post by unsure »

https://good-garage-guide.honestjohn.co ... overy/2002

ive just had a quick read , the link refers to a disco 2 , usually a td5 . these have lots of elec bits and are known to fail .
YES i walked away mid sentence , you were boring me to death and my survival instincts kick in .