On a budget.

[Fingers]

Hi all.

Some people may remeber from some of my other posts that i fancy a Disco to get muddy with.

Unfortunatly money is tight, and as i didnt get the job i was after (or rather the pay rise that would go with it), im now on the look out for something smaller to get started with.  This way i still get to have fun, untill i get to the stage where i can get my disco.

So..... I was thinking about an SJ410 or Vitara or something.

Out of all the smaller 4x4's, What would people recomend that would not need too much altering to get me started? Not bothered about engine size or number of seats as it wont be my daily driver anyway.

Cheers all, Mark

[andygod]

:idea: You can buy a Range Rover for under £500.00 (I may know of one for £200.00)  :)

[Fingers]

Hmmmmm  8)

I may just be interested. Let me know the details.

And for everyone else, ingnore the cheap car   :lol:   and concentrate ont he original question please   :P  (subliminal mesaging over).

[Lincs niva]

Niva with MT'S and your sorted :D Quite a few decent ones on ebay at the moment.Not everybody's choice but i love mine..

Cheers Gav

[electricbluebadger]

Sj's are crackin, Caz's SJ has embaressed my Landy on occasion as its very light and can skip over deep mud very quickly, however they suffer on long climbs as they have no torque, with the SJ its a case of make certain no one is at the topo and take a fast run up

seen a few zukes come a cropper cos of this and its not the safest of methods if someone suddenly appears at the top

that said they are a fun , bumpy, capable off road motor.. it will rot very quicly body wise, but the chassis are generally very good

also the lack of torque and highish gearing even in low box can make descents fun as well, you can always change the transfer box for a lower geared one and then that will be far better...

Cheers Steve

[Fingers]

Niva with MT'S and your sorted :D Quite a few decent ones on ebay at the moment.Not everybody's choice but i love mine..

Cheers Gav

Niva?
Not sure what one is?

I am fairly new to the whole off-road scene im afraid  :oops:

[Jake]

Theirs plenty of very cheap rangies about but they are all V8's
Suzuki's and Lada's are good little cheap to run motors.
There's a good amount of Suzuki's in scrap yards to raid for parts too
 8)

[Boggert]

I have a 1996 Vit on AT's for £1500, 10 mts MOT and 4 mts tax, solid as a rock.

[Fingers]

I have a 1996 Vit on AT's for £1500, 10 mts MOT and 4 mts tax, solid as a rock.

Cheers for the offer, but im on a real tight budget.

Looking for something for a few hundred.
Even if it needs welding ill have a bash as i can weld a bit, plus im not in a hurry so can take time to strip and fix.

[electricbluebadger]

Vits aren't as good as SJ's but still not bad, suspension takes a bit more effort to raise, bits cost a little more etc etc but not bad motors....

To give you an idea we paid £250 for this....



No MOT or tax but needed a small plate welded and that was it

10 disc autochanger, mint interior ans a superb engine with replacement NIKKI carb, runs like a dream but a lot thirstier than an SJ and 1600cc so no cheap tax (important if on budget)

Now looks like this.... :)
and only owes a total of £350 incl purchase price...
ps lights are back in :)



Must upload some finished pics one of these days

loads more pics / details n odds n sods on my site incl Caz's other SJs on various pages in the Off Road / Greenlanes section

Cheers Steve

Cheers Steve

[Fingers]

Cheers electricbluebadger,

I have been looking at a couple of those.

How does the tax work on 4x4's.
I know on cars in in brackets, is it the same for these?

By the way, you Vit looks quite good. Did you spray it yourself? And whats it like off road?

EDIT - Just looked at your site and saw that you have sprayed it yourself. Good job that man!

[mill2020]

Cheers for the offer, but im on a real tight budget.

Looking for something for a few hundred.
Even if it needs welding ill have a bash as i can weld a bit, plus im not in a hurry so can take time to strip and fix.

Not wishing to be biased but why not look into a Daihatsu Fourtrak or a Sportrak, loads to chose from on ebay going very cheap and built to take abuse.
Not a huge amount of aftermarket kit around, but if your prepared to be creative and get hands dirty it's easy to mod and easy on the bank balance

Phil

[electricbluebadger]

On an older 4x4 the tax is exactly the same af for a car, ie for a 1600cc Vitara you will be paying full whack, for a 1 or 1.3 SJ its under the £100 mark for 12 months...virtually half price, The Vits not bad off road although its still sat on its Chavved wide fatboy road tyres so understandably a bit fun in the mud, as standard they are quite low so it does belly out every now n again and need a pull, a body lift and some decent MT's will sort out most of its shortcomings....

Far more comfy than the old SJ on and off road but the SJ was still a scream... gettin thrown around and bruised is all part of the SJ fun....

Cheers Steve

[Fingers]

Cheers for all the replies.

Im going to keep looking, and hopefully find myself a bargain somewhere, see what happens.

If i was to get a Vitara, does anyone know roughly how much it costs for parts to do a suspension lift and fit decent tyres (as ill have to budget for this of course).

Cheers all, Mark

[electricbluebadger]

Im getting 2" lift blocks done from heavy duty box section at work for a few beers but you can get a very good kit off Bits for Vits on Ebay... about £90, £50 will get you a set of coil spring lifting blocks, a few quid more for camber correction bolts for the front.. after that you are looking at £250 ish for springs and shocks, bigger tyres etc etc

K9Rdj used to frequent a few of the suzuki forums but not seen him post for a while... he is the brains behind 'Bits For Vits'

Cheers Steve