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4 x 4 advice


gmm243
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1 hour ago, London Best said:

Round here just lately you can’t go out without seeing one. A friend had one and it does exactly what it says on the tin.

 

I have been dithering for years now but got a big promotion recently so finally starting to look for another car. 

I was seriously looking at the Honda CRV until a met a bloke in my new job who's a semi-pro mole catcher who has a 4x4 Dacia Duster and was saying how good it was, apparently has a creeper mode or something off-road where it goes real slow when on soft ground without you revving (and wheel spinning) and gets you out of some tight spots. 

 

Not sure how big the ground clearance is. 

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Scrap that on the Duster. 
 

I just drove a Duster 4x4, 2015 Lauriette Prime (bloke claimed it was top spec at the time made but I’m not so sure). 

It was priced at just under £9,000. 

The gear changes were clunky and juddered a bit, not very smooth at all. 
 

Doing just over about 30/35mph and the car was asking to be shifted up into 5th gear. 
 

Was also a bit too easy to steer side by side / wobbly on the motorway doing about 80mph. 
 

The inside was very basic and the on-board system was garbage. 
 

Now I wasn’t expecting it to have everything at the price point it was advertised for but I must say I was very disappointed. 
 

I would have Driven a newer one with the new engine as I wasn’t fixed on that price, it’s just that was the only 4x4 Duster they had in the whole place.

They reckon the new one is better and has a new engine... however they didn’t have one so wasn’t any option. 
 

Im not sure if the improvements are going to be that significant mind. 

 

 

 

 

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I bought a 2014 Duster Laureate with low miles last year. Haven’t really properly had it offroad yet and probably won’t ever :D

 

The Laureate was the predecessor of the current Prestige model. Must say the 1.5DCi diesel engine is reasonably punchy. I get around 40mpg but I drive mostly shortish motorway trips.

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1 hour ago, humperdingle said:

I bought a 2014 Duster Laureate with low miles last year. Haven’t really properly had it offroad yet and probably won’t ever :D

 

The Laureate was the predecessor of the current Prestige model. Must say the 1.5DCi diesel engine is reasonably punchy. I get around 40mpg but I drive mostly shortish motorway trips.


What was the clutch and gear changes like? 
 

This one had a tow bar on it, my cousin says that it might just have been ‘shagged’ as he calls it. Clutch and gear changing wasn’t great. 
 

I am going to try looking at a newer or different one before giving up on them. 

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55 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:


What was the clutch and gear changes like? 
 

This one had a tow bar on it, my cousin says that it might just have been ‘shagged’ as he calls it. Clutch and gear changing wasn’t great. 
 

I am going to try looking at a newer or different one before giving up on them. 

Gears and clutch are fine. I suppose it depends what you’re used to aswell.

Only 20k miles or so on mine, so pretty low for a 2014. The logbook stamps show average yearly mileage of around 3.5k

It was pretty immaculate when I got it. Poor thing doesn’t get quite as pampered by me :D

Only issue really, is that the air con compressor needs sorted, but we don’t get much call for it up here!

Edited by humperdingle
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On 30/07/2020 at 17:19, Lloyd90 said:


What was the clutch and gear changes like? 
 

This one had a tow bar on it, my cousin says that it might just have been ‘shagged’ as he calls it. Clutch and gear changing wasn’t great. 
 

I am going to try looking at a newer or different one before giving up on them. 

I think that it is always a good idea to not just drive one and think that they are no good if you can find another one you may like it also have you thought about that leasing one a while ago they was doing what seemed like a cracking deal to me I thought about it myself but I just do not do enough miles to make it worth while.

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1 hour ago, four-wheel-drive said:

I think that it is always a good idea to not just drive one and think that they are no good if you can find another one you may like it also have you thought about that leasing one a while ago they was doing what seemed like a cracking deal to me I thought about it myself but I just do not do enough miles to make it worth while.

 

I'm going to drive the 2017+ model with the different engine and see if its any better. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Evening all,

Thanks for all the previous replies. I am currently driving my Mums car as the Hyundai finally gave up the ghost.

I have had an offer of a Mitsibishi outlander,low mileage and a decent price.Am getting a mechanic to check it out for me before I do anything rash.

Had anyone any experience with them?Good points/bad points or anything to look out for or just avoid totally?They are not a car I know much about or even know anyone with one but it does tick a lot of boxes.

Thanks in advance.

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On 18/08/2020 at 18:41, gmm243 said:

Evening all,

Thanks for all the previous replies. I am currently driving my Mums car as the Hyundai finally gave up the ghost.

I have had an offer of a Mitsibishi outlander,low mileage and a decent price.Am getting a mechanic to check it out for me before I do anything rash.

Had anyone any experience with them?Good points/bad points or anything to look out for or just avoid totally?They are not a car I know much about or even know anyone with one but it does tick a lot of boxes.

Thanks in advance.

It was on my short list of 2 when I got my last new car in 2016. It has plenty going for it and i was ready to sign up for one, when I had the chance to get the last Volvo XC70 off the production line at a hugely reduced initial deposit and price and fully loaded with all extras. It was a no brainer for me as I've never had a Mitsi before but have run Volvos and Landys for near on 45 years.

The only negative thing I can find to say about them is the second row seats have little in the way of leg room and if you have third row seats there is zero leg room.

It's on my list of 3 possibles but possibly the PHEV, when I change in 2021. For me and the Mrs It's as near perfect as we can get as i'll not be able to afford another Volvo or a new Range Rover. 

If I was in your shoes I'd be giving them a serious view. 

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On 20/08/2020 at 08:31, Centrepin said:

The only negative thing I can find to say about them is the second row seats have little in the way of leg room and if you have third row seats there is zero leg room.

What you say re the 3rd row is true, however, we bought because there was adequate leg room for a 6 footer behind a 6 ft+ driver.  Had to move on because my mileage dropped too far for a diesel and was like to cause problems.:unhappy:

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On 26/07/2020 at 21:48, robbiep said:

We've got a 2012 Subaru Forester (2.0 petrol, manual) with 102,000 miles on the clock that is now my shoot wagon. 

What did my wife replace it with ? A 2018 Subaru Forester, 2.0 petrol, manual gearbox.

The old one averages about 30mpg - but it's only doing 4-5k a year now, so it doesn't matter. I've got my BMW diesel for commuting, etc.

Newer ones are better on the economy - 6 speed box as opposed to 5 speed. 

Don't even think about an auto. The CVT gearbox is hateful

I have a 2005 Forester XT auto. Had it from new. Near 120K miles on it now. The auto box is great. No major issues and never let me down. It is now my shooting truck as SWMBO got fed up with dog hairs on her frock so bought a new one - 2017/18 Forester XT with CVT gearbox and 3 mode switching. Best all round car I have ever owned. MPG? = Miles Per Grin.

Great off road and on road cars.

 

 

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