Recommend a 4x4 for Africa?

D

Davemar

Guest

• Sep 15, 2003

• #1

I'm more of car man than a 4x4 man usually [1], but I thought I'd
venture on here for some advice. I'm considering sending a 4x4
over to southern Africa for use when I visit there, and am wondering
what people recommend. The sort of terrain that it'll be used on
will be really badly maintained roads with potholes you could hide
a hippo in, plus the occasionally off-road journeys into savana
type areas. Not planning on anything really extreme like deep jungle,
desert or mountains. Just the stuff that a normal car would
struggle with, and soon wreck. As it'll be used on longish journeys
on sometimes decent roads, I would like something that has resonable
cruising ability and comfort levels too. Not really sure on the
budget yet, probably aiming below £4000 - age isn't really an issue.

[1] Especially after this morning, getting stuck behind loads
of daft bints 'driving' (more like just blocking as much as possible)
their pristine 4x4s carrying a tiny 7-year-old child to school.
Grrrr!

 

E

Exit

Guest

• Sep 15, 2003

• #2

Davemar wrote:
> I'm more of car man than a 4x4 man usually [1], but I thought I'd
> venture on here for some advice. I'm considering sending a 4x4
> over to southern Africa for use when I visit there, and am wondering
> what people recommend. The sort of terrain that it'll be used on
> will be really badly maintained roads with potholes you could hide
> a hippo in, plus the occasionally off-road journeys into savana
> type areas. Not planning on anything really extreme like deep jungle,
> desert or mountains. Just the stuff that a normal car would
> struggle with, and soon wreck. As it'll be used on longish journeys
> on sometimes decent roads, I would like something that has resonable
> cruising ability and comfort levels too. Not really sure on the
> budget yet, probably aiming below £4000 - age isn't really an issue.
>
> [1] Especially after this morning, getting stuck behind loads
> of daft bints 'driving' (more like just blocking as much as possible)
> their pristine 4x4s carrying a tiny 7-year-old child to school.
> Grrrr!

Depending on where in Africa you are the most common 4x4's are Toyota land
Cruisers or Land Rovers, usually Defenders. The TLC's are said to be very
reliable, the Land Rovers often need more attention but can last 30 or 40
years.

For a budget of £4000 you won't get much of a TLC or indeed a Defender which
hold their value amazingly. I'd advise looking for a good Discovery TDi at
that money - you should find 100's to choose from and for Africa try to
choose the lowest spec one with the least electrics to go wrong.

--
Julian
---------
= Pretentious Sig required =

 

S

Steve Firth

Guest

• Sep 15, 2003

• #3

Davemar <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm more of car man than a 4x4 man usually [1], but I thought I'd venture
> on here for some advice. I'm considering sending a 4x4 over to southern
> Africa for use when I visit there, and am wondering what people recommend.

Look at what the locals drive. That should if memory serves me correctly
give you a choice of a Toyota Landcruiser, a Toyota HiLux pickup or a
clapped out SII Land Rover pickup.

The Land Rover (any Land Rover) will break down every few hundred miles
from some naff fault or other. Always something you didn't predict and
stupidly easy to fix if only you had access to a garage. However with
improvisation and a local blacksmith you will be able to fix it.

The Toyotas won't break down, well mostly however if anything does go
wrong it won't be possible to fix it without parts that cost a fortune
and take weeks to arrive.

It's your choice.

> The sort of terrain that it'll be used on will be really badly maintained
> roads with potholes you could hide a hippo in, plus the occasionally
> off-road journeys into savana type areas. Not planning on anything really
> extreme like deep jungle, desert or mountains. Just the stuff that a
> normal car would struggle with, and soon wreck. As it'll be used on
> longish journeys on sometimes decent roads, I would like something that
> has resonable cruising ability and comfort levels too. Not really sure on
> the budget yet, probably aiming below £4000 - age isn't really an issue.

£4000 will leave you with a vehicle that will break down no matter who
made it.

--
Mathematicians, please don't drink and derive.

 

R

Robert

Guest

• Sep 15, 2003

• #4

"Davemar" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm more of car man than a 4x4 man usually [1], but I thought I'd
> venture on here for some advice. I'm considering sending a 4x4
> over to southern Africa for use when I visit there, and am wondering
> what people recommend. The sort of terrain that it'll be used on
> will be really badly maintained roads with potholes you could hide
> a hippo in, plus the occasionally off-road journeys into savana
> type areas. Not planning on anything really extreme like deep jungle,
> desert or mountains. Just the stuff that a normal car would
> struggle with, and soon wreck. As it'll be used on longish journeys
> on sometimes decent roads, I would like something that has resonable
> cruising ability and comfort levels too. Not really sure on the
> budget yet, probably aiming below £4000 - age isn't really an issue.
>
> [1] Especially after this morning, getting stuck behind loads
> of daft bints 'driving' (more like just blocking as much as possible)
> their pristine 4x4s carrying a tiny 7-year-old child to school.
> Grrrr!

I agree with the previouse 2 posts, that the most common 4x4 in southern
africa are Toyota Landcruisers and old series Land Rovers.

Where I disagree very strongly, is that for £4000-00 you can pick up a very
decent second hand vehicle. If you buy the vehicle over there, £4000-00
pounds converts to about R50 000-00, (a lot of money). My 1975 Series 3
(which i used as an every day car over there, and which was in A1 condition
for a series 3) only cost me R7000-00, so what you going to do with the
other R42000-00?

Cheers
Robert

 

T

TimM

Guest

• Sep 15, 2003

• #5

If you really mean southern Africa (as opposed to South Africa), you might
also consider a mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero. They're very common in
Kenya/Uganda. Mine did mega miles and was much more reliable than the
landrover discovery my boss had.

Tell us more about what you want to do with it - lots of real rural work?
Mainly town to town?

Spares can be a big problem, as can decent ropes. I visited a ships
chandlers in Liverpool for some 2 and 5 ton ropes and decent shackles.

I only got seriously stuck once, when a free wheel hub wouldn't lock and I
had to drive 40 miles across the masai mara with only rear wheel drive. And
a punctured petrol tank. And broken side windows. Its a long story!

 

R

Rob

Guest

• Sep 16, 2003

• #6

Robert wrote:
>
> Where I disagree very strongly, is that for £4000-00 you can pick up a very
> decent second hand vehicle. If you buy the vehicle over there, £4000-00
> pounds converts to about R50 000-00, (a lot of money). My 1975 Series 3
> (which i used as an every day car over there, and which was in A1 condition
> for a series 3) only cost me R7000-00, so what you going to do with the
> other R42000-00?
>

That's after you take your R1000-00 finders fee is it? ;-)

 

D

Davemar

Guest

• Sep 16, 2003

• #7

"Robert" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Davemar" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I'm more of car man than a 4x4 man usually [1], but I thought I'd
> > venture on here for some advice. I'm considering sending a 4x4
> > over to southern Africa for use when I visit there, and am wondering
> > what people recommend. The sort of terrain that it'll be used on
> > will be really badly maintained roads with potholes you could hide
> > a hippo in, plus the occasionally off-road journeys into savana
> > type areas. Not planning on anything really extreme like deep jungle,
> > desert or mountains. Just the stuff that a normal car would
> > struggle with, and soon wreck. As it'll be used on longish journeys
> > on sometimes decent roads, I would like something that has resonable
> > cruising ability and comfort levels too. Not really sure on the
> > budget yet, probably aiming below £4000 - age isn't really an issue.
> >
> > [1] Especially after this morning, getting stuck behind loads
> > of daft bints 'driving' (more like just blocking as much as possible)
> > their pristine 4x4s carrying a tiny 7-year-old child to school.
> > Grrrr!
>
> I agree with the previouse 2 posts, that the most common 4x4 in southern
> africa are Toyota Landcruisers and old series Land Rovers.
>
> Where I disagree very strongly, is that for £4000-00 you can pick up a very
> decent second hand vehicle. If you buy the vehicle over there, £4000-00
> pounds converts to about R50 000-00, (a lot of money). My 1975 Series 3
> (which i used as an every day car over there, and which was in A1 condition
> for a series 3) only cost me R7000-00, so what you going to do with the
> other R42000-00?
>
So prices in South Africa are quite reasonable compared to here then?
I'll certainly bare that in mind, is there a SA version of on-line autotrader
or similar where I can have a look a typical car prices?

 

D

Davemar

Guest

• Sep 16, 2003

• #8

"TimM" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> If you really mean southern Africa (as opposed to South Africa), you might
> also consider a mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero. They're very common in
> Kenya/Uganda. Mine did mega miles and was much more reliable than the
> landrover discovery my boss had.

When I meant southern Africa, the main country will be Zambia, where used
car prices are very high. Cars that are only good for the scrapyard over
here would fetch over a grand over there.
>
> Tell us more about what you want to do with it - lots of real rural work?
> Mainly town to town?

There will be a fair amount of rural stuff as well as town to town. The
roads are pretty grotty out there, so it can be really slow progress in
a car. But we also plan for it to be used out in the national parks too.
>
> Spares can be a big problem, as can decent ropes. I visited a ships
> chandlers in Liverpool for some 2 and 5 ton ropes and decent shackles.
>
That was my main concern, and would probably ship over a good selection
of more likely to be needed spares with the vehicle too.

> I only got seriously stuck once, when a free wheel hub wouldn't lock and I
> had to drive 40 miles across the masai mara with only rear wheel drive. And
> a punctured petrol tank. And broken side windows. Its a long story!

At least you were moving! Hope it didn't involve a large animal
I had a brake caliper drop off a toyota corolla in the middle of nowhere
with just one spanner in the boot...luckily the right size the the
caliper bolts.

 

R

Rob

Guest

• Sep 16, 2003

• #9

Davemar wrote:
> >
> So prices in South Africa are quite reasonable compared to here then?
> I'll certainly bare that in mind, is there a SA version of on-line autotrader
> or similar where I can have a look a typical car prices?

http://www.autotrader.co.za/

 

E

Exit

Guest

• Sep 16, 2003

• #10

Davemar wrote:
> "Robert" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>> "Davemar" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> I'm more of car man than a 4x4 man usually [1], but I thought I'd
>>> venture on here for some advice. I'm considering sending a 4x4
>>> over to southern Africa for use when I visit there, and am wondering
>>> what people recommend. The sort of terrain that it'll be used on
>>> will be really badly maintained roads with potholes you could hide
>>> a hippo in, plus the occasionally off-road journeys into savana
>>> type areas. Not planning on anything really extreme like deep
>>> jungle, desert or mountains. Just the stuff that a normal car would
>>> struggle with, and soon wreck. As it'll be used on longish journeys
>>> on sometimes decent roads, I would like something that has resonable
>>> cruising ability and comfort levels too. Not really sure on the
>>> budget yet, probably aiming below £4000 - age isn't really an issue.
>>>
>>> [1] Especially after this morning, getting stuck behind loads
>>> of daft bints 'driving' (more like just blocking as much as
>>> possible) their pristine 4x4s carrying a tiny 7-year-old child to
>>> school. Grrrr!
>>
>> I agree with the previouse 2 posts, that the most common 4x4 in
>> southern africa are Toyota Landcruisers and old series Land Rovers.
>>
>> Where I disagree very strongly, is that for £4000-00 you can pick up
>> a very decent second hand vehicle. If you buy the vehicle over
>> there, £4000-00 pounds converts to about R50 000-00, (a lot of
>> money). My 1975 Series 3 (which i used as an every day car over
>> there, and which was in A1 condition for a series 3) only cost me
>> R7000-00, so what you going to do with the other R42000-00?
>>
> So prices in South Africa are quite reasonable compared to here then?
> I'll certainly bare that in mind, is there a SA version of on-line
> autotrader or similar where I can have a look a typical car prices?

It's more that the currency is weak, rather than the prices are reasonable.

--
Julian
---------
= Pretentious Sig required =

 

T

Terry Birch

Guest

• Sep 16, 2003

• #11

In message <[email protected]>, Davemar
<[email protected]> writes
Hi Dave
I did 10 years as an expat in Zambia. Forget all other makes except
Land Cruise, they are the No.1 out there, if you intend to get off the
tar make sure its got a winch because you will need it. I had HJ45 and
did over 200,000 km in it without problems.
If you intend to visit Zambia's game parks, I suggest you fly to them
and travel around on the game park's transport, that way you will see
far more and save hell of a lot of wear and tear on your motor.

--
Regards
Terry Birch

 

D

Davemar

Guest

• Sep 17, 2003

• #12

Rob <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Davemar wrote:
> > >
> > So prices in South Africa are quite reasonable compared to here then?
> > I'll certainly bare that in mind, is there a SA version of on-line autotrader
> > or similar where I can have a look a typical car prices?
>
> http://www.autotrader.co.za/

So obvious!