G'day,
In the market for another car, we currently have a corolla station wagon which does the job pretty well, don't want a van and we don't have a room for a ute (my personal choice)in our garage/driveway at our unit.

any suggestions? We don't really have room for a full size falcon/commodore wagon or 4WD and we're looking to spend 15-25K, im thinking x-trail or RAV4

o and it HAS to be manual, i HATE autos

Hey Rebncosh,

If you are going for a softroader, the Nissan X-Trail is good, but you seriously want to consider the Auto. Most of the 4 Wheel driving you will do in WA is on sand and an Auto will always outperform a manual in soft sandy conditions. They aren't as much fun to drive, but then again, a 4WD aint no sports car anyways.

A manual is better than an Auto if you are doing a lot of rock hopping on really rough tracks or steep decents using engine braking. Bit hard to clutch start an Auto too, but I wouldn't swap my auto Patrol for a manual for love nor money.

A third option for you would be to look at the 4WD Subaru wagons like the outlander and even some of the older ones (sports wagons). They do reasonably well on sand as long as you don't have to drive in the wheel tracks of bigger 4WD's as they dont have the axle clearance for deep ruts.

For what it's worth.

Good winds,

quote:

---

Originally posted by nonikkers
we have even filled it up with this ... www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=3745

---

thats a ****load of grass for one kite trip.

Thats to bad. We've (the missus) has a Subi Forester and it a great car.

don't waste your money
just buy a subaru they just keep on going
i've had a few
rav4's are totaly lame

Lada Niva

Mercedes Benz 230 Auto, already rusty, cost nothing, indestructible and great in the surf...
If you have 15K for a car you HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY!!...

...you bastad.

walk

Wrangler Jeep! Coupla drawbacks [****e fuel econemy and you'll need a trailer for more gear than ya chix night bag] . . . all overcome by the fact that it's one nice drive and loves sand!! 4wd pulled in from a lever in the cab [no getting out n doing the hub number] and light. This thing glides over sand when big ass 4wd are snakin all over the shop. Best of all you can rip the roof off when the sun's not bakin ya. Lotsa fun. CheerZ G

I strongly recommend the BMW X5 Diesel. Much more stable than the Slingshot Turbo Diesel.

Regards
LJ

Scooby Doo all the way.
Not a pretender.
Does what it says on the box.
Low Range in manual, (only one class)
Hi lift kits, diff guards, sump guards, ROCK CRAWLING gears.
Try any of that on ya X-trailRav4Outlander.
Only one with Drive to all four wheels 100% of the time.
4WD Duh!
Run Forester Run....!
No contest with turbo.
Sub 7seconds to 100Kmh, and all the practicallity

TURBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

quote:

---

Originally posted by rebncosh

Roof rack wise is it better to go aftermarket or get factory ones?

---

I should not post late at night... the RAV's rear window does not drop, and the door is too big to drive with it open.

We bought the flatish Rola racks that go flush with the roof rails. You can barely see them and (I think) they have better areo dynamics for the 99.5% driving you do with nothing on them. The agent tried to get us to buy the tall ones cause they can take more weight, but 50kg per rack is more than enough. Many an ikea furniture has travelled on them down scarborough beach road...

Nope, never towed a patrol. Towed a 2wd Navara once. And some sort of Subaru once, can't remember which flavour. A couple of Hiluxes even over the years, with my own hilux. A pajero with a caravan.

Doesn't really matter what car you're in, if you can't drive on sand...

Hi Rebncosh

All the car mentioned are good .

Except for the wrangle I only drove one once and never again they look great from a distance but upclose there american crap make cheap (IMO )

Maybe have a look at an import SWB Mitsubishi pajero ,Big electric sun roof ,fold up seats 3 l or 3.5 l motor and all the jap fruit you never knew you needed like head light washers or adjustable suspension and they keep there value so you wont loss 10 grand when you go to sell it .I've had one for five year and all i have done to it besides service it is change the timing belt and the master cylinder .

any way that's me two cent

Hmmm was just thinking about this topic myself... except I need a $1000 kiting vehicle.
Something that could get me to Wedge would be nice but I think I'm dreaming at that price...