advice for buying a 4x4

[keitho]

Hello,

My name is keith and I have just returned to the UAE about a month ago. Signed up to ad4x4 3 days ago. I am looking for a 4x4 to get out and about and see more of the uae.

My budget is 35000AED, would prefer one that had a second row of seats for bringing a few of us along and space in the back for bbq, camping gear, food etc etc.

Was thinking along the lines of a 5-6 year old pathfinder or something like that...but am open to anything..as long as it has a bit of space and goes.

Anyway, my topic is can anyone advise names of second hand dealers/garages in abu dhabi that may have 4x4s in my price range. I am looking through newspapers and shop advertss too. saw a nice cherokee on the ad4x4 souq but thats gone!! Have tried automall and walked into a few dealers but nothing in my price range.
This will be my first time buying a vehicle in uae, any advice/things I should be aware of??

Thanks guys,
keith

[Mac]

Hi Keith,

Welcome to AD4x4. Before the thread gets hijacked by people telling you to buy a Wrangler/FJ etc etc, just a couple of points of view.

Your budget is 35k. It seems you want a decent size 4x4. It all depends what use you will put it to. For some of the serious sand off roading some of our members do, a Jeep Cherokee 2001 model would be just fine, probably in price range and good for camping/mountain trips.

If you are not doing much serious sand driving, then yes a pathfinder would suffice.

Check out the For Sale posts on this site. There is a 98 Isuzu Trooper for sale in Al Ain for 17k. Good enough for gentle sand driving and good for camping.

Check out the notice boards in Spinneys and Abela supermarkets, just off the Corniche. There are cars advertised there.

Also check out http://www.dubizzle.com and go to the classified section then the 4x4 section, there are many cars advertised there as well both in Dubai and now Abu Dhabi.

For example I have just done a quick search and found this one, I know it is 5k over your budget but seems a very good deal.

http://abudhabi.dubizzle.com/classified ... condition/

There are many people in the club who can advise on certain makes of 4x4, so don,t be shy to keep on asking.

JO is also selling his 2004 Land Rover Discovery, again advertised on the For Sale posts, have a look at this, all ready to go.

Mac

[Viking]

The Cherokee on Dubizzle Mac speaks about I have been inspecting for a friend of mine. Unfortunately it was Dubai-signs and my friend didnt want the hazzle of exporting. Another thing that I see as negative is leather seats as when going down a steep slope I feel like sliding forward - Something I avoid with fabric seats Other than that it was a clean and nice car.
BUT as Mac says it all depends on what you are looking for. The old Pathfinder is very capable and with small modifications it can do more or less everything (right Mike?). Plenty of space for camping gear etc.
So from my point of view the old model of Pathfinder or a Cherokee would be good choices or maybe even a Landrover.

Finally where to find cars??? Dubizzle.com is one place in the cyberworld. Another place is to physically drive down to Airport Road (2nd) and between 13th (or 15th??) and 11th there are a lot of dealers on both sides of the road. Lots of cars are bad but you can also find nice cars that has been well taken care of. I would though recommend a check-up before closing a deal just to avoid big surprises.

By the way - Welcome to the club and you will not regret you joined

[mike0967]

As Mac said, the old box type Cherokee is a good choice for serious offroading, on the + side they are very cheap and easy to modify, on the - the engines likes to overheat.

The old type Pathfinder can also be a good desrt car, on the + side you will find spare parts and maintenance here everywhere and on the - side its not so easy to modify and has a higher resale value.

We are happy with our, 2001 manual gearbox and it took me from Rookie to Marshal all the way .. , mods are ARB lift kit, a bit bigger tyres and a custom exhaust.

The Pathy has also a decent sized trunk and goes everywhere

[idoumou]

EID MUBARAK FOR ALL

[TINTIN]

Hi Keith. The above are all true and i would also recommend a jeep cherokee, grand cherokee, pathfinder, Landy or a trooper/galloper. I own a 98 Grand Cherokee with a list of mods below in my signature which even before mods could go anywhere in the right hands. You just need to make sure that any vehicle you buy, you take for a check up before anything as you can find some excellent models, but then again you can find hell on earth with the wring model. (I found out the hard way ).
Check also on www.souq.com on the motors section, you can usually find a good deal on there and it is an auction site like ebay so the deals are usually better. You could also check out golden bell auctions in dubai if you have time and patience for a sit down auction. If you find the model you like you will no doubt get a great deal and they are all checked by the police traffic section before going up for auction.

Either way good luck with the hunt.