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First of all I will say that for £2k you are going to struggle to get a good 4x4 of any make or model, you may be buying a heap of trouble.

However, I will stick up for the Land Rover Freelander.  I have a 2000/V registered XDI 5 door.  It's the older Rover L series diesel but tows my 5 berth '92 Swift Challenger and associated gear with ease and solo will return 400 miles on a tank.  It's well equipped - elec windows, A/C, Traction Control, Hill Descent control and is roomy and comfortable.  If you can stretch to a TD4 model all the better, it's a BMW engine and is a gem.  Avoid the petrols, the 1.8 K series is prone to head gasket failure (witness the wife's Rover 214) and the 2.5 v6 will bankrupt you with its thirst !

£3k will get you a L series, £4k a TD4, good luck - the best 4x4 by far !

£3k will get you a L series, £4k a TD4, good luck - the best 4x4 by far !

This is getting silly now

Sniffer.......... you been eating cheese for your supper ?

Toyota Surf is looking likely now. Had one offered to me for £700 needing a new starter. It's form a friend, so if it turns out to be a lemon, he won't get paid.

Also the Toyota is reportedly one of the best engines for running on cooking oil.

You didn't really think I was planning on using fossil fuils did you?

My sister works for the Welsh Assembly and has been slating me for considering a 4X4. She got quite upset when I pointed out that it was going to run on cooking oil and that makes it more environmentally frindly than her petrol burning Fiesta. How sher hates to bew wrong.

Fantastic

I was in exactly the same boat and came to exactly the same conclusion as yourself!

I really wanted a landy but it just wasn't feasible with my budget because of the appaling reliablilty issues and before all you landy drivers shoot me down with your comments about your car running for years with no problems, believe me you're in the minority lol

Anyway, I got the 3.0 surf, fantastic car. Runs a treat on veg oil too  and as for tow weights, you're pretty well covered with a 2+tonne truck lol

They're also pretty handy in the sticky stuff

Plus of course you get the legendary Toyota reliability. I was lucky enough to  spend some time in Africa last Year and although at the time I was a huge landrover fan, out there where your life cam depend on your wheels, everyone drives Toyotas.

For the benefit of anyone else searching on this thread, you do need to be aware that the economy of surfs is pretty appaling, mine has a suspension lift and is running mud terrain tyres and the best I've squeezed out of it on a steady run (not towing) is 26mpg.

Towing to the New forest last month in a fierce headwind it dropped to about 13mpg but was far better on the return journey without the wind. Also, the 3.0l has pretty much the same economy figures as the 2.4 although, as above, you can get some fantastic bargains on the 2.4's at the moment.

Because of their age, you also don't get walloped with road tax, its the same price as running a similarly aged saloon.

I personally, generally dislike 4X4's because they're always seen and used in the wrong environment (middle of the city for example) but mine is used as a family car for towing, loading up fishing gear etc, and the odd off-road trip. I use an old motorbike and cycle for the bulk of my journey and whenever I can to keep the mileage down on the truck. Justifies it to me anyway ;)

Anyway, congratulations on your purchase (I forgot to mention how roomy and comfortable they are. And how you generally get all electrics, aircon etc ;) ) and If you do need any specialist help, I can throughly recommend this site.

Cheers

Chris :)