Cheap economical 4x4's

[bladeracer]

My grandson is getting his learners permit this week. He's much more interested in bikes than cars, but Vic won't let him ride bikes for another two years so we need a car for him. He's at TAFE doing construction so I'm leaning toward more of a work vehicle than a sedan, and as we're in the bush, 4x4 would be very handy.

I'm thinking of the Sierra, Jimny, Rav4, Vitara and other such vehicles. Needs to be cheap, manual, reliable but easy to work on (he's enjoying swinging spanners as well), and economical on fuel (petrol, not diesel). I'm a big fan of the G13B engine so would be especially happy with any of the G-series engines.

I'm familiar with the Suzukis but which other vehicles should I be looking at?

[9.3x64]

If I was in that situation I would buy a Jimny or Sierra.
Keep it simple.

[bladeracer]

If I was in that situation I would buy a Jimny or Sierra.
Keep it simple.

Yep, that's certainly where I'm leaning, but I don't want to miss out on something that might be better simply because I'm unaware of it

A local bloke here tears around the bush tracks in a Vitara, he's gets in and out of places I wouldn't dare take the Landcruiser, but I have heard that it's not exactly a stock standard vehicle.

[GQshayne]

I think the Vitara is where I would start looking. A step up from the old Sierra, and not Jimny money for the same driveline pretty much.

[Jorlcrin]

We had one of the early SJ410(1 litre) Sierras with the standard(narrow) rims from new(1981), which survived far longer than I'd have believed.
Cannot believe the trips I took that thing in our heavy-clay Blacksoil mud, and it shrugged it off.
For serious mud, those little things can go places you would NEVER consider taking a Landcruiser, due to how light they were.
Mate had one of the later SJ413 (1.3Litre) with wider mags on it, and it had just a bit more grunt, and could go practically anywhere.
They ARE lightly built(especially the cabin), so frequent rough road vibration will make a lot of bits fall apart.
[Cable-clutch (on SJ410), and IF you have someone stupid enough(drunk overseer) to break engine mounts by racing across rough ground, depressing the clutch will drag fan(and engine!) into the radiator.]
The wheel-track on the early Sierras, is narrower than most later 4WD's, so made it lots more wobbly on rough roads, or badly maintained bitumen.
I have a feeling the later 1.3L is a bit wider track, and a bit closer to the more common wheel-track of todays cars.

But the engine and drive-train in ours endured about 15 hard years in Outback QLD, and then retired to my uncles place in the Callide valley for another 10+ hard years on his farm, before finally retiring.
Despite the light build of the body, our SJ410 Sierra endured a LOT of rough treatment, and was simple enough to repair the mechanicals.

The Jimny is supposed to be the evolution of the Sierra, with coil suspension(and a 1.6L motor?), which would make the ride a lot smoother.
Later ones even have flash stuff like power steering and aircon!
I've had a shooting mate visit in the latest model Jimny, and I wish I could justify the price to have one here as a runabout shooting rig.
Wider wheel-track again than any of the Sierras, and now they run about the same as most larger 4WD wheeltracks.

I harp on about wheel-track width, as it makes a huge difference on rough roads, to be following the same width track as other vehicles.

We also had one of the early 3-door (1.3L??) JLX Vitara's, which had part-time 4wd, and a massive rear swing-out door, which gave a surprisingly large cargo area.
Not as good clearance as the Sierras, but didnt perform too badly, and did a lot of work beetling around the property.
VERY easy to step into the seat; no sills on the doors, and the doors were large enough to give really good access.
Mum rolled this little rig in 2001 on her way into town, due to the same problem as the early Sierra; the wheel-track was too narrow, and the corrugations in the badly deteriorated (dirt) main road, caused her to lose control and be flipped sideways.
Later Vitaras had a larger(1.6L?) motor, and they also widened the wheel-track, which made them better on rough roads.
We replaced Mums Vitara with a new 2001 Toyota RAV4, which had the AWD, and a 2L VVT-i engine.
Annoyingly, her's was the first model that didnt have part-time 4WD, but aside from that, the car is still her drive some 25 years later, and still does the job.

Two things I dont like about the RAV4:- battery location (up near the windscreen in separate compartment), and the engine is really set up for the auto, but we went with the manual, which requires a bit of work to get to perform.
RAV wouldnt handle a lot of mud, but the few times we had to drive home in light rain, it handled well.

Another rig is a Daihastsu Scat, but I'm not sure if they were ever supplied in petrol, so mightnt work for you.
Daihatsu Feroza is around Sierra size, and might be an alternative for you; mate had one beetling around Brisbane for years, and I was amazed at what it put up with.
NOTE: the 1988 Daihatsu Rocky we had here was an abortion; crap electrics, crap 2.8L engine and drive-train, and some seriously questionable design issues in the cabin.
I mention the Rocky, because I'm pretty sure they had the option of a petrol motor, but I never saw one. The engine and drivetrain caused my father no end of head-shaking; he'd bought the Rocky because of how durable the Scat's were, and regretted it from day 1.


Depending on how much your grandson is keen on mechanicing, my order of preference:-

1). 1.6L or later Vitara, though not the V6 model.
2). Early model Jimny, though check the wheel-track.
3). Daihatsu Feroza
4). 1.3L Sierra
5). Early (Pre-2000) model RAV 4, with the part-time 4wd.

Good luck; expect your Grandson will have a lot of fun with the idea.