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Advise required - Should we have spare car for off roading


RohanH

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Hello Everyone,

I am about to put the skid plates. My car (2013 4 Door Pajero 3.8) is in good condition and been using it as Family Vehicle. I am not sure if I continue to use in desert will it damage vehicle. And I want to take this hobby to next levels.

Question is-  My existing car market value is around 33000 AED now.  I am thinking of buying a spare car for off roading only. I do have budget constraints. So I can go for 2 Door Pajero or X-terra old models around 10 to 12 K. Additional cost of buying another car is surely around 2000 AED per year for insurance/registration. Basic off  road mods like skid plate fixing is a must to whichever car I use in desert.

Lets say, I have 15000 AED for buying other SUV and insurance/registration. Depreciation cost will be almost same for both vehicles every year. Now please advise is it worth to buy spare low budget SUV for off roading or use the current family SUV for off road. 

P.S. If I had the latest SUV's like in recent 4 to 5 years and market value is high compared to similar older models, I would definitely suggest to have spare car so even something happens it wont be a big loss, 

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1 hour ago, RohanH said:

Hello Everyone,

I am about to put the skid plates. My car (2013 4 Door Pajero 3.8) is in good condition and been using it as Family Vehicle. I am not sure if I continue to use in desert will it damage vehicle. And I want to take this hobby to next levels.

Question is-  My existing car market value is around 33000 AED now.  I am thinking of buying a spare car for off roading only. I do have budget constraints. So I can go for 2 Door Pajero or X-terra old models around 10 to 12 K. Additional cost of buying another car is surely around 2000 AED per year for insurance/registration. Basic off  road mods like skid plate fixing is a must to whichever car I use in desert.

Lets say, I have 15000 AED for buying other SUV and insurance/registration. Depreciation cost will be almost same for both vehicles every year. Now please advise is it worth to buy spare low budget SUV for off roading or use the current family SUV for off road. 

P.S. If I had the latest SUV's like in recent 4 to 5 years and market value is high compared to similar older models, I would definitely suggest to have spare car so even something happens it wont be a big loss, 

You will be spending money for maintenance to keep your 10-12.000AED car usable for off road. So in this case registration, insurance money is not the cost you should be worry about. 

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I agree with @sertac. Buying an old car comes with a maintenance costs. And if you don't pick your car correctly that cost will increase as soon as you hit the sand. However the bright side of it is, you will not think the value of the car when you are driving on desert. You will enjoy as much as possible.  

Important thing for picking the car (I am saying this with my bad experience), be patient when searching the car. Try to buy one which hasn't been to desert before. I was hasty when I bought my Trailblazer and that came with the cost! 

Regarding the value, as far as I can see, If you buy a car with 10K range, it will only lose another 1k or 2k in years which is negligible. You can consider the maintenance costs as your loss in this case...Or the cost of having fun in desert. Up to your perspective. 

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@RohanH the truth is bitter.

Off-roading is a sport which if you take seriously and want to develop yourself will require a commitment and a cost incorporated to it. You might be able to answer your own questions. As you said this is your family car, what he opens if the damage is not just a bent bumper and requires serious 2 weeks at the garage, what are you going to fall back on? Luckily good and most used off-road toys don't fall below 10-12k and have already been through the depreciation cycle. Most off-road toys like Wranglers, X-Tetras, FJ have not lost their resale value in the last 3 - 4 years. Which means you can use and resell your off-road toy without a big loss. Just the extra cost involved.

Another question is would you rather loose a 30k car or a 12k car? If you can still get full comprehensive insurance I guess the 30k car lose will mean with proper off-road insurance will give your money back to you, with a 12k car with 3rd party insurance it's a total loss.

If you advance to the next level and want to drive say on intermediate level I can think of terrains you would hate to take your Pajero.

My preference is to have a cheap second 4x4 for off-roading.

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Some cars like FJC, Xterra, Wranglers are proper offroad vehicles which can be easily used at whatever level you wish to drive and can double up as a daily driver as well. However, the newer Pajero, Patrol Y62, etc are not as offroad ready and require a decent amount of modification and investment before becoming a good offroad vehicle. We have a couple of guys like Michael Sammy and Mels Wolf who have modified their 4th gen 3.8 Pajero's and are using them very well at higher level drives. We also have guys like Emmanuel, Shamil and Ale that are using their stock offroad vehicles (Xterra and FJC) for both offroading as well as daily driving.

So everything is possible and it purely depends on what you intend. 

Now my opinion, is that if you have a single car in your house, then it would be advisable to go for a second hand proper offroader. We are in the summer months and in COVID-19 situation. You might get some good deals from guys who might be leaving the country, but like said by other members do not compromise on the condition of the car. The important stuff like, engine, gear, 4x4 cooling system, chasis has to be in excellent condition as a minimum. 

 

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If you can afford it, nothing like it. An off road toy should be something that can explode in the desert tommorow and you can walk away from it without a huge hole I'm your wallet.

Plus you'll enjoy more and you won't be always worrying about getting nicks and scratches and baby it around on tip toes.

 

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5 minutes ago, desertdude said:

If you can afford it, nothing like it. An off road toy should be something that can explode in the desert tommorow and you can walk away from it without a huge hole I'm your wallet.

Plus you'll enjoy more and you won't be always worrying about getting nicks and scratches and baby it around on tip toes.

 

Completely agree. Although i am one of the victims of falling in love with my offroad car, and having all the pains and worries whenever there is a scratch or something rattling, or some issue is about to come up. 

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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5 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Completely agree. Although i am one of the victims of falling in love with my offroad car, and having all the pains and worries whenever there is a scratch or something rattling, or some issue is about to come up. 

Well its bound to happen, when off-road car gives more pleasure than "ANY" on-road car.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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6 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

Well its bound to happen, when off-road car gives more pleasure than "ANY" on-road car.

you're in the same boat it seems 😄

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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