Advice purchasing a 4x4 in Dubai!

[redonettii]

26 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Hi @Sreejith Sreenivasan big difference between the two. The Armada is pretty capable but very heavy and not so nimble. The older Pathfinder Series R50 are easy to fix, are smaller and more reliable as well. 

How much is the market price for a 2000/2001 Nissan Pathfinder R50? I found one through a contact at the auto market with around 120,000kms mileage. Looks in decent condition for the age.

51 minutes ago, Sreejith Sreenivasan said:

I would be interested to know more about Nissan Armada.. Looking to give some rest to my LR2 and in need of something better for future levels. Nissan Pathfinder 3.5L (Old model) is another one I'm eyeing at.. Waiting for the expert opinion..

Dear Sreejith - how do you find your LR2 in the desert / offroad in general? Capable? Is it a good option for a newbie to learn offroad driving? Does it have low range gear, locked diff etc, full time 4x4 - all the essentials?

[Frederic]

12 minutes ago, redonettii said:

How much is the market price for a 2000/2001 Nissan Pathfinder R50? I found one through a contact at the auto market with around 120,000kms mileage. Looks in decent condition for the age.

Dear Sreejith - how do you find your LR2 in the desert / offroad in general? Capable? Is it a good option for a newbie to learn offroad driving? Does it have low range gear, locked diff etc, full time 4x4 - all the essentials?

A 2000/2001 will be the less powerful 3.3 engine, @Rahimdad will know more about them. Personally i would no spend more than 6-8000 Dirhams on them, and use the remaining amount in your budget to get them completely offroad ready:

- Fresh fluids and sparkplugs.

- Checkup on suspension bushings and shocks.

- Drive belts.

- Fresh Amaron battery.

- Checkup of all electrical wiring and replace where needed.

[Veedooshee]

See what I found...offroader😃

[M.Seidam]

2 minutes ago, Veedooshee said:

See what I found...offroader😃

Is this offroad museum UAE? I wander if this giant machine pops out or get stuck , what we do 😎?
 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Mohamed Seidam

[Veedooshee]

If it is stuck, switch to 4L, do 5 vigorous left and right with the steering wheel, move slight forward and reverse and see if there is movement, you might crawl out of the situation, or just call @Gaurav for help on the radio for rescue🤪. For pop-out, stop immediately though make sure it is on flat ground and then call Marshal for rescue..👍

Just for fun🤣

[Sreejith Sreenivasan]

30 minutes ago, redonettii said:

how do you find your LR2 in the desert / offroad in general? Capable? Is it a good option for a newbie to learn offroad driving? Does it have low range gear, locked diff etc, full time 4x4 - all the essentials?

Hi @redonettii, I started off my Absolute Newbie drive with my LR2 and have done 8 or 9 carnity drives so far with it.. It is an amazing AWD with very low range first gear. Doesn't have 4H-4L, no diff lock.. But it's an intelligent car and can act according to the situations to help you do self recovery. I did got stuck badly a couple of times, but those were all due to my mistakes such as not leaving enough distance, leaving the gas just before reaching the top while dune crossing and ended up sitting on the ridge a couple of times. I would say its the best among all the AWDs for newbie drives..

Having said all these, I wouldn't recommend anyone to go for an LR2 for a weekly desert drive because of the very high parts/maintenance cost. 

I am currently on a look out for a good qualified 4x4 just for my weekly drives.. preferably a Nissan Pathfinder R50 3.5L. I saw Infinity QX4 (similar to the pathfinder) also seems to be available in the market but need to be very careful on the condition of the car. The price range I saw is 6k-12k for 2001-2005 models. 

[Rahimdad]

For R50 go with the 2005 model and above. 2000 - 2001 came with 3.3 litre engine. 2002 - 2004 came with plastic part in the Maf sensor and required regular changing. 2005 model and up 3.5 litre engine produced healthy 225 hp. But condition would put the car value anywhere from AED 6000 - AED 15000.

[redonettii]

15 minutes ago, Rahimdad said:

For R50 go with the 2005 model and above. 2000 - 2001 came with 3.3 litre engine. 2002 - 2004 came with plastic part in the Maf sensor and required regular changing. 2005 model and up 3.5 litre engine produced healthy 225 hp. But condition would put the car value anywhere from AED 6000 - AED 15000.

Ok- so in your opinion, 2000 model with 120kms, auto, Not worth for 10k aed?

[Rahimdad]

It's an old car. Firstly I cannot believe the car has done 120k kms only in past 20 years. My 2001 R50 has 265k kms and I use it only on weekends. If you have it checked with your trusted mechanic and he confirms engine, gearbox, chassis are in good condition and there is no rust than its your decision to put 10k on the line. If the engine is a 3.5 litre in that case the engine has been swapped, with this model engine will not be the only swap, the gear, ECU and some other components also need to be swapped. I would not be comfortable with somebody else's headache in this case.

With the season getting better the prices will rise, but don't be in a hurry and get the right car which will give you some satisfaction for at least a few years.

[redonettii]

1 minute ago, Rahimdad said:

It's an old car. Firstly I cannot believe the car has done 120k kms only in past 20 years. My 2001 R50 has 265k kms and I use it only on weekends. If you have it checked with your trusted mechanic and he confirms engine, gearbox, chassis are in good condition and there is no rust than its your decision to put 10k on the line. If the engine is a 3.5 litre in that case the engine has been swapped, with this model engine will not be the only swap, the gear, ECU and some other components also need to be swapped. I would not be comfortable with somebody else's headache in this case.

With the season getting better the prices will rise, but don't be in a hurry and get the right car which will give you some satisfaction for at least a few years.

Thank you very much for your sound advice, I am very grateful. I too have some concerns about the odometer in the car - I will leave it be.