Advice on buying new SUV for off-road

[Nilakantan Erode]

Have read through many of the posts and would request some views in buying a stock SUV for off-road.

This is to be used for a bit of city driving (but as a 2nd car) and definitely week end off road.

I have got some new car options to start with (based on immediate or 4-5 weeks availability (hence not listing Toyota and some other SUVs). Will start my research on pre owned / used vehicles soon. 

1. Mitsubishi Pajero 2020 signature V6.. NEW with some minimal (<100 km) from Al Habtoor PREOWNED division… with warranty until 2026. Price AED 125-130K. Seems good price  but not sure if I need to do some modifications for dune drives / off-road. 

2. Jeep Wrangler Sahara V6 - NEW from Trading  Enterprises. 3yrs Service + 5 yrs warranty . Price AED 240k. Not sure if maint / resale especially if I move out of UAE in 3-4 years)

3. Nissan patrol Super safari V6 VTC 4.7L. NEW from Arabian. 1-2 month delivery. price AED 210K plus 3yrs Service / 5 yrs Warranty . Good off-road reputation but fuel efficiency seems very low! 

4. Nissan Patrol SE titanium V6. NEW from Arabian plus 3 yrs Service 5 yrs Warranty. Price AED 260K. Seems heavy and not sure  if this will be an over kill. Also not sure if maint. 

Do let me know your views. Hopefully I can close out something and join you folks on off-road trips soon!

Cheers… Neel

[Krishna R]

Hello @Nilakantan Erode

Welcome to the club!

 

All the cars mentioned above are good offroaders.

However, You need to identify your requirement between offroad performance and on road comfort.

Once you figure that out, you can decide easily.

Eg: Jeep is great offroad but on road comfort is a bit less.

Patrol Y62 is amazing onroad but a bit heavy for spirited offroading.

For this reason, many club members have atleast 2 cars - a daily that comfortable, economical for the road and an older offroad beast.

[Frederic]

11 minutes ago, Nilakantan Erode said:

Have read through many of the posts and would request some views in buying a stock SUV for off-road.

This is to be used for a bit of city driving (but as a 2nd car) and definitely week end off road.

I have got some new car options to start with (based on immediate or 4-5 weeks availability (hence not listing Toyota and some other SUVs). Will start my research on pre owned / used vehicles soon. 

1. Mitsubishi Pajero 2020 signature V6.. NEW with some minimal (<100 km) from Al Habtoor PREOWNED division… with warranty until 2026. Price AED 125-130K. Seems good price  but not sure if I need to do some modifications for dune drives / off-road. 

2. Jeep Wrangler Sahara V6 - NEW from Trading  Enterprises. 3yrs Service + 5 yrs warranty . Price AED 240k. Not sure if maint / resale especially if I move out of UAE in 3-4 years)

3. Nissan patrol Super safari V6 VTC 4.7L. NEW from Arabian. 1-2 month delivery. price AED 210K plus 3yrs Service / 5 yrs Warranty . Good off-road reputation but fuel efficiency seems very low! 

4. Nissan Patrol SE titanium V6. NEW from Arabian plus 3 yrs Service 5 yrs Warranty. Price AED 260K. Seems heavy and not sure  if this will be an over kill. Also not sure if maint. 

Do let me know your views. Hopefully I can close out something and join you folks on off-road trips soon!

Cheers… Neel

1. Pajero. Some minor mods are needed (front bashplate and rear skidplate) Once this is done you are good to go. The Pajero is hard to beat for its value. Fuel economy however is poor (17-18 l/100 km).

2. Jeep Wrangler Sahara V6 - NEW from Trading  Enterprises. 3yrs Service + 5 yrs warranty . Price AED 240k. Not sure if maint / resale especially if I move out of UAE in 3-4 years). The Jeep Sahara is nice and have plenty of options. If you are happy with less options you could consider the Sport.

3. Nissan patrol Super safari V6 VTC 4.8L. NEW from Arabian. 1-2 month delivery. price AED 210K plus 3yrs Service / 5 yrs Warranty . Good off-road reputation but fuel efficiency seems very low! Fuel efficiency is indeed low but resale value and reliability is superb  . If you plan to really bash the dunes then the short wheel 2door model is more recommended. 

4. Nissan Patrol SE titanium V6. NEW from Arabian plus 3 yrs Service 5 yrs Warranty. Price AED 260K. Seems heavy and not sure  if this will be an over kill. Also not sure if maint.  Not for dunebashing in my opinion, or you will need to modify the bumpers and make other mods).

[Benjamin]

Hi @Nilakantan Erode welcome to carnity

 

I definitely agree with @Krishna R to identify what your full needs are for your second car.

for example you mention this will be used for city driving and weekend off-roading, depending on how much you use the car or the person driving on it will make your decision much easier. 
 

In my case I have a jeep wrangler 2018 sport, I use this for off-roading and daily driving, for me this is perfect and I Don’t worry too much about the on-road experience although it will differ per person. 

[Rizwanm2]

2 hours ago, Nilakantan Erode said:

Have read through many of the posts and would request some views in buying a stock SUV for off-road.

This is to be used for a bit of city driving (but as a 2nd car) and definitely week end off road.

I have got some new car options to start with (based on immediate or 4-5 weeks availability (hence not listing Toyota and some other SUVs). Will start my research on pre owned / used vehicles soon. 

1. Mitsubishi Pajero 2020 signature V6.. NEW with some minimal (<100 km) from Al Habtoor PREOWNED division… with warranty until 2026. Price AED 125-130K. Seems good price  but not sure if I need to do some modifications for dune drives / off-road. 

2. Jeep Wrangler Sahara V6 - NEW from Trading  Enterprises. 3yrs Service + 5 yrs warranty . Price AED 240k. Not sure if maint / resale especially if I move out of UAE in 3-4 years)

3. Nissan patrol Super safari V6 VTC 4.7L. NEW from Arabian. 1-2 month delivery. price AED 210K plus 3yrs Service / 5 yrs Warranty . Good off-road reputation but fuel efficiency seems very low! 

4. Nissan Patrol SE titanium V6. NEW from Arabian plus 3 yrs Service 5 yrs Warranty. Price AED 260K. Seems heavy and not sure  if this will be an over kill. Also not sure if maint. 

Do let me know your views. Hopefully I can close out something and join you folks on off-road trips soon!

Cheers… Neel

if you cant wait for 4-5 weeks i would recommend to consider 1-2 year old low mileage Toyota prado with service history and warranty. Which will be much better than all other option you listed. 

[Gaurav]

As your profile shows you have X5 for office and mall duties, so better buy a dedicated desert toy to not have a regret later on after a few drives or a year.

For that sake: Options 1 and 4 are straight out.

Wranglers are awesome from the factory floor to tackle any level of offroading you wish. Worth the buy (any trim), but if you can stretch the budget for Rubicon trim, it's worth the extra features (bigger tires, lift, diff lock, etc).

Patrol super safari is over-rated for true desert toys, as they are heavy and long (unless you wish overlanding vehicle). If you like Patrol, then as Fredy mention, opt for SWB for maximum fun, or else be ready to spend another 20-50K on LWB to make it a climber (which they are not from the factory floor).

More options to consider:

• FJ Cruiser: Rock solid offroader from factory and capable - if you can live with tiny visibility issue. I would prefer FJC over Wrangler simply because of Toyota's reliability.
• Prado: Same as FJC, but with more features and comfort and a tad heavier and longer than FJC, but totally manageable. You need little bumper trim and lift (beyond FB+ level) it will serve you for years with the performance, comfort and reliability of Toyota.

[Hisham Masaad]

@Nilakantan Erode FJ or Prado only !

[Nilakantan Erode]

Thanks Folks. Appreciate the feedback. Very useful. Lots to think about. Feels great to get these views and be part of the community already.

@Krishna RThis is my 2nd car. I work from home... so whereas city driving will be there this should be a good off road vehicle especially when i wont have access to my primary vehicle (often used by my wife). I like the Y62 but as stated above...have concerns on the heaviness). 

@Frederic Pajero does look like a good option. Used to own this late 90s (when i used  to live and work in Dubai in a different / simpler times) but that time i was  a light / casual off roader. Don't think Carnity existed that time. Not sure of support / spare parts for Pajero with Mitsubishi deciding to stop production. should be okay for a few years...i guess! The Wrangler is good...but is not passing the wife approval test (critical stakeholder) for city driving!. Nissan V6 VTC..is of course very popular and proven off-road but if i start using this for city  ...not that comfortable. And ..again ...not something that would pass the wife test easily. Titanium V6..seems good for city ...even my wife likes it...but therein lies the catch..as i do feel that stock car may not do for dune bashing. Tough choices!

@Benjaminyes...doing some scenarios on city / off road usage. this is the key. Wrangler is good...just have to get some critical stakeholder across the line.  

@Rizwanm2Am on the look out for good used Prado / LC. not been easy to spot. Not surprised...but search will continue.

@Gaurav Rubicon does sound attractive...but i don't want to be overambitious. maybe can start with Sport / Sahara and have off some $s.  Will think about Patrol SWB. FJ sounds interesting. No new stcok though and will need to looout for used / preowned. Don't understand the visibility issue but will check out. I do like the Prado / LC options but . need to wait for a good one. New ones are anyway 2-3 months away at least.

@Hisham MasaadWill check FJC. Prado ...need to search more...new ones not avalbl readily and need to search more thoroughly for a good used one.

At his point of time...Pajero is one option ...relatively new and lowest cost option in my set.  Wrangler Sahara is another one...off road credentials are good ignoring relatively less city comfort and resale later . Will try to understand Y62 limitations and costs to make it fully off-road capable (cant believe i am saying this about a Patrol). City / casual off-road is fine for the stock vehicle i guess... ignoring fuel efficiency! And not sure i should be locking in this much in a new vehicle.

Need to also explore used vehicle options further. But some of the above feedback and other views in the forum provides a good starting point. Am certainly better off than i was a couple of days back when i was wondering how to start my off-road vehicle buying journey.

Again...lots of things to explore. The forum has given some good points to think about. A week back...I was not sure how / where i should start in my off road vehicle hunt. Feeling much better now!

[Pavel Pashkovskiy]

The choice only Wrangler or Safari, and not any other definitely. Safari have good resale value, but car itself very outdated. My suggestion to check Trading Enterprises used car department. You can find there near brand new Wrangler for 30-40k cheaper than new one. For example i bought my Gladiator for 40k cheaper than new one, and it was only 42km milege on it, not 42k, just 42 km. Jeep is Lego on wheels. You can build what ever you want and this is amazing experience. No any other car have so many professional accessories for modification like Jeep Wrangler. 

[Gaurav]

Let me shed some more light so your choice can be realistic.

If you own a Pajero, then it can be a good offroader with little love and care, but if you are thinking of buying "dedicated offroader" Pajero will be the last on the list - no offense. And when you are viewing the signature edition, that car will drop its front and rear bumper on the roadside sand, let alone dunes.

Same story with Y62, you can force them to be an offroader with a lot of tinkering (which I personally don't like now), other than that they are awesome mall crawlers. Heavier or larger the car it will slow you down in the desert, and you need a bigger learning curve to master driving that size of the beast in the sand.

FJC, visibility means how the driver views ahead and side of the car while driving is a little tight due to smaller windscreen and side windows. It is not a deal breaker and if you drive one, you can get used to it within a week's time. Nothing alarming about that comment, I just raised that as many new buyers make a big deal out of it.

BIGGER ISSUE: What I think is you are mixing two different needs and eventually might end up making a bad choice tbh. 

• What a wife would like with all bells and whistles and creature comfort will never serve you as a rugged offroader.
• And wifey will not like rugged offroader - looks, comfort, features.

So, you can split the budget and let her get whatever she wants (newer model), so that you can make a pure offroader choice (little older model).