Advice on buying new SUV for off-road

[Gaurav]

1 hour ago, Nilakantan Erode said:

Lance Armstrong's autobiography "Its not about the bike"

Or rather you meant "It's not ONLY about the bike"

As in off-road power-weight is king, followed by skills and experience.

[Nilakantan Erode]

@Gaurav True that!!😀

[Nilakantan Erode]

@Gaurav@Frederic@Looper@Hisham Masaad@Gautam Banka Thanks to you and so many others from the Carnity forum for giving your unbiased and candid views and feedback on my query to buy off road vehicle. Gained some valuable insights and knowledge. Did not anticipate this  when i asked the question. Simply awesome folks... And great community!

After checking a few preowned and new vehicles and frustrating some sellers and car dealer salesmen ...have decided to go for a new one ( i want to have some level of control over repairs and warranty!). The pre owned prices for FJC (new ones are not available anyway) and LC Prado are quite high...in my opinion. same for other 1-3 year pre owned vehicles.

My final choices are (taking to consideration offroad capability plus maint plus resale etc.) : 2023 Prado GXR (or VXR) with a delivery of minimum 3 months (but is summer anyway) . @Gautam Banka had mentioned that some modifications may be required for intermediate and beyond approx 30K! Would be good to get some more info on stock prado and modifications required!

or as  @Gauravhad suggested may go for a 2023 Wrangler Rubicon (after managing to get a contact for some discounts)...and stock may be good enough. Its is also readily available. Would like to know of any limitations / caution in taking a new wrangler off road!

Had fun though test driving (on-road)lots of vehicles including Bronco and nissan patrols.  Cant rent a car in Dubai to take a car off road else would have liked to try that or maybe join join carnity folks for a drive or at least take some training / refreshers. But that will have to wait.

[Gaurav]

You can't go wrong with either, Prado with little mods, and Rubicon is a perfect beast for sand offroading.

Go with whichever suits your style, comfort, preference, budget, and availability.

Rubicon will be a tad better in performance and Prado will be a tad better in comfort and reliability.

[DP1011]

Absolutely agree, Being a proud Rubiconer for last 18 months, my take away would be : If your usage is 70:30 Offroad Vs Onroad, Rubicon deftly, and if its more than 30-40% Onroad, then Prado. Rubicon doesnt have a great sitting comfort room for rear passengers, so its more for 2 adults and 2 kids, but more than that, Prado is better.

[ASAD.]

@Nilakantan Erode just a piece of advice if you choose to go with a prado, go for the GXR as you plan to take it offroad. The vxr comes with leather seats sure but it also has those bumper spoilers that you will need to immediately get rid of as they dont have much clearance for sand driving. GXR on the other hand should be good to take offroad with out much modifications upto fewbie level. 

Btw if you already have a primary car and buying one to mostly go offroad, nothing more capable than a stock rubicon for any level of drive. 

[Nilakantan Erode]

Thanks @Gautam Banka Appreciate the thought. Will connect: 

New Prado is still a couple of months away at Al futtaim….so would be good to checkout good preowned ones!

I did some test drives on Bronco and seem to like that. New ones are not available right now ( same issues on delivery as Toyotas!) but seen a couple of decent pre owned broncos… price is a different issue though!

And….managed to get some offer on new wrangler rubicon … with some old management connections.

The search continues but hope to be ready for the desert drives by September!!

 

[Nilakantan Erode]

So my Carnity friends...I have finally got a 2023 Bronco Wildtrak. Thanks @Gaurav@Looper@Rizwanm2 @Gautam Bank @Hisham Masaad @Frederic @Alexanderrr @Stumpy Flowers @Bravoecho @Krishna R @Pavel Pashkovskiy @Benjamin and all others those who had shared their wisdom and tips on the card ...ranging from Pajero, Prado, Patrol,  Safari. Rubicon and Bronco. Had something to learn from all your experiences / suggestions. Also explored some of the other chats on the car forums. Lots of insights there!

Last time i owned a 4WD in Dubai was 22 year back was when i had a 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero (Classic Green).  Used to do some desert drives then but after that it has been only family sedans / other  cross overs since 2001 ...once i relocated to Singapore. But it is great to be back here in Dubai after 2 decades. The off road landscape and vehicles  have changed a lot. And...some really great  offroad communities are here now. 

Last couple of months  have been very exciting as i was looking for my off road car with all the advices, research and test drives . The new car prices (and availability) and used car prices (and the evaluations / conditions) have also been humbling revelations. Was also lucky to get some management contracts at Ford that facilitated the final Bronco purchase and delivery. But had nearly finalized and bought 4 other vehicles! 

Have  been the desert in the heat a couple of time now...and driven a (reluctant and worried!) friend's Nissan Patrol V8. Great experience. And..no nothing happened to his V8 Y62 ..though he was biting his nails (more worried about his car than me!!). 

Ultimately ..as per my learnings here in the Carnity Forum...it is the driver, temperament, skills (and willingness to continuously learn more from all) and the community (for support and encouragements ) and not entirely about vehicles and modifications. 

Looking forward to seeing some of you soon!

 

[Benjamin]

16 minutes ago, Nilakantan Erode said:

So my Carnity friends...I have finally got a 2023 Bronco Wildtrak. Thanks @Gaurav@Looper@Rizwanm2 @Gautam Bank @Hisham Masaad @Frederic @Alexanderrr @Stumpy Flowers @Bravoecho @Krishna R @Pavel Pashkovskiy @Benjamin and all others those who had shared their wisdom and tips on the card ...ranging from Pajero, Prado, Patrol,  Safari. Rubicon and Bronco. Had something to learn from all your experiences / suggestions. Also explored some of the other chats on the car forums. Lots of insights there!

Last time i owned a 4WD in Dubai was 22 year back was when i had a 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero (Classic Green).  Used to do some desert drives then but after that it has been only family sedans / other  cross overs since 2001 ...once i relocated to Singapore. But it is great to be back here in Dubai after 2 decades. The off road landscape and vehicles  have changed a lot. And...some really great  offroad communities are here now. 

Last couple of months  have been very exciting as i was looking for my off road car with all the advices, research and test drives . The new car prices (and availability) and used car prices (and the evaluations / conditions) have also been humbling revelations. Was also lucky to get some management contracts at Ford that facilitated the final Bronco purchase and delivery. But had nearly finalized and bought 4 other vehicles! 

Have  been the desert in the heat a couple of time now...and driven a (reluctant and worried!) friend's Nissan Patrol V8. Great experience. And..no nothing happened to his V8 Y62 ..though he was biting his nails (more worried about his car than me!!). 

Ultimately ..as per my learnings here in the Carnity Forum...it is the driver, temperament, skills (and willingness to continuously learn more from all) and the community (for support and encouragements ) and not entirely about vehicles and modifications. 

Looking forward to seeing some of you soon!

 

Enjoy your new car  

[Hisham Masaad]

Congratulations @Nilakantan Erode wish you all the best, enjoy