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Thanks @edouard for your scraper suggestion, feel free to add with whatever you can. Every contribution matters. What I really want someone to contribute if they have spare time is to research all the above models and get their power-weight ratio. That can help a lot of new buyers in identify Good and Very Good 4x4 than borderline/acceptable 4x4 in terms of offroad performance. Especially in sand higher the power with lightest of weight is better. Find the exact weight and hp of each car from Wikipedia or other credible sources and then divide hp by weight. Example: 1999 Pajero weighs 1.7-ton Kg and GCC specs has 225 hp = 132 hp/ton Power-weight ratio benchmark for DUNE BASHING for STOCK cars: 60 - 80 hp/ton - Underpower for dunes 80 - 100 hp/ton - Borderline OK 100 - 120 hp/ton - Acceptable 120 - 150 hp/ton - Good 150 - 200 hp/ton - Very Good 200 - 250 hp/ton - Excellent

Thanks @Barry, but somehow offroaders here prefer the nitro shocks because they're stiffer. Maybe we can get some shock company to demonstrate the different shocks on road and off road.

It would really depend the intended use of the shock. There are nitro, oil and foam shocks for on-road and off-road use. Gas/Nitrogen shocks are oil shocks with added gas. The purpose of the gas/nitrogen in the shock is to keep the oil under pressure so it is less likely to foam (bubbles). The foam makes the shock to loose some of it's absorbing properties. Nitrogen is a really bad heat conductor helping on keeping the shock cooler. This is why the foam shocks will always run hotter than the other two types. Depending on the shock brand it is well known the foam shocks will eventually give up when used off-road because of overheating. There are some brands specialized in foam off-road shocks but I have never used them. At the end, they all use oil, the just took different approaches on how the oil interacts with the up and down motion.

@Gaurav what do you think about enriching this list with the most common failures/red flags to check while buying the cars? As well as the target km to buy at? ( I know that depends mainly on how good the car had been maintained but nevertheless...) I can also write a small scraper that can get the average price for each model per year on a daily basis. If we have this info in one place it would be a gold mine!

I’ve never heard of foam cell shocks until now, had to do a bit of reading on it. Sounds good for on road every day driving but in an off road situation where the suspension is constantly working, it can’t be a good thing. When your shocks fail, you’re relying solely on the springs for your suspension, and that makes your ride bouncy as heck and you’ll bottom out a lot. I’m not an off roader but from what I’ve learned, oil filled seems like the king. Sometimes old school is best. For on road use, I’d always go for gas.

@Keithryan sometimes we overlook the simplest of things. Just a thought, check if anything is loose in your wheel well, any plastic or rubber part that could be rubbing against your tire to make that sound. Michelin tires are very good. I ran Michellin Latitudes for 4 years and they were very quiet and smooth on road.

Thank you so much, everyone, for help and support 🎯