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I second on everything @Srikumar has mentioned and advice. If you don't have any special affinity for Jeeps or Wrangler then Xterra makes a better choice - hands down. In 25K you can get cleaner and more latest model than Wrangler. Stock Xterra is absolutely capable of all type of drives you ever wish. If you continue this hobby, simply get the bash plate on Xterra (500-1000 dhs) and you are sorted. They are an awesome climber and damn reliable for offroading in the UAE as far as you can develop an ignore mode for it's squeaking suspension - known issue (minor). For any offroad ride, make sure that it not been previously used for dune bashing as it takes a huge toll on engine, gear, suspension, bushes. Pick the 4x4 that comes with skinny road tires and visually inspect the car interior for the presence of sand under the seats, mats and small crevices. If 4x4 has been regularly used for dune bashing it's very difficult to eliminate complete traces of sand. Go for full-service history car as far as possible and with as low mileage so that you have some good usable life, remember dune bashing takes a lot of toll on the overall life of the car.

Modifications are definitely not required when you start offroading. A stock and proper 4x4 should do just fine. You can do the mods after you understand thoroughly what the vehicle can and cannot do. In the budget of 25,000 you can get a good condition Xterra which would be capable as well as reliable. Jeeps are fun to drive but they get abused a lot and reliability is not their main forte. I do drive a Cherokee XJ and though it has initially troubled me I love it completely as it's a simple car and I enjoy doing self work on it. But reliability is an issue. Regarding getting the vehicle checked you can take it to any known mechanic who can do a thorough check. I am not aware of any mechanic in Dubai, maybe someone else on the forum would know.

Well looks like Ford following the footsteps of Raptor bringing down V8 - 6.2 to V6 with twin turbo. Hope they don't fall in Range Rover mindset of keeping RR with 3.0 and when sales dip they brought back the V8. For 64,000 Euro = 264,000 dhs this Ford Ranger raptor must be good. Running 33 inch BFG must be dead heavy for dunes with 2.0 litre having 210 hp and this big body.

I agree with all the comments here. I would either go with an Xterra or TJ. I personally would go with the TJ but I might be bias. As for shops I take my JK to off-road zone but ICON is good too.

SWB Pajero 3.8 are very rare to find and even more rare to find a clean one. After the initial few drives as you want to venture further you will need some mods to make it capable for higher level drives. The Xterra is more than capable to handle the most extreme drive conditions with superb reliability. The only squeaking sound from the suspensions is due to leaf springs in the rear. @Emmanuel is trying out a spray which has kept his Xterra pretty quiet recently, he can guide you too regarding lots of tips and tricks on the Xterra as @Shamil would agree.

I see several good deals on stock Xterras, thanks for the heads up. It seems a bit easier to get one that’s clean. I am 100% behind you that Japanese reliability is great. Thanks for the advice!

Hello! I’m looking at buying a used Wrangler for off-roading, and wanted some advice on how to make the right selection. Since this is going to be a car mostly for the purpose of weekend drives, I don’t want to spend too much money on it, so 2005-2006 TJs seem to be the best bet for my price range. I’m looking at a 3-door, 4-litre automatic. I’ve never bought a used car before that’s as old as this, and definitely never a Jeep, so I wanted to get some advice from people who have either owned one, bought a used one, and people who drive in the desert. Is this a good choice for the desert? From what I’ve seen, it’s probably one of the most common cars in the sand. They have a great power-to-weight ratio, and the clearance angles are great. What’s the best way to scope out how good a condition the car is actually in? Most of the vehicles I am seeing are not available with full service history. Can I get a car checked at a mechanic? Who does this and how much does it cost? Should I look at cars with desert modifications/upgrades? There are plenty that I can find with lifts, larger wheels and tires, and upgrades to the roll cage done. It will be cheaper than getting a car that’s stock (assuming, of course, the car is actually clean. I am not sure how to actually verify this). How reliable are these cars? It’s hard to find anything in this model year range that doesn’t have at least 150,000 km on the odometer, if not 200,000 km. If I do buy a stock car (assuming it is clean), what are the basic upgrades that I should consider, where should I get those done, and how much do I budget for it? For a car this old, what mechanics/garages in Dubai are reliable and trustworthy for servicing the car? Is there something in particular I should look for (either as something good or something to avoid) when I inspect and test drive the car? Thanks in advance!

So Ford is coming out with a Ford Ranger Raptor, which looks amazing and is probably quite capable to take Off-road looking at the reviews i've found so far. On the other hand, looking at the engine, It's a 4 cylinder, 2 liter, twin-turbo engine pumping out 210bhp but delivering 500nm torque and coupled to a 10-speed gearbox.😕 In terms of technology i think the engine is a great step ahead, but it makes me wonder how long this turbo would survive from weekly offroad dune-bashing stuff ? Is this the kind of car that would allow you to go on Faya at 3000rpm ???

This is due to lack of knowledge on the owners part, which kind of boggles me. For an expat their vehicle is in the top three of their most expensive assets in this country yet they don't even bother to learn one thing about about it. You'll see people do more research on a rental flat before renting it than before buying a car or anything to keep it running well after they have.

Well to me buying a new car itself is a big no to lose half the value in the first 2-3 years. If you are fine to lose that 50% of the car value, then these petty charges or fees wouldn't hurt you much. It's a known fact now that any car dealer in the world make more money servicing it than selling it. That's why service advisors are trained to upsell so hard for their commissions. I have been upsold once with a service advisor that my brake drum thickness is 5MM in place of a new drum of 6MM. I spent 4k dirhams and learned my lesson hard way, that I could have driven for another 2 more years without needing new brake drums. After that instance, I always read the owners manual and go and tell them what exactly I want than their suggestions.

Or just buy a slightly used proper Raptor for that money

I agree with @desertdude. With the turbo off roading will not be easy in sands where you need low end torque. Plus at the price tag I'd rather go for something cheap and modify it ever so slightly to give me what I need.

At 3000rpm. It's not a diesel! Turbocharged gas engines most of the torque lies in the upper rpm band. And 210hp also in the higher rpm bands. So with such a big heavy pickup with huge tyres you'll be pretty much struggling most of the times to hit the power band unless you get big clear run ups without any ruts

Coolant in the bottle specially in a system that has a radiator cap doesnt cycle as much or as vigorously as it does in the radiator so think of it as a catch can or filter all the heavier dirt and rusts from the cooling system settles in it. Like the Range L322. It has a flawed radiator design with the lower hose 8 rows above the bottom. So all the gunk settles in those last 8 rows as watee doesnt cycle as much through the bottom rows. Unfortunately those last 8 rows are also used for ATF cooling. While the engine is sufficiently cooled but the Trans oil cooler gets cooled in turn cooking the transmission too.

Take out and wash the bottle thoroughly and dump the old coolant. Also not all coolants are compatible with each other. So better flush out the old stuff and refill with fresh new coolant. Coolant should be replaced every two years anyways.

Oh yea. Xterra all the way. I have been driving SUVs for about 15 years and I have tried quite a few brands and models. There’s something about the way how an X just handles and you should take a test drive to see what I am talking about. Glad to chime in and help.

If you go for an Xterra (happy owner speaking here), have a look at this thread above. My advice: look for the post 2008 models, third generation, the latest year you can. On those cars the year is more important than the mileage - bear in mind that an Xterra can go to 400-500K if well taken care of. Of course you need to ask a mechanic to check the car before you buy it. I personally drive an « X » model, which is the basic and cheapest one. I just added a skid plate and a light bar and for me it’s just fine.

They are good too, but not better than Xterra in terms of offroad capabilities and approach and departure angles.

Great tips on looking for traces of sand, I'll definitely check that out. While I'm definitely going to scope out some Xterras, what are your thoughts on a 3.8l 3-door Pajero, assuming of course service history and no modifications?

There you go, but don't visit as mentioned by @Emmanuel it's a private property with guards. https://goo.gl/maps/rczkCsi26vhxEaCF9

Thanks for the useful reply! I’m definitely only considering a GCC car. Re: 1. So for beginner-level desert driving, lifts etc. aren’t required? That’s good news. Re: 2. What’s the best place to check these out? I’m definitely not capable of checking that myself unless there are some immediate and severe symptoms that would be apparent in a test drive. Re: 4. I figured something along this amount for a service. Is there a good mechanic that you could recommend? In terms of my budget, I’m looking at AED ~25,000 for the car, excluding things like a service, safety items and other desert-required equipment. I have read the post about good buys in the <10,000 and <20,000 used car price points, and the TJ seems to be recommended highly on that, as well as widely available. What else would you recommend? (edited to include things outside of the car budget clearly)

Wrangler TJ with a 4.0 litre engine is a very capable car in stock condition. Also, you are in the right season to buy an off-road car as the offroading season is over and you can get a good deal. Few points from my side: 1. Buy a vehicle which is as stock as possible. 2. The 4.0 litre engine is bullet proof and you should not have issues with it. But regarding the automatic transmission, transfer case, etc. are things that need to be checked. 3. Try to get a GCC spec car. Try to find out the accident history of the car. Some cars have been in rolls or flips. 4. And you definitely will have to keep AED 5000 aside to get a full maintenance done and all fluid changes. This depends on your budget. If you can mention that you can get some good advice.

If you don’t suggest a Jeep at all, what would you recommend instead? I’m not particularly tied to the brand or model, I’d just like something capable and hopefully reliable.

Squeaking is back, although very discreet, since yesterday. The lithium grease miracle lasted almost two months, despite weekly off-road drives. So in conclusion : not bad for a 10-20dhs and 5 mn job.

Today I decided to give a try to one of the recommended ways to solve this quite annoying issue that many Xterra owners know (at least the regular off-roaders) : to apply lithium between the leaves. I used this 20dhs spray bought at ACE. Basically, you have to lift the car (with the system that will let the wheels free), use a screwdriver to create a gap between the leaves and add the grease in between each pair + on the sides and different mountings. When we took the car down, the miracle had happened. Not a single sound ! I drove back home with my windows opened, crossed humps at good speed : no more squeaking. Now let’s see how long it will last but so far it’s working. Previously I had tried everything except taking off the suspensions and clean them : w40, diesel, placing a rubber between the leaves... None of those had any effect.

I have been using original Mitsubishi coolant in the radiator and in the expansion bottle always. To top after some time I use ENOC green coolant occasionally. Just now open the coolant expansion bottle as it was low, and noticed that green coolant has turned brown, literally rust or sand color brown. Opened the radiator cap to inspect and coolant was full with bright green color. Wondering, what can cause coolant in expansion bottle to turn brown?

Here is the four square method, with which car dealers steal your money on all 4 sides of the game. Very nicely explained in this viral video. Share the list of scam you have seen here with car dealers.

Happened with me when I bought my first car in the UAE. Never thought it could happen here, I only found out when i took it to the dealership for service...

Yes it is @desertdude

Nome of this is relevant here in the UAE. If you are buying in the US then yes but not here. Dealers scam you here in many other ways but since Big B is always watching not to going to mention them here.

Just found another great video to avoid car dealers scam of fake fees and charges to avoid

I will def clean the bottle and coolant is less than a year old. Any clue why expansion bottle turned brown...?

Thanks a lot, gents!

And I don’t advise you to venture in the dunes around, even with experienced drivers. As I mentioned earlier, this area can be very tricky.

Guys, could you pls share some coordinates of the lake? By some reason I am unable to find it on Google Maps. Thanks a lot!

First of all don't but if you must buy a sheep buy absolutely bone stock with the lowest mileage and best cared for possible. A bone stock TJ is more than capable for pretty rough terrain.

Way back in the day even before I was doing Safaris. I wore cowboy boots all the time. They look pretty snazzy IMO plus it went with the rocker look I was rocking back then. Provided you don't tuck your jeans in the boots like a douche. But they are not for everyone. They do have a bit of a heel meant to lock stirrups in place between the heel ans sole when riding. So you will feel a bit odd at first. But like everything else you get used to it.

That's a shame... I was looking forward on the next night-drive where i could follow your car with my eyes closed 😂