Hi, my name is Steve and I have been living in the UAE for 2 years thus far without a car. We are thinking about buying a car with a view to doing some off roading but mainly as a UAE run arround. The minimum requirement for the off road would be a car capable completing the Gulf News Fun Drive. What I started to look for was a published list of the cars entered into the fun drive to give a guage as to what I should buy but can't seem to find anything - the only advise I have seen is "don't turn up in a front wheel drive cross over!!" which I would have thought was pretty obvious. Does such a list exist?

I have a few cars in mind all of which would have to be 4 or 5 years old to meet our budget:

A Prado - My wifes favourite - I know it would be up to the Job but probably over budget and at this pricing level there are pobably plenty of viable options.
Kia Sorento (model before the current one.) - I've owned one of these before so I think this would be okay off road but sligthtly heavy feeling on road but still agood car.
Hyundai Santa Fe (model before the current one.) - I've owned one of these before and know its good on road and great in snow and ice (as long as the snows not too deep) but what would this be like in sand. Is there enough ground clearance?
Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Suzuki Vitara or Grand Vitara. Wouild any of these be suitable.

We would be grateful for any advise.

Hi Steve.

The Kprean 4x4 / SVv's are best left alone along with the LWB US ones.

Look at the Prado and maybe an older Nissan Patrol or Jeep Cherokee ...far more fun

Al Kurby is selling his cherokee if you are interested

Yup, but it is strictly an Offroading monster and would not advise driving your family around in this thing. But it is one very able offroader.

You could also look at a grand cherokee from 93-2004 (93-98=ZJ, 99-2004=WJ). I had a grand cherokee and it was excellent. I abused it a lot when off road and only had minimum offroad related problems. Just make sure you check the drive train (transmission, transfer case, axle housings and drive shafts) for any obviouse signs of wear/leaks as this is the biggest issue they have. Otherwise, the V8 limited is a very capable rig both on and off road.

One of our ex members, Outlaw, had a WJ V8 and gave the same feedback. It was excellent on and off road. Comfortable, good AC, lots of power, very strongly built. If well maintained they are brilliant in the sand and not too pricey either!

Prado is the best out of those you listed Steve - be careful as some of the Korean models (actually most of the Hyundai / Kia SUVs) are all wheel drive and not 4wd - this means they would be no good for sand. You want to be looking at a vehicle with at least a 3 lite V6 engine, so a short wheel base V6 Pajero is OK. Depending on your budget and the amount of time you plan to spend on and off road, a toyota land cruiser/prado, FJ or Nissan Patrol would be best - reliable, good re-sale value and strong.

If you're thinking of <30,000aed then a 2001-2003 model Pathfinder is a very good vehicle for both on and off road. If your budgets is under 20K then consider an older Jeep (but be prepared MAYBE to spend and spend on repairs).

Hope that all helps - if you do not have a car yet but can get to the meeting points you can also ask drivers if anyone has space for passengers and come along on a drive first to see the various vehicles mentioned. My family first rode with the mighty Tintin in his legendary Jeep and loved it so much we took our big old heavy 5.9 litre Durango out and got stuck many times.

i cannot see why you have doubt, go for the Prado

Thanks for your comments but I'm not ready to burn the korean flag just yet!! Having owned both a Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorrento I have no worries about reliablity as in 5 years I put about 100,000 miles (160,000km) on them (combined) without any mechanical problems. Thats more than I can say for the freelander I owned which was pretty awfull reliability wise.

I am favouring the facelifted Mk1 Sorrento (2008 ish) which has a pukka 4x4 systems low range, ladder chassis etc and is supposed to have a limited slip diff the lack of which seems to be an issue with the earlier model. To get some of the other cars suggested I would have to be looking at a car upto ten years older and therefor probably having suffered a great deal more abuse.

I want something clean, comfortable and reliable which is upto the occassional and not neccessarily severe off road trips. So for 30k (ish) for a 2008 3.3 V6 sorrento is possible.

Incedently before buying the Sorrento in the UK one of our off road mags did a head to head test between 10 cars where they divised a series of test to score the cars. Okay the sorrento did not win but also despite being the cheepest car in the field it did not come last. On the hill clime it came second or third (Grand cherokee was one of the cars it left behind!!) Okay Kia were the only manufacturer smart enough to send there car to the test with off road tyres (an we all know that makes a difference) but it did prove that the car can be taken seriously.

I suppose I've almost answered my own question - no to tucsons, sportage and santa fe but possibly yes to sorrento!! Does any body out there have any experience of using one on sand?

There was a guy a year or two back who drove a Sorento and it was the one for 4x4 driving - anyway, he constantly had it in the shop having the bumper repaired. This was often after easy drives. His was a brand new car and he opted to buy a cheap Jeep in the end. I have seen one other Kia come out once. I don't think they're particularly hardy to be honest. You are right about the fact that you would be getting an older car if you went for some of the other options, but you'd also be getting a sturdier car and there are people around who have Nissans/Toyotas with more than 300 000 km on the clock and still going strong. You do risk getting a vehicle that hasn't been looked after, but you can ask to see service records and it would be advisable to take it to a mechanic for a check over before buying. You run that risk even with a newer car and you'd need to make the same checks.

In your price range a nice late nineties Land Cruiser would fit with change to spare to spruce it up....talk to PR and see if he knows of any as he is a specialist on these sort of cars