Its interesting and thoughtful that you bring the "heat" part. I agree with you that you need good car to withstand the heat.

forget about the fj and the L C 70, go for SWB nissan. for offroading & daily use family use shopping use and after sale good price

O.k., my turn now

This is on the assumption that u want a used 4x4 exclusively for offroading:

Nissan Patrol SWB 1995 to 2004 - take your pick depending on budget.
Nissan Pathfinder - 2000 - 2004 3.5 litre
Jeep Cherokee 4.0 litre - 1997 - 2000
Jeep Wrangler TJ - The ultimate offroader in the used market

Please do not compare Explorer with Jeep, they are worlds apart

Take your choice

Thanks guys. So which is the best place to go hunt for all the used cars ?

Amit

Try Gulf News classifieds or http://www.dubizzle.com, spinneys and Abella's noticeboards.

choices are many as i have read, but i would like to put my two cents worth in,

FJ = great car, nearly brought one my self,
cons: the blind spots, not much leg room in the back, most inportant to me is the back doors, CONCERN: You have a young child, back doors can only be opened once front door open, problem!!

Jeep = great for desert but not for family, no room

long base = good cars and roomy, easy access for a young child

this is from a mothers view

offie wrote:choices are many as i have read, but i would like to put my two cents worth in,

FJ = great car, nearly brought one my self,
cons: the blind spots, not much leg room in the back, most inportant to me is the back doors, CONCERN: You have a young child, back doors can only be opened once front door open, problem!!

Jeep = great for desert but not for family, no room

long base = good cars and roomy, easy access for a young child

this is from a mothers view

Joy I would say having a small child it is good that back doors of the FJ cant open without opening the front for safety of said small child.

The FJ should suit your requirments to a T.

Its great on road and equally great Offroad, no need to have a road warrior and a sand warrior for teh weekends.

If you are interested to explore the FJ option further regester and browse http://www.fj-uae.com for any questions you migh have/ We can even help you find a low mileage used car if you want.

I still say the best options will be a LC 70 SWB two door followed by the FJ. These cares fit the price and other criterias you haad put forth in your opening post.

The other option if money is not a concern is the SWB Patrol. Forget the rest of the bunch.

Now if money is NO object then get a Mercedes G55 two door G Wagon, what a blast that would be ! Guarenteed front row parking at all hotels and malls and guarented expert offroader upgrade to the driver.

HAHA..... Not sure I will spend big bucks to be senior offroader
I share some concern with Offie regarding the "blocked" back door access. With child its dificult. I wil have to really push my boy to go on the back seat everytime via the front door. He likes to sit over the steering

I think we are building a concensus that SWB Patrol is the ultimate choice. The SWB funda is a bit confusing for a newbie. I understand the meaning and use of SWB. But from a list of resalable cars on dubizzle.com how I know which ones are SWB ?

Amit

Hi Amit

well you won't find many of them for sale - we have been looking as we would have chosen one of these first over a wrangler, however they are very rare, which is why they command a premium price.

There is one sitting at Saniyya in Al Ain just now for sale, but it looks "well used" and not "well loved" and the guy who answers the phone number posted on it doesn't speak english so we haven't a clue how much it is. We will be in saniyya again in the next few days and would be happy to get the number for you if you want to call him.

If one does come up for sale, then it will say "SWB" on the advert. When you go to check it out though, check the doors and if there are 5, then its not a SWB.

By the way for child safety, they are definitely safer in a car with FJ style doors than in a car with no back doors at all! My hubby has 22 years experience of cutting people out of cars after road accidents, maybe you can ask him for his views regarding vehicle safety round the campfire sometime.

Hope this helps you - when are you planning to go shopping?

Thanks MB Hammer. If we talk about resale, I dont see many SWB for resale. Does that make it premium product or it means its rare and difficult to sell.
I checked with new FJ from Buraimi. They have only 2009 fully loaded at 113K.
Nissan SWB 2009 fully loaded is at 153K. just FYI

Amit