Mitsi Shogun as Tow barge & daily drive

[scott beeland]

Throughly bitten by the Jet-Ski bug; so I think the best move now is to change my motor to something 4WD.

Life on a slipway (or beach launch) would be so much easier.

I'll be lookin' to px my Peugeot 407.

Not really into spending a huge amount ontop of what I get for my pug; so looking at 03/04 Shoguns, or praps a similar age Landy (freelander or disco).

Anyone out there using a Shogun?

Any good?

[Pistol Pete]

Sounds like an excuse to me, surely anything can tow a jet ski! OK I guess having the rear wheels driven on the slipway may help, Impreza maybe - tows 1.2 tonnes of caravan ok for me :-).

[Rob Navin]

Hi mate

I have a 2000 ( first of the new shape ) 3.5 v6 petrol LWB shogun that I'm using for Rally Chase car and tow barge.

Its a bit thirsty on juice, 20mpg towing the big trailer and cortina on but to be honnest its a better tow car than the old grand cherokee it replaced.

Added bonus is its 7 seater and loaded with fancy toys.  

We have had it 6 months with no problems

[cabbron]

done jet skis and boats for years-if towing a ski do you really need a 4x4??just my 2p but had loads of 4x4's with the boats and they can be a right bulky pia,expensive to run too.how about a subaru 4x4 estate car-hard as nails and all the benifits of a car but will do the slimey slips if you really need the extra traction.

^^ beaten to it!!

[carpetstu]

My uncle uses a Shogun and is on his second one. ( both Deisel)

My big Brother has just brought a new one in Saudi! (costs him £12.50 to fill with PETROL)

The last model before the very newest one will do about 18 mpg if you are lucky!

The brand new model is slightly better.

They will tow over 3 ton. Fairly stable to drive. But as already said very overkill for towing 1 jet ski.

[scott beeland]

Ta....It's not really the "on road" towing that is in question (the peugeot tows my Honda ski with no bother in any of its 6 cogs). Steep slips are the issue, as are the "want" to be able to launch/ load off sandy/ pebble beaches without getting stuck.

Not sure I could live with 20's mpg on a daily basis though. Are the 2.5 diesels as bad?

[Gromit]

What about a Passat 4Motion estate? Loads of space and comfort and a dam site better on the old juice.

Autotrader

[carpetstu]

. Are the 2.5 diesels as bad?

Yep!

TBF you might get 24 mpg but the 2.5 is renowned for feeling underpowered so your right foot might get more heavy to compensate  

[scott beeland]

budget not gonna stretch to a decent one of those matey

[Gromit]

You can get one for a couple of grand, granted it`ll have a bit of milage on them but they do last.

[RichP]

We bought a Toyota Hilux Surf for much the same reason. Chose one of these because you can get them cheap as they're all grey imports, so we could run one for towing and keep the daily drive. Toyota dealers seem good and have no problem with parts. Car seems reliable apart from a couple of teething problems specific to our car and past "maintenance". However, it is a second car - we do 80% of our miles in a "normal" car and use this the rest of the time. 3.0 TDi gets ~25mpg so not great  but low use so I don't care. A boatload of torque and proper 4WD.

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

I would have thought CRV or similar with only part time 4wd is what you need

lower road tax - 35- 40ish mayb more mpg from the diesel if driven carefully and tough as old boots

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

dunno what you are thinking of spending but sumtin like this looks good

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif....gcode=p

I run an accord 2.2 diesel and my brother and mum run the CRV diesel with no problems at all

the x-trail is perhaps a slightly better looking alternative though not as roomy and have heard of troublesome engines on some models - think they are part time 4wd too so big savings on road tax

[lippydave]

Had a swb 3.2 Di-D Shogun on loan for a short while.

Very torquey and entertaining to drive for a 4wd diesel, but a bit juicy if you cane it, and if the dual mass flywheel goes t**s up, (which they can apparently do with regularity), it's the thick end of 1200 quid to replace. (My pal had put a conventional flywheel on his at 550 quid....(Bit lumpier at tickover but otherwise fine).

If you can live with the lumpy ride and unsophisticated nature of the beast, an L200 Mitsubishi diesel double-cab pick-up may be worth a look.They are quite crude, but pretty practical, have a bit of an image problem, bit crappy on the motorway tho', great for towing, and if you fit a hardtop to the rear, somewhere to throw all yer dirty/wet jetski  (or horsey or bikey) gear without stinking the cab up. I just try to sit at 70ish in mine on the m/way and it manages over 30mpg. It will cruise faster, but just guzzles and feels a bit strained.

If you want a bit more civility and motorway munching ability, how about a previous model Mercedes ML270 CDI?

Great towcar, 30-35mpg and great motorway mile munching ability. Cheap as chips too, plenty to choose from, wife's has done 134k and the only problem we had was with diesel spill pipes giving an air leak which was relatively cheap to fix.

(Currently debating whether to sell my ML or my L200 as both have plus points for what I use them for, lugging horseboxes, and dirtbikes.)

Would recommend either, however if yer totally unconcerned about image (hey I've got a redneck's pick-up and a gay hairdresser's car), how about a Toyota Rav4?

Not the butchest of 4wd's, wife has an older one as stable hack that we don't worry about getting grubby.

Super reliable, economical, cheap to run, typically Japanese plastic interior allied to typical Japanese longevity and reliability.

Not too much towing capacity, but more than enough for a ski. Surprisingly nippy, great town car, ours gets used by both of us for local running around as it's so easy to park and cut through plodding town traffic with it's combination of good visibility, nippy response, and relatively small size, (wife's is a 3dr), 5dr better for tow duties IMHO.

[Davep1]

If you are on a tight budget, how about an import Mitsubishi Delica L400 (I know the name is a laugh!) - I use one for towing large 2t trailers - its 4wd, Hi / Lo boxes, 2.8TD engine, same mechanics as a shogun, can seat 7 or 8, has captains seats, and the seats form a double bed  - great for weekends away.

I picked a really good one up for a tad over 2 grand - and unlike Landrovers at this budget it has no rust whatsoever, and v low mileage.

You get to live with the looks !!

Dave.