When replacing my unsatisfactory Ford Ranger it was a real struggle to figure out what to buy. As said, I didn't want another pickup because they're poor off road and expensive on it. Shoguns are too heavy and expensive to run. Land Cruisers are horrifically expensive to buy used (Clarkson's fault) - and they're almost the same length as the pickup because it's based on the same chassis. An old Defender would have been great but they're still thirsty and to get a decent one you need to spend lottery winner money and then the same amount again getting it sorted so you're not spending every weekend underneath it fixing it. Old Jimny's that aren't rusted out are getting hard to find and for the amount of road miles I do getting to and from work they're under-powered and consequently not that economical. plus I want to be able to tow a bike trailer from time to time and an asthmatic 1.3L petrol engine doesn't really cut it. In the end, after a lot of research, I plumped for a FL2. I managed to find a really clean, low mileage one that had lived its life as a town car in Taunton away from the salt. I paid £1500 to have it professionally Dinitroled. The dealer I bought it from who specialises in "presige" LR/Rangrovers, big Beemers, Jags and Mercs etc, said he won't have any of the latest LR models in the showroom and won't accept them in part-exchange. He knows that six months after he's sold one the phone will ring.. But he'll shift FL2s and clean proper Defenders all day long. What I'd really like is a ladder framed chassis medium sized panel van with 4wd. Proper load bay in the back with solid bulkhead, reinforced floor and gusseted roof so you can fit a heavy duty roof rack, high ground clearance, split ratio box but the size of a Peugeot Partner. Basically a compact swb single cab pickup but with a van body on top instead of a pickup tub. But no one makes one except custom builders.
