78 replies to this topic

[weescot]

Its 1995 since I bought my last car, so need some advice. I am looking for a city friendly SUV that I can also fill up with all my scuba gear with and drive 3 hours across the desert highways to Oman. Plus off road capability for desert camping trips during the winter. I have narrowed it down to Volvo X90, Nissan X-Terra, Toyota Prado (local favorite) and BMW x3. Anyone got any useful insights or advice? Reviews online seem to be limited and/or subjective.

Then again, maybe this suits me more....

Thoughts anyone?

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[salth20diver]

Its 1995 since I bought my last car, so need some advice. I am looking for a city friendly SUV that I can also fill up with all my scuba gear with and drive 3 hours across the desert highways to Oman. Plus off road capability for desert camping trips during the winter. I have narrowed it down to Volvo X90, Nissan X-Terra, Toyota Prado (local favorite) and BMW x3. Anyone got any useful insights or advice? Reviews online seem to be limited and/or subjective.

Then again, maybe this suits me more....

Thoughts anyone?

Weeescot,
From my experience in Egypt, consider a car that the local know how to fix and spare parts are available.

Mark

[diverdeb]

Weescot,

I've had a Nissan Xterra for about 5 years and I love it. The new ones are even better because the back doesn't have carpet - perfect for wet gear. I've loaded it down with quite a bit of gear on many occasions. The rack on top is great for extra stuff too. I've had very few problems with it and it has over 100,000 miles on it now.

Mark makes a good point though that I wouldn't have thought about as far as having someone to work on it when needed.

Good luck - post a picture of what you get!

Debbie

[ScubaPunk]

At least consider buying !

[Cold_H2O]

Volvos are nice as long as they are under warrenty.
I use to sell cars and we would get a ton of them in trade once they hit that magically warrenty expired phase.

I don't know how popular (or easy to get repaired in Egypt) but Subaru makes some great city friendly but still off road friendly vehicles.
They are known to last well over 200,000 miles
I believe the Forester has the highest ground clearance of the models.

Good luck.. can't wait to see what you end up buying.

[Mermaid Lady]

At least consider buying !

I like the idea.

The trouble is that many "American" cars are built overseas, and many "foreign" cars are built in the States. I had a Nissan Pickup for many years that was built in Smyrna, TN. The Toyota Camry is built in Geargetown KY.

Also with all the mergers and acquisitions it often hard to tell who is who. Wasn't Chrysler owned by the Germans for a while and Jaguar owned by Ford at one point?

I am trying to keep my existing car for a couple more years, but when I look for my next vehicle, it would be nice to find a quality reliable vehicle built by American auto workers, and I will do my best to find one. My old pickup was, and it lasted over 220,000 miles

[damselfish]

I think you need a convertible corvette!

[pir8]

I think you need a convertible corvette!

Can't carry much Scuba gear in a Vette.
Much as they are fun to drive.
My Toyota Highlander Hybrid has managed to haul a goodly amount of gear incldein 6 Steel 120s and 2 LP 45s along with several bins of gear.
No problems with it so far but I've only had it since Sept and already have over 13K miles

[weescot]

Thanks for everyone's great input! I really appreciate it. I have considered the Chevrolet Terrain, but spoke to an owner who made the parts availability comment. she'd a couple of issues on availability. In general you can get pretty much anything here new and old. I am buying new so it will come with a warranty and as many extras, including service deal, as I can negotiate. At the moment I am leanign towards the volvo.... although the rain detector is not really required as standard here!

An especially for Debbie here is a pic on me inspecting the Xterra. Middle East spec obviously has carpet! I really have gone over all models with military precision....


again, thanks for all your input. I'll let you know what I get....

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[diverdeb]

Thanks for everyone's great input! I really appreciate it. I have considered the Chevrolet Terrain, but spoke to an owner who made the parts availability comment. she'd a couple of issues on availability. In general you can get pretty much anything here new and old. I am buying new so it will come with a warranty and as many extras, including service deal, as I can negotiate. At the moment I am leanign towards the volvo.... although the rain detector is not really required as standard here!

An especially for Debbie here is a pic on me inspecting the Xterra. Middle East spec obviously has carpet! I really have gone over all models with military precision....


again, thanks for all your input. I'll let you know what I get....

LOL. Love the pic! Interesting they still have carpet in the back over there, I think making the back waterproof was one of the best upgrades over here. Good luck with you choice - I'm sure you'll make the right decision. Don't underestimate yourself! Sounds like you're doing your homework beforehand. Can't wait to see what you choose. I love the red, btw!

[shadragon]

I would go in this order:

BMW X3
Toyota Prado
Volvo X90
Nissan X-Terra

You can swap #1 and #2 depending on local maintenance availability, but I am an admitted BMW afficianado...

The abilities you describe lay more in the tire selection than the vehicle. I would go with a 90/10 (on/off road) or 80/20 tire. Something half decent on highways with traction in the sand. If you can find something that has auto inflation then you can deflate your tires in sand for traction and increase them for the roads and fuel economy.

[weescot]

I would go in this order:

BMW X3
Toyota Prado
Volvo X90
Nissan X-Terra

You can swap #1 and #2 depending on local maintenance availability, but I am an admitted BMW afficianado...

The abilities you describe lay more in the tire selection than the vehicle. I would go with a 90/10 (on/off road) or 80/20 tire. Something half decent on highways with traction in the sand. If you can find something that has auto inflation then you can deflate your tires in sand for traction and increase them for the roads and fuel economy.

Fancy putting Debbie's car at the bottom - you'll be marked man for that !

Seriously, thanks for your input Simon. The X3 is very nice but a little bit of a poor relation to the x5. comparing the x5 to the X90, the latter comes out best in terms of what you get for the money. Everyone drives the Prado out here so parts no problem. However i suspect my final will boil down to the test drive and deal I get. And if it comes in pink with fluffy seat covers as optional extras...

Will keep you all posted.

[cmt489]

I am a tried and true BMW owner and lover. While the X3 is the poorer cousin of the X5, it is still a very good car. Let's face it, the X5 is a beast! I really like the X3 and we are considering one for George when he is done with school. As far as between Volvo and BMW, in my biased opinion, there is no comparison. The BMW wins everytime. To me, it comes down to how they handle and drive and no one, not even Mercedes, builds a car quite like BMW.

[shadragon]

Fancy putting Debbie's car at the bottom - you'll be marked man for that !

Seriously, thanks for your input Simon. The X3 is very nice but a little bit of a poor relation to the x5. comparing the x5 to the X90, the latter comes out best in terms of what you get for the money. Everyone drives the Prado out here so parts no problem. However i suspect my final will boil down to the test drive and deal I get. And if it comes in pink with fluffy seat covers as optional extras...

Will keep you all posted.

The x3 comes in with a 3.0L 260 hp engine which ain't bad at all for general use... The x5 can go up to 4.8L 360 hp engine which will only result in getting you stuck faster in the dune sea...

As for the pink fluffy seat covers, I am sure that will contribute to the Fahrvergnügen of driving your BMW... hahaha

I guess you miss having a man around so he can give you his opinion, you argue and then go get what you really wanted in the first place...

(Running for my life...)

[diverdeb]

Fancy putting Debbie's car at the bottom - you'll be marked man for that !

Seriously, thanks for your input Simon. The X3 is very nice but a little bit of a poor relation to the x5. comparing the x5 to the X90, the latter comes out best in terms of what you get for the money. Everyone drives the Prado out here so parts no problem. However i suspect my final will boil down to the test drive and deal I get. And if it comes in pink with fluffy seat covers as optional extras...

Will keep you all posted.

The x3 comes in with a 3.0L 260 hp engine which ain't bad at all for general use... The x5 can go up to 4.8L 360 hp engine which will only result in getting you stuck faster in the dune sea...

As for the pink fluffy seat covers, I am sure that will contribute to the Fahrvergnügen of driving your BMW... hahaha

I guess you miss having a man around so he can give you his opinion, you argue and then go get what you really wanted in the first place...

(Running for my life...)

You're going to have to run faster than that Simon! LOL.