In my life time I have made a few mistakes such as women, jobs and especially with my choice of cars. The first car I ever purchased was a Ford Sierra which I purchased from a friend of mine. At the time everybody I knew owned a Sierra. It was alright for a period of time but it just wasn’t the car for me. Anyway, on one snowy and very icy night I crashed it into a tree so maybe I am just annoyed at the car even though it was probably my fault.

Nowadays I drive a second hand Land Rover. In my experience this is a fantastic car to drive in the snow which is very apt considering the weather we are experiencing at the moment. When I crashed the Sierra 20 years ago technology and overall safety of a car was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. I feel safer in a Land Rover mainly due to the fact it is designed to cope with different types of terrain and adverse weather conditions. When I purchased my used Land Rover I couldn’t believe how reasonably priced it was especially when I compared it with a new Land Rover.

There are certain problems though with owning a 4×4 vehicle. Firstly the fuel consumption is high which is what you might expect from a car that weighs over one tonne. This is the same though for any larger vehicles currently on the road such as people carriers. Secondly there is the cost of servicing the Land Rover but this is the case for lots of cars under a certain age. As the car is heavy it can be sluggish to get up to speed and move off the lights particularly because it is a diesel.

I did look at a few other vehicles before deciding upon a second hand Land Rover. I really liked the Chrysler Jeep Cherokee. The 4×4 certainly looked the part with its beefed up wheels and bodywork. However the driving performance was not to my style in some ways it felt heavier than the Land Rover. I also tried out the Toyota RAV4 because I have always had a soft spot for Toyota because in my experience they have been reliable and easy to drive. However the price of a second hand RAV4 that I test drove was out of my league in terms of finance which was a shame because I really enjoyed driving it.

So far I feel that I have made the right decision to purchase a Used Land Rover. But I will probably buy a different 4×4 vehicle in the next few years. Who knows perhaps I will purchase a second hand Cherokee.

Source by Pete Ridgard