Replacing Frontera ... What car will you buy?

id avoid the 1.9 Grand vitara like the plague. Jimny or sj if your after off road ability.

Can you say why ? SJ is not an option for me...Jimny is too small ..

For east European made motors, I appreciated you've got the Romanian assembled Dacia Duster, which I reckon would be a good motor for road 4x4 requirements, snow etc. when required. For off road older motors, apart from Lada, what other choices do you have out of the eastern factories. Must admit, I also thought the Lada would be a worthwhile consideration for a mechanical based motor with a few goodies - a bit like the 2.8 for no nonsense sensors and ECU etc. Regarding the Lada, I may stand corrected on the point. Without knowing for sure, I thought the Lada came with rear diff locker, again, I could be wrong.

Duster is the same like Rav4, tiguan etc...No transfer box.So except if you really want some interior fancy or specific brand i don't see the point going for higher priced competitors.
I took into consideration a model from Rusia called Uaz Patriot..It is meant to compete in Duster price but it have frame on ladder and transfer box.Is a full 4x4.Also it looks more like a duster than like an old russian Niva..

http://www.uaz.ru/models/uaz_patriot/ <--- this is translated from russian to eng..Some pages are missing in eng site..

http://www.uaz.ru/eng/models/patriot/specifications/ <-- this is the english only page

http://www.uaz.ru/models/uaz_patriot/integration/ <--- all models with prices too ...The most expensive costs 16.000 euro..The cheapest with gasoline engine is only 12.000 euro..

Dad told that the UAZ have big problems with finding parts and is not very good quality either (Russian stuff -- not that he drove one)..Unfortunetly by not being a mechanic myself i may end in trouble even with UAZ...

Also the UAZ Patriot in this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lef3m3bx-Yk

I would have bought a NEW UAZ in no time if there weren't problems with parts..I personally don't know any UAZ distributors in my country either...A guy from my Off Road club that bought a Niva new told me that after 50.000km something begins to fall apart and you begin repairs...

This is the list of Distributors Network for UAZ:

http://www.uaz.ru/eng/customers/network/

Regarding Lada Niva it does have transfer box but i am not sure about diff lock..

Appreciate what you are saying but the Duster is a surprisingly capable bit of kit expecially with a set of Mud Tyres. Lack of low range gearing could be an issues as well though. If the tow weights were up to the job i would have one but sadly they arent

Why haven't anyone brought up Subaru?
I just got myself a 2004 turbo 2.0 Forester and must say I love it. Can't go just everywhere as with the Fronty as it's quite a bit lower, but the subaru 4WD and the power of the engine makes it just incredible with all the snow I have had lately. I've made some hill-starts and steep road parking in snow/ice which would have been very hard with the Frontera as it's much heavier. The lower center of gravity also helps.

I discovered now that there is a Suzuki Grand Vitara 3doors 1.9 diesel with transfer case..In my country they sell only 3dr 1.6 without transfer case..