New to the frontera..am I wise buying one

[smallzoo]

Hi everyone..

first I dont have one yet !

My local mechanic who has looked after my many cars for over 10 years has a S reg 2.0 SWB Frontera which he has had dry stored in his garage for 2 years. I have bee in garage for years but only now in the position where I wanted a cheap car to take my large dog around and act as a general work horse, probably no more than 3k miles a year. This time for some reason I said to him if he wanted to sell it I might be interested. He was going to sell it for scrap for £200 but he said he will see what it needs for an mot and sell it to me cheap. It has coil springs, excellent bodywork, he says a great engine, gearbox interior, 4 new tyres...

First question ..what sort of money is too much money ?

Second, I have had many cars and 4x4's, but when I looked at whatcar they absolutely slated it... is it that bad ?.. my mechanic says the engine, gearbox etc are pretty bullet proof and should certainly last me a few years without too much trouble...I guess the only unknow quantity is MPG,,,Ive heard anything from 20 to 30

Thanks

[Big Dav]

The late A series 2 litre swb's are popular
and you are accurate with your mpg
estimations.
Car trading sites are looking for roughly
400 quid upwards, you have the luxury of
knowing the seller and a bit of the cars
background.
Some folks comment about the sluggish engine
but it isn't a GTi, XRi or any other kind of
hot hatch.
See if you can try it and then decide.

[4x4 bobby]

Hi mate. Coming to this site is your first great move, your second great move would be to purchase a 2.0ltr sport. I have had 2 sports and my missus still has one. They do exactly what it say's on the tin. They are great vehicles and as your mechanic say's the engins are a well proven one. The mpg is roughly 26-30 depending on how you drive it, weather you have A/T M/T or standard road tyres. If you have them serviced regularly and keep them in good order they will last a life time! Oh by the way were biased on this site as we love all things FRONTERA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards Bobster

[stretch]

welcome to the site although asking a forum dedicated to fronteras if your wise in buying one did make me chuckle lol.

[Beedham88]

I had a 2.8 Diesel Sport, loved it. cheap to buy and a good all rounder. as said previously look after it and it will look after you!
Happy trucking.....

[furio]

Great trucks for the money let us know how you get on.

[smallzoo]

I will... I see you are in Cheshire...must be catching ..

[furio]

Yep maybe!! Had mine a few years now. ATB

[westo123]

I'm not overly biased as I have Land Rovers and Subarus as well, but they are great cars, perfect for dogs, we have three. They are easy to run and maintain. I have now had three and would get rid of the Land Rovers and Subarus first! A good S reg should be around £400/500 I think but I am up for correction by the experts on here!

[smallzoo]

Thanks.. Ive had landrovers ( Series 3, discovery, freelander ), Subaru Imprezza, Legacy and a Nissan Patrol but Ive usually paid more money for those as most of the cheap ones were real rubbish..but the Frontera is going to be my workhorse for the dog and general use..

I would guess the answer is 'no' but other than watching your right foot is there anything that can improve the MPG even if its a few mpg. Most of the autotrader figures for a 2.0 show 18mpg around town

Cheers

[westo123]

That's rubbish it's much better than that!

[4x4 bobby]

Both my sports produced arround 20-24 around town and on a run 26-28.

[smallzoo]

Ok. Bought one !

I am now the proud owner of a 1998 3door frontera s !

Bit rough around the edges but everything works and 12months not

First question, any cheap insurers for a 50+ person like myself !

Cheers

[horses45]

I use Adrian flux and seems cheap enough but worth doing a few checks on other sites to compare

[4x4 bobby]

Well done mate! Im 50+ and Rob is correct Adrian Flux they do modified insurance cover aswel so as long as you tell them the mod's the insurance don't go up.

[badsykes]

bobby you still have the 2.0i petrol ?