Need cheap Left Hand Drive 4x4 for Madagascar - Freelander a good choice?

[Ozymandias24]

Hello All,

I have recently accepted a job in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and would like to ship a 4x4 out with me so that I can explore the island. I will be working in the capital, where the roads are OK. The main roads out to the provincial capitals are tarmac and OK but the majority of the island is covered by dirt roads that disintegrate into a muddy mess during the rainy season. I will also likely do some driving on the beach on surf trips. Below is an image from a typical rural road, taken in 2015:

 

I am based in London. Importing a RHD vehicle into Madagascar is illegal, so I need a LHD. For some reason Freelanders seem to be very cheap in LHD configuration here in the UK (maybe they are easy to convert?) When I say "very cheap" I mean half the price of equivalent age and mileage Mitsubishi or Toyota 4x4s in LHD. 

I am hoping for some advice from the experienced members on this forum - basically, what car should I buy, and what modifications would give me the biggest bang for my buck in terms of improvement in off-road capability? Below are five of my considerations when buying:
 

1. Budget is around £4000. This would include any modifications I might need to make to the vehicle to ensure it is ready to go off-road (i.e. buying larger tyres, snorkel, any suspension raise etc.)
2. It has to be LHD (this is Malagasy law). So no importing a UK RHD sadly. Also, I hear that converting most 4x4s from RHD to LHD is a complete pain, and likely to waste most of my budget.
3. The more seats the better. Ideally I'd like 6 or 7, or some sort of bench arrangement in the back. Folding seats with lots of storage space would be great to load up on camping supplies. This is one of the factors pushing me towards a Mitsubishi Pajero / Shogun or a Toyota Land Cruiser rather than a Freelander, but I imagine a Defender or Discovery might also have more room? Also means a Suzuki Jimny or similar is out of the question.
4. Diesel or petrol makes little difference. Fuel economy also doesn't matter too much as fuel is cheap out there.
5. AC is borderline essential as it's bloody hot out there!

I guess the overall question is: if I buy a LHD Freelander for £2000, and spend £2000 on it, will I be able to get it up to a suitable off-road standard? Or is there a more suitable type of Land Rover (like an old Discovery) that I should hunt around for in LHD configuration? Or should I scrap the Land Rover idea altogether and go for a Japanese 4x4 (Shogun / Pajero / Hilux / Land Cruiser / L200)? 

Before people say this is a crazy budget: in 2006 a friend and I drove a 1973 Land Rover Series III 88' from London down to Liberia in West Africa...and that only cost us £900! Story of that journey can be found here: http://polosbastards.com/west-africa-monrovia-or-bust/

Any advice much appreciated!

[Maverik]

Not had experiences with Freelander, but what you've described I'd be more leaning towards a Discovery 1, as long as the steelwork is ok, the mechanicals are pretty simple to fix up, 300tdi pretty much bomb proof and much easier to get upgrades off the shelf. £4k you can really sort yourself out with a decent truck I'd say- Also if you're wanting the extra seating, Disco had the two rear "dicky" seats in the rear. I'd argue you'd get more "offroad" ability from a Disco than a Freelander, but saying that Fridge freezer ran a Freebie for a long time on and offroad, you can see his Thread about it in the member vehicles section. You might have to look around for a AC version but not impossible, or if you wanted to spend more on a vehicle Discovery 2 would give you that slight more luxury (AC), but you will need to make sure they're electrically sorted before you use it in anger.

BTW, West Africa sounded like a scream... I respect your "off the beaten track madness", you've got bigga kahoonas than me...!

[Bowie69]

If you think a Freebie will do what you want, considered a Suzuki Grand Vitara? Larger, more reliable, and pretty cheap to buy, even the long wheel base ones.

Otherwise yes, a Disco sounds like the ticket to me, you will find the Freebie quite small if you want to seat a lot of people, and carry tenting gear. 

[FridgeFreezer]

Unless they have Land Rovers out there I'd be buying whatever the locals drive, or if there's a market for it buy two of them and sell one out there to cover your costs. Or just buy one out there.

[Cynic-al]

Is there an option to buy over there? Then your import budget could go towards getting a better vehicle?

Freelander's are relatively small, 4 adults and a dog really, however they do have electronics which makes them quite capable offroad, in some situations more capable than a traditional land rover. I have no idea how easy it would be to get repaired in Africa though? No low box so they can struggle on climbs but I wouldn't have though that would be a problem with what your intending, the 1800 rover petrol has a reputation for head gaskets. There was a v6 petrol and a diesel but I don't know much about either. Otherwise the easiest vehicle to convert would be a defender as it's all available off the shelf and nut an bolt but certainly not easy. Land rover did ROW (rest of world) spec vehicles which are basically newer vehicles with older technology for countries without main dealers or as stringent emissions and safety laws. They sometimes come up at MOD auctions, LRS offroad had one last time I was there, I think that was for export. You'd get your bench seat and they're good offroad, however I doubt you'd get A/c and anything ex-MOD for £4k will need attention.

A discovery 1 would give you the 7 seats and simple mechanics, I love the V8 petrol but would avoid it for reliability and stick with a 200 / 300 tdi. Finding a solid one isn't easy, they're old cars and it would be worth doing all the bearings, brakes, bushes, filters and checking things like brake line condition before you send it. Parts are cheap but if you don't want to do the work yourself the labour would add up. I would see how popular they are before you go too, it would be a pain if you had to start shipping parts over.

Sounds like a great adventure, good luck!

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by Cynic-al

[Eightpot]

Freelanders were never great, it's little more than a rover 200 with a simple transfer box, and rover 200s weren't great.. 

I'm sure they were great on wet grass, and people have managed well with them off road,  but a 4x4 for Africa they are not. They are pretty old now, and not particularly robust.  And unless they were sold there you won't get parts. And you'll need parts. 

Unless cars are wildly expensive there, which is certainly the case in lots of african countries then just get something there.  If cars are pricey locally, you can bet import taxes will be high anyway.

If import is a good option, look for a tidy jap 4x4, disco or even defender in southern France or Spain and get it shipped from marseilles - no sense exporting british rust half way round the planet! 

Bear in mind it could well cost at least £1500-2000 to get a vehicle into Madagascar (agents/port fees/shipping/duties/VAT),  so bear in mind before you start.

 

 

[Troll Hunter]

I agree with FF - buy what the locals drive, and preferably buy there, don't import, then you know that you can get spares locally for your variant.

Mike

[Brian]

Land Rover have puled out of their "supported partner" deal in Madagascar, due to low current and expected sales volumes. They now advise individual owners to contact Land Rover South Africa for assistance. Should anyone need such assistance, I would recommend Warren or Storm at Landynet to be a quicker and more dependable service from here, as they are geared up for it. You can find them with Google, or ask and I'll post details here.

Clearly a Land Rover, especially a 2nd hand one, is not going to be a great choice for a dependable every day vehicle in such circumstances, although Series, Defenders and Discovery 1 & 2 are well up to the rugged use in that country. Quite frankly, the only other choice for me would be a Toyota, but you will not get an African spec commercial type Landcruiser in Europe. Only choice would be a Hiluxe DC and get the petrol engine for ease of servicing..

 

As said above, you'll have a better choice locally, but at higher prices.

[tacr2man]

How many people have you got to carry , if its just you or +1  then Suzuki  is the answer , rather than Freelander.  You will have low range available , and with decent tyres will go just about anywhere any thing else will.

eg  http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=222941433&scopeId=C&isSearchRequest=true&damageUnrepaired=NO_DAMAGE_UNREPAIRED&makeModelVariant1.makeId=23600&makeModelVariant1.modelId=17&pageNumber=1

[Ozymandias24]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! A couple of extra thoughts:

• Importation taxes and cost of shipping etc. are not a consideration as they are being paid for by my employer.
• Local vehicles are very expensive due to the importation taxes and cost of shipping that most people have to pay!
• To answer tacr2man, most of the time I will be carrying two people, but I would like a vehicle capable of carrying four people and luggage comfortably on a long overland trip. For this reason, the small Suzukis etc. are not really an option - although I agree they are great, thrashed one across São Tomé and Angola without ever getting stuck...

Sounds as though without an official Land Rover servicing centre, it's going to have to be a Japanese 4x4 (which is a shame, as I'd love to get a Discovery or Defender!)

I'm leaning towards a diesel Mitsubishi Pajero at the moment, but it all depends on finding a suitable LHD one here in the UK (preferably near to London). I'll keep you all posted on my progress, and send some photos once I'm out there with the new beast.

[Ozymandias24]

On 19/01/2017 at 9:50 AM, Maverik said:

Not had experiences with Freelander, but what you've described I'd be more leaning towards a Discovery 1, as long as the steelwork is ok, the mechanicals are pretty simple to fix up, 300tdi pretty much bomb proof and much easier to get upgrades off the shelf. £4k you can really sort yourself out with a decent truck I'd say- Also if you're wanting the extra seating, Disco had the two rear "dicky" seats in the rear. I'd argue you'd get more "offroad" ability from a Disco than a Freelander, but saying that Fridge freezer ran a Freebie for a long time on and offroad, you can see his Thread about it in the member vehicles section. You might have to look around for a AC version but not impossible, or if you wanted to spend more on a vehicle Discovery 2 would give you that slight more luxury (AC), but you will need to make sure they're electrically sorted before you use it in anger.

BTW, West Africa sounded like a scream... I respect your "off the beaten track madness", you've got bigga kahoonas than me...!

If you think that trip was a scream, check out our last expedition (not quite a 4x4 trip, but still some insane overlanding!) Kayak The Kwanza - Source to sea along Angola's longest river

[dailysleaze]

+1 for getting whatever is a very common vehicle out there. Also +1 for importing it, as anything good (Land Cruiser/Defender) will probably have a hefty premium as they're so valued. I can't speak for Madagascar, but in Malawi I had to import Suzuki spares from the UK., very annoying. Toyota would probably be the answer.

Example: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Land-Cruiser-auto-left-hand-drive-7-seats-electric-windows-bullbar-/322324970767

[FridgeFreezer]

If you do import, if possible stack the boot and back seat with spares and bits - even if only to sell to the locals for beer money! Especially any hard-to-get big lumps that are cheap in the UK and too heavy to be worth shipping separately EG alloy wheels, diffs, etc.

[Ozymandias24]

5 hours ago, dailysleaze said:

+1 for getting whatever is a very common vehicle out there. Also +1 for importing it, as anything good (Land Cruiser/Defender) will probably have a hefty premium as they're so valued. I can't speak for Madagascar, but in Malawi I had to import Suzuki spares from the UK., very annoying. Toyota would probably be the answer.

Example: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Land-Cruiser-auto-left-hand-drive-7-seats-electric-windows-bullbar-/322324970767

I looked at this the other day actually. Looks promising! As does this Mitsubishi Pajero, but sadly both out of my budget range! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LHD-LEFT-HAND-DRIVE-MITSUBISHI-PAJERO-Diesel-4X4-7-seater-/322395524279?hash=item4b10454cb7:g:Yp8AAOSw-0xYgGT6

There's a nice looking Discovery diesel, but 200,000 miles on the clock is a bit of a concern! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LHD-LEFT-HAND-DRIVE-4X4-Land-Rover-Discovery-300-TDI-1997-UK-REGISTERED-NEW-MOT-/182401717192?hash=item2a77fd53c8:g:4i0AAOSwOyJX38RV

Similar mileage on this Vauxhall/Opel Monterey, making it very cheap, but I have no idea if they'll have spare parts for this out there. In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen one! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/lhd-left-hand-drive-Vauxhall-Opel-Monterey-3-1TDS-LTD-spanish-reg-4x4-a-c-/182402539480?hash=item2a7809dfd8:g:FsgAAOSwjDZYY8vA

 

 

[Cynic-al]

I believe the Vauxhall is a rebadged Isuzu Trooper / bighorn. I think in Australia it was the holden jackeroo?

Like this;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1995-Isuzu-Trooper-Duty-3-1-5-door-Four-Wheel-Drive-/121844215627?hash=item1c5e7b2f4b:g:CTAAAOSw241Yg2Ek

I would imagine Isuzu parts would be easier to find than Vauxhall but that's purely a guess and I don't know if it was a straight rebadge or if they changed any parts? I don't know what countries they sold in either so I couldn't say where to go for a good stock of LHD?

Edited January 23, 2017 by Cynic-al

[FridgeFreezer]

SOME of those Vauxhalls are decent re-badged Isuzus, but some aren't - some have a chassis, some don't, they're a minefield! I remember Dirtydiesel telling me that the "right" one would have Dana axles and the 2.8 Isuzu TDI and the "wrong" one could look the same and be utter junk from Vauxhall's parts bin...

[Cynic-al]

Clear as mud then

[Troll Hunter]

Since your vehicle freight and import charges are being paid for by your employer, find out what the locals drive, including the variant, and get a LHD version in UK/Europe, and as said above, load it up with appropriate spares, either for yourself or for resale.  But I must re-emphasise that you should buy something that is available over there, not just for parts availability, but also for familiarity by maintenance personell.

Mike