Five great used 4x4 off-road SUVs and utes for under $20,000

Australia loves its outdoor lifestyle and its four-wheel drives. More off-road-capable vehicles are being sold than ever before, but accessing a new one to join the fun can cost upwards of $60,000.

It’s a lifestyle not suited to everyone and discovering whether you and off-roading are compatible can be a costly process. But there are cheaper alternatives.

Tough, reliable off-roaders can be found in droves for less than $20,000. These may not be the most visually enticing cars on the road and some might show signs of time spent in the rough stuff, but the amount on the line while you take that journey of discovery is far less than with a new one.

At this price point, with vehicles 10 to 25 years old, some cosmetic flaws will be unavoidable. Do get any vehicle you’re considering up on a tall gutter – or a hoist if you can manage it – looking for impact damage and rust even prior to having a professional pre-purchase check with an organisation such as RedBook Inspect.

Some of our choices will come loaded with features, others have the bare basics and devote their talents to the business of all-terrain travel.

Finding a vehicle that fulfils all your needs at once will likely be impossible, so compromise creatively and have some fun in the great Australian outdoors.

The Toyota HiLux is here on behalf of itself and five other, very similar vehicles which could have taken the accolade if not for one significant factor. Perception.

Ask anyone which word they associate ‘HiLux’ and that word will be ‘unbreakable’. Sprung from an advertising campaign that stretched credibility beyond any reasonable measure, the moniker stuck and old HiLux utes retain a reputation for copping a lot of stick and bringing you home again.

If you intend going seriously off-road, make sure your HiLux is a dual-range manual and underbody components have added protection. A HiLux might be hard to break but you certainly can bend things.

The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel is a solid slugger and when working in unison with the low-range segment of the transmission will haul a jacked-up HiLux over pretty much any kind of bush track.

Comfort takes a back seat and the back seat can be awfully uncomfortable, so try to travel two-up and use the area behind you for enclosed storage.

Most examples in this price range will have clocked up some ultra-impressive kilometres but still have life left in the mechanicals. Make sure the cooling system works effectively because low-speed slugging in difficult terrain can see the temp gauge heading for the red zone.

Find a used Toyota HiLux on carsales

Here you go, Jeep lovers, a buying guide where finally your rough-and-ready favourite can come out a winner.

The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, as its name suggests, becomes utterly capable under the kinds of conditions that will stop family-friendly SUVs stone dead.

In choosing it as a contender in this selection we did need to overlook the even more capable (in off-road situations) Wrangler Sport but that was a compromise we happily made.

Not even Jeep buyers are going to spend every day on a track so steep that all you see through the windscreen is blue sky and treetops – conditions under which the Sport is unrivalled.

Away from the beach or 4WD park, picking up kids, friends or the groceries, the longer-wheelbase and slightly more comfortable Unlimited is, in our view, worth having.

V6 petrol engines are available in the Unlimited but they are significantly less economical and produce about 30 per cent less torque than the 2.8-litre diesel and that’s significant when chugging through sand or mud.

Despite the longer wheelbase, rear seat accommodation remains fairly cramped and the load area is also narrow. The seats up front are well-shaped, but unless you pinch most of the rear occupants’ legroom that dash feels awfully close.

Find a used Jeep Wrangler on carsales

To be honest, this spot could have gone to any of several very competent mid-size 4WDs, but the Suzuki Grand Vitara has been playing off-road for over 30 years and comes with a big reputation.

Light and nimble, these are the beach fisherperson’s friend, where light weight and an effective diff lock ensure safe progress through even loose sand when heading to The Spot.

The Grand Vitara ranks as a compact model but is not short on interior space or features. The rear seat reclines so passengers can comfortably doze on long trips and the boot even with the rear seats in use will still carry plenty of gear. It will even tow two tonnes of braked trailer.

Some people might not like the side-hinged rear door, which can be a hazard when loading in high winds. However, as the spare wheel mounts to the door it just isn’t practical to go with top hinges.

Unless 99 per cent of your driving is in Urbania, forget a petrol-drinking Vitara. The 1.9-litre diesel is an honest little slugger with an affinity for the rough stuff and on the highway will use just 6.4L/100km.

Find a used Suzuki Grand Vitara on carsales

Because people who buy 4WDs will often tow heavy loads to inhospitable places, we just had to find space in this list for the legend that is the Nissan Patrol GU 4.2 turbo-diesel.

Torque from the 4.2-litre diesel lists at just 360Nm, but the engine delivers from just above idle speed, enabling the big Nissan with its diff lock engaged to drag itself and whatever it has hooked behind over obstacles and through clinging sand.

On the road, with just rear-wheel drive on the job, the GU uses around 9L/100km. The coil-sprung front-end also delivers better steering precision and resistance to body roll than might be expected in a vehicle of this size.

GU 4.2s that are available below our $20,000 barrier are unlikely to be pretty, nor will they be showing fewer than 400,000km. Doesn’t matter.

The ones we found typically came with two seats, accessories like bigger wheels and a bull bar plus a big solid tray for carrying the dirt bikes or fetching firewood.

Payload is 1.16 tonnes, towing capacity 2.5 tonnes, so you can pretty much fill a GU with people and cut timber and still not breach the gross combination mass (GCM) limit of 5650kg.

Find a used Nissan Patrol on carsales

The only way a lot of people can justify buying a Land Rover Discovery is as a used car.

Considering that the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel we’re reviewing started out at around $85,000 before adding options or on-road costs, some other poor devil – or devils – has obviously been mugged for 70 per cent of new car price in depreciation.

That leaves you, the lucky winner, with a TD4 Discovery, loads of luxury plus the uprated 3.0-litre turbo-diesel – all for under 20 grand.

Inside is slippery leather and a sweet sound system, lovely carpets and electric everything, but a show pony the Disco 4 isn’t. It isn’t light either, with a kerb weight (no people or gear) of 2.6 tonnes.

Add a decent-sized caravan and you’ve got over six tonnes of still-legal combo putting lots of stress on the brakes and transmission. It is that transmission which could initiate grief, with frequent reports of stressed units dropping into ‘Limp Home’ mode.

Underbody clearance is excellent and vulnerable components are protected. At low speeds the ride height can be increased to avoid contact with unseen objects.

Using a Discovery 4 with its 19-inch all-terrain tyres in very rough stuff can be hazardous. The mini sidewalls don’t do much to cushion rock shock and rims can be damaged. Carrying two spares is a good idea.

Find a used Land Rover Discovery on carsales