Five great used 4x4 off-road utes and SUVs for under $50,000

The great Australian family car isn’t dead, but it is well on the way to being replaced by the great Australian off-roader.

People who 20 years ago might have packed a picnic into the family station wagon and headed down the coast to a picturesque spot now send their 4x4 weekday warrior clambering up rocks or exercising its diff lock on jaunts to an isolated beach or a rural 4WD reserve.

The vehicle they drive still needs to do the job of daily transport, so it has to be competent in the suburbs as well. That means a design with enough torque to drag a camper through deep sand that still won’t send you broke while trickling in traffic.

We’ve previously listed our five top picks for the best used dual-cab 4x4 utes, as well as the five best used 4x4 off-road utes and SUVs for under $20,000, so this list is aimed at used off-road ute and SUV buyers with up to $50,000 to spend.

Our choices needed to include a full complement of safety equipment and have achieved a five-star ANCAP safety rating when new. There also had to be enough equipment on board to keep everyone comfortable and entertained on long trips – and do it all for under $50K.

Some favourites haven’t made the list for various reasons. As the heading says, we had to choose just five from a category in which three times that number of models could be considered contenders.

We checked the comments made by our our dedicated vehicle assessment team when testing various models, noting any concerns they had with design flaws, or competence when the roads turned rough.

Finally, it came down to price, with some models simply too expensive to fit below our $50,000 price cap.

There just had to be space in this list for a LandCruiser, but full-size versions in the used market have become so expensive that the only 100 Series available for less than $50K will have travelled to the moon and back, with signs of asteroid impact as evidence.

The obvious alternative is the Prado 150 Series and plenty of popular GXL versions of the ‘Son of LandCruiser’ – built between 2016 and 2019 – are listed on carsales for less than our $50K price cap.

Powered by Toyota’s long-running 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, six-speed automatic transmission combination, the outgoing-generation Prado GXL offers competence in rough going and decent equipment levels.

With a 2790mm wheelbase, the Prado offers seating for seven, but with all seats in use there isn’t much space left for luggage. As a five-seater it works very well.

Toyota’s experience with tucking underbody components up and away from harm, a sturdy ladder frame and 219mm of ground clearance help with off-road progress, even if lower-spec models miss out on the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (HDSS).

But after a 2016 update, the GXL did include a locking rear differential.

It also brought a more powerful version of the 2.8-litre diesel, which was claimed by Toyota to be quieter during open-road running and more economical with an 8.0L/100km average.

Find a Toyota Prado GXL for under $50k on carsales

There’s a road of sorts in California called the Rubicon Trail. It runs for 29.3km through high and unforgiving terrain and the people who build Jeeps regard it as their personal test track.

All of the US off-road auto brand’s hard-core models have been tested on the Rubicon and so was the quite urbane-looking WK-series Grand Cherokee Trailhawk, making it a serious and competent off-road warrior.

For a start, the Trailhawk stands 36mm higher than other Grand Cherokees. That helps it straddle bigger obstacles and ride more easily over ruts. In addition, there are reshaped bumpers, helping with approach and departure angles – and hopefully stopping owners getting involved in impromptu reshaping of their own.

The 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel musters 184kW of power and a lusty 570Nm of torque, which is enough to see it go about its off-road business with ease, and the Grand Cherokee’s eight-speed automatic transmission does a decent job of keeping the driveshafts supplied with torque.

Although this American off-road SUV has only five seats and was subject to a large number of recalls, the Trailhawk is as competent off-road as it is on, and a good buy if all the recall work has been done.

Find a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk for under $50k on carsales

Volkswagen went it alone with its first Amarok long before it enlisted the Ford Ranger’s help for its second-generation ute, and the German car-maker’s original Amarok remains a solid ute choice by any measure.

Apart from its solid reputation for reliability, off-road capability and on-road refinement, the VW Amarok is a thoroughly user-friendly dual-cab for families – especially in premium Highline form.

It’s better again when there’s a beefy 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 under the bonnet, offering a buxom 190kW of power and 580Nm of torque – hence the TDI580 name.

In terms of towing capacity, the Amarok V6 rips into its rivals by offering a full 3500kg (with a braked trailer), plus a 933kg payload. Highway economy averaging just 8.4L/100km is useful as well.

The Amarok’s silky eight-speed auto is matched with a full-time 4MOTION 4x4 system with sufficiently short lower gears to negate the need for a two-speed transfer case, which the manual version offered from February 2020.

There’s only a modest 192mm of ground clearance but there is a lockable rear diff for slippery off-road work.

The Highline rides on 18-inch alloy wheels with 60-profile rubber, a combination that delivers adequate cushioning on rough surfaces coupled to decent steering response at highway speeds.

Inside, the manually-adjustable seats are well shaped and trimmed in cloth – unless an original owner specified the Leather Pack that includes leather trimmed and heated front seats with electric adjustment, plus heated windscreen washer jets.

Find a Volkswagen Amarok TDI580 Highline for under $50k on carsales

You don’t make your way to the top of a competitive new-vehicle market without lots of people cheering you on, and that’s just what the Ford Ranger has done – attracting a massive 63,356 buyers in 2023.

Back in 2019, when the previous-generation Series III Wildtrak we’re considering here was sold new, the Ranger was outsold by the seemingly unbeatable Toyota HiLux but still managed annual sales just shy of 41,000 units.

With loads or torque from its 3.2-litre inline five-cylinder turbo-diesel, 237mm of clearance and four-wheel drive traction, there aren’t many places even a novice off-roader couldn’t take a Wildtrak.

The winner of our 2019 Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute award supplements its already effective traction control system with a locking rear differential, ensuring that the rear-end contributes to forward progress even when one of the wheels is dangling in mid-air.

The big Ford dual-cab does have its downsides, including steering that’s a bit slow to react coupled to a biggish 12.7-metre turning circle.

And if you need to drive on poorly-lit roads at night then invest in a supplementary light bar, because the standard headlights are pathetic.

Find a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk for under $50k on carsales

The place we in Australia most often to see a full-size Range Rover is on television, providing secure transport for Royals. However, Britain’s most recognisable 4WD can still deal effectively with the toughest terrain, including in Range Rover Sport form.

The tall stance and all-terrain tyres of earlier Rangies are gone, but recent Rangies will take to the rough stuff with gusto and not leave you stranded once in there.

Ensuring secure grip and versatility is Rover’s three-mode Terrain Response system, with settings for snow, sand, rocks and ruts. Electronic ride height adjustment means that the low-riding Range Rover can, when needed, extend its ground clearance to a useful 222mm.

L494-series Range Rovers with the 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel offer a decent combination of power (190kW), torque (600Nm), acceleration (0-100km/h in 7.3sec) and combined economy of 6.9L/100km.

Inside is lots of plushness, as befits a car that when new cost more than $90,000. Used ones are now less than half their original price but still deliver lovely leather seat trim, a big and informative infotainment screen and eight-speaker sound system.

Various option packs were available to upgrade the Sport with a panoramic sunroof or a Convenience Pack that lets you raise the tailgate with a hand gesture and fold the mirrors for tackling tight tracks.

Find a Range Rover Sport TDV6 for under $50k on carsales