Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

Slippery in the winter with the ice, slippery in the summer with the sandy soil and slippery whenever it is wet.

The first time for a long time I felt that I had lost control of a vehicle. On our access road the van just went sideways in the mud. Just managed to keep it on the track, which is good as there is a decent drop on both sides. I have to go down dirt tracks a lot and both the Astra and the van can struggle.

I think it may be time to think about a 4x4......

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

Glad you made it and didn't wreck your car!
That's not the kind of thing you want to have on Christmas Eve ...
Btw Suzuki makes nice little 4x4s - but I don't know how much they cost.

Merry Christmas1

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

It was nice and dark too! Will have a think about it. Actually would consider the recent Lada 4x4. 5 doors and simple and best of all cheap! The Suzukis are still a bit "fancy" for what I'll be putting them though.

Yeah no budget at the moment for any major car repairs! But the UK house has almost gone (just been three months with the solicitor)....

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

The right sort of tyres and a light right foot are cheaper than a 4x4 The right tyres being the more important of the two.
4x4s help you go but don't improve the ability to stop or steer much, that's down to tyres and driving

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

Or...
Get a small off road motorbike, at least if it ends up in the ditch it is easier to pull out!

But Yes I agree tyre choice is the important issue.
I once changed the road type tyres on a 4x4 for the more balloony mud type, and yes they were brilliant in mud but almost impossible to keep on the normal road. Soft side wall and chuncky tread meant they wandered all over the place and corners had to be negotiated at stupidly slow speeds.
Didn't keep them very long.

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

I am getting fairly competent off road now and the VW is pretty good generally, just got a pretty big scare there! It's a long wheelbase as well for extra giggles. For the bees I need to get up these awful tracks in all weathers as they need checking. Took a load of wood in the van from the Tanya and really struggled. Mostly it's flat around here but there are a couple of inclines at dodgy places where it's a choice of get stuck or put a bit of power on for momentum. And risk falling off the "road". Ground clearance is desirable too, the Astra is awful but the VW is not too bad. Wince regularly though over my suspension..

And Hungarian employers expect you in at work regardless of weather and road conditions. No snow days in Hungary!

Having said that hardly any snow yet this year.

A 12 year old VW Transporter and already the central locking has gone, the AC only works on fan setting 2 and the rear door latch is very dodgy......... New tires next year too. Had a mysterious vanishing oil issue too. We will be living off the main roads permanently now and the local roads are awful and essentially the access "roads" for us are getting to the point of being real offroading. And when we start using my wife"s tanya in the next village, that's even worse. But good for bees.

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

where are you based?

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

Bacs-Kisun megye near Kecskemét. Just reliving the toughness of finding a decent used car in Hungary.........

It's just having moved away from Budapest and now going to be working in agriculture for ourselves just starting to find the limitations of our vehicles. And it is essentially ground clearance.

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

Trying to read between the lines of what your situation is..
Would buying a cheap old tractor offer a solution?

Re: Just about put the van in a ditch....
 

It's getting out of the house down dirt tracks really. The van is for moving bees and associated paraphernalia about and it's got decent ground clearance so usually fine. The Astra is an everyday car.

Last winter was worse weather wise but this year I seem to be having near misses a lot more.......

I was wondering about about having just one vehicle for everything but really don't want a diesel, sadly still need two as I am still working. Hopefully in the next two years we can go full time with the bees and the Tanya. At some point a small tractor may be in our future but we are holding off until we decide exactly how we are going to organise the Tanya. Outside from ripping everything out and starting again!