desertmum

God no, not a Pathfinder . . . . a proper Nissan Patrol - the ac was fine. As EM says the locals love Patrols - and look at what the police drive . .

Tockalosh

Have to agree that an old shape Patrol is the way to go. We have just sold a company Patrol LWB with 287,000 kms on the clock for 44,000 aed in Abu Dhabi on sealed bids from Arabs so you appear to get more for your money with the Toyotas.

If you spend a weekend duning then you will see loads of Europens in tricked out wranglers and loads of Arabs going faster, farther and more reliably in Patrols. nuff said.
Prado is much better on road than a Fortuner (currently have the latter but did have the former). The 2.7 is a harsh drive as the ratios between gears are huge so you are always thrashing the backside of it. The 4L is much smoother and relaxed. AC to the back row is excellent but you will have bugger all space behind the seats
Landcruiser is even better but you gonna pay for one.
The LC70 series pick ups are a ball but you would have to hoof 5 in the pick up bed so out of the running

None of the current Hyundai's have low ratio boxes so if you are serious about hitting the dunes hard then avoid.

A Ford Expedition can take to the sands reasonably and seats seven. You will just be in low ratio already whilst the fortuners are still in high and the build quality is no where near as good as the Japs. I enjoyed mine though

Chevy GMC Suburban with Z71 off road package is another good option. 7/8 seats options and bags of space behind the 3rd row of seats. Big lazy V8's and I saw a few of the tour companies using them for some serious duning. Loads of em are 2WD only so make sure you know what you are buying

All the Hondas are crap in the sand and no low ratio box. I stand to be corrected but if I remember rightly the MRV/Pilot only operates in 1st gear in All wheel drive. I remember reading the manual in a mates when we couldnt figure out why the dashboard switch wouldnt engage. What a load of garbage

Have fun as all the above are in Budget. If it was my money at your budget it would be a LWB Patrol

Blue Cat

If anyone is interested or are looking for a Pajero my friend is back in AD now and has hers for sale. It's a 2005 Mitsubishi Pajero GLX, 111,000km, dark blue, automatic transmission, super-reliable, Dh35,000 or nearest offer. PM me for contact telephone number.

Meow

Isn't G's the SWB?

Blue Cat

GLX is the model, yes it is a SWB

Meow

The OP wanted a 7 seater. Bit of a squeeze in the SWB...

Blue Cat

she can always give her kid away, problem solved

Meow

Ha ha! I like your thinking.

If it's well-behaved she might even get a few Dirhams for it!

Blue Cat

or sell it to the Gypsies!!

mummy2dolly

Oh I LIKE this plan....... I wonder if I could find anywhere that'd take both of them, I could get me something fast and sporty then

soukie

Only 2 ? They will have a lot of room in a 7 seater!

Blue Cat

SWB is fine if you only have two!! if not try the kids on Dubizzle then with the cash you get for them, get a porsche

Millhouse

The SWB version does not have rear AC. Mini gets pretty pissed off in the Pajero in summer. I'd also hate to phaff with 2 kids and car seats etc. in a 3 door car.

nottmbantam

Pretty much in agreement with the other posts:

Land Cruiser.Best off roader. Expensive to buy new, and hard to find used.
Patrol. Solid, reliable and some rate it better than LandCruiser.
Prado.Pretty good all rounder
Pajero ( expensive parts compared to Toyota and Nissan though ) .

I was told to avoid the American makes eg Ford Explorer / Chevy Trailblazer.

The Toyota FJ Cruiser is apparently a beast off road, but only is a five seater.

Bob

They might not be to bad out your way, only to be avoided in cold places as they're rust buckets, and the explorer has a knack for losing ball joints every 20K miles and a whole set can cost $600 to replace.