I mean that in an equal crash say head on with a smaller vehicle id rather be in the great wall, im in no way saying it has a higher rating than them. Ive seen a few photos from a few great walls that have crashed in the real world and I know this only represents half of the story but they seem to fair quite well in those cases. What im trying to say is for the money, the vehicle meets all my needs and exceeds some of them. Im also talking about the fact that its now my daily driver instead of the 1200 ute and being 6"6 tall I was always very worried of a crash in the datto!

hear hear absolutely right thats why I also prefer to be in my 1000 than my old BSA if it came to a bingle :(

definitely, I love old european bikes but i know id kill myself on a bike. Reason I sold my pushbike the day I got a license! people around here have no respect for cyclists and its too damn scary.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Sorry for the late reply, but ive been out at Kambalda for the last few days without access to a real internet connection.

Bert,
Thats the sort of story that I have heard from a few people who own the cars. Yeah sure its not a perfect car, but its freaking awsome value for $25,000.

Datsamore,
Yeah Im out in toodyay. Dad, is located wherever someone will let him park is bus. Currently, he is staying with friends at the Kalamunda Camel Farm. He was out here for about 6 months a while back, but getting to work is hard for him. (yep he still works at 70!!). If he moves up here again, we will need to build a unit for him. He drives me and the missus mad!

The new lady friend is based down in Bussleton though. We are trying to "encourage" him to go and stay more often with her, in the hope that he will move in down there.

As Dad is somewhat fickle at times, he has now said that he doesent want a dual cab, but rather a wagon of sorts so that he can take friends about in the back witout them cramping too much. Fair call I spose since dual cabs are not known for their back seat room.

He has also now told me that the bank will only load the money on a car less than 7 years old. That makes things hard, but there is the possibility of getting a car thru a finance mob provided by a dealership or something. At his age defaulting on a loan isnt a problem. This will be his last anyways.

Im still keen on pushing him towards a mid 90s landcruiser or patrol. Sure older tech, and will have around 250,000km, but both are relaible as, and pretty unbreakable (which is really important for my dad. He can break anything!)
But the Great Wall is dirt cheap, is new with 3 year warrenty, and from what bert said should two upto 2 tonne reasonaly well. Its likly that in 3 years dad wont be able to drive anyways, so a 3 year lifespan is not a bad thing as long as he owns it.

So to update the critera
wagon
Tow a caravan (weight to be determined)
4wd (Low range not neccessary but prefered)
$20,000 price tag

Any more thoughts?

Holden pos crewman? Awd parts anywhere in aus and decent towing capacity- not 2t I think though.

Crewman, hey, didnt think of that, perhaps an Adventura.....