What you don't want is unreliability or high spares costs.

Which rules out LandRovers and Mitsubishis.And Vauxhalls.And BMWs And Mercedes.

Which leaves Suzuki, Toyota, Honda,Nissan,Subaru,..

If you want a Subaru, check the rear subframe for rust.(Prior MOTs help)

From a previous post:

The first generation Touraeg was a very good vehicle certainly better than the Shogun, I put 140,000 Ks on one in just under 4 years, other than minor items brake pads etc all taken care of at routine servicing. The second generation was a dog (the accountants had been at it).

Have had 3 landcruisers no issues, they are getting very expensive but for reliability you can trust in areas with poor roads. Put over 150,000 Ks on each, bullet proof.

The Audi Q7 I test drove was of a par with the second generation Touraeg.

The only other big 4 x 4 I have been impressed with (drove from Stockholm to Bratislava) is the Porsche Cayenne, if I could finance the ownership costs I would have one tomorrow.

Remember the running costs of a 4 x 4 are roughly 250% above a similarly engined front wheel drive. They are mostly larger, if you cant afford 18 Mpg even for a mid size vehicle dont go that route.

Love to know how you can pick up one that's not ready for the scrap heap for £2-£3k....

I would say the OP's asking for the impossible.

...remember the running costs of a 4 x 4 are roughly 250% above a similarly engined front wheel drive. They are mostly larger, if you cant afford 18 Mpg even for a mid size vehicle dont go that route.

This cannot be so. How on earth do you arrive at such a figure? Which 'mid size' gas guzzler does only 18mpg in normal use?

The fuel consumption and tyre wear of 4x4 Audis are very little more than the same engined front drive versions and the other servicing costs are broadly similar. The A6 and larger A8 4x4s can do around 30mpg depending on engine type. The V8 and even W12 quattros will beat 18mpg.

If your annual mileage is fairly low the last thing you want is an ageing diesel. I agree with the comment about going Japanese but from friend's experiences my order would be Rav4, Suburu, CRV and X-Tail. My cousin in Oz is a fan of older Nissan Patrols but although massively reliable they are very, very thirsty...

In the early noughties my neighbours got anew RAV 4 and it was utterly reliable. At the same time colleagues at work had a 4x4 phase and brought a s/h Patrol (about 7 years old, a new Discovery and a new Jeep Cherokee. The Nissan was used for some serious off-roading and again was totally reliable. The Discovery and Jeep were cossetted road cars but seemed to spend inordinate amounts of time in the garage!

Audi A8 sports quattro. Always a few available for less than £3K on a well known site. A much underappreciated (no-one's mentioned it on this thread so far) beautifully engineered all aluminium car.

Dog might prefer A6 avant quattro. They are well galvanised, so corrosion shouldn't be a problem.

Although lacking in top end speed it will sit at 80 very happily.. disco 2 that is. If you want more kit pick ES spec. But at this budget i'd settle for a car that has good history.

About half a dozen years ago I bought an early Discovery 2 diesel for about 3 grand. Have had no major issues with it, just routine servicing and the odd minor issue that crops up on a car this age. Brilliant off road, real workhorse. Many people dont trust the td5 because it's got an ECU, but aside from oil going into the wiring harness which is preventable and an easy fix, (never happened on mine) they're bomb proof. If you want really cheap motoring, go for a Discovery 1 200tdi. 300tdi is also very robust. Just be sure to check underneath for rust. They'll all have over 100k on the clock but it's no major issue provided they've been serviced. Parts are dirt cheap on older land rovers when needed. For all those suggesting buying Japanese, have any of them had experience on farms with them? They seem to do well on the road, but take them into a farming environment and they just don't hold up as well as the older land rovers do. Just make sure you avoid the v8 models, even on LPG, utterly hopeless reliability wise sadly.

Edit: Hiring a 4x4 for off road is sheer madness, you'll be billed through the roof!

Maybe, but why buy a VERY expensive to buy and run 4x4 for it being used off road half a dozen times a year? There MUST be a better way, surely? People apparently hire many 4x4s in countries that need them, so why can't we? I don't mean a German 4x4, BTW, just a basic trim, proper off-roader that Mr and Mrs. Farmer would use. If you've only got a budget of three grand, you can't expect luxury, off and on-road ability/speed and reliability. How exactly is the OP going to pay for fuel, tax, servicing and insurance when they've only got £3k to spare to buy it? Why not spend a bit more on a better, more basic reliable car and less on running it. It might mean saving up, but you can buy a Dacia 4x4 for less than £15k these days, and its not THAT bad either.

As I said, the OP will have to cut their cloth to the circumstances - what about borrowing a 4x4 car for a day (if possible under a special insurance arrangement) from a friend etc? Maybe the OP's friends can visit him instead, or give him a lift from the local station/bus stop (presumably if they live in a rural area, they have an appropriate car). Too often people want their cake and to eat it. Geez!

Did the above respondents who suggest all these heavy 4x4 semi-agricultural vehicles actually ponder the OP's requirements? They were

'comfy....nippy....good top end speed...lot of motorways......(only)light offroading'.

The simplest thing to do is search on Autotrader for a 4x4 under 100k miles up to £2.5k within 50 miles.. and see what you get.Then ask us for our opinions..

Lots of KIA Sportage 4x4 petrol under that search.