Would you recommend a Toyota RAV4 for rural driving on flooded, muddy roads?

We need to replace our elderly 3-door Golf that we use for local journeys. Ideally we would like something nippy to cope with the country lanes and steep hills, will happily park (and drive away from) muddy verges and fields, and breeze through flooded roads in the autumn, as well as toughing it out on ice and snow in the winter. A tall order? We are taken with my sister-in-law’s 3-door RAV4, especially as it is a very comfortable ride. What would you suggest? With a budget of around £8,000 we are obviously looking for a used car. No bone-shakers please.

Asked on 8 November 2010 by TD, Leyburn

Answered by Honest John
In that case, the old model 3-door RAV-4. The Suzuki Grand Vitara 3-door from 2006 looks very similar and could be a substitute, but does not ride quite as well: www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/suzuki/suzuki-gran.../
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