Farm jeep/crewcab.

I don't think you'll be able to buy 1 in Europe, atleast in it's current iteration. It's partially do with the safety standards and owing to it's weight you'd need a C1 licence to drive it to the best of my knowledge.

I'd agree that Dmax is a good all rounder but it's a pity there wasn't another few horses under the bonnet. I only run a 12 foot Porter behind mine and I think 5 good cattle is lot's behind it, something I never considered beyond the Ranger's abilities.

I put a clutch in the Dmax over the summer despite doing my best to mind it and using the low box when needed. I drove the Ranger for 3 years in the same circumstances and the clutch never as much as smelled in it. I'll probably keep the Dmax for another while but I wouldn't be raving about it to other's. Is the 1.9 version any better I wonder?

Watching a few UK car auctions you could get 2 range rovers for under 30k, with a bit of luck when one is in for repairs the other one would stay going.

Pajero here after the Land Cruiser chassis rusted out. It's ok, pig on juice, good for trailer work but it's not a patch on the old cruiser at all. My advice would be put some money into the old one and maintain it properly. If you need a crewcab for kids just get a small diesel car.

I'd argue that it's too highly geared, you have to keep the revs up when changing up the gears or it will die out especially going from 1st to 2nd. Maybe it's just me but I often went up a steep hill in 1st loaded and went to change on the flat with a good rev up and it would still want to stall if you didn't floor it. Once you get up the gears it's not to bad but it's fairly gutless taking off which didn't do the clutch much justice I'd imagine.

As for the interior and fancy gimmicks like Lane assist I buy single cab poverty specification so there's a blank bit of plastic where that would be. On the plus side I suppose it keeps the weight down which helps with the lack of power.

The 2.5. You were referencing the 1.9? I've no experience of those.

A jeep is an all round sort of a tool compared to the handy cattle lorry. You can use it as a daily runaround, tow a trailer, you've 4wd for land work and bad lanes ect, do the school run, go to a wedding or a funeral in it and so on.

If you've good loading facilities then they should fit, if the first one stands crossways at the front then you'll get the other 3 side to side behind him. I've a 12x6 and you'll put 5 of those stores on it with ease and 6 with a bit of luck and perseverance. The problem usually arises when the trailer is 10x5"9 as opposed to 10x6 and the bullocks are pushing for 600kg average.

I don't have any experience of the newer type Ranger but I'd look into one if I was in you're position. I'm talking about an 18 or 19 reg 3.2 one as a quick scout on donedeal shows them coming in just under €30k in general. Any of the complaints I heard about them were concerning the 2.2 version. A good few of the cow men about here run them and a 14 or 16 foot trailer with a load of beef cows and bulls daily is as good a test as any imo. You're probably talking another €8k or €10k and maybe more to buy a similar Hilux I'd imagine.

Seeing as milage isn't a huge concern then you could probably stomach a bit extra in fuel costs and I've yet to hear anyone complaining about the 3.2 lacking power. Those 2.8 Hilux's aren't renowned for being misers on diesel anyway so there probably isn't much in the difference in that regard. As regards manual or automatic I wouldn't be able to answer that but a lot of lad's praise the auto box. What it would be like in a field or a tight slippy lane way loaded would be one of my concerns but I've no experience of it either way.

One of the biggest gripes I have about the Ranger and modern pickups in general is there gone into a real Yank tank in recent year's. There pushing 17 and 18 foot long now and coupled with a 14 foot trailer you've not far off 40 foot all in. I'd imagine there's lots of confined spots in you're country too and it takes a bit of maneuvering to get about. There's too much trim and plastic on the Ranger especially, it's grand till you give it a rub of a stone wall ditch or similar and it's hanging off or leaving a void where it once was. The Ranger's seem to be highly speced in general which is a bonus if you're into those things. I'd say there fairly comfortable which would be important coming from the Cruiser as there like being at home in the bed especially the lwb.