Thread: 4WD / Family Car

A massive can of worms i'm sure, so please keep it civil .

Later this year i'll be looking for a 4WD that will also act as a family car and for family camping trips. It'll be used in town 90% of the time. So the requirements are:

1. Not too huge for wife/parking reasons.
2. 4WD capable enough for paddocks and tracks, sand, etc, but nothing extreme.
3. Large enough boot space to hold gear for camping trips with 2 adults and a couple of kids.
4. 7 seater option (not essential) with fold-up or removable chairs.
5. Decent towing capability. Trailer should be all it would need. We don't have a boat or caravan.
6. AUTOMATIC (edited this in. Wifey can't drive manual and it will be the end of us if I have to teach her to drive again, haha).

I'm resigned to the fact that we may eventually need a trailer to do the typical kiwi family camping trip with all of the usual crap. But is it possible with just a boot-load and maybe a roof rack or pod?

Thoughts on petrol vs diesel? Turbo diesel seems to be everyone's preference lately?

I know next to nothing about this stuff. Prado's and Patrol's are generally what i'm told when asking around. Thoughts on these? Or other suggestions. Would like to try keep it to a max of $30k.