Automatic 4x4 on a budget?

[Frostycake]

Can anyone recommend a good one?

Looking at mid range really (so not Land Rover/Audi but not Darcia Duster either).

So confusing and WhatCar/Which/AA/Honest John are no help whatsoever as all they seem to care about are looks and performance.

If you don't care about looks and performance, what are your priorities?

How big does it need to be? You can get a (very capable) 4WD Panda (might not be available in auto, I don't know); or you could go a bit bigger and get a Toyota Landcruiser. Or a lot bigger and get a Ford F150.

How budget is budget? Is it a modest budget for a new car, or a modest budget for a secondhand car?

How off road do you need to go? Do you need proper locking diffs and low range, or just a bit of fancy traction control? I.e. backwoods vs. icy Tesco car park?

I'm guessing you're looking more into the likes of fuel efficiency, good handling, convenient to drive, stuff like that?

I'm all for the Nissan X-Trail, it really is great to drive and we averaged around 45.6MPG when we had the car in which isn't bad considering the size of the car.

I just find it extremely practical compared to others and I'm pretty certain you can get these pretty cheap.

Yeah again it does depend on the size of the car that fits you best, if this is too big a great alternative would be the Nissan Qashqai

Sorry. Should have been more specific.

I have a £5,000 for a deposit and can spend roughly £450 per month on finance. Don't mind if it's new or second hand.

Doesn't need to be proper roving off-lander; I live semi-rurally but need to access rural Cheshire frequently and Scottish lowlands occassionally (and Tesco car park sometimes!). Don't really care about fuel efficiency so could go for petrol over diesel but would like Automatic as I have a dodgy left foot. Doesn't need to be big at all (no dogs/kids).

Will look at the X-Trail. I was wondering about a Honda CR-V or a Volvo C90.

Had a look and the X-Trail will probably be the cheapest out of the three if your purchasing new. I think the market price is around £407 a month for an automatic but can probably get cheaper. :)

Honda CR-V is slightly more expensive, and I've heard it costs more to run but It's extremely practical and you can't fault it's reliability.

If you're on a budget, wouldn't bother with the Volvo, think it's XC90 you mean? I think the price is too steep, and what with reliability and fuel consumption not at its best.

Although I do like the interior and the space that comes with it, I'd avoid and go for some alternatives.