Side by side vs jeep cj

So, my brother is a realtor. Hes getting more and more land/farm sales.

He has tasked me with finding an inexpensive (8k under) four seat off road vehicle that looks nice, and will show well to his clients  

Ive talked him into thinking wrangler/cj as well as the utv he was thinking. 

Since this market segment is radically different to me, im coming here. 

First and foremost,  am i right in thinking jeep is a better tool for this job?

Anyone east of the Mississippi and south of the rust belt have a good lead on a utv that fits his criteria?

On the jeep side,  all the ones on local sale pages are lifted. In my mind, and his opinion,  he wants stock height. How hard are they to UNlift? Any version of the jeep from 1950-2010 better than the others for tjis particular job? Ill be the guy fixing it, and teaching him maintenance and repair, so more reliability is more better. Hell, if one of us has a jeep that meets the criteria in the same general geographic area,  im game! 

I love jeeps, but I think a utv is the right answer here. The reason I say that is you say a four seater for customers. Getting into the back seat of any 2 door jeep is awful for anyone over 30 and a hazard/damn near impossible for people over 50. He could do a four door jk at stock height with running boards, if those are at the correct price range. I'm not sure if four seat Utv's are available at 8k (I've never priced them), but if I had a couple retirees getting ready to spend a big pile of money that is what i would want to put to them in.

I'll agree that any 2 door Jeep is the wrong answer. I also have no idea if it's possible to get any running 4dr Jeep at less than $8k. If he has a side by side will he have to trailer it to a property in order to use it? Is it better for him to sell his current daily vehicle and spend the $$ to buy a nice 4dr Jeep to drive all the time that's also capable of showing property?

I agree with gearhead. Id rather have a CJ and i think its probably the cost effective way, but i dont think his customers will enjoy climbing into a old tractor of a jeep as much as a stock side by with 4 doors.  
 

a newer 4 door jeep with a hardtop and A/C would be much better in my opinion. Or a crew cab truck. 

UTV. If you want to show well, you want something that looks new or at least newish. The Jeep would need to be cosmetically restored (pricey). The only issue is if you need to drive on the highway rather than trailer it.

$8,000? No.

I thought this was the realtor vehicle of choice - good news, they might bring it back.  

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2022-jeep-grand-wagoneer-renderings/

Anything with heat and ac is going to be better than something without.

Decent tires on a used lexus or something is probably going to be perfect.

A side by side is sooooo much easier to get in and out of than a Jeep. Ita the equivalent to stepping into a minivan compared to a lifted vehicle.

Plus a little extra closer to the elements, a greater sense of speed, will sell a property faster because it will feel like you are traveling a longer distance at great speed but actually just puttering along. The potential buyer will have a sense of a bigger piece of land. 

I think that a back seat like this  would be easy to get in and out. And the view is phenomenal. 

For that price I don't think a 4dr Jeep exists  I don't know E36 M3 about UTVs  are they road legal where he works?

How about a 300,000 mile Lexus landcruiser ?

What about a Grand Cherokee or the unloved Jeep Commander?

Both are old enough to have samples in the price range and offer a balance of capability, accessibility, and comfort. 
 

edited for autocorrect 

Duke said:

"Jew Commander"?  That better be an autocorrect typo. 
 

Yes, that was autocorrect. 

In reply to Duke :

I'm sure our rabbi feels the same way. 
 

on edit: I wouldn't object if a moderator chose to remove the quoted typo to avoid offending anyone. 

Mahindra Roxor?

SXS meets CJ

In reply to akamcfly :

Price is the one there. I had him look at those.

Thanks all! Lets keep the discussion going!

When we were shopping for acreage a couple years ago, realtors all either had 4 seater SxSs or nothing.  We walked about 1/3 of the properties we looked at, and got to ride around in the others.

You get a lot more bang for the buck with a Jeep, but you lose the convenience of ease of egress/ingress for back seat passengers.

You could get a really nice 4 door Jeep Cherokee, Suzuki Sidekick (Tracker), or Isuzu Trooper for less than $8K.

The biggest problems with SxS in most cases is you then need another 15-20K for a truck and trailer to get it anywhere. So it's really a 25-30K investment when you are done. You can go get an older land cruiser or something like an Xterra or even an older pathfinder Would be perfect for 8K. 

Or for something Cheap and somewhat classy: https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/colorado-springs-2004-volkswagen/7155401436.html

I see a lot of first gen jeep Liberty's still running around, even here in upstate NY.   Have to be cheap.

I had a one for eight years .  No real complaints.

No one has mentioned a JD gator or even a 4x4 golf cart yet? 

Presumably you're not going up bounty hills or getting into severe off camber situations anyway.

$8k will buy a lot of Jeep Grand Cherokee. Leather seats and AC while going a lot of places. 

What's his daily driver?

Spend to make DD more off road capable? 

Jeep Commander too which is built on the Grand Cherokee frame just more rearward over hang to accommodate a 3rd row. 

Edit. I read through and see the same was recommended earlier today. 

So, his daily is a Tacoma 2wd. Hed be borrowing my trailer, which is definitely not heavy duty enough for his application. So he wind up investing in another trailer to pull behind his truck with a side by side. The reason he does not want to look at an SUV is due to the footprint of them being a bit larger and more difficult to maneuver in wooded areas. A lot of the land he is selling is apparently heavily wooded. As far as a four-wheel drive golf cart goes I'm not even sure how to search for those.

How about renting something like a job site Gator (and probably the needed trailer) on just the days he really needs it? 

These types of vehicles can often be rented from a place like where you would rent a hi-low or a bobcat. 

The answer is obviously bed mounted seats for the Taco. Think of it as a luxury version of the Subaru Brat. 
 

a set of portable stairs up into the bed, comfy seats, a complimentary cooler full of drinks. What's not to love? It's realtor safari!

edit: I guess first he needs a 4wd taco though...

He needs rally suspension and an LS swap for his 2wd taco you mean