With fog and frost bringing treacherous driving conditions to much of the country, MyCarCheck.com has compared the buying risks associated with five of the UK’s most popular 4x4 vehicles.

Most checked 4x4s in winter 2015-16 and 2016-17

 Most checks                                        % write-off                     % finance              % stolen
1.  Land Rover Range Rover                0%                                   7%                         0%
2. Land Rover Defender                      16.2%                               0%                         1.4%
3. BMW X5                                          4.8%                                 1.6%                       0%
4. Mitsubishi L200                              8.8%                                 1.8%                       0%
5. Audi Q7                                           4%                                    16%                        0%
Source: Mycarcheck.com

Head of MyCarCheck.com, Roger Powell, said: “4x4 sales surge during winter, so we merged our data for November 2015 to February 2016 and November 2016 to January 2017 to highlight the different risks associated with the most popular used models.

“By far the most checked 4x4 was the Land Rover Range Rover, for which outstanding finance was the biggest threat. Impressively, of well over 100 Range Rovers checked, none were listed as previously written-off or stolen. Compare this to the second most popular model, the Land Rover Defender, of which 16.2% had been written-off, 1.4% were listed as stolen and none had outstanding finance – an exactly opposite risk profile. The iconic Defender has gone out of production after more than half a century, making it a target for thieves. Also, many have been on the roads for years and are therefore more likely to have been involved in accidents.

“BMW X5 performed well across all three categories, while those interested in the workhorse Mitsubishi L200 are well advised to check the write-off history. For Audi Q7, a very high 16% of those checked had outstanding finance. Buyers should bear in mind that, largely due to the success of Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) agreements, a quarter of all cars on our roads actually belong to a finance company, not the people who drive them.

“An onslaught of snow can send 4x4 prices soaring, so canny consumers either get in early and pay a fair price or play the waiting game and hope dealers overstock. There might be four-wheel drive bargains to be had come spring! The private marketplace is where we see the majority of problems and our data can be the difference between buying a vehicle completely legally and being left hugely out of pocket.”

With information from the police, DVLA, insurers and finance houses, My Car Check holds comprehensive data on every vehicle on UK roads – things that buyers should be aware of before making an offer.

CDL Vehicle Information Services, which owns My Car Check, performs over a million look-ups a day for companies including AutoExpress, CompareTheMarket, Go-Compare, Moneysupermarket, Swiftcover and Tesco.