What type of vehicle do you drive?

[Gator]

Are your outdoor pursuits a factor in what vehicle(s) you've purchased?

Cargo room? Room for hiking/camping buddies? Gas mileage so you can afford to make trips? Traction for winter conditions? Reliability so you know you'll make it? What's most important to you?

I'm looking to purchase a new(er and particularly more reliable car and I'm trying to get my priorities in order. I've been thinking a lot about the cargo room of wagons and suv's so I can take myself and a few buddies on a camping trip and I was just curious if others thought about that when purchasing their vehicles.

 

[sapblatt]

Space is a major issue...we have two compact cars and it makes car camping a challenge when packing. Also, the child seat makes the capacity a lot smaller. On the plus side, both cars get around 30 mpg which is a big plus these days. The future probably holds an Odyssey/Sienna type vehicle and I would like to see some 4WD as I want to expand my seasons a bit.

 

[Outtabreath]

Nissan Pathfinder

Gator
I looked for cargo room, reliabilty and comfort for making the 2 -3 hour trips to the mountains and the Pathfinder fit the bill. It has plenty of room for a week long skiing, snowboarding, climbing and hiking trip with the family. It has a very comfortable ride and is reliable to get through the dirt/snow covered back roads for camping. This also seats seven in case my kids want to take friends.

 

[truepatriot09]

Pontiac Vibe?

Does anyone of the wagon driving crowd roll in the Vibe? We're going to trade in our Xterra (which I was very happy with) in an effort to get a more fuel efficent vehicle and while comparing the Vibe with Subaru's I'm finding you get better mileage and it's more affordable...

I always have referred to my Xterra and Cherokee (the X's predecessor) as my largest most expensive piece of gear, due to the fact that it has to carry bikes, boats, packs and dogs. But I'm willing to compromise with fuel prices being high and a kid on the way.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Are your outdoor pursuits a factor in what vehicle(s) you've purchased?

You might want to make this a poll...

 

[onestep]

My current vehicle is a '97 Ford Taurus w/ 184,000 well maintained miles on it. It's trunk is large enough for a weeks worth of car camping gear minus the cooler. In addition, I have a "Clamshell" (roof cargo box, ie Thule like) that has from time to time has ridden along with me on the last 3 vehicles I've owned.

My top 2 priorities for purchasing a car are as follows:

1/ Affordability (I don't do debt)
2/ Dependability (long term reliability, I keep 'em till they die)

Now with that said, and in light of todays energy costs, I've allready decided to add one more priority to my next vehicle... it must get good gasoline milage!

With the roof mounted cargo box even a Chevy Prism (Toyota Corolla wrapped in an american flag) will satisfy my pursuit of the outdoors.

Onestep

 

[anita514]

subaru legacy 2.5 gt

it's ok on gas (ie: almost a full tank to get from montreal to north conway). enough room for 3 in the back, but not more. awd + good winter tires = great in snow. the trunk space is good if it's just 2-3 people with backpacks/sleeping bags. more than that and it's pretty tight.
I'm looking to get a new car next year too, most likely a WRX

 

[robohiker]

Vehicle choice

The Mrs. and I use the much out dated Mars Rover.
It gets great gas mileage, as of now it has 1,000,000,000,000,000,000, miles on it and it still runs great. that's 400 trips back to our Mars vacation home with nothing more than oil changes.

 

[Jkrew81]

05 Pontiac Vibe

Best of all worlds’ transportation in my book. Not only do the backseats fold down to give amazing cargo room for a car of its size but when driven correctly I get 38mpg on the highway. To beat that it is built on Toyota Corolla platform, which is arguably one of the top 3 most reliable cars on the planet. Not to mention GM is doing their employee pricing on it so you can get it new for about 15 grand. I have not driven it in the snow yet, but there is an AWD version I decided against for fuel economy purposes. The car does have its downsides though for hiking. Like with many SUVs and wagons it is not as easy to hide things without making it obvious. While the car does have a few secret nitches, they would not be that hard for a theif to find. Yes while I do worry that I have a new car and it may be a target in comparison to my old Jetta with 100,00 miles, but for piece of mind, I got a LoJack.

Let it be known that you do not need to spend an arm and a leg to buy a Prius to get good fuel economy. I have found a few sites with news that in 2 years GM will be releasing after-market equipment to go in their cars to make gas engines up to 30% more efficient.

Do us all a favor and don't pollute the road with more SUV's. Please don't take me wrong, certain families and whatnot definately need the space, but it is truly agrivating to see those who waste just for the sake of wasting.

 

[anita514]

Do us all a favor and don't pollute the road with more SUV's. Please don't take me wrong, certain families and whatnot definately need the space, but it is truly agrivating to see those who waste just for the sake of wasting.

like the soccer moms driving their Hummers to the grocery store?

 

[arghman]

when is subaru going to come out with a hybrid gas-electric 4wd station wagon?

 

[dr_wu002]

Most people know about my car but I'll say it again: The Wu-Mobile (as Barbarossa calls it) is a '98 Green Saturn SL. I get about 40+ mpg on the highway and it has dog vomit in the back seat. But I've covered up most of it with the 'gatorade' bottles. I guess it's roomy enough -- I have my snowshoes in it still, and a bottle of anti-freeze that cracked open and is spilling everywhere. I can hide things in it (who breaks into a car like this?) by just stashing important stuff in one of the 90 thousand plastic bags and other bits of refuse.

I hope that one day, if the car gets stolen, that the thieves look in the back and say, "oooh, this guy left us gatorade!" and take a big, long swig!

-Dr. Wu

 

[Jkrew81]

haha

Haha, yes Anita, exactly. If I get cut off by one more Caddy Escalade with 19 inch rims doing 80mph up to Loon (wimpy yuppie mtn) with a dvd player going in the back so they don't have to be bothered by their kids, I swear I will puke.

TruePatriot, message me and I will give you the lowdown on the Vibe. In my humble oppinion there is nothing better than giving you money to an American Company with Toyota engineering.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

Scion xB

(note classy VFTT sticker in window)

$14K
tons of space
AC, traction control, ABS, ESC all standard
35 mpg highway
Toyota safety and reliability
chick magnet

 

[shamples]

I got my big bad Honda Element working for me. At first, bought it just for more room with a new baby on the way, but now having it 2 and a half years it has come in handy with its cargo space and its could be much worse gas mileage. 50,000 miles in 2.5 years and still going strong.

 

[KMartman]

subaru legacy 2.5 gt

it's ok on gas (ie: almost a full tank to get from montreal to north conway). enough room for 3 in the back, but not more. awd + good winter tires = great in snow. the trunk space is good if it's just 2-3 people with backpacks/sleeping bags. more than that and it's pretty tight.
I'm looking to get a new car next year too, most likely a WRX

Love my WRX.......but alas i'd switch to the Outback now if I had the chance, not too much longer on current lease. Now with 2 dogs and the need to move gear on occassion I need a bigger car. The WRX is SOOOOO fun to drive though..

M

 

[dr_wu002]

like the soccer moms driving their Hummers to the grocery store?

I can remember as a kid going on vacation with my parents (obvious) and me and my sister in my dad's little Volkswagen Rabbit which is literally about the size of a hollowed out rabbit.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Jay H]

the Subaru 2.5l Turbo 4 is a nice peppy motor, one can find it in the '05 outback XT or the Legacy GT however, you do need premium fuel for it.

I justify it by simply driving less and biking more!

Jay

 

[KMartman]

the Subaru 2.5l Turbo 4 is a nice peppy motor, one can find it in the '05 outback XT or the Legacy GT however, you do need premium fuel for it.

I justify it by simply driving less and biking more!

Jay

I think they also offer that engine in the outback now.

Like I mentioned earlier I have a WRX and I RARELY run permium fuel in it (manufacturerers specs). I do occassionally give it a nice "drink" of the good stuff, but I don't really notice and SERIOUS performance hit with regular gas, but to each his own..It is a lease, but I don't think i'd run super in it even if it wasnt....




M

 

[king tut]

I bought a new 05 mazda 3 a few months ago, and i love it. It drives great, it's real quick, and i get about 30-32 mpg normally. Not a lot of room for a family, but it is great for a single guy. I also looked at the toyota corolla and honda civic, but those seemed more stripped down and less options.