I'm starting to look for another vehicle. I've barely had my 06 GrandPrix over a year now, but I seriously need something that's a little more outdoor oriented...also something that can pull small loads.
Mostly I need something that I can stick a kayak onto or pull a small sailboat..maybe 2-4x's a year pull a pop up trailer. I don't need a lot of ground clearance but I do need room for 5. And damnit, I don't think I could ever drive a truck again. I like the way my wife's CRV drives although it's gotta be revved to do anything. I just want something that drives like a car but has a couple more uses than your average car.
Do you guys have any suggestions? I want to buy used. I only drive 8-10K miles a year. I don't have to have 4wd, but AWD would be nice.
2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland is a good vehicle to look at. My mother's jeep had the H.O. 4.7L V8 and full time AWD. She was still averaging 23-24mpg highway and about 20mpg on rural roads. They weren't towing a popup, but they had an 1100l [empty weight] Teardrop camper that it towed like it wasn't even there.
I hadn't even thought about looking into a Jeep. That's probably a place I could get a good deal, they don't really hold up their value do they\? Another thing I was thinking about was an older subaru.
The Overland is the next level above the Limited. So it was about ...38-40k new But they can be had anywhere from 6k-12k depending on where you buy from and the mileage. The old 4.0L I6 is a very tough engine as well, and it was used in all lines of jeeps until mid 2k. But yeah, Grand Cherokees have a bit more interior passenger room. THe last Subaru I drove was an Outback 5spd non-turbo. I wasn't impressed, but then it wasn't in the greatest of care either
The Jeep Liberty Limited was the most versatile, sporty, practical vehical I've owned.
Just say no to the
Jeep Liberty
Great Reliable, well priced tough trucks and SUV's
Ford Ranger - Edge 4x4's
Blazer/Jimmy
Jeep Cherokee
99-06 Suzuki Grand Vitara
Any Trailblazer
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
And although i do like Grand Cherokees, i find as they have too much electronic "conveinences"
that go wrong as they become more used. I like just basics in my off-road vehicles just power windows.
"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net
Jookycola wrote:And although i do like Grand Cherokees, i find as they have too much electronic "conveinences"
that go wrong as they become more used. I like just basics in my off-road vehicles just power windows.
I hear this from Jeep fans all the time; that's why we got a Cherokee Sport instead. Other than the gas mileage, it couldn't be better. Get a 4.0L Cherokee and smile
fortune cookie say: better a delay than a disaster
Try looking at a trailblazer/envoy .... they are built on the GMT360 platform (hence are a real truck) and can pull quite a lot of weight 7700Lbs IIRC. My wife has an 04 envoy with the 4.2 I6 and it's a great truck ... and also very reliable
Jay
I like my Ranger. It's pretty tough. But the gas mileage should be better for its size.
My buddy has a 04 Jeep Grand Cheroke. It is also hard on gas, maybe 16 mpg on a good day. It has the 4.7.
My parents 09 Escape is pretty nice. Good car like ride, good nuts with the V6 and 6spd trans.
What do you haul more, people or stuff?
O noes!
subaru outback... if you can find one with the h6, you'd be golden. if you pickup a 2.5, check to see if the head gaskets have been done. if they haven't, plan on replacing them around the 100-120k range.
they definetely hold their value though and will run for a LONG time if maintained.
I had a 02 Trailblazer LTZ, great truck, the engine had power to tow, I pulled moving trailers with no issues. You would want a LS since there are less power options than the LTZ.
strat81 wrote:subaru outback... if you can find one with the h6, you'd be golden. if you pickup a 2.5, check to see if the head gaskets have been done. if they haven't, plan on replacing them around the 100-120k range.
they definetely hold their value though and will run for a LONG time if maintained.
They're not good for pop-ups, we looked into trading our 2.5 for a 3.0 to tow & found out it's not much better. I don't remember what weight it is which the pop-up needs it's own brakes, but the really light ones (still pretty heavy for an H6) don't have brakes. We went to the camping show in Hershey this past year to see what the light-weight options are for us & there's a whole lot of not much
Unfortunately, the one thing Subaru does not do well. Even the Tribeca isn't very capable of towing.
That said, we decided when the time comes to tow, we're going to be looking at a Pathfinder years 2005+ when they became an actual body on frame. By the numbers, it seems to be the most capable towing SUV (7000# IIRC) that's not a giant, plus the interior seems pretty nice. The closest we've been is peeking through some windows, but we think it's a pretty good match for outdoorsy stuff. Even the Xterra can tow 5000# IIRC, but the reviews for daily driving were pretty poor when I did my research.
although it might not be the best for towing a pop up, i tend to disagree that it's not up to the task.
there was a driver in the RA series that would tow his rally car to and from events on an aluminum car trailer behind a subaru wagon. granted the trailer i'm sure has brakes but i'm pretty sure a rally car/trailer weighs more than a pop up. (unless you're talking massive pop up/borderline travel trailer) i've also seen alot of people pull boats (fiberglass and aluminum) with them as well (some i'd estimate in the 18' range and most likely without trailer brakes).
is it going to pull like a suv/truck with a bigger motor? no. will it get better gas mileage and still be comfortable in pretty much every other situation. i'd say yes.
Smokey wrote:I like my Ranger. It's pretty tough. But the gas mileage should be better for its size.
My buddy has a 04 Jeep Grand Cheroke. It is also hard on gas, maybe 16 mpg on a good day. It has the 4.7.
My parents 09 Escape is pretty nice. Good car like ride, good nuts with the V6 and 6spd trans.
What do you haul more, people or stuff?
There's two versions of the 4.7L V8. There's the standard truck motor and there's the H.O. 4.7L. The differences between them are like night and day.
I do have to agree though, electrical bugs plague the Grand Cherokees, but the normal Cherokees are very solid and again, the 4.0L I6 is about as tough an engine as you can get.
I bought an 05 Trailblazer back in August and I couldn't be happier with it. It's an LS with every upgraded option except navigation. We've taken it camping and it did fine in wooded areas without a lift or knobby tires. I've towed car trailers with it to pick up vehicles out of state with no problems at all.
That whole platform that the Trailblazer is on, doesn't seem to be a bad set of vehicles. I wouldn't buy a Jimmy/Blazer used, though. They are money traps and you never see very many of them making it into the those higher odometer miles, without a lot of maintenance. Actually my dad ended up a few grand in the whole last December from buying a Jimmy. It was an '02 with 102,000 miles. And I don't know the models, but it's the 2-door (annoying as hell) with the bigger stereo. Anyways, 2 days after he got it, the engine went to @!#$. Best he could do, to cut his losses, was sell it for $1,000...
If I was looking for a GMT360/370 for towing use I would look for a V8. The I6 is to underpowered for my taste. I think that for normal driving I would prefer the V8 as well. The I6 is just to lacking in the low end to be useful for what I would do. Also most of the customers I dealt with that went from a I6 to a V8 said they experienced a decent improvement in fuel economy under all driving conditions.
