Offroad/beach car that is a good daily driver/commuter

[zak-striper]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:37 PM, Turkeybacn said:

Tacoma/4Runner

 

I'm in the market for a truck. I love the Taco but I found it uncomfortable and loud on a test drive. I'd hate to drive it as a regular commuter car, especially driving a lot of miles per day. I'm currently leaning towards a loaded up Honda Ridgeline. It's more comfortably and gets better mileage

 

Edited May 25 by zak-striper

[Jim McFeeley]

On 5/24/2023 at 7:58 PM, zak-striper said:

 

I'm in the market for a truck. I love the Taco but I found it uncomfortable and loud on a test drive. I'd hate to drive it as a regular commuter car, especially driving a lot of miles per day. I'm currently leaning towards a loaded up Honda Ridgeline. It's more comfortably and gets better mileage

 

I found the  same thing. Had a Taco it sucked on any kind of long trips at all . 

[S Hook]

Last time I was down to North Carolina, Outerbanks, you could just drive onto the beach. No permit.  There were access cuts every quarter mile or so. Now that’s freedom!

Not sure if it’s still like that.

Edited May 25 by S Hook

[FoliFish]

On 5/24/2023 at 2:18 PM, Jim McFeeley said:

I didn't know there were places that actually had that requirement 

A few towns/beaches in my area "require" 4WD....at least its in the guide/rule book.  That said, nobody is doing any sort of inspection on vehicles drive type when purchasing the pass.  I've seen plenty of AWD out there.

[FoliFish]

On 5/24/2023 at 5:59 PM, Jim McFeeley said:

I would say a passport  or maybe the souped up rav4 4. My pilot was great in the sand as well just lacked a little clearance but it was never a problem . 

Same.  We have a 2015 Pilot that does well, but clearance is lacking for sure.  A lot of scraping some days haha.

[Blurple928]

F150 V6 Eco Boost!

[FallenKell]

On 5/24/2023 at 7:18 PM, Jim McFeeley said:

Where? Because I had a pilot that was Awd but could be switched so all 4 wheels turned. With the awd systems today that doesn't make sense to me

It depends on the type of AWD system in use in the car. There are really 3 types now:

 

1) the original old school systems, that would mainly drive 2 designated drive wheels and turn on the others only when it sensed those two drive tires slipping/spinning freely (all tires receive power after slippage detected)

2) symmetrical AWD, where-in all tires are sensed to be turning all the time with power distributed using limited slip diffs across all the tires (i.e. all tires continuously receiving power)

3) smart AWD, where-in the system again primarily tries to just power 2 drive wheels, but is sensing the load from each tire and adjusting continuously to give better traction (all tires receive power with continuous distribution of power to the tires that are not slipping)

 

Almost all Subaru cars are symmetrical AWD, meaning all 4 tires continuously receive power. The only difference between that and 4x4 is that unlike 4x4, you can not turn it off (without major modifications). The only vehicle that Subaru sells which does not have symmetrical AWD is their joint-venture vehicle with Toyota, the BRZ (Subaru provided the engine, while Toyota provided the drive-train).

Edited May 25 by FallenKell

[FallenKell]

On 5/25/2023 at 10:10 AM, Blurple928 said:

F150 V6 Eco Boost!

I am hoping that the "!" at the end tried to convey your sarcasm. At some point, I suspect it will be a dependable engine, but it isn't at the moment. You are lucky to get 5-10k miles over the warranty, with about lots of owners needing major engine overhaul (and/or swap) while still in the warranty. Not going to see many of these make it to 150k-300k that we see cars/trucks like the Toyota T-150 (err... sorry, they weren't allowed to call it that), I mean the T100, later renamed the Tacoma when they moved where it was made from Japan to North America.

 

You can still see plenty of T100's on the road today and they stopped calling them that in 1998, so those vehicles are 24+ years old. The only reason you don't see as many of the Tacoma's that are 10+ years was because they decided to change the conformal coating (and/or process) they used to put on the frame/body to prevent rust, and the "new" one they used was junk that rusted out within 1-3 years of Northeast winter salt....

[Blurple928]

I am on my 4th Ford F-150 now and have put 175K miles minimum on each one with only general wear and tear maintenance on them. Granted this is my first V6 Eco Boost, but I am currently at 110K and still going strong. With a family of 4 this is a great all around Truck/Family vehicle with plenty of space. 

[Highlander1]

On 5/24/2023 at 8:04 AM, plugger said:

I’m getting multiple offers to buy back my 3 year old Jeep.

I'd take it, 3 year old Jeeps are next up for issues, along with Dodge and Land/Range Rover. I only say shed it because its a Jeep (see above other dogs). After 50 years and owing almost 40 (16 new) vehicles, the following are the results of my experiences. I also believe its the opinion of the masses that care about cost of owning, some don't even consider it. For example, we have leased (1) vehicle (wifes car/SUV) since 1999, currently a Kia K5, have never replaced a tire, battery or brakes on any of them and free oil changes from the dealer, its gas and go for us, $1500 down, 36 month lease,   $330 a month or $11 a day, 15k miles a year and we are always driving something fairly new and under warranty. Our loss is manageable,around $12k for 3 years, about the same I would lose if I bought it. 

 

 In answer to the inquiry, if $$ are not an issue and gas mileage is not important, a Toyota 4Runner, if both are important factors, Subaru has the answers and a better 4WD system than all the others, just not a fan of the boxer engine or the CVT Trans.

 

Toyota and Honda are advisable. Honorable mention to Hyundai, Kia and Subaru, although I shy away from buying them, I would lease though. Gun to my head and I had to buy American, Ford would be my choice of poison. 

 

And these offers from dealers aren't because they love your ride or that you bought right and are smarter than most, its all timing and $$. You sell high, you buy high. Selling privately usually brings in more $$, but of course many of us are led to slaughter at the hands of our friendly dealers believing we made a good deal. Truth be known, they seldom lose. 

 

Next up for me, do I buy this lease  for $18k next year or go for a new one which will be over $450 from what I've been seeing?

[EricL]

1 hour ago, Highlander1 said:

I'd take it, 3 year old Jeeps are next up for issues, along with Dodge and Land/Range Rover. I only say shed it because its a Jeep (see above other dogs). After 50 years and owing almost 40 (16 new) vehicles, the following are the results of my experiences. I also believe its the opinion of the masses that care about cost of owning, some don't even consider it. For example, we have leased (1) vehicle (wifes car/SUV) since 1999, currently a Kia K5, have never replaced a tire, battery or brakes on any of them and free oil changes from the dealer, its gas and go for us, $1500 down, 36 month lease,   $330 a month or $11 a day, 15k miles a year and we are always driving something fairly new and under warranty. Our loss is manageable,around $12k for 3 years, about the same I would lose if I bought it. 

 

 In answer to the inquiry, if $$ are not an issue and gas mileage is not important, a Toyota 4Runner, if both are important factors, Subaru has the answers and a better 4WD system than all the others, just not a fan of the boxer engine or the CVT Trans.

 

Toyota and Honda are advisable. Honorable mention to Hyundai, Kia and Subaru, although I shy away from buying them, I would lease though. Gun to my head and I had to buy American, Ford would be my choice of poison. 

 

And these offers from dealers aren't because they love your ride or that you bought right and are smarter than most, its all timing and $$. You sell high, you buy high. Selling privately usually brings in more $$, but of course many of us are led to slaughter at the hands of our friendly dealers believing we made a good deal. Truth be known, they seldom lose. 

 

Next up for me, do I buy this lease  for $18k next year or go for a new one which will be over $450 from what I've been seeing?

 

 

i agree, id lease the next one too. if no downs needed, its still ball park 16k

downs or not, the price is the same, you just pay a chunk more upfront. which sucks in my books.

 

 

for commuter cars, that you want no downtime. leasing is the best. imo.

like you said, like 12-15k for 3 years.  in 6 years time, thats the same as paying 30k for buying a car.

or 9 years, at 45k.

 

the usage of each dollar is the same.  but leasing will get you 2-3 cars.

buying gets you only 1 car that ends up buying 6-9 years old. AND then you need to try to get a buyer
or trade it in below its value (usually) to the dealer for another one.

i would not buy a car unless its worthwhile to buy it. hence i bought my 4runner.

yet lease my work commuter.

 

leasing is a benefit in my books.  if anything goes wrong, call the dealer ahead of time.

limp the car over to drop off. get a loaner and you back on the road while they deal with the crap.

[plugger]

Should have mentioned that any offers were contingent on my purchase of a new (GC) for an additional 17 thousand…… pass.

[FallenKell]

7 hours ago, Blurple928 said:

I am on my 4th Ford F-150 now and have put 175K miles minimum on each one with only general wear and tear maintenance on them. Granted this is my first V6 Eco Boost, but I am currently at 110K and still going strong. With a family of 4 this is a great all around Truck/Family vehicle with plenty of space. 

Don't get me wrong, I love me some of the old Fords, especially the ones with the inline 6 and manual 4 speed transmission. Those simply didn't break and would usually die of rust before that engine and transmission gave out. I think there are a few still out there with over 500k miles on them. But it is sad to say that the ecoboost engines have been crap, and if you have one, you should join the lawsuit (or protect your rights and start your own if your engine has already needed extensive repair work that Ford isn't covering).

 

Ford sticking an ecoboost into their trucks was the stupidest idea they have had in a while. I understand they are trying to find a way to have meet their "fleet" requirements for fuel economy. You don't meet those from a truck, but from compact and sub-compact cars, however since Ford also decided to stop making any car other than the mustang (a quintessential muscle car), it is pretty hard to hit high fuel efficiency standards across your "fleet" of vehicles when the only things you sell are things that need high horsepower and/or high torque, which can only be produced with consuming large amounts of fuel, or massive sized battery systems that simply don't exist yet (show me a battery truck that can tow a RV over 90 miles before needing to stop and charge for 3 hours, good luck taking that on a cross country trip. When they make a truck that can go from New York to Florida while towing an RV without needing to stop other than for 30 minutes once for food/bathroom/recharge, and 3-4 other times for 10 minutes or less, electric trucks will have finally become something to replace existing ones as it can do in 1 day what gas/diesel powered trucks do).

Edited May 26 by FallenKell