Lets see your utility vehicles on a budget

[weisan]

Had the same idea years ago when we were living in St Louis. Saw an ad on craigslist, went down to meet with the seller in a neighboring town about 45 mins away, looks to me that the car has been in a flood or something, can smell a bit of mold, ended buying that piece of "junk", had a bit of fixing up to do, but none beyond my mechanical abilities so took the chance.

Dodge Grand Caravan SE

Paid $325

Great in terms of storage and utility. We owned another caravan at that time, ended up using some of the parts to fix a few things here and there, ended up saving some money too as the parts alone cost upward of a thousand dollar.

[tumbler]

Originally Posted by gdw

A 10-15 year old 4Runner is an ideal Colorado vehicle for someone who enjoys the outdoors and is on a budget. They offer lots of storage capacity, good highway mileage, low maintenance, and decent ground clearance. We can easily fit two bikes, two dogs, and a week worth of camping gear into ours.

Great advice. An early 2000's 4Runner will do everything you need and run like a top. Fantastic cars.

[xjoex]

Originally Posted by fourflys

I guess I could see that...

You have an open invitation to visit if you ever pass through!

-Joe

[gdw]

"Get something cheap and dependable to get you by 'till you move. Vehicles have much less rust here, especially if you are looking at 10 year old models"

+1 The ideal vehicle for Colorado really depends on how you intend to use it. If you're just driving pavement or maintained dirt roads a car or minivan will work out well. If you're into the outdoors and want to access remote mtb and hiking trails or explore some of the old mountain passes you'll need a vehicle with clearance and four wheel drive.

[gngroup]

I picked up a 2001 Range Rover a few years back for $4,900! It only had 75k miles. Has been absolutely problem free. Arguably the best four wheel drive vehicle and a ton of luxury items (auto dimming mirrors, seat memory, dual climate heat/AC, heated seats, etc.).

They can be expensive to fix but they were so overpriced to begin with and have depreciated so much that it's hard to go wrong with one that's in good shape.

[ultraman6970]

325? that's a steal... new carpet can be bought online, same with seats and for that price worth the shot.

If you still have an old minivan, put an extra inline tranny cooler in front of the radiator and that transmission will last forever.

Originally Posted by weisan

Had the same idea years ago when we were living in St Louis. Saw an ad on craigslist, went down to meet with the seller in a neighboring town about 45 mins away, looks to me that the car has been in a flood or something, can smell a bit of mold, ended buying that piece of "junk", had a bit of fixing up to do, but none beyond my mechanical abilities so took the chance.

Dodge Grand Caravan SE

Paid $325

Great in terms of storage and utility. We owned another caravan at that time, ended up using some of the parts to fix a few things here and there, ended up saving some money too as the parts alone cost upward of a thousand dollar.

[4funbikes]

You mentioned the Toyota Matrix;

It's cheaper brother would be the Pontiac Vibe GT. AWD, same running gear as the matrix XR, but it has a Pontiac badge so it's a fraction of the price.

Chevy Astro vans came in an AWD version as well. The Vortec 4.3 v6 in those is a tough lump of iron.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by fourflys

I guess I could see that...

And on AWD, you can have as much as 90% of driving power go to only one wheel. The wheel with traction. But AWD is not great for deep snow or mud because the gearing is too high and usually the ground clearance is terrible.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by texbike

I wouldn't worry too much about 150K miles on a Toyota. Have you ever seen the Top Gear episode about killing a Toyota? Classic!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTPnIpjodA8 .

Texbike

agree, I've got over 100k on my '04 with no issues whatsoever and will prob be driving it across the country this summer...

[tiretrax]

If you don't need something bigger than the Jetta wagon or a Tiguan, I'd get a lease on one. Quirk VW in Braintree is having a sign and drive with low rates - I'm considering flying to Boston to get one because my dealer won't have that deal for a few months, and I need a car now. I think it limits you to 10k per year, but when you get to Colorado, you won't want to go anywhere else.

[FlashUNC]

I've currently got a 2010 Mk VI GTI that stilll scratches that Golf portion of your list.

Its insanely practical even as the sportier version of the Golf. The rear seats don't fold flat, but still plenty of room and utility. Really does sit five in relative comfort with actual leg room in the rear, and handled the cross country drive for our move this summer with ease. And the GTI tends to go like stink too, which doesn't hurt.

I do worry about some of the rather well-known VW quirks long-term. (Electrics, etc.) But so far it's been trouble free.

I'd also recommend a Jeep if you haven't looked at them. Before the GTI, I had a Wrangler (97 TJ) that I beat to death for darn near a decade. All it ever needed was a water pump, which is a wear item anyways. Could not kill the thing and it was a blast off road, even in stock form.