OT: What car fits the bill?

[Nooch]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

Sounds like a trailer is what youre after to me... i hauled a utility trailer and a sailboat around with my audi allroad for a few years, it was awesome. To the point i gave my F250 to my father - just had no use for it anymore, once i figured out a trailer and my car could easily meet all my needs and be funner and more fuel efficient.

If whatever trailer youve been using isnt big enough, get a bigger trailer, or buy a flatbed trailer and build to suit. Then youre not compromising on the car

i suppose you're right. But a bigger trailer wouldn't be the answer, at least not with my outback. And really, the 5x8 I've been renting has been fine, but i keep doing the equation out that it would take 100 rentals to hit the cost of buying one, and I only rent it when I *need* it. But, if I owned one, I'd likely use it all the time for every event, and keep all my crap out of the outback, period, so it's not dollars to donuts..

Equally so, I suppose I haven't had nearly enough miles pulling it to get a good feel for the in's and out's of towing it (and loading it). The one I'm renting also doesn't have any accommodations for tying down the bars, so I'm usually stuck trying to figure out what to do with them to prevent damage.

Of course there's the selfish want of a new car in general (my wife gets the new cars, typically), but sheeeesh if spending $60k on a new sequoia isn't a damn pipedream. And the driving on the beach thing, which is virtually impossible to do in the outback even with a lift and smaller rims (sidewall requirements...), but i digress.

< half heartedly > anyone want to trade a nice 5x8 trailer for a 52cm Pronto with eTap? lol.

[PacNW2Ford]

Originally Posted by fourflys

Hmm, that's a tough one... my go-to would be a used 4Runner with the third row, but prices are crazy on those as well (either high milage or as a primary car).

For a third car, I wonder what you can find in the Isuzo Rodeo variety? These were Honda Passports rebadged as an Isuzu, so reliability should be great (depending on maintenance, of course)...

For newer, how about a Subaru Ascent? I have a friend that absolutely LOVES theirs... not sure what prices are running on those since ALL used cars seem to be crazy right now...

Good luck, this should be interesting to follow!

The Passport was a rebadged Isuzu, not the other way around.

[Ken Robb]

Could you get a better hitch system than your present set-up? Maybe you can dream up your ideal trailer and ask the people who make it what they recommend for easy towing. Your posts suggest to me that you MIGHT not fully appreciate the fine art of loading a trailer for optimum handling.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by PacNW2Ford

The Passport was a rebadged Isuzu, not the other way around.

Ah, either way I've always good things about them... "real" 4WD, etc... Thanks!

[AngryScientist]

ah hah!

this is on our local CL. It's a diesel! Perfecto for da-Nooch


https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto...377757914.html

[C40_guy]

Audi Q5 TDi.

Good towing ability, great fuel economy, fun to drive, not overly expensive to own, excellent in bad weather. Motor will give you easily 300K of service. Should be able to find one in your price range.

Shoot, you could probably even find a Q7 TDi in your price range, and even this larger SUV will deliver 30 mpg... It will tow 7000 lbs. 3000 lbs behind a Q7 TDi is not noticeable.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by Nooch

i suppose you're right. But a bigger trailer wouldn't be the answer, at least not with my outback. And really, the 5x8 I've been renting has been fine, but i keep doing the equation out that it would take 100 rentals to hit the cost of buying one, and I only rent it when I *need* it. But, if I owned one, I'd likely use it all the time for every event, and keep all my crap out of the outback, period, so it's not dollars to donuts..

Equally so, I suppose I haven't had nearly enough miles pulling it to get a good feel for the in's and out's of towing it (and loading it). The one I'm renting also doesn't have any accommodations for tying down the bars, so I'm usually stuck trying to figure out what to do with them to prevent damage.

Of course there's the selfish want of a new car in general (my wife gets the new cars, typically), but sheeeesh if spending $60k on a new sequoia isn't a damn pipedream. And the driving on the beach thing, which is virtually impossible to do in the outback even with a lift and smaller rims (sidewall requirements...), but i digress.

< half heartedly > anyone want to trade a nice 5x8 trailer for a 52cm Pronto with eTap? lol.

Id just build to suit... little more work and you dont get a new car outta the deal, but a few hundred or even a couple grand on a really nice trailer setup is a lot less money than any of the alternatives, keeps your outback, and is tailored to your needs

[mktng]

If Japanese domestic imports are an option.
Here is a great example of something that suites your requirement. Just an idea. https://www.velocitycars.ca/vehicle/...iser/18752?s=1



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[HenryA]

For all but the beach driving you need to buy a new full size Ford van. No need for a trailer. Depending on how much you are making at this gig and how much your family income is and the tax implications it might be the best move. Really need to talk this over with a tax person.

On those occasions when you use the business van for a vacation, just keep track of the miles and adjust your business use as indicated.

So, if you can buy one and make the note comfortably and drive it for say 10 years the numbers probably will work out for you and you will have a vehicle that makes your work much more enjoyable and convenient. And a family travel van.

But first go back and read what Ralph wrote, twice.

Other alternatives might include ice delivery by a third party. 400 lbs of ice delivered for $50.00 fee would be a great deal for you if you can get it 100%reliable. Charge it to the job. Costs you nothing.

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by mktng

If Japanese domestic imports are an option.
Here is a great example of something that suites your requirement. Just an idea. https://www.velocitycars.ca/vehicle/...iser/18752?s=1



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Honest question - is it wise for anyone to have a daily driver that's 24 years old and gets 14mpg? That seems like it would end up costing the OP way more in the long run that simply getting the cheapest, biggest, most reliable SUV for the 20k budget.

The gas alone will be double the current 2013 Outback. And for the same amount of money as the Land Cruiser the OP could get a 2013 Highlander which would also meet all the OP's needs but drive MUCH better, get better gas mileage, cost less for any service that arises, and would only suffer in cargo capacity.

Don't get me wrong the Land Cruiser is a cool vehicle but at this stage it's not necessarily a good vehicle.

[Upcountry]

Keep your car for personal use, and then.... I'd go van all the way for your use case.... You've got a lot of boxes to tick, and with a $20k budget, that just won't get you what you're hoping it will. You should be able to source a high mileage, but hopefully taken care of, full size van that lived its life as part of a commercial fleet. These pop up for $3k all the time for a late 90's or early 00's. You can pick your preference between the big three brands, but they're all pretty comparable.
Ideal in my eyes would actually not be a true "full size" van, but an Astovan. You can manage 20mpg with it, it's easy to drive in town/traffic, and offers 6 feet of room behind the front seats. The 4.3L V6 will tow a 4k pound trailer just fine, for the times you need more room than the back of the van will offer. Parts are readily available, and worst case you have to spend $2k every 5 years to keep it up and running, you're still ahead of the game and not abusing your personal car.

If your budget were $30k or $40k I'd maybe lean towards one nice SUV or Pickup with a shell, but these days you just can't get much in that $20k range... Certainly not 4x4 and under 100k miles.

[retropean]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

ah hah!

this is on our local CL. It's a diesel! Perfecto for da-Nooch


https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto...377757914.html

Aw yea nothing more fun than a kei truck.
Not in a million years gonna tow 3.5k pounds of Stuff. Not to mention if he’s worried about the way the Subaru moves at load he’s not gonna be happy pushing this thing that hard! That one is also expensive… you can get them from the importer dealers for under 10!

[Gummee]

Why half-arse something? Go Transit and don't look back. If you've got the budget: Sprinter

M

[Nooch]

Originally Posted by Gummee

Why half-arse something? Go Transit and don't look back. If you've got the budget: Sprinter

M

I think this is generally the case. If it's a car, it's a full on 'dedicated to the business' vehicle like a transit, promaster, or nv-whatever numbers come behind it.

But, cheapest and path of least resistance (only resistance being my wife not wanting to look at it every day) would be a trailer. Did a long distance tow this weekend (about 160 miles round trip) and it managed. I don't *love* it, the outback never saw the '6th gear' on the CVT and we averaged under 15mpg for the out and back, but it was 'fine.' (the fact that the outback needs a new exhaust and my other bartender and i could hardly hold a conversation didn't make things better, lol)

Not to get too deep into the financials, but as it stands over the course of six months in operation I've grossed twice what my reach goal was. No, it's nowhere near my 9-5 salary, but for a supplemental income I'm fairly impressed with how things have gone. I haven't taken much in the way of personal pay and a lot to this point has been reinvested into the business, insurance, etc... Consumable costs went up dramatically over the six months but I'm still keeping good margins. That said, there are bikes that cost what I've grossed this year off this, but I've earned about 10 caad13's with rim brakes and 105, lol.

bunches of things to consider. appreciate you guys taking the time to shoot the breeze on this.

[carpediemracing]

My Suburban came to me from Arizona. I have now two friends that will look at vehicles for me, both are vehicle knowledgeable.

I paid, 5 years ago, $5400 for the rust free Suburban, 2WD (my choice - most of them are 4WD). That included $1500 of shipping and fees. The actual vehicle was $3600.

I'm thinking of buying another just to garage and keep until this first one has a terminal problem. I see similar vehicles for about the same price, even now.

I use it to tow my 7000 lbs rated trailer (8.5x20). I use it as a base for race registration. Sometimes I move big things with it.