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What kind of vehicles do you guys all drive when your going hiking? Im thinking about investing in a 4wd high clearance Jeep or something of the sort so I could get to some places where I definitely couldnt get to with what Im driving now (73 mustang):) I saw a Jeep Grand Cherokee today for $2600 and I was thinking about checking it out. What "hiking vehicle" is easiest to drive and which gets the best gas mileage (even though I know most wouldnt be too fuel efficient.)

'14 Jeep Rubicon, it is my daily, but since I take the express to downtown, I only really drive it about 12 miles a day. So leaves plenty of miles to find trails and take out and about. It sucks on gas, but honestly, I hate driving anything that doesn't give me the option to get out of town.

skatchkins wrote: '73 Ford Falcon Interceptor

That works if it's lifted -> https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FmY8_ML0tK8/maxresdefault.jpg

@The_Eagle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xTGrfs5TXM

Sometimes I have a hard time finding the trail head.

Don't know if anyone here has any experience or knowledge of Saturns. My fiancé has a 2006 Saturn Vue with about 150,000 miles on it. It's only a 2WD, but it has decent enough clearance to get us to most places we want to hike. Only downside is that it needs about $2500 worth of work to get it back in fully operational shape. Some suspension issues and it needs a new A/C system. It's rarely driven and if it is, her commute is 1.5 miles each way. Thinking about keeping it as our hiking and camping vehicle. But it's paid off and we don't want car payments.

If we drop the money into doing repairs, do you think we can squeeze another 3-4 years out of it?

I drive a Toyota Tacoma. It came with the lift kit installed, but I've upgraded the tires and also made my own "raptor" grill on the front. Recently installed "Body Armor" brand solid steel front and rear bumpers. Next upgrades include a roof rack (for a solar panel), and drive lights and a winch for the front bumper. It's gotten me everywhere that I wanted and needed to go!

You know, an "outdoor girl" truck

https://scontent.fphx1...

@SpiderLegs
When making a decision like this, I give a lot of weight to "it's paid off and we don't want car payments"
However... when the cost to bring it back into 'fully operational shape' is more than the value of the vehicle (in this case about $2200) I'd recommend seeking a change.

If you DO decide to make a change and that means car payments again, I'd recommend looking into the vehicle that will best fit your needs for the long term... like well past when you have it paid off. (So you can enjoy it payment-free for a while anyway)

Good luck either way.

I had a Saturn many years ago. It always ran well-- it even survived getting hit by a semi in the rain at 70 mph. Then the timing chain snapped and destroyed the engine instantly.

@Tough_Boots
Those cars with timing belts will get you every time--I recall Hippy Haley had hers break on the freeway! When I bought my '94 Honda Accord the first thing I did was have it changed out. I sold the Honda this past Feb., after owning it 5 years/100,000 miles, bought a Jeep Liberty for cash, $4,000. So far it's the nicest car I've ever owned, but I did just last week have to have the hydraulic clutch assembly (linkage? Not sure what you call it) replaced. (That was when Tortoise Hiker elected to walk back 9 miles to his car!) We were at the Bear Jaw trailhead. It was a little inconvenient, to say the least, but luckily I have a great friend in Flag who helped me out, managed to drive it in two gears, back to Flag, so no towing.

My power steering rack went out once. It cost me $1149.30 fix but insurance covered most of it. Also my windshield is cracked.

Saturn Vues do pretty well in my experience, but also do seem to have poorly protected oilpans that are easily punctured, which is just something to be aware of on rocky roads.

jonathanpatt wrote:but also do seem to have poorly protected oilpans that are easily punctured, which is just something to be aware of on rocky roads.

It seems like a little extra protection would just come stock on all trucks and SUV's. Even my Envoy has a fairly thick plastic skid plate. It wouldn't protect me much if I brought my whole weight down on it, but I think its adequate to take on most debris flying up at me or a rock sticking up a little higher than I'd judged.

Had the timing belt service in the Frontier performed at 97000.

Tough_Boots wrote:

jonathanpatt wrote:but also do seem to have poorly protected oilpans that are easily punctured, which is just something to be aware of on rocky roads.

It seems like a little extra protection would just come stock on all trucks and SUV's. Even my Envoy has a fairly thick plastic skid plate. It wouldn't protect me much if I brought my whole weight down on it, but I think its adequate to take on most debris flying up at me or a rock sticking up a little higher than I'd judged.

Sounds like you have a rock guard, not a skid plate. Most vehicles are sold for highway driving, even most SUV and vehicles sold as off road capable don't have very good skid plates.

nonot wrote:Sounds like you have a rock guard, not a skid plate.

I definitely have a plastic oil pan skid plate. Not impressive-- but definitely a skid plate.

So we totaled our Saturn Vue a couple of weeks ago and are looking for a replacement. Think I have Olivia convinced to get an older Toyota 4Runner to use as our camping/hiking vehicle, then wait to buy a new car next year when my car is paid off.

I see a bunch of 4X2 4Runners in my price range, anyone have experience with them or should I look for a 4x4? At least at this point all I can imagine doing is going back to Quartz Peak or similar.

I've never driven a non-4x4 4Runner, but they're well-built trucks and the engines tend to run for a long time without major maintenance (thus the high resale value).

I personally wouldn't buy a 2wd, but that's because I'm used to having 4wd and I regularly drive to crazy places.

If your Vue was not the AWD version, going from that to a 2wd 4Runner will still be a nice step up in clearance and ruggedness/durability, even if it doesn't get you to the toughest trailheads in mud and snow.

But be prepared for your gas mileage to take a hit!

@SpiderLegs
I don't know what your price range is but if you're thinking aof 4Runner I'd definitely recommend a 4WD.

I just picked up a 2007 SR5 V6 4WD and had it out north of Globe by the Salt River and even still at stock height and worn highway tread Michelin tires it did quite well on some ruts deep enough a wheel was in the air at times.

My budget finally said enough already! to JEEP ownership... the Just Emptying Every Pocket to keep taking the Cherokee on the nastiest 'roads' has come to an end so it's now up for sale.

BTW... the SR5 with 4WD & V6 is 400-500 lbs lighter than the 'Limited' or 'SE' due to those models having more 'cool' features that simply add weight & drop the gas mileage.

chumley wrote:But be prepared for your gas mileage to take a hit!

Compared to the Vue anyway... I'm pretty happy with the 21.2 mpg I'm getting on the 4Runner as compared to the 12.3 mpg the Cherokee averaged over the last 50,000 miles.

So.... for anyone out there who's interested in a vehicle that can get you almost anywhere you'd want to (or in some case not want to go, AND you have more and deeper pockets than me, drop me a PM and we can schedule a test drive... just make sure you have your will updated and of course, hopefully you're wearing your Depends.

So, closely related topic, my stock street tires on my 2015 Ram 1500 4X4 are quickly approaching replacement, and a job change has me getting a company truck to take back and forth to work. That means I want to put some better off-roading tires on the Ram! I have been looking at the BF Goodrich A/T KO2 tires, looks like I can get better traction without giving up too much for on the road handling and gas mileage. I will still need my truck for family trips and the such, but I wanted to invest in better tires for dirt roading and such. Any suggestions/ comments would be greatly appreciated!