New Vehicle Help?

[RusherRacing]

I keep going back and forth on what to get next and wanted to ask you all for advise.

Will be daily driven 12,000-15,000 miles per year.
Secondary family vehicle unless weather is poor (my wife has a 09 Ford Flex)
30%-40% of its life will be spent on gravel.
Will tow a small travel trailer and 16' car trailer. (3500lbs-4500lbs)
Be great in deep snow but also good on sheet ice.
Its my wife and I and we have 1 kid on the way. But plan to have this vehicle for awhile so make that 2 young kids.
Chocolate Lab that always comes with (preferably iwith his large kennel).
As for off road ability, mostly minimum maintence during hunting, fire trails in the black hills sight seeing. I won't be doing to much "rock crawling" but would like to be able to do some if needed. Driving over downed trees is more common for me.

As for long expeditions we do 1 to 2 long (1500+mile) road trips a year again depending on the nature of the trip would determine the vehicle.

I keep going back between a couple of vehicles.

Leave Stock
2006 Dodge Ram Powerwagon-$23000 - 50,000 miles
Good: Tough!!, Very Large,
Bad: Can't run larger than stock tires or it won't fit in the garage, Won't fit down jeep trails, $$ little more than I want to spend, Reliability(little stuff)?, fuel economy.

2005 Hummer H2 - $22000 - 50,000 miles
Good: Loaded, Off road ability
Bad: "image", fuel economy


Modify the following with OME lift and basic armor
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 5.7-$17000 - 55,000 miles
Good: Price, QDII is supposed to be awesome in winter
Bad: Reliability, durability or is this not true? I keep hearing conflicting stories, fuel economy

2005+ Toyota Tacoma TRD $24000 - 50,000 miles
Good: Toyota history, reliability
Bad: No local service, Price for what you get options wise.

200 7 Toyota FJ Cruiser $22000 - 50,000 miles
Good and bad similar to the Tacoma.

Both trucks would have caps, and a bedrug.

I don't know why I keep going back and forth between these options. I like the dodge and the hummer but they barely fit in the garage.

My wife and I like to travel and do so quite frequently. Depending on where we are heading would determine the vehicle we take. I need something really good in the snow as we live in rural South Dakota. I want something newer lower milage that I can jump in and drive anywhere I want to go, whenever I want to go there. I think a Land Cruiser would be nice but don't like the $$

What would be your advice?

 

[TheStig]

Out of your choices, I would personally go with one of the Toyotas. I like the Powerwagons, but I don't think it would fit your needs very well. Same for the H2. It sounds like you want a more efficient vehicle, which those are not. A JK Unlimited Wrangler might be worth looking into also. I believe they start new at 24000.

An H3 might be good too if you are wanting a Hummer.

 

[RusherRacing]

The H3 is really small the driver seat doesn't really suit a "big" guy otherwise the H3 would be on the list! I just wasn't that impressed when test driving it.

Well honestly we spend so much on gas a month the fuel economy isn't that big of deal if we want to save a little $$ we can take the flex (avg 23mpg).

I would love a rubicon unlimited but $$ you miswell buy new and that puts them at 34k. You can find a used X for 24k with 50,000 miles but you don't get much for options then. Its the same issue I have with the toyotas you miswell buy new!

 

[greentruck]

If you seek out an 80 series LandCruiser and test drive it, you'll want to add it to the list. I'm a big guy, too (6'+, 220 lbs+) and the LandCruiser is the best fitting vehicle for a driver I've ever owned.

On the other hand, if you don't want gas mileage holding you back, the 80 is the wrong vehicle. But good 80s can be easily found under $10k and $10,000+ difference between it and the vehicles you note above will still buy a lot of gas.

I found that a LandCruiser drove a lot like a new vehicle, even with just a few thousand fewer miles than the worn-out Rodeo I was driving. The 80 is very reliable and can do all the things you're asking for.

 

[ryguy]

I own anf fj and love it, but with my wife, daughter, new baby, and camping gear it gets a little tight. I've had two current gen tacos and really liked them. You might want to look at an 05-06 tundra as well. Little bigger than the tacoma with the same reliability and a slightly more powerful v8 over the first gen 4.0 v6.

 

[RusherRacing]

I was looking for an 80 but couldn't find squat with under 100,000 miles. heck I would consider a nice 100 series but the ones in the 50,000-75,000 mile range are $30+

I would really like to stay at or below $20k and under 75,000 miles. But for the right vehicle I could go a little more. It needs to have 5 more years left of my abuse before I have to start to worry about any issues with it.

I would say my priorites in a order are

Durability - Can this "truck" take a beating and keep on ticking.
How it does in Snow and Ice!
Size
Reliablilty - little things going wrong with it annoy me
Features - I have grown to really like heated seats!
Fuel Economy


For any one I would look at swapping out the tires for a MT style tire right away. Thinking FCII's I have heard good things about them.

If you know of one forsale or know of a vehicle forsale that would fit what I am looking for PM me. I am not afraid to travel for the right vehicle. I have bought the last 4 out of state.

 

[PNJohns]

I've been using a 2006 Powerwagon for 81,000 miles and have been very happy with the reliability. It has been used to tow a Casita travel trailer for base camp type travel and a RTT for off pavement trips. It needed new ball joints at 62,000 miles but not much else. It's great in the snow with AT tires and will get thru mud pretty well with the lockers. Plenty of room inside for 2 adults and 2 kids.

 

[angusdevil]

Powerwagons will to fit down Jeep trails, I take my 2500 down them all the time! Now, you'll get some pinstriping but isn't that the point of offroading, going where most people don't?! The Powerwagon will do everything you've listed, its just bigger. You'd also be getting lockers, winch, gears and swaybar disconnects with it so you're actually getting much more of a vehicle than the others offer.

Out of your whole list, all of them would be great vehicles (except the H2) so you can't really go wrong. It's just a matter of how much the initial cost is going to be and how much you're going to have to immediately dump into it to make it trail worthy.

 

[TheStig]

I like the Powerwagons a lot. I've only seen one in person, but I like how built they are in stock form.

 

[RusM]

05+ Taco, there's several close to you.
http://www.searchtempest.com/result...chType=T&subcat=cto&minAsk=10000&maxAsk=20000

 

[Hill Bill E.]

If you plan on towing the 16' car hauler more than a few times a year, I'd go with the Dodge PW.

 

[RusherRacing]

Went to look at the grand cherokee this weekend and it was sold. Then last night we had an issue pop back up at the house that I thought was solved. Guess not... Time to put in a new septic system, guess there goes my plans of buying a new truck into the ******tter.

 

[angusdevil]

That blows but at least you can still crack a joke or two about it

 

[jim65wagon]

05-06 Tundra Double Cab.....good truck, great drivetrain, lots of room for the kids.....