Hello everyone- I've been reading the forum off and on for the last several years. I hope this is the right place to post this- I couldn't think of another place that would work.
My wife and I need some suggestions on where to look next. Let me explain- we have 5 kids (two teenagers) and are very active. We run, mountain bike, kayak, ride motorcycles and sometimes take our two crazy dogs with us too. With the kids getting older, the size of the stuff we take with us continues to increase.
I read the super lux thread - www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/67005-Project-Super-Lux-Safari-Vehicle in hopes of finding good solutions. The Prefix solution is perfect and I plan to contact them Monday, I am certain it's completely out of our budget.
Here's what we have-
2005 Z71 Suburban with 150K miles 4x4, roof rack for 5 kayaks and seats 7
Likes-
Seats 7, but more and more frequently we want to take 1-2 friends
Great MPG- 20+ on the highway w/o kayaks
Very comfortable and good for long trips
Dislikes-
It has 150K miles and it's a Chevy- (no offense, but it's been the least reliable vehicle we have ever owned) and the trans is starting to slip.
Here's what we absolutely need:
Seating for 9
Gear storage inside (the suburban is great)
Good MPG 20 on the highway (again with the family budget thing)
The ability to be towed with 4 wheels on the ground - either a transfer case or manual transmission (very important)
A large roof for a 14' raft or 7 kayaks
Ability to tow a trailer
Here's what we need/want:
4x4 (We just don't use it like we did when we lived in the west)
Considering:
Sprinter
Another 2002-2006 Suburban and no extra seats.
Out List:
E350 and Express Vans- I used one for a week- can't live with the MPG - averaged 14....
07 and new Suburbans-the 07 and up's rear seat has a split rear seat which makes passenger 7 sit on the crack
Sequoia's - smaller than the Sub and terrible MPG
Excursion- not enough seats, gas mpg sux, 7.3's are a consideration, but no 6.0's...
A small hummer or excursion type limo- they look terrible and the MPG is worse...
We have looked at Outside Vans and others like that- I can't spend $75K on a car- our money tree isn't that large. The budget is more like $20K-40K.
We would love some suggestions and help. We are really open to custom solutions, they just have to work in to a real world budget.
Thank you again for your help!
My wife and I need some suggestions on where to look next. Let me explain- we have 5 kids (two teenagers) and are very active. We run, mountain bike, kayak, ride motorcycles and sometimes take our two crazy dogs with us too. With the kids getting older, the size of the stuff we take with us continues to increase.
I read the super lux thread - www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/67005-Project-Super-Lux-Safari-Vehicle in hopes of finding good solutions. The Prefix solution is perfect and I plan to contact them Monday, I am certain it's completely out of our budget.
Here's what we have-
2005 Z71 Suburban with 150K miles 4x4, roof rack for 5 kayaks and seats 7
Likes-
Seats 7, but more and more frequently we want to take 1-2 friends
Great MPG- 20+ on the highway w/o kayaks
Very comfortable and good for long trips
Dislikes-
It has 150K miles and it's a Chevy- (no offense, but it's been the least reliable vehicle we have ever owned) and the trans is starting to slip.
Here's what we absolutely need:
Seating for 9
Gear storage inside (the suburban is great)
Good MPG 20 on the highway (again with the family budget thing)
The ability to be towed with 4 wheels on the ground - either a transfer case or manual transmission (very important)
A large roof for a 14' raft or 7 kayaks
Ability to tow a trailer
Here's what we need/want:
4x4 (We just don't use it like we did when we lived in the west)
Considering:
Sprinter
Another 2002-2006 Suburban and no extra seats.
Out List:
E350 and Express Vans- I used one for a week- can't live with the MPG - averaged 14....
07 and new Suburbans-the 07 and up's rear seat has a split rear seat which makes passenger 7 sit on the crack
Sequoia's - smaller than the Sub and terrible MPG
Excursion- not enough seats, gas mpg sux, 7.3's are a consideration, but no 6.0's...
A small hummer or excursion type limo- they look terrible and the MPG is worse...
We have looked at Outside Vans and others like that- I can't spend $75K on a car- our money tree isn't that large. The budget is more like $20K-40K.
We would love some suggestions and help. We are really open to custom solutions, they just have to work in to a real world budget.
Thank you again for your help!