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I can not think of a better place to post this request so I hope you bear with me.

 

After several years of geocaching I have finally decided to purchase a vehicle that will allow me to get access to caches on the Barry Goldwater Range near Yuma and traverse logging roads in B.C. I would also like to use the vehicle for general purposes as well which means city and highway driving and economical gas consumption. A lot to ask I know. I am thinking near new or new. It does not have to haul stuff or more than a couple people.

 

Would appreciate any and all advise from geocachers. :blink:

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One word, Toyota Rav4. OK it's two words, but who's counting? Actually Rav4 really isn't a word, so maybe it is only one word.

Not in my experience. First time I tried taking it out on even a pretty mild two-track I ended up putting a nice dent in the oilpan. There is no protection under there, and very little clearance. Calling it a 4-WD (which all 6 cylinder models are) is really a misnomer. Great car for the highway, but I'm not going offroad in mine again.
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Not to tick off the Jeep fans but...

 

Recent models of Jeeps have had REALLY POOR reliability ratings. I'm hoping GM pulls it out and gets the quality up but, until then, I'd go with some of the other recommendations you've seen here.

 

That's it . . . now you have ticked me off. :P

Now my evil plan is complete. :ph34r:

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Not to tick off the Jeep fans but...

 

Recent models of Jeeps have had REALLY POOR reliability ratings. I'm hoping GM pulls it out and gets the quality up but, until then, I'd go with some of the other recommendations you've seen here.

Now I'm really ticked off! It's NOT an unreliable GM product! It's an unreliable Chrysler product! Please get it right next time!

 

:P:lol:

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I live and 4 wheel in BC and the Jeep Rubicon is awesome for our terrain. Gas mileage isn't great but can be improved with some modification. A Toyota Tacoma is another good choice as is the Nissan X-Terra. These vehicles are great if you want to tackle the tough off road areas. If you plan to stick to maintained logging roads a Subaru Forrester or Outback woud be well suited. Rav's and CRV's are great urban suv's but really aren't meant for serious off road use. There are a few others that are similar to these vehicles but these would be my top choices.

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I have been very happy with my Honda CR-v.(Cache Retrieval-Vehicle) :) It won't go up as rough a road as my Ranger 4X4 did, but it does get me in on the primitive roads I want to go on. Plus it gets good gas mileage, and is much nicer to drive on the road then the old 4X4.

 

As someone who has owned nothing but Hondas since 1979 I wish I could endorse the CRV. My CRV has been in the shop more times than all of my other Hondas combined. Two AC compressors in the past 3 years (a Google search shows that this is such a common problem that there is a class action suit), an emissions sensor that cost over 1 grand to fix, door locks stopped working and the dealer charged $600 to "re-key" the locks, and now my check engine light is on again. Catalytic converter according to the mechanic. Another thousand plus bucks to fix.

 

I previously owned an Accord and 3 Civics. Great cars. Ran forever with little beyond basic wear and tear like brakes, tires and exhaust system. I keep wondering if my CRV was made by FORD. Fix or Repair Daily.

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Subaru Outback - My 2009 has great ground clearance, and the only time I've gotten it stuck was when I was driving on I-94 in Western Minnesota in blowing snow, got whited out by a passing truck, and had to stand on the brakes when there was someone (in a Toyota Rav 4) crawling along and practically parked in front of me when the dust cleared. Of course, I lost traction on the ice and ended up in three feet of fresh snow in the median.

 

I get around 25 mpg, which is decent for an all-wheel drive. Mud, dirt, dried salt, etc. give it character, but it also cleans up pretty nice, too. Mine came with two sets of floor mats - carpet for summer, and rubber for winter and mud season.

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I can not think of a better place to post this request so I hope you bear with me.

 

After several years of geocaching I have finally decided to purchase a vehicle that will allow me to get access to caches on the Barry Goldwater Range near Yuma and traverse logging roads in B.C. I would also like to use the vehicle for general purposes as well which means city and highway driving and economical gas consumption. A lot to ask I know. I am thinking near new or new. It does not have to haul stuff or more than a couple people.

 

Would appreciate any and all advise from geocachers. :blink:

 

Seriously... you are not going to get what you are looking for. You will need to make a choice between economical gas consumption and off-road capability. Those are mutually exclusive goals. Jeeps, Xterras, 4WD pickup trucks... they will all get you where you want to go, but it isn't gonna be a cheap trip. But fun seldom is.

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Seriously... you are not going to get what you are looking for. You will need to make a choice between economical gas consumption and off-road capability. Those are mutually exclusive goals. Jeeps, Xterras, 4WD pickup trucks... they will all get you where you want to go, but it isn't gonna be a cheap trip. But fun seldom is.

 

This comment wins. There's a Jeep Liberty and a Honda Fit in my driveway. They serve different purposes. I wish I could convince the wife that she doesn't need a Jeep for daily driving, but she really likes it. I really think a used 4wd p/u would be more practical since it would be able to go wherever we take the Jeep, but also be able to haul materials for the house that the Jeep doesn't do well.

 

I've taken that Fit some surprising places, but nothing like fire roads.

 

I would REALLY like to see the Toyota Hilux in the states one day. From what I've seen, it's probably going to offer one of the best combinations of capability and economy out there.

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Toyota Highlander (not the hybrid), bigger than the rav4, and (except for the rav4) gets the best mpg of all the suv's out there.

 

That's what I drive too. Mine is a 2005 and has the 4cyl. engine rather than the six. I don't think I've seen another one with the 4 cyl. It gets a lot better mileage than the Ford Explorer I owned previously and is really nice for long trips and handles most of the seasonal roads around here just fine. I've owned 4WD vehicles for about 25 years and certainly a couple that are more off-road capable. I used to spend a lot of time on 4WD roads in the Sierra-Nevada so I've seen some pretty good ones. If gas mileage was less of an issue I've had a hankering for a Toyota FJ. My wife drives a Civic hybrid that's also five years old. If we had the infrastructure around here to support we'd seriously consider a Nissan Leaf. There's a local dealer that sells a car called a Weego and I live in a place that has a pretty Green mentality so it's only a matter of time before we get the infrastructure.

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I have been very happy with my Honda CR-v.(Cache Retrieval-Vehicle) :) It won't go up as rough a road as my Ranger 4X4 did, but it does get me in on the primitive roads I want to go on. Plus it gets good gas mileage, and is much nicer to drive on the road then the old 4X4.

 

As someone who has owned nothing but Hondas since 1979 I wish I could endorse the CRV. My CRV has been in the shop more times than all of my other Hondas combined. Two AC compressors in the past 3 years (a Google search shows that this is such a common problem that there is a class action suit), an emissions sensor that cost over 1 grand to fix, door locks stopped working and the dealer charged $600 to "re-key" the locks, and now my check engine light is on again. Catalytic converter according to the mechanic. Another thousand plus bucks to fix.

 

I previously owned an Accord and 3 Civics. Great cars. Ran forever with little beyond basic wear and tear like brakes, tires and exhaust system. I keep wondering if my CRV was made by FORD. Fix or Repair Daily.

 

Wow, I wonder if you got a lemon? My CR-V has 90,000 miles and the only work I have had so far is oil changes.( and a new set of tires.) I'm pretty rough on this car too.

In talking with other CR-V owners it sounds like my experience is more typical.

Mine is a 2004, What year was yours?

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I just spent the Holidays in Yuma and was suprised at the # of snowbirds driving Side x Sides like the Polaris Ranger.

My grandparent's is street legal and had a good time caching with it! Now for a dual purpose rig I would go with a 90s Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0 litre straight 6.

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I had a little ghetto car before which got me out of plenty of situations and went down plenty of roads it probably shouldn't have. Now I have a Forester. Looked at Jeep's but I have one car and it's my daily driver as well so I wanted better mileage than Jeep could offer me. I take the Forester down some rougher roads and it does ok. Usually if it gets too rough I hop out and walk anyways as those places always seem to be where there's no cell service and I don't want to risk it.

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Not to tick off the Jeep fans but...

 

Recent models of Jeeps have had REALLY POOR reliability ratings. I'm hoping GM pulls it out and gets the quality up but, until then, I'd go with some of the other recommendations you've seen here.

 

That's it . . . now you have ticked me off. :P

 

If it doesn't say willys on the tailgate it ain't a jeep :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Not to tick off the Jeep fans but...

 

Recent models of Jeeps have had REALLY POOR reliability ratings. I'm hoping GM pulls it out and gets the quality up but, until then, I'd go with some of the other recommendations you've seen here.

 

That's it . . . now you have ticked me off. :P

 

If it doesn't say willys on the tailgate it ain't a jeep :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Now I'm REALLY ticked off, twice in one thread. ;) We started with the CJ-5 in '78 when AMC had the line. The Grand Cherokee we now have is the Select-trac that is trail rated ... the Commander is our primary Cache-Mobile and has never let us down yet.

 

So there . . . I sneer in your general direction. :P

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Hands down, Toyota Tacoma. 2001 or later due to frame rust issues, although recalled, with earlier models. Solid design, easy and relatively inexpensive to work on with great parts availability and, if it matters, American made. Good news is they retain their value real well. Bad news is they retain their value real well. I converted mine to E85 as well.

Edited by baloo&bd
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I have been very happy with my Honda CR-v.(Cache Retrieval-Vehicle) :) It won't go up as rough a road as my Ranger 4X4 did, but it does get me in on the primitive roads I want to go on. Plus it gets good gas mileage, and is much nicer to drive on the road then the old 4X4.

 

As someone who has owned nothing but Hondas since 1979 I wish I could endorse the CRV. My CRV has been in the shop more times than all of my other Hondas combined. Two AC compressors in the past 3 years (a Google search shows that this is such a common problem that there is a class action suit), an emissions sensor that cost over 1 grand to fix, door locks stopped working and the dealer charged $600 to "re-key" the locks, and now my check engine light is on again. Catalytic converter according to the mechanic. Another thousand plus bucks to fix.

 

I previously owned an Accord and 3 Civics. Great cars. Ran forever with little beyond basic wear and tear like brakes, tires and exhaust system. I keep wondering if my CRV was made by FORD. Fix or Repair Daily.

 

Wow, I wonder if you got a lemon? My CR-V has 90,000 miles and the only work I have had so far is oil changes.( and a new set of tires.) I'm pretty rough on this car too.

In talking with other CR-V owners it sounds like my experience is more typical.

Mine is a 2004, What year was yours?

 

2003

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Sometimes both of us like to head where most folks aren't.

CJ traded in her '07 four-door Jeep for a '11 model ( I think it was the color.)

I finally had to can the '96 Blazer (all the electronics died at once) and got a Dodge Ram with 20" tires for a little extra lift.

- But when we stop at a place where we think no one'd dare, there always seems to be a Subaru or a Ford Escape nearby.

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I personally have a yellow jeep wrangler (call me nostalgic)

 

Does NOT get get good gas mialge, but it gets me where I need to go.

 

I even customized it with "I CACHE" license plates and a sticker that says "Weasel Mobile" and another that says "Geocaching <a guy doing a karate kick followed by a donkey> :laughing:

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I have a 2003 F350 Ford 6.0L diesel crewcab 4x4 that has served my caching needs very well. I've cached all over Alaska and the Yukon getting into some tough spots with it. It crawls if the going gets rough and will run 90 on the highway all day too. I average between 18 and 20 mpg and get around 650 to 700 miles per tank of fuel. It has been such a good rig that when I replace it this summer I'm getting another as close to it as I can. I will probably go with a short bed this time to shorten up the turning radius a bit. Anyhow, it's been a perfect GeoRig for me.

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