Vehicles for Fly Fishermen

[rayfound]

OK, my personal finances being what they are, I've decided the time has come to sell my Car (2007 Impreza WRX) and use the equity leftover to buy a different vehicle (basically, eliminate my monthly payment). I am able to go with someone to the wholesale auction, so I will be buying at pretty good prices.

No offense to the big 3, but I'm planning on keeping this car for a while, and its gotta be reliable... so I'm only looking at Japanese brands. I need to seat 4 in reasonable comfort, and if I want to stay married, it will have to be an automatic

Looks like 2002-2005 are the years, depending on what type of vehicle it is.

Now, of course I am thinking: why not get something that would be more convenient for fishing and such?

I am initially thinking: 4x4 Crew cab Tacoma... but these seem to be a bit out of my budget. (actually, if I could find one with a I-4... it MIGHT be perfect, but these were built mostly with the V-6).


Now for my discussion questions: For the forest service roads, what do you think is of greater concern: 4wd or high ground clearance?

I have a few 4wd vehicles in mind, but the ground clearance may be a bit low for some places: Rav-4, CR-V, '03 Pilot. I am also unsure about the offroad/forest road prowess of these 4wd systems. I don't expect to be able to do the gnarliest jeep trails, but I don't want to get stuck either.

If ground clearance is more a concern, a Prerunner tacoma could likely be had, or a 4x2 4Runner. And for that matter, I could just buy a Civic, accord, Altima, or Camry, and borrow the wife's 4x2 4Runner to hit the hills (though explaining the pinstriping from the branches could get old after a while, and I would rather just have a vehicle to keep my fishing crap in).

You guys who do this more than I, what do you think?

[Eric]

Ray I have the clearance and remember what happened last month. I really wish I would have bought a 4wd tundra. If you have to get something older to get 4wd do it.
Eric

[1mocast]

Ray,
I was in the same shoes as you this past year. I did a bit of research and finally decided to retire my daily driver - 1989 Mazda P/U...I still miss it...

This site was useful in ranking SUV's and Trucks. There are other links to other review sites too.
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/ca ... Road-SUVs/

There are quite a few Part/Full time AWD vehicles out there but from what I have read, I decided that 4WD was mandatory with the locking rear differential for any wet/slippery/steep fire roads.

Having a high ground clearance and short wheelbase helps. I ended up with my Xterra. The Frontier crewcab and Tundra crewcab was a close 2nd choice.

Unfortunately, gas mileage suffers with the 4X4. An alternate I did think of was the old Suzuki Samurai. Hope this helps.

[Danny McB]

(though explaining the pinstriping from the branches could get old after a while, and I would rather just have a vehicle to keep my fishing crap in).


..... Ahhh The old Sierra Racing stripes.... Ive got a lot of those.


IMO/ and IM Experience.... The one time you actually will need four wheel drive and have it, it will have paid for itself for the 5 minutes you need it. Right when I bought my 4wd (within 20 minutes of the purchase) I was making a 3 point turn and the back tires got into a bit of sand on the side of the road........ YUP the 4wd paid for itself right there

One other thing to ponder that I have run into: When I bought my new truck I went in to get an F-150 or similar Chevy and the dealer had a F-250 Diesel 4x4 That he sold to me for the same price as the F-150 so it was a no brainer to me (hey diesel was still at $1-$2 a gallon at the time) But my biggest problem with it is that it is 12- 18 inches wider than any jeep trail so lets just say my paint job looks about ten years older than the truck so either get a truck you can do that too or look at the toyotas which are much slimmer than most other models in thier class and as you know... expect that to happen

[KRoberts1]

Ray,

I got the RAV4 with the V-6, 4x4. Real happy with it. Same milage as the I-4, better than than the CRV I had. I'm 20+ around town & as good as 29 heading up 395 at 75mph. Rides a lot better than my uncle's Tacoma. Will run off & leave the BMR's in the dust. Been over some rough terrain with the 4x but really haven't tested it by going into places like Monache Meadows. Ground clearance is considerable less than the Cherokee I had, but better than some.

Keith

[darrin terry]

Craig, that is not scratching. It's called trail polish. No 4WD is complete without its share. *, my last four vehicles have been 2WD & even they have been liberally trail polished. Without at least some sign that an off-road vehicle sees off-road use, it may as well be a mall crawler .

It's a good thing.

[midger]

I'd look for a vehicle with clearance first, 4wd second, and mileage third. I own a Landcruiser, 4 Runner, Rav4, Chevy Tracker, and a Dodge Durango, and a Honda CRV AWD--basically classed as 4wd. All are 4wd. We live in snow country and I do not plan on chaining up any of our cars. The Rav4 and Tracker went to Idaho with the daughters and both have ran all over Idaho backcountry roads. Both of these get pretty good gas mileage==around 23-24 mpg==but the ground clearance isn't optimal for places like Monache. I wouldn't take either of them or the CRV into there as there are too many large rocks to straddle. I have taken the durango, 4 runner, and Landcruiser into there. My landcruiser is most fearless of them all and it has many off road miles on it now--so many that it is inline for an engine replacement. I do run larger tires on the full size 4wd so their clearance levels are good. OTOH, their gas mileage is, ahem, horrible. The 4 runner gets around 19, durango about 15, and Landcruiser around 14.

You give up your mileage with 4wd, but I feel the advantages outweigh the mileage loss. If you just plan to fish Southern Cal and more local, the the forest service roads are passable with even 2 wd vehicles most times of the year. Very few locales require 4wd, but I'd still look for a vehicle with some clearance like a Tacoma, Ranger, S10, or one of the other small pickups that will support larger tires. I also would not get a 4 banger in the larger, small pickups. Those work okay in the Ravs, Trackers, etc but not so well in the larger vehicles.

If I had to pick one and was trying to stay at the lower end of the scale, I'd look for a 2001-2004 Toyota 4 Runner, or a Nissan XTerra. Either will allow you to lock up your gear easier than a pickup, and they will ride better than a pickup. Both are available with 4wd.

Good Luck in your search.

[Autodave]

Ray-I have a V-6 Tacoma Prerunner and have done well in the local mountains,there are times I wish I had 4WD but I have not yet had a problem,if I am doing some recon I will throw a shovel in the back.Get a V-6.

[RubiKinda]

If you think there are few places to fish that require 4wd, I disagree. It's obvious you are looking for a daily driver as well as a fishing rig. I bought the 2001 Tacoma Craig mentioned and it was a reg cab 4x4 with the I-4 and with 32" tires was gutless and got horrible MPG(12-14). It was a great trail rig though....for a Japanese. So I opted for the Jeep on 37"s and fully locked getiing 8-9 MPG instead. To each his own I guess. When your import gets stuck, give me a shout and I'll come winch you out.....but I'll also know your fishing hole then. Good Luck with the buy.

[anacrime]

trooper

[rayfound]

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm starting to narrow it down to a Tacoma PreRunner V6, Frontier, Xterra, 4-runner, and rav4. I love our '06 4runner and am temped to hunt for an '03 4x4 V6 version and call it a day.

The Nissan's seem to be selling a couple thou. cheaper than the Toyotas at the Auction, however, the fuel mileage is decidedly worse, and I find the Toyota interior to be of a bit better quality, however, the Nissans make it much easier to find a vehicle that will fit the bill without going over what I have to spend. I'll have to go find an 04 Xterra on a dealer lot to look at and drive... maybe that's the best fit, unfortunately, the older V6 is not NEARLY as robust as the 05-current V6, and I'm not a fan of sluggish vehicles.

Ahh... decisions.

Any more input would be helpful.

[mk4]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a 4x4 DC Tundra.

The reason I'd go bigger, is because you say you plan on keeping the car for a while. And with that in mind, down the road if you buy a boat or RV, the smaller vehicles won't be able to tow very well.

I'd also look for one with a rear locking differential (if it ever was an option for the Tundra)

Size wise, the Tundra is bigger, but it will fit on the type of trails that you have in mind.

[rayfound]

Starting to lean towards making the wife promise to never complain about me using her car, and buying an 04-06 Accord or Civic.

Her 4x2 4runner is a great car, and I'll just have to stay home or ride with one of you guys when the trails are gnarly or muddy... you won't mind will you?

The other thing in the running is a 4x4 Ext cab Tundra (03-04), which are selling cheap (less than Tacomas!) at the auction lately (think like $8,500) with about 75,000 miles... BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, 15mpg is freakin' pathetic, and will get expensive when gas prices rise again.

Looks like economics is winning this battle... its the whole reason I'm making the move anyway...

[buggravy]

You might want to look at the Kia Sorrento. My brother bought one hesitantly, but moved forward because he got such a good deal. He now has well over 100K trouble free miles, many of which were spent towing a flats boat. He swears that he's going to run the car into the ground, and then buy the same car again.

[Trootfisher]

I second the Kia's, the '04s got good ratings for 4WD capabilities back when I
was researching and shopping around.

Another vehicle(s) to consider is an Isuzu Rodeo 4WD or Honda Passport 4WD, essentially
the same vehicle with the same (Honda) motor.