Need vehicle suggestion

I just moved to Fort Collins a few months back, previously being in the Bay Area CA for about 2 years, and before that in Ontario Canada for 20+ years.

I need to buy a new vehicle (or two)...all I have right now is a 14mpg RWD conversion van which not only is expensive to drive, but is not too much fun on anything other than smooth pavement. I took it up to the monastery once and I thought my bones were going to rattle out of my body. I can't imagine it'll do very well in snow, either.

At this point I'm considering 2 options:
1) Get a single, decent gas mileage 4wd vehicle that will handle everything.
2) Buy a cheaper car that gets good gas mileage, and then a cheaper (used) 4x4 truck or SUV to take care of the other situations.

The first question is: how often do people find themselves needing/wanting 4wd here? I'm a snowboarder and see myself heading to the resorts/backcountry spots pretty frequently. 4wd was needed in CA due to CalTrans requirements...I never had 4wd in Canada, and always did fine with FWD w/ snow tires, but then again there weren't any mountain roads. And of course there are probably a few climbing destinations that 4wd would be nice, though I'm not familiar with too much here yet.

I don't need tons of people-moving capabilities...it's just me and my wife right now, but I would like to seat at least 4, even if the other 2 aren't super comfortable. Storage space for climbing/camping/bikes (on rack)/snow gear is a must.

If I were to finance one new vehicle, I'd probably be looking at under 25k. If going used (not financed), I'd probably be looking at up to 15k, or 20k combined for two cars (one now, one later).

So...what types of setups do people here have? Any killer combos that get you through anything without breaking the bank?

Thanks!

I love fuel efficient front wheel drive cars with a pair of snow chains if it gets really dicey. I had a 2002 F250 4x4 truck that got about 16 mpg. My girlfriend has a Ford Focus that got 34 mpg. We always took her car to the resorts with no problem. The 4wd just wasn't needed. We take her car to Indian Creek, rock climbing in Colorado, Skiing, and Ice Climbing. We got some snow chains for the front wheels and we go drive on back county roads in the winter just fine.

In my opinion 4wd is a luxury that is over emphasized and not needed in 90% of the situations people use it for.

I would recommend 4WD if you plan on going to the mountains a lot in the winter. Its definitely nice to have. I drive a 2005 Subaru Impreza with a ski/bike rack and get 25mph. If I had to get a truck or SUV, I would get a Toyota Tacoma (newest year I could afford) or newer 4runner. Toyota makes good trucks/suvs that will run forever (200k+)and get decent gas mileage. Just my 2 cents.

I just sold my chevy s-10 ZR2 (4wd offroad package) a month or so ago. We used to take it offroading quite a bit. Honestly unless you plan on actually offroading as a hobby you wil almost NEVER need a 4wd vehicle. Not to mention the 4wd vehicles suck gas about as bad as your current van. The ones that have steering dampers (to stop the wheel from slamming back and forth when going over large rocks) have pretty loose handling. If I were you I would go with a 2wd pickup/SUV or an AWD subaru. Both will get better gas mileage and pretty much be able to take you anywhere you need to go. If you think a road is gonna be really bad bring a shovel and some 2"x6" planks of wood to get you over the tough spots. Oh and every 4wd vehicle I've been in all rattle your bones!

Thanks guys. So far it seems that I might want to lean towards the fuel efficient car + 4x4 truck for the nasty stuff/hauling home renovation stuff. However, David, you had mentioned chaining up for the crappy stuff... I HATE chains, which is the exact reason why I was contemplating 4x4. How often do you actually need to chain up, and could it have been avoided with a 4x4?

Just my 2 cents, I've lived in winter park, the last 2 winters. I drive a FWD mini-van, with snow tires I have never gotten stuck, have tons of room for stuff... Blah blah blah.

My point is that if you are a decent driver, with snow tires you shouldn't really have a problem with just about any car you get in the mountains. Unless you plan on going off the road, then it becomes another matter.

Honda CRV, whatever year you can afford. I'm pretty sure that Honda's reputation speaks for itself, and the CRV has a "J" as a first letter on the VIN, meaning that some redneck from the South making $10/hour didn't assemble your vehicle. Believe me, the difference between a true Japanese car, and one assembled in Alabama is quite obvious after a few years on the road. Skip the truck for renovations, put a hitch on your CRV, and buy a 4x8 trailer for hauling, and if you need something more stout, rent a truck. You will save thousands, that you can apply to a ski pass, or gear.

You don't need 4wd, you need good tires. Studless snow tires are worth it on a 2wd car.

When I lived in Denver, we had a Toyota Celica and a Camry. We even took the celica through a blizzard in Aspen. Not even a tire spin.

We live in Maine now, and had a 2wd element and 4wd toyota tundra last year. I pressed the 4wd button twice: once to make sure it worked, and once to show my brother how 4wd worked. The element is no longer (accident) and we now have a subaru, which I think might be the perfect "one" car.

I'm a big fan of one vehicle. Our impreza wagon gets 27-29mpg, and could work camping if it had a rack. Get the Legacy if you need more space. You can get nice use onces for less than your budget, too.

My 2005 Tundra 4wd was assembled in the US and has been mechanically perfect for 130k miles. I like a full size truck with topper and extended cab. Tired of calling my brother to pull me out of stuff. Topper let's me lock stuff up and sleep in the back. Mileage about 17 to 19mpg. Can seat 5 comfortably for long trips with huge amount of gear, bikes, boats etc.

Peter Pitocchi wrote:My 2005 Tundra 4wd was assembled in the US and has been mechanically perfect for 130k miles.

I said a few years, which is what you now have. The problems should begin about now.

I'd go with a Suzuki Samurai. Best of both worlds. Great on gas mileage...gets like 27 hwy, 24 city. And an amazing little 4x4 rig. I used to have a jeep cherokee and the 4x4 on the sammy blows the xj out of the water. They arent too expensive either. You can prolly find one in really nice shape with a lot of upgrades for under 10k. And in summers you can take the removable hard top off( if you get that model) or the soft top. Plus, they are really fun to drive. Not very fast though unless you get one with the sidekick motor upgrade.

Ian, we used the chains once last year to go ice climbing at Lincoln Falls. The last mile of road is uphill dirt road that had about 4 in of fresh snow on it. With 4wd it would have been no problem, with quick install chains it was about ten minutes and then no problem to get up.

If you drive 10K miles a year, and assume gas is about $4/gal the difference between 26 mpg and 34 mpg is $362/year. The difference between a 21 mpg car and a 34 mpg car is $728/year. I have been able to go everywhere I wanted for climbing, snowboarding, and ice climbing, with the moderate inconvenience of putting on chains once on a back country road in winter.

I've got a 97' toyota t100 6cyl 5spd extended cab/shortbed. I get about 20-25 on the hwy, and about 18 in the city. I do not have a truck topper which would increase my gas mileage by a few mpg's. If I had my way I would buy a honda hatch back for commuting to school, and around SLC, and would break out my truck for weekend roadtrips, and for skiing. But as it stands I don't regret buying the truck, and definitely get better gas mileage than my old Jeep cherokee.

I'd say, it's nice to have choices. For 90+% of the driving around to climb, ski, etc, it's nice to have a 32-35 mpg vehicle like an old Honda Accord. For the real 4WD stuff, it's nice to have a crummy mileage (18-20 mpg) high clearance vehicle like a Toyota 4Runner. Even with that, it's good to have chains in the truck when you get into the real stuff where getting stuck isn't a great option. Studs are not necessary unless you have to go up and down into the mountains when it is icy, which is rarely.