Best Car for Climbers

I've had Toyota trucks, Subie Outback, Jeep Cherokee and AWD Sienna. Wife with 2 kids and a dog. By FAR the best has been the Sienna. So comfy and nice with various seat options. When the kids were small, all 4 of us could sleep in there and not have to bring a tent. Can still do that when they got bigger, but I usually tossed a bivy outside. Great to climb in the back from the front seats without going outside in crapy weather. Amazing amount of room, and a top box extends that to a rediculous amount. Works great as a daily driver. The newer ones (2012+) even look kind of cool, almost like a big Matrix. Pretty expensive, but the resale is very good. Bought a used on for $18.5K and sold it 3+ years later for $16.5K (only sold it for a move to Europe).

+1 for the outback.
I had a suburban and the thing was awesome. Fits anything and everything for tons of people. Gas mileage is just a little too bad and doesn't park in small places.
I told myself I wasn't going to be a cliche, but the outback just simply works for the climber lifestyle.
AWD, incredible in snow, seats fold completely flat without taking them out, good gas mileage, people under 6ft can sleep diagonally in the back without any modifications, and the roof rack can fit about anything.

(I have the old one, year 2000, but I'm sure the new ones are cool too)

I gotta throw some love for the Toyota Sienna mini-van.  I had an Outback, and loved it, until it got totaled.  Then got the Sienna to replace it, and think it's way better.  If you remove one middle row seat (leave one for your kid), and drop the rear stow-and-go seats, you could easily sleep in it.  My wife and I put a full time bed in the back of ours, and I think it's the perfect balance of a great road-trip vehicle (lots of space), and a great everyday driver (AWD, good gas mileage, handles well, faster than you'd expect).  The only drawback is that your friends will see you driving a mini-van, but fuck it...

My outback was great, but not so much with kid(s) and dogs PLUS crashpads AND camping stuff. The back seat is a huge pain with car seats. Very shallow and the front seats have to be moved pretty far forwad, especially with a rear-facing carseat. 2 medium crashpads fils the back. Was ok for camping without pad and carseats, with a Rocketbox. Drove well and handels snow awesome, but for what your OP said (2 dogs, kid, crashpads, climbing gear and camping gear for weeks/months... Super tight. No comparison with Sienna or similar.

Porsche 911 GT2RS.......0-60mph in 2.7 seconds
                                        Top speed   212mph

The best car for climbers?

I use my Land Cruiser (200) for ice climbs and really hard to reach places.  Mostly in summer, I take my Odyssey.  Both are pretty ideal but the Odyssey slays on cargo room. 

I'm about to sell a 2007 Subaru Tribeca. You should buy it. About the size of a Highlander. Three row seating. AWD for Colorado winters. Sleeping length in back for dirtbag adventures. Fly to CA and drive it back via Red Rock. 

Have you checked out the new Subaru Ascent? It's like a Forester but with 37% more room.

https://www.subaru.com/vehicles/ascent/index.html

Land Rover LR4 - 2010-2013 or Range Rover L322 2010 - 2012. Depending upon how much room (and/or luxury) you need. From my experience, these vehicles are unbeatable in the snow, and are effortless on long road trips.

Chris Owen wrote: Land Rover LR4 - 2010-2013 or Range Rover L322 2010 - 2012. Depending upon how much room (and/or luxury) you need. From my experience, these vehicles are unbeatable in the snow, and are effortless on long road trips.

if you can get them to run.

How do you guys do the minivan thing? I would just die inside.

M Sprague wrote: How do you guys do the minivan thing? I would just die inside.

You gotta make sure someone cracks a window when they leave you in there. Especially on hot days.

I drive a toyota tacoma and it is the single best car for snow driving, carting climbing gear around, and everything in-between. I put so many miles on mine and it keeps on trucking. Cheap to fix and they hold their value like no other vehicle. 

s.price wrote:

My wife swears by Land Rovers. But she never has to work on them :)

They are great in the snow and very comfy I agree. But if you ever have to work on one be sure to join the Land Rovers only forums.
There you will find the answer to " what the fuck is wrong with my Rover" because it has happened thousands of times before.

Forget about original replacement parts unless $100 for a thermostat makes sense to you.

Good advice - I'm an ME so I do my own work. I'm 60 and I've owned lots of vehicles, but only two Land Rovers. They were easily the two best vehicles I ever owned, very easy to service and beautifully engineered. The forums are full of people who really know their stuff, and any problems are known and fixable. As far as Land Rovers are concerned, people are scared of them - which I suppose is good for me as I pick them up for a fraction of their original MSRP.

Elyas Bianchi wrote: I drive a toyota tacoma and it is the single best car for snow driving, carting climbing gear around, and everything in-between. I put so many miles on mine and it keeps on trucking. Cheap to fix and they hold their value like no other vehicle. 

I'm jealous, I had to trade mine in when I bought a boat. Needed more towing capacity. Mine only had a 3.4L and was a manual, so it couldn't get the boat out of the water. My F150 is better for towing, not as good off road.

M Sprague wrote: How do you guys do the minivan thing? I would just die inside.

I tried not having one for a while.  It was awful. I was constantly borrowing other peoples' minivans and trucks to haul stuff.  I got a great Sienna for cheap with 150k on it, and life is good again.  4x8 sheet goods and 12' stick lumber with the hatch closed,  bouldering trips with 4 people and a ton of pads, or a queen-size air mattress and all your gear.  The only thing I don't love is the MPG (I usually drive a C-Max, which gets 40+), but the long-term plan is to get a Pacifica Hybrid when they get affordable.  Once you get used to the functionality of a minivan, it's hard to go back.  You start wondering why anyone would do the "any other kind of car" thing.

Chris Owen wrote:

Good advice - I'm an ME so I do my own work. I'm 60 and I've owned lots of vehicles, but only two Land Rovers. They were easily the two best vehicles I ever owned, very easy to service and beautifully engineered. The forums are full of people who really know their stuff, and any problems are known and fixable. As far as Land Rovers are concerned, people are scared of them - which I suppose is good for me as I pick them up for a fraction of their original MSRP.

Frankly the worst car I ever had was a Subaru Outback, and I bought that new for $5K more than my current pre-owned Range Rover with low miles.

Agreed, I have owned 7 Land Rovers from a early 1969 Series 2a to 1994 Discovery and my most recent a 1988 Defender 130  which I recently sold.  They are by far the easiest vehicles to service yourself and at least for the older ones the easiest to field repair with whatever odds and ends you have.   People always told me that parts were super expensive but I didn't find that to be the case, very comparable to any other make.  I had a 1988 Range Rover that I think is the best off road vehicle Land Rover ever made, comfortable on road but a little under powered but super capable off road.  If I ever get another Rover I think it will be a 1987-1991 Range Rover.  I have a Rubicon Unlimited now and while it is very capable off road, even more so than the Rovers I have owned Jeeps are a dime a dozen and owning it just doesn't feel the same as Rover, just kinda bland.

Takeaway.
Subarus are C4s.
Landrovers are totems.
Tacomas are dragons with thumb loops.
Minivans are tricams. 
Everything else is an old Metolius.
And I only like my cams. 

Tomily ma wrote: Takeaway.
Subarus are C4s.
Landrovers are totems.
Tacomas are dragons with thumb loops.
Minivans are tricams.
Everything else is an old Metolius.
And I only like my cams. 

Westfalias are hexes.