Time for a new horse; what would you suggest.

[DeerForce]

Hey Guys,

I thought I would write a post about buying a new vehicle and ask you about best choices for a hunter in these parts. I live in Squamish and work in the city; I'm leaning towards a Jeep or a Pickup, both look like they have their advantages. The Pickup would be great to work from and move gear and large items, however larger and more of a hassle to park and drive in the city. The Jeep looks like more fun and more of what I'm use to size wise. I've had trucks and hatchbacks in the past, these days I'm in a Smart Car; it holds a deer just fine in the back! :wink: It's just getting a little small for me and access is limited, especially when theirs 5"+ of snow on the FSRs.

Buyer Concerns:
- New or Used
- Reliability
- Milage costs
- Maintenance costs
- Resale value
- Maneuverability: Access and parking (I love the smart car for this - it'll be missed)
- City & HWY driving
- Cargo capacity/capability
- Backcountry security


I guess the information I'd really like to know is what kind of mistakes or shortcomings you wish you could have avoided in you own vehicle history as it relates to accessing the backcountry and serving well in the frontcountry. I'd rather not repeat the same mistakes others wish they could have avoided or learn the hard way if I can avoid it. I'd also like to hear about any personal advantages you may like about your own rig.

Thanks

[russm]

Ive got a regular cab, short box ram that's fine for what I need, I live in town and can park it better than most people in small cars, before I had the ram I had a Nissan Xterra that was surprisingly good off-road with a decent set of tires on it.

[New Bow Hunter]

Once you have decided on what you would like. Check with auto brokers. Auto girl is on the site.

[monasheemountainman]

toyota forerunner or tacoma would probably suit your needs

[Kill-da-wabbit]

Any 1/2 tonne pickup now has some kind of cylinder cutout tech and good gas mileage. The 4 door versions have plenty of room up front and a box to throw your deer into. GMC Ram Ford Toyota it doesn't matter - all have good stories and horror stories. I have a GMC 2009 5.3 extended cab and have no problem parking or maneuvering. I am 6'1 215 lbs and find the smaller pickups a little cramped, especially all geared up ( snow pants, winter jacket ). The advantage of buying used with lower resale, is that someone else has already paid the depreciation. But higher resale value is usually there for a reason. Big decision. I hope your happy with whatever you pick.

[WWBC]

If maneuverability and off-road capabilities are important and payload and towing arn't then a Tacoma is hard to beat.

Their just too small if you use them as truck.

[jlirot]

Love my Taco - 2016. After looking at used, it made no sense not to buy new. Resale on a 4 year old truck is just a couple grand off a brand new one.

If I wasn't hauling kids I'd get the extended cab long bed. With 2 kids and a dog I opted for the DCLB. Mileage kinda sucks but everything else is great.

[northof49]

Toyota tacoma is what you're looking for, also safer for wet weather highway driving than jeep and muck more reliable over the long run.

[Bear Chaser]

Buy a Tacoma, take good care of it and expect to get 15-20 years usage from it.

[RyoTHC]

I just went through this same situation.. after test driving many trucks, I decided mid size offered everything I needed, and was cheaper than the bigger trucks so it was win win. .

That brought me to the canyon, Colorado, frontier, and Tacoma (the new Ridgeline is a joke..)

After test driving several configurations of each truck,I finally settled on the 2017 Colorado duramax diesel... living with mountains on all sides the exhaust break, downhill assist plus the torque is an amazing asset...

If you have any questions don't hesitate to pm!

I will end with saying I'm unsure why the Tacoma has so many fan boys.. I drove a v8 4 runner for years and loved it do I never questioned all the Tacoma s on the road.. but I have to ask.. why!? Sure they have alot of after market parts... but I have never driven such a gutless slow vehicle in my life prior and the interior is damn near enough to make you claustrophobic after driving the other mid size trucks...

I can't wait to hear the fan Boys come to the Tacoma defence :D

[RyoTHC]

2017 Chevy Colorado, with a duramax diesel and some Duratrac tires is exactly what you want.. pretty sure it beats the Tacoma in every aspect that you were concerned with ;)

The only real toss up is re sale value but if these diesels continue to function as well as they are I'd be shocked if they didn't hold value better than a gas Tacoma

[RackStar]

Skip the Tacoma
go back to a Toyota pickup with a 22re
decent mileage and goes anywhere.

[srupp]

Hunting partner pulled up here yesterday with 2017 Toyota pickup..weighs the same as our Ford Edge car..pretty much same engine size.
Srupp

[brownmancheng]

My brother just bought a 2017 Tacoma. Nice truck but it is gutless. other problem is you have to pay arm and a leg for any nice upgrades. you don't even get leather (which stays cleaner) unless you get top model .

Off road it is small and maneuverable but does not compare to my rubicon.

IMO Toyota is WAY overpriced .

[brownmancheng]

but if you are going to buy one definitely might as well buy new!

[Firstblood]

Tacomas have a following because old tacomas withe the 22r or re whatever it was was legendary, the trucks were smaller and they are still around. Buddy has a new taco but is too dumb to put decent tires on it. It is gutless and tiny inside, my 4 door tracker has more space in the back seat. The colorado Ive heard good things about but I do not have experience in midsize trucks, full size and pint size for me.

What kind of milage are you guys getting on midsize trucks if you dont mind me asking, kind of helping the theme of the thread? My Ram crew cab gets 10.5l/100km on the highway 12 in the city.

[Squamch]

The pre Tacoma Toyota truck model was the....truck.
I don't know what kinda glue you need to eat to find a Tacoma gutless, the 4.0 in my wife's 2008 has a ton of jam.
Jeeps...well, if you want to be a jeeple, that's your problem, but I promise you, from experience, that if you push a stock jeep, and a stock Toyota just as hard as the other, you're gonna need to buy jeep parts. And that's including a Rubicon. That said, if I had to jeep, I would buy an LJ, which is a stretched TJ.
Chevys have an enormous belly in the frame that gets hung up constantly. Add car sized steering linkage and that's a walk away for this guy. They ride nice though.
Fiats...well...the tiny diesel in the half tons looks interesting.
Ford sadly doesn't make the ranger for us anymore.
Ridgelines are cars.

Forgot Nissan.
Here's an exercise to determine Nissans offroad abilities; crawl under a pathfinder. Now roll over. Oops, you can't.
Perform the same with an xterra. Oops, you can't.
Find a 4wd Toyota of the same vintage. Doable.
Now look at the rear spring hangers on that xterra. Holy shit those are some low hanging anchors eh?
Now just wait until the Nissan electrical gremlins show up...

[mastercaster]

I have a 2007 Tacoma that I bought out of the States that had 1400 miles on it,,,,double cab, short box, auto (not available in Canada). Can turn it around on the skinniest of goat trails. Saved 12 grand buying down there back then. Haven't found a hill in the province that you couldn't go up it 80-90 mph if you wanted to so plenty of jam. Mine is raised because I have heavier leaf springs on it adjustable shocks top front. Running Duratracs on it and will be switching them out with another set that I just picked up that has about 7000 k on them. Tacomas are easy on tires because this set I'm running now has 85 000 miles on them. Ya you read right,,,,,that's 85 000 miles, not kms.

I'm holding onto the truck for another 5 years and will get another. Hopefully Tacoma hasn't done a whole lot to them that would make them inferior to what the one I have now is,,,,,unless they want to improve the gas mileage.

[RyoTHC]

Tacomas have a following because old tacomas withe the 22r or re whatever it was was legendary, the trucks were smaller and they are still around. Buddy has a new taco but is too dumb to put decent tires on it. It is gutless and tiny inside, my 4 door tracker has more space in the back seat. The colorado Ive heard good things about but I do not have experience in midsize trucks, full size and pint size for me.

What kind of milage are you guys getting on midsize trucks if you dont mind me asking, kind of helping the theme of the thread? My Ram crew cab gets 10.5l/100km on the highway 12 in the city.

7.9-8.5L/100km on highway and averaging 10.5L for city right now in my diesel Colorado from 2017.. it blows away the NEW Tacoma s in every regard.. forget that the new Tacoma is the most gutless truck ever made....


Edit * I'm still driving this truck like it'd my hem loaded grand Cherokee so I can improve fuel economy likely plus I added bigger beefier offroad tires and extra weight to the truck.

[northof49]

The pre Tacoma Toyota truck model was the....truck.
I don't know what kinda glue you need to eat to find a Tacoma gutless, the 4.0 in my wife's 2008 has a ton of jam.
Jeeps...well, if you want to be a jeeple, that's your problem, but I promise you, from experience, that if you push a stock jeep, and a stock Toyota just as hard as the other, you're gonna need to buy jeep parts. And that's including a Rubicon. That said, if I had to jeep, I would buy an LJ, which is a stretched TJ.
Chevys have an enormous belly in the frame that gets hung up constantly. Add car sized steering linkage and that's a walk away for this guy. They ride nice though.
Fiats...well...the tiny diesel in the half tons looks interesting.
Ford sadly doesn't make the ranger for us anymore.
Ridgelines are cars.

Forgot Nissan.
Here's an exercise to determine Nissans offroad abilities; crawl under a pathfinder. Now roll over. Oops, you can't.
Perform the same with an xterra. Oops, you can't.
Find a 4wd Toyota of the same vintage. Doable.
Now look at the rear spring hangers on that xterra. Holy shit those are some low hanging anchors eh?
Now just wait until the Nissan electrical gremlins show up...

This is bang on.....good summary. OP needs a Toyota. He is currently driving smart car and commuting to big smoke for work. Needs something smaller to be able to park in Vancouver and fit in parkades.Toyota will fill all needs nicely. Jeeps are fun and the ladies like them with top down but less reliable and much less versaltile. Have owned both. I drive full size b/c need the room, pack camper and tow stuff.

[RackStar]

The japs know how to build automobiles. Very well thought out when you do repairs. Better quality parts.
Old jeeps are ok...
end of the day your going to spend a lot more fixing your gasoline domestic truck. And your going to get way more life from a Toyota. When your Chrysler is tired and done at 300km your Toyotas just getting broke in. And the re sale value is awesome.

Domestic? Not so much. For a reason.
If you go domestic go diesel.

[Salty]

I've had a pre Tacoma pick up, a Tacoma and a 4runner. They're good vehicles for sure. Bombproof? Um, no. They are very tough though. But the only rear end I've ever replaced out of dozens of vehicles I've owned was on the 4 runner. They're fantastic in the bush though and decent on the highway but they burn more fuel than they should IMO. At the end of the day though they're just too eff'n small.

Had an 04 Sierra that I had for about 8 years and logged 140kms on it. Sold it rusted and beat with 270k on it for 9 grand less than I paid. That is cheap driving. Replaced both front hub assemblies on it otherwise just consumables. Now I'm on to a Ferd 1/2 ton. I just got tired of burning very nearly as much fuel in Toyotas and not being able to tow or haul much. Full sized half tons for the win.

[Ferenc]

Just stay away from the second gen Toyota 4Runner with the V6 3.0 L engine.. better choice is the R22 engine if your looking at used in this year.... and as Salty mentioned they suck fuel.... comparable to my 1972 K10 Chevrolet
Lol.... if I was to go the 4Runner route again it would be a 3rd gen in a 5spd if you can find one. www.carsurvey.org will have a lot of first hand reviews on anything you maybe considering.

[DeepJeep]

I am in the same boat...

Options:

- Get a Jeep Unlimited + a small high clearance trailer. Jeep JK Unlimited with the seats folded can be used to sleep in and the trailer can haul animals/coolers.
example: http://i65.tinypic.com/207nuid.jpg

OR
- 1/2 ton pickup.

I would probably go with the Jeep just so I can sleep in it over night. But if you are considering a 2dr Jeep, I would with the pickup.

[northof49]

Also short wheel base jeeps suck on standing water and ice on the highway....like to do endos so not the greatest for highway commuting in shitey weather.