Koko4

I used to have a ’91 Toyota pickup, which I absolutely loved. I sold it and got a ’97 Honda Civic. The Civic is a good little car, but recently I took it cross-country and lived out of it for over a month, with my girlfriend. During this trip I realized how ˟˟˟˟ty it is to live out of a Civic, and also how much it sucks to not have a car with decent ground clearance. I wasn’t trying to do anything crazy, but just get down some forest service roads and do some dispersed camping. In the Honda, I had to go super slow and snake around ruts and rocks. I even bottomed out a few times, stopped the car and crawled underneath to make sure I didn’t dent/damage the oil pan. I’d like to get something with much better clearance, that I can use for camping trips as well as normal everyday driving.

There are a couple different things I am trying to factor in. My budget would be about $3-$4k, so it obviously wouldn’t be a very new car. I’m thinking late 90’s / early 2000’s. I want to have pretty good MPG; ideally at least 23+. I also want it to be relatively safe.

I really like the body style of the old 4runners from the late 80’s/early 90’s, but had to decide against them strictly because of the side impact safety rating. I wouldn’t have given much thought to this a few years ago, but am now 25 and this car could possibly carry my future wife / kids in it (don’t have either of those now, though).

I like the old Toyota pickups, and wouldn’t be completely against a late 80’s / early 90’s one with the 22re engine. I know they are known for their reliability, but also have certain issues to consider, like the timing chain slap wearing a hole in the engine..and I don’t know what kind of realistic mileage I would get with one of those, either.

I was also looking at newer (95+) Tacomas, but honestly I wouldn’t use it for its truck-features enough to justify having a truck. I think a SUV would be more suited to me – that way when I go on camping / hiking trips and have gear in the car, it can be locked away safely. I thought about a truck with a camper top as well, but they are easy to break into. I’m sure if a would-be thief wanted to break into my SUV, they would, but I’d like to think there’s a little more protection or deterrent from a camper top.

So that brought me to the newer (95+) 4Runners, but from what I’m reading they average about 18mpg, and are also pretty hard to find in 5speed around here. Most recently, I have been looking at Honda CR-V’s. They are car-like enough to get good mileage (~23-25) yet are capable enough to handle some offroading..nothing too serious, though. I don’t know if a mid-size SUV like this would be as useful as I am picturing it to be. And I know when the time comes, I would love to have something rugged as well as practical. Basically I am caught in a rut, and keep going back-and-forth with myself.

Another thing to consider with the CR-V is the 30k valve adjustments. Apparently from 99-01 Honda designed the engines so the valve clearances actually become smaller over time, and if you don’t adjust them they will eventually tighten shut and burn up exhaust valves.. Not hard to do, just a pain.

What would you guys do? I know you are all die-hard Toyota fans (I was / am as well) and I would like to stick with either Toyota or Honda. I don’t really care about fancy bells-and-whistles (trim differences, etc) and am more interested in the reliability and functionality of the vehicle. I would just bite the bullet and get a 4Runner or a Tacoma, if I wasn’t so sure that gas prices would start to bug me immediately..I mean, that’s why I switched to the 32mpg Civic in the first place! Thanks for any advice you can give!

Another crazy idea is the 22re to 1.6 VW TDI swap, but I think that’s a LITTLE out of my league! Sure would be nice to have a truck that gets 35mpg though. I really wish Toyota would just make a diesel that could be imported into the US – would solve all of my problems!

Resto-noob

iTrader: (3)

Get a Subaru. AWD, easy 20 plus mpg, can take a beating and fits in your price range. Not that you care, but they are the best snow cars I've driven. I had a 97 impreza outback that was at 250 K when I sold it. I beat that thing like it owed me money, too.