yep
My Brag vehicle. My 2002 4x4 Suburban gets 20 highway, will haul 2 QCC 700s and a Pamlico 160 with the Factory RACK with Yakima saddles. it also holds 7 FULL SIZE ADULTS. or 4 FULL SIZE adults with enough Gear for 4 adults & Two BIG DOGS. It can easily Tow my 28’ camper, WITH the boats on top, No Clearance problems with long boat over hang on a sub!. It has 4 wheel drive & AWD and a LOW RANGE. And since I bought it used I got it for a killer deal. Also Chevrolet parts are Cheap & easy to come by. My last Sub had about 250,000 on the odometer before I sold it. Oh yeah its got ALL the bells & whistles, heated seats, power everything, I always thought heated seats would be useless, but you would be surprised how good it feels on the back. As for commuting my MOTERCYCLE gets 45 MPG when I drive it like I stole it, or it gets 50 MPG if I drive like a normal person… BTW a Subaru Outback will not even FIT me. When the Wife was looking for a new vehicle awhile back, I sat in one at the east Coast Canoe & Kayak fest… Well I tried to sit in one… Knees rubbed the steering wheel, and head rubbed the roof, unless I tilted the seat waaaaaay back, and leaned to the side “Detroit style” They are Cool looking, and I am glad you like it. but for me they are Too small, Too expensive, and mechanically just so so. And a real PITA for the DIY mechanic parts wise… Granted they dont require work often, but when they do its EXPENSIVE. worst then MOPAR parts by far!!!
Swedge
by my calculation, you may be the champion MPG’er. While I drive solo most of the time, I get credit for only 25 mpg. Due to the size of my Suby and roof rack capacity I can haul one additional adult & boat & gear, for a credit of 50 mpg (actually, probably more like 46 or 48 mpg).
But if you are hauling yourself and 3 other adults & gear, I believe that you should get credit for 80 mpg!
Anybody else top that?
Jim
TDI
Wondering how long before someone brought up the Volkswagen TDI Diesel…
I got 43mpg going 70-80mph (traffic…) with the windows down and my NDK Explorer on the roof on a four hour drive last year. This year it will go up to the Apostle Islands (400 miles) with two kayaks and not have to stop for fuel until halfway on the return trip!
Huh
you mean per person? Most of the Time its just ME the Wife & Daughter and our Dogs in the Sub… other then the Ocassional trip to the store the Sub stays garaged most of the time… I Dont even carry the 3rd row seat in it, for more Storage capacity, More space for the Dogs to lay down. So in trip form its 4 seats, & Two Dogs. but you have TONS of space for gear… although i DO have the ability to haul 7 if i put in the rear Bench seat… Now if you combine Both My Dogs they are the size and weight of an adult…
JIM-WE WERE SET TO GO SOOBAROO, BUT
when I tried the flat straight four, it had the kind of power I associate with stepping into a pail of oatmeal: mush. And -VERY surprisingly, I must admit, as I had great exepectations -I was very much NOT impressed with the handling -it wasn’t nearly as tight as I thought it’d be. I, like Sedge, was also told by a couple of mechanics that it was not quite the bullet-proof vehicle we’d thought, either, and that is was kind of expensive to repair. Now powerWAS available -in eiother the boxer 6, or the turbo 4. More on that later…
Marc & Steve, we also looked at and liked the VW Passat wagon -the 4-banger had better power than the Subaru straight 4 -because it had a turbo, of course! -and the car had MUCH better handling, and good space and ergonomics. The better mileage diesel powerplant alternative was offered at an attractive purchase price point. However, our mechanics, and several friends (two of whom have one and like it in spite of itself) also said they’re bears to repair, and they need to be repaired rather more frequently; one said in great alarm 'Oh, no! Things fall off!" Most telling comment came from a friend who visited a local multi-brand dealer: “I thought about a VW, but at the dealership (Honda/Nissan/VW) I only saw VWs at the service area.” (That friend, BTW, ended up with a much-appreciated Forester -too tall for our standards, as well as not handling as well as we sought.)
Boy, were WE ever disappointed! Both VW and the Subarus looked so good on paper… The clincher was that other than the Subie small 4, both the Subaru turbo 4 and big 6, & the Passat turbo, required premium fuel, or, for the diesel, deisel fuel, natch. But …ouch!
We -almost by accident, indeed quite unexpectedly! -ended up with a Mazda6 Wagon. We are delighted with it to date. It has a great, solid, on-center feel, which is combined with very agile and balanced handling that is just about as good as the VW -or my former 240, for that matter! Basically, it had all the specs and features we were looking for, I (unlike Swedge) fit just fine in it, it had a substantially better price than either the Subaru or VW, it has oomph to spare to dispel powerplant mushiness, and it runs on regular and gets around 25mpg. And we like the way it looks, even if it IS an -eeewwww! -station wagon…
And unlike Swedge’s Suburban -OR our own Jeep for that matter! -it’s nice and low and VERY easy to load the boats on top. That’s the Big Reason we went with a wagon.
And I must say we’re tremendously pleased with it so far (about 5 K miles or so) -it’s a fine yakhauler and a great traveler: two work colleagues of mine -one of whom who owns TWO Suburbans -who drove with me up to Orlando for a conference, found it to be a comfortable traveling car as well. Five k down, 95K -plus -to go… We shall see if it’s as good in our usual car ownership marathon as it has been in the sprint so far.
BTW, we almost always drive together, so we’re hitting about 50 mpgpp.
And yeah, we DID look at the Dadge Magnum -NOT the Hemi. Bad rear liftgate design & dynamics would prevent it from being usefull opened with the boats on top, the view out the back was VERY constricted to follow the vehicle’s styling perogatives, and it was the first production model: bugs TBA during the next year… Cool as it may be, it still reminds some of a hearse, too. All-in-all, it was ended up being a case of ‘Thanks, but no thanks’.
So, so far, we’re keeping our eyes, fingers, and toes crossed. For us, our Mazda6 Sport Wagon’s been a great way to carry us around the daily grind, and to tote us, our gear, and our boats to the places we like to
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
As you know I love my Subie too!
A good loaded trip is 3 seakayaks, 2 adults, 3 dogs, and camping gear for a week. Easily gets 25 mpg though after about 5 hours I start wishing I had the pickup again to keep the dogs from breathing down my neck.
The real test though was we bought a cheap pop up tent trailer, and at 1200 pounds I still got 19 mpg the first weekend we took it out.
The penultimate test though comes in 1 week when we hook up the trailer, load up the car with peeps and dogs and head through the Appalachians on the way to the Outer Banks NC. I’m guessing the stretch from New Stanton to Breezewood may be a little long!
Randy
Frank & Randy
I should have known there was an acronym (MPGPP).
I too have heard rumors about WV’s being less reliable - apparently many are made in mexico now. A friend has a Passat wagon, and I have to admit it goes well, has great roof rack rails (a make-or-break item for me!) and is roomier than my Outback. She has a very heavy foot, so MPG figures from her are questionable. But the car is SOOOO low. Here in WV I sometimes drive less than groomed roads, and have to deal with “broad-based dips” on USFS and State Forest roads, so the 8+ inches of ground clearance of the SOB are needed and appreciated. As for maintenance costs, my dealer has never forced me into the reccomended BS at 30/60/90K. Just remember to have the timing belt changed at the proper interval. As for reliability, in over 750,000 miles of Subys I have been stranded twice: the 1986’s timing belt snapped prematurely, and the 99’s alternator went at 85K. Other than that, 85-90K on brake pads and the usual oil & plugs.
Of course, when I daydream I want a Volvo SUV. Also the money to feed it and keep it up.
Randy, good luck on your trip. I agree that the PA TPK will be “interesting”. I too have an interesting trip pending: To convince myself that I made the right decision to not have children, I am going to ferry a friend and her two sons (4 and 6) to Bridgeport CT for a visit with their father. Ten hours driving + stops. Could be the proverbial straw.
Jim
VW
VW diesels are a little pecuilar, but I do my own maintenance. The scheduled stuff is pretty easy to do but very expensive at a dealer. Haven’t had any problems other than a bad CD player (at delivery) in 43,000 miles - best car I’ve owned yet.
If they’re not cared for properly they will get very expensive - probably more than most.
All wheel drive
That’s four wheel drive for people who can’t cound, right?-) Ok now I have to go out and calculate. But mine is AWD. Maybe it’s just that I drive like an old geezer (but I’m not !-).
Golf TDI
My wife has a Golf TDI but I haven’t tried putting the boats on it. She gets close to about 48-49 mpg Silver with tinted windows – the hispanic kids go nuts over it and I of course give her grief that the kids are really drooling over her.
Can’t say much about reliability because she bought it as a rebuild and there were still several residual problems. Probably still a bit ahead on $$ though. Fred’s TDI page is a great resource http://www.tdiclub.com/ .
About The Same Here
I have an 04 TDI and have about 25K miles on it so far. I am consistantly averaging mpg in the high fourties. I have gotten as low as 39 and as high as 52.
I read all about the reliability issues before buying but took a chance anyway. The TDI’s are made in Germany and the rest of the line in Mexico. Ive done my own maintenance except for the 20K service. (I thought Id like to have them take a look and do some of the minor stuff included on the sched.) Yes, the VW service is expensive, but I guess it is part of it. I have not had the first problem with the car yet.
I did not plan on this wagon as a yak carrier, but it almost could not be better as measured by the performance so far.
Mark
hey Frank
I am 6'3" loading boats on the Sub isn’t a problem. *L* But really its not that bad of a problem for my wife either, as all you have to do is Lift the Bow on to the rack, as the sub has built in roller rack, then push boat up and let it fall into the front cradle, and since it has built in step rail you can stand on those to secure the straps. Most Small cars don’t have Built ins like step rails & Roller racks.. and I do find short cars look pretty funny with an 18' foot boat sticking way out on them. i would be worried about sombody smacking it with anuther vehicle (Happend to me with my QCC on my Pick-Up UPS truck hit it).. Ever notice how ALL the Commercials that show Vehicles with Boats on the roof are always WW boats or Short Rec boats!!!
RANDY -IF THAT’S THE PENULTIMATE TEST,
what’s the “real”, ULTIMATE, one for heaven’s sake???
Maybe TWO trailers? And 5 boats on top? And maybe FOUR dogs??? LOL!
I don’t know about the Subies & Volks (OR Volvos OR Sunrbans OR Audis OR Benzs OR…whatever) but our Mazda wagon has a ‘verical cargo net’ behind the back seat that rises to clip into hooks in the roof -ostensibly to keep dogs in the rear cargo area and out of the back seat passengers hair or necks or whatever. I like to call call it either "the kid babysitter barrier’ or the ‘mother-in-law net’…
Well, whatever… I’m happy YOU’RE happy with YOUR hauler. Indeed, I’m happy for ALL of us who like & appreciate our own particular haulers. It helps us to be happy along the way to get to the places where we
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
New York
Since New York are a bunch of morons when it comes to diesel emissions, I can’t buy a diesel Jetta wagon or Jeep Libery diesel. So, when I was short on money I stumbled upon the best deal I ever found - 2000 Suzuki Esteem wagon. I threw on some Yak racks, paid under 5k, had 33,000 when I started and I’m at 71,000 miles with no problems and I get 27.5 mpg when I drive fast, big loads, and lots of passengers/boats, and 29.57 when I do normal highway. Greatest little machine I’ve ever bought, been really happy with it. To top it off, it’s paid for.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/welcome?i=EeBNW7Zm4ZNWLY¬ag=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=1
It even beats my 1999 CRV gas wise by a fair amount
it might not be the longest load…
but it may be the widest:
http://www.canoecolorado.com/rmskc/brian1.jpg
WRX
may not be the widest, but probably the fastest!
L
Hey frank, The Subs got that to, and a retracting cargo cover…
WRX rocks
if you are a Short person… :o(
YEAH, SWEDGE, MAYBE SO, BUT
the way I put it when we were looking was:
“Every year the Jeep gets and inch taller, the boats get an inch heavvier, and WE get an inch OLDER…!”
ANd we plan on keeping our cars a long LOOOONG time, so there’s a LOT of those “inches” there, know what I mean…?
But you know what the REALLY GREAT thing about the “lower is better” situation is?
Ya don’t get “PADDLERS NOGGIN”, LOL!
I swear, you either have to be REALLY short, or you really REALLY have to WORK to clunk your skull walking around the back of the car, now.
You might ‘take it on the chin’ so-to-speak, but that’s OK, you can always explain that one away as a shaving accident.
You get a head butt, and they KNOW you’re a paddler, everyone KNOWS you just had another case of Paddlers Noggin!
I like it just fine ‘short & sweet’, friend Swedge: I get, uninjured, to the put-in where I can, unscathed,
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
that’s the prettiest pic
I’ve seen in a loooonnngg time.
Oh yeah, I love my Legacy.