needs to be fuel efficient and capable of towing a small camper, less than 300 pounds.
I'd have Yakima racks with my canoe on top, and a trunk rack for my bicycle.
Is there such a vehicle? I was thinking of the Honda Fit, but it seems not to be capable of towing 300 pounds. Easy come easy go, I didn't like the name anyway.
Suggestions would be appreciated. I don't really care much about performance other than gas mileage. Don't need frills, it is just transportation.
It's a 2002 Mercedes Benz E320 Wagon. It's AWD. I got mine for 12k with 75,000 miles on it. Look around on ebay or at the used lots. No one wants the wagon for some reason.
Side note… a lot of bike racks won’t fit a hatchback, or a wagon.
Yakima has a model that will, but you’ll have to remove the bikes to open the hatch. I think it was called SuperJoe, or something like that.
I picked one up used on e-bay, as it will fit our sedan as well as our SUV.
There are probably others.
I rather like the Mercedes wagon as well, BMW also offers a fine small wagon, but I’m not sure of tow rating. I’m pretty certain the Volvos offer a tow rating.
Don’t forget ongoing costs $12,000 isn’t a lot for a Merc, but regardless of the purchase price, it’s still considered a luxury vehicle, with attendant higher insurance, maintenance & repair costs. I love glam cars and have had a Saab, an MGB-GT and a Subaru SVX (how I loved that car), but learned quickly that the purchase price is only a fraction of the overall cost of ownership.
I’ve been looking at the Honda Fit and am disappointed that towing with it will void the warranty. That and having to stay on the pavement. Oh well, it’ll have to do till I can afford a Forester…sigh…
Escape Hybrid Not sure if it is cheap enough for you, but a Ford Escape Hybrid gets better than 30 mpg city-highway and has enough power to pull a small trailer.
+1 On the high maint cost of a pre enjoyed Mercedes or BMW. These cars need what they need when they need them or it can get very expensive. Still, they are cool cars to drive, if not cheap to own. And the merc wagon is a great luxo utility vehicle.
On the subject of reliability of high end German machinery i can speak from experience here and tell you that it is no better or worse than American cars.
“THE” car Seriously. Find a used Volvo XC 70. Nice car. Creature comforts. pleanty of haulin’ room. Good mileage for what it is. Reliable. Made for many years so you can likely find one at your price point.
Camry’s are over rated IMO, based on two that I’ve owned.
Owned 97, bought new, a real POS. In the shop numerous times. Went back to Honda Accords.
Flash forward ten years and decided to forgive Toyota and go for another Camry rather then our umpteenth Accord. What we ended up with is another Cash for Clunker disguised as a well built Japanese car. Just bad luck? Maybe, but not if you believe all the hits on google for the same problems. Back to Honda on the next round.
My car reads p.net Unbelievable. My 2000 Saturn which has never given me trouble before is sitting outside my condo with the shift cable broken. Waiting for AAA to tow in; repair will cost over $500.
Could be worse; I’ve been in Ocala National forest 3 times in the last 2 weeks. No cell service there.
Time to seriously start looking for a new(er) car.
