Currently, I drive a 2001 Volkswagen New Beetle. Last week, I had a bit of an accident…I was pulling out of a parking lot through a mud puddle, and apparently underneath the water there was some broken-up concrete, which tore off part of my front end as well as all three splashguards, and also destroyed the radiator and power steering. The car is fixed now, but it made me realize that I’ve definetly got to get something a bit more rugged. I’m in Oklahoma City for University now, but I’ll be going home to a rural area for four months over the summer, and I seriously doubt the car can survive four months of driving up and down dirt roads.
So, like any sensible Internet surfer, I’m appealing to the Dopers. What should I buy?
I go to school in the middle of the city, but go home twice a month, which is a 400+ mile trip each time. My house is a mile from a paved road, so whatever I get has to be able to withstand dirt-road driving at low speed for a bit, but also has to be comfortable for long interstate drives. I need a decent amount of passenger space, and would like good gas mileage, though it’s not necessarily required. I’d like to get something for approximately the value of the Beetle. We weren’t planning on getting a different car for quite some time, so throwing a lot more money into the purchase isn’t really an option.
So far, I’m looking at:
2001 Jeep Wrangler hard-top
1998-2000 Volvo S80
1989 Mercedes 420 SEL
I’m looking for opinions on which of these would be best, or any other kind of vehicle that might better suit my needs.
The Wrangler: You wouldn’t tear off stuff on your driveway but they aren’t reliable. They don’t handle very well, especially when compared to the vw. They don’t have very good weather protection, and the ride is pretty rough
The Mercedes: I don’t really see this as a “rugged” vehicle, and if anything mechanical goes wrong with it, it will really be expensive to fix.
The Volvo: I really don’t see this as rugged either, although it is pretty good otherwise.
Handling and ride were what I was most worried about with the Wrangler. It would be a big adjustment going from the VW’s handling to the Jeep, not to mention the extra care I’d have to take going around turns and such. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about tearing it up, I suppose. I’m not sure if it’s worth the tradeoff, though.
I think I worded my OP badly; the cars don’t necessarily need to be rugged, exactly, just tough enough to make it up and down a couple of miles of unpaved road everyday. I’m sure the Mercedes and Volvo don’t even compare to the Jeep in ruggedness, but I’m wondering if they’ve got enough ground clearance so I won’t rip bits off if I hit a pothole.
Any other suggestions? Those are just the vehicles I’ve looked at, I’m open to taking a look at anything.
Why not go for a stylish Toyota Prius which by the way gets great mileage because it is a hybrid, electric/gas powered vehicle or I have always thought the Scion is a nice car it’s not Hybrid but it has a lot of style compared to all the other cookie cutter cars out there.
Along the same lines as mike1dog above, I suggest looking at the Subaru Forrester. I was seriously contemplating purchasing one but realistically, our daily use and my insistence on gas mileage weighed against it. (We ended up getting the Prius and I couldn’t be happier with it.)
Always remember: Jeep stands for “Junk, Each & Every Part”. Buy a damn BMW and don’t drive over construction debris. It will be the best vehicle you’ll ever own.
This advice brought to you by Gatopescado, owner of both Jeeps and BMW’s.
First of all condolences on your Bug’s accident. I love mine and I hate to hear yours got damaged.
I wanted to recommend our other car (although InTransit beat me to it): a Subaru Forester. It rides and handles well, has decent ground clearance, ok gas mileage, and could definitely handle roads the Bug doesn’t. Click and Clack from Car Talk recommend them all the time as good values and we couldn’t agree more.
Hey, I’m a rural resident, but I’m surprised I’m the first to ask… why do you need another car? Unless you’re really going to be out in the backwoods on really awful roads, a VW New Beetle, like most well-built modern cars, ought to be totally adequate for driving around on your average dirt roads. We’re not talking logging tracks here, are we? Just be careful of where you go, don’t hit any debris. The city is probably much rougher on a car than your average rural location, and even though a Jeep is more rugged physically than a VW beetle, it’ll give you a lot more trouble mechanically. The only thing that MIGHT concern me is that the New Beetle has low clearance, even for a small car.
Anyway, if you really need it, you can’t go wrong with a Subaru of some sort, particularly the Outback, Legacy, or Forrester.
If you want REALLY good mileage you could get a vw with a diesel. One of the late models with the turbodiesel is almost impossible to distinguish from a gas burner. To me the Prius is OK if you do mainly city driving, if you do interstate driving like you said you do the gas mileage isn’t much better than a regular car with a small engine such as the Toyota Echo. By the way the Toyota Echo is really ugly.
Wow…I hadn’t even thought of looking at Subarus. A friend of mine has a Subaru WRX and he absolutely loves it. I’m not crazy about the Toyota Prius…not really in the market for a Hybrid. I’d like something a little more solid, but the city gas mileage would definetly leave me with some free money.
I didn’t realize a Jeep would be such a problem. My mom had a ton of problems with her Grand Cherokee Laredo, but we just thought it was a lemon. Guess not, eh?
gatopescado, what BMW would you suggest, the 3-series or 5-series? The 7 is definetly out of my price range, as much as I’d love to have one.
I vote for some sort of Big American Car–Buick Le Sabre, Buick Park Avenue, Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler/Dodge/ Plymouth minivan, Ford Crown Victoria, etc.
Chrysler had trouble with overdrive automatic transmissions 10-12 years ago, but the bugs are all worked out now. An All-Wheel- Drive Town and Country or Caravan is more than a match for deep mud puddles and dirt roads, though lacking in the ground clearance and low-range gearing needed for serious off-roading.
Big sedans will get better gas mileage than minivans and will still be rugged-enough in the undercarriage for anything less than Evel Knievel/Dukes of Hazzard-type craziness. Lots of Nebraska and Iowa farmers own 'em.
Will getting rid of such a new Beetle put you “upside-down” financially? If so, keep the Beetle a few more years and just avoid puddles you don’t know the depth of and slow the Hell down on rural roads. Excessive speed for conditions can tear pieces off higher-clearance vehicles, too.
Brynda, I almost cried when I saw the pieces dangling underneath the car! I absolutely love it, and am hesitant to get rid of it. I just can’t hadle getting more repairs done…the parents won’t pay for it, and I can’t afford to be without a car for more than a day or so. I’ve the summer I’ll have a 45 min commute to work, so walking definitely isn’t an option for me.
A Buick, Oldsmobile, etc would definetly work, but I’d like something with a bit more style. I’m an 18 year-old college student…a Park Avenue or the like, while nice, generally aren’t the kinda thing my age group goes for. However, I do like big, old luxury cars, like the Mercedes I mentioned in the OP.
zenith getting rid of the Beetle won’t be a financial problem. It was a graduation present from my parents so there aren’t any payments or left over financing stuff that will need to be taken care of. We’re planning on just selling it and putting the money towards a different vehicle. We’re afraid it’ll be more of a financial liability to keep the car and drive it around my area for four months than it will be to get rid of it, as reluctant as I am to get rid of the VW.
Another problem I forgot to mention is the rain. Our road often floods somewhat during the spring/summer rains, so I need something that can fjord several inches of water without getting swept into the ditch.
The problem I’m running into the most is something that’ll be appropriate for the city, the interstate, -and- my damn dirt road. Ack.
I’m not sure if you’re looking for a new or used car. The Honda Element is an interesting car to me. They’ve been trying to sell it as a car for people your age, but oddly enough it seems to be popular with people in their forties. It would have a lot of space, would get good gas mileage, be reliable and at least gives the appearance of being more rugged than a car. I don’t know if there are any used ones out there yet though.
Check out the Pontiac Vibe or Toyota Matrix. I bought a Vibe this summer and I love it. It would be great for your long drives, as it is roomy and gets good gas mileage. They do have a 4-wheel drive model if you want the rugged factor. The back seats fold down to give you a nice interior truck-bed like area for storage. And the backseat is roomy and comforatable. It’s not huge (smaller than my former Ford Taurus wagon) so you won’t have to go from driving a Beetle to some huge vehicle.
Plus they’ve got all kinda nifty little extras in the interior. The passenger seat folds down to a table. You’ve got a standard household outlet for say, plugging in a laptop. And they’re really cool looking with good options.
A good friend of mine went shopping for an SUV just two days ago. We went with him just for fun. While looking at a trailblaser (which we decided was too big and pricy) we noticed this new chevy…
It looks like a more refined tracker. Its a little bigger, but smaller than a trailblaser. It handles a lot more like a car than an SUV and the interrior fits 4 adults well with storage room.
He loved it, bought one on the spot (apparently its the second one sold in las vegas)
If you have a Chevy dealer near by, it may be worth a look