What vehicle to purchase? (college student on a budget)

[Avantcore]

Hey all,

Well my question is a generic one, with some personal twists. What vehicle do you think would suit my needs?

I am still in college and I am on a budget but I can no longer stand NOT taking road trips and exploring every weekend. I grew up metal detecting, investigating ghost towns/old mines and camping and hiking in state parks and traveling all over the United States. I have owned nothing but rally/track cars since I was 18 and for now have outgrown this, it does not support my other hobbies.

Here's what I am after and having trouble finding:

-Manual transmission (I have been driving manual since for 8 years straight, auto feels ridiculous to me, this is making things hard in selection).

-20+ MPG (most likely dreaming, but I am a college student on a college gas budget).

-Rather good aftermarket support.

-Reliable (again, college budget, simply cannot afford to be taking it in constantly or having it break down on me.

-Under $8,000.

-Non-domestic (no Ford, Chevy, etc).

There would be 2-4 people always (most likely 2), roads that range from sand to gravel to bigger rocks to off-roading from trails (I love unmarked trails/areas). Currently I live in Illinois.

Thanks for your educated comments and thoughts, I searched the forum and via Google and produced no results that were of help. I know what I seek is a unicorn but maybe there's a mythical vehicle I am unaware of?

To quote Scott from a comment posted in a thread that I thought was befitting:
"My thoughts are a vehicle that can be purchased for less than $8,000, get better than 25mpg and be comfortable and practical for a family."

 

[Metcalf]

Other than being Domestic, My dodge does everything on that list. While my truck was a little beat when I got it, I only paid like $2200 for it. I still have WAY less than 8K in it total. I would have LOVED to have this truck when I was in college!

There are a few 1st gen dodge builds in the fullsize section that are worth reading.

Living in Illinois with the salt....well, that sucks. These older trucks have almost indestructible powertrains and drivetrains, but the bodies are pretty basic without a lot of the modern rust coatings ( not like anything survives a salt state! )

I'm a big fan of the regular cab long box platform. The bed is nice and big to camp out of while the overall length of the truck isn't too long you can't park or turn around on a tight road. I've mentioned it in other threads, but I think with a accordion style boot between the cab and bed/shell it would be the best of all worlds. If you installed a small basket just behind the window area so you could toss the overflow from the cab area it would make the regular cab even more useful!

Just a few thoughts, good luck on your quest.

 

[Nullifier]

Mileage will be your biggest hurdle. That limits you to a 4 cyl. Why not a suzuki 4door. Not a heavy duty rig but with smart upgrades could be what you need. An old 4 runner could also be good but age leaves reliability in question.

 

[Avantcore]

Would there be any doors open if it was 15-20mpg? It would have to be in that range modified (winch bumper, tires, slight lift, roof rack, etc) I can't drive around something that after modification gets 12mpg (ouch).

I was looking into the following:

-Xterra (read that it has a really really weak front end after you put on a front winch bumper).
-3rd gen 4runner, looked almost perfect! Except I was reading mpg gets under 15mpg? And that the powertrain is a bit weak (but I don't think power would matter for what I want to do?).
-Suzuki Viatra, problem: couldn't find ANY aftermarket support, front bumper, suspension, etc.

Metacalf,
The reason I am so biast towards domestics is because I have owned nothing ever but imports (3 GC8 Subaru imprezas, 2 Toyota starlets KP61, Nissan 240sx s13 and a Mazda RX7) and also my family has almost always owned Toyota's. On top of this having lived in Illinois for some years I have grown to HATE the cornfield kids that are so proud of their "American only" attitude when it comes to 4x4s/trucks/modified cars and the hating of any import brand.
However I found your suggestion a bit eye opening on my harsh judgmental views towards domestics and enjoyed browsing your build thread!

 

[bob91yj]

Jeep Cherokee would meet almost all of your needs other than the domestic part. My stocker '87 on 30" tires would get a little over 20MPG hwy when empty, available with a 5-speed (hard to find), great aftermarket support, parts available anywhere in the US as well as the parts of Baja I've visited.

 

[CA-RJ]

My 3rd Gen 4Runner 5 speed gets 16-18 on 33's with the stock gears. It also has a TJM bull bar and the full Bud Built skid plate package. If it has to have a weak link, I guess you could say the front axles, but I've never had a problem with them. I've crawled rocks and blasted through the desert with no issues. At 209k, it's running strong.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Jeep Cherokee would meet almost all of your needs other than the domestic part. My stocker '87 on 30" tires would get a little over 20MPG hwy when empty, available with a 5-speed (hard to find), great aftermarket support, parts available anywhere in the US as well as the parts of Baja I've visited.

:iagree: with the above. Don't understand the non-domestic requirement Your prior experience with rally cars is totally irrelevant here.

Jeep XJ Cherokee meets all your requirements. Mileage will be "iffy" but you have to be realistic: You're not going to find a capable 4wd vehicle that gets over 20mpg on a regular basis.

Another option might be a Tacoma 4 cyl regular cab with a 5 speed but you will pay a very hefty "Toyota Tax" that IMO is not worth it (and I'm a Toyota guy. )

You can get a decent XJ with the 4l I-6 (an awesome motor, BTW), with TONS of aftermarket support, a 5 speed tranny for probably less than $5k. You're not going to touch a 3rd gen 4runner for that unless it's absolutely trashed.

 

[bfdiesel]

I like the gen one or two cummins idea myself. Good mileage even with 4 people and gear in the back. 5 speeds are not as rare. Bad would be the salt state has probably eaten the body off any locally, but if looks are of no matter ugly is usually cheaper.

 

[Avantcore]

My experiences with Jeep/Chrysler has not been so pleasant sadly.
Montana: Family purchased a (91) Cherokee, with 90k on it. Within less then a month it had rod knock, the engine was shot.
Utah: Uncle purchased a (95) Cherokee for my mom, after a few months it had severe electrical problems, ecu I think if I remember and something else.
The Chrysler van (2004 something) I always changing the brakes on it, leaked oil like mad, drove badly and the tranny was going out. The PT cruiser/pt loser had the same exact problems + super cheap plastic in both the interiors.

This is why I never looked at them, however I will re-educate myself today on them and browse the forums so I am not so close minded on them too
I also agree about the Toyota tax, I wish it didn't exist argh.

 

[stevec]

-Suzuki Vitara, problem: couldn't find ANY aftermarket support, front bumper, suspension, etc.

ARB makes front bumpers and lockers for all of the Vitara/Grand Vitaras I believe; I know they have them for the '06+, and I don't think the models have changed since then. Not sure what you want to do with suspension, but most of aftermarket suppliers (i.e. Trail Tough, Roadless Gear, Low Range Offroad, etc.) should have 1.5-2.5" lifts (usually struts and spacers). In fact, Low Range has a section on their website for '99 - '04 Vitara/GV/XL-7, and a lot of those parts will work on newer models as well.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/suzuki/tracker-vitara-gv-xl7.html

You should have no problem getting low-mid 20's mpg with a 5-speed, and also no problem finding a good low-mileage used one well within your price range.

 

[rusty_tlc]

To bad about your experiences with Heeps.
We are a Toyota family and I'm steering my son towards a Cherokee for a trail rig. He is making a house payment and a car payment but wants a rig just for camping and trail riding.

Cherokees are cheaper than dirt, plentiful, and have a ton of aftermarket support most of it bolt on stuff. The nice thing is when the unibody fails you can pull off all your upgrades and put them on another rig.

Other than that I'd go with something like a Montero, not a lot of after market stuff but pretty capable right out of the box. They are pretty easy to find and mostly mall queens.

 

[roostercruiser]

Old 6.2 liter suburbans have plenty of room and decent MPG.

 

[Avantcore]

As promised I looked into Jeeps to expand my horizons and really dig the 2 door XJ, as you guys mentioned they seem to be pretty cheap too, I am keeping this in mind as a real consideration.

Being that I am extremely not familiar with domestics and trying to now investigate them too, is there any other vehicles out there like the Chevy cucv m1009 blazer?
It's diesel, simplistic, semi on the smaller side and gets 20-25mpg, however it's rare and only came in auto I think. I really like semi smaller simplistic vehicles like blazer (k5), discovery, Toyota trooper 75/78 (and now 2 door Jeep xj), especially if they have 2 doors.

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far guys!!

 

[Martinjmpr]

Being that I am extremely not familiar with domestics and trying to now investigate them too, is there any other vehicles out there like the Chevy cucv m1009 blazer?
It's diesel, simplistic, semi on the smaller side and gets 20-25mpg, however it's rare and only came in auto I think. I really like semi smaller simplistic vehicles like blazer (k5), discovery, Toyota trooper 75/78 (and now 2 door Jeep xj), especially if they have 2 doors.

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far guys!!

The CUCV is based on the last generation of Chevy/GM trucks with the solid axle (1986 - 88 IIRC.) Not sure about the commonality of the V8 diesel but it really doesn't get very good MPG from what I recall - the reason they went to diesel was because the military wanted to get rid of all gasoline powered vehicles in order to simplify logistics (just one fuel for all vehicles.) Diesels can run jet fuel (JP8 I think) which means that even helicopters can use the same fuel. Diesel is also inherently safer because it has a higher flash point than gasoline.

I drove plenty of CUCVs in the military, both the M1009 (Blazer) and M1008 (3/4 ton truck.) All had automatics. Power was adequate but not great. They are noisy as hell and have a 24v ignition system that requires some unique parts not available at NAPA. Keep in mind that anything you get from surplus will be 25+ years old and will most likely have been thrashed by every PFC from Fort Dix to Tong Du Chon to Kelley Barracks and back. You may be able to find one for sale but I doubt that you're really going to save any money going that way - better to just buy a Cherokee or older Blazer that is outfitted the way you want and modify from there.

 

[bfdiesel]

I don't have an overdrive and I get about 15 mpg driving to and in the mountains with my 6.2l. With od it would be closer to 18 or 19. Idling down the trail uses little fuel.