I really appreciate this, it is turning out about as I expected from all the reading I have done here. My practical side is having a hard time justifying one. But the rest of me is yelling at me just shut the hell up and get one think of all the places you can go and fun you can have with one, and it's not going to be forever because plans are for it to one day become just the fun time car. Probably whats hardest for me about it is that I also have a vw jetta tdi that gets 50mpg but is just to dang small for me to get in and out of, so am selling it next month once it's paid off. This site has not helped my practical side. Because ever since I found it........ Well I have always got offroad but never seriously and usually with a full size just for hunting and a bit of exploring not much again because of the full size. But now I find theres a whole community out there exploring not just a bunch of kids out there going over the biggest rock or through deepest mud whole. Anyway sorry for the ramble it's just after having my 4wheeler and seeing all the hiding places that are right out my back door and finding this place I see that I can get my wife and maybe my 2 duaghters out with me.
There are some excellent vehicles that span the gap between a 12mpg 'cruiser and a 50mpg Jetta, that will get you and your family out and enjoying this country.
The way I see it, you'd be trading a vehicle that is poorly suited for what you want to do due to size/ground clearance, etc, for
another vehicle that is poorly suited, due to extreme fuel thirst and the propensity to luring you into spending more time slapping on accessories than actually driving it overland...(If this is what you REALLY want to do, be honest, accept it and realize that you'll simply enjoy driving a classy 4x4 wagon around town and on short camping trips.
Nothing wrong with that :ylsmoke:
To me, the middle ground is something like a
subaru forester(25mpgs or more),
Diesel jeep(20-22ish mpgs), diesel or subaru powered
westfalia (AWD, or RWD, about 20-25mpgs), or maybe a nice example of a
trooper, Cherokee or
Montero (all of which get around 17-19 mpgs while travelling, usually)
None of these is a cruiser, but then again, ALL of them will take you further on a $4.00 gallon of gas, in comfort and style, than the cruiser will, and honestly, if actually getting out is the goal, is a point that might be worth your consideration.
