Need new vehicle suggestions

[Kevin108]

We'll be shopping for something new towards the end of the year. Right now I'm in 15 mpg 2000 Jeep Cherokee and my girl is in a 24 mpg 2004 Suzuki Forenza.

Basic specs for what we'll be looking for:

Must be able to tow 2,000 lbs as we want something that can haul our ATVs. This will also be her daily driver as she does a 40-mile round-trip commute 5 days a week plus additional driving for her 2nd job.

An out-the-door price of less than $30,000 would be great.

We are looking towards some rug rats in our future, so space is a consideration as well.

Any ideas?

[Harold]

Keep your old Jeep for when you need to haul your ATV's. and buy a new Prius. H

[FSUspectra]

Originally Posted by Harold

Keep your old Jeep for when you need to haul your ATV's. and buy a new Prius. H

I concur with this. I'll post any other ideas if they come.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Well, it depends whether you want to ignore the US owner's manuals and use the European ones. Apparently they build cars with smaller engines but more towing capacity.

If not, I'd follow others' suggestions to keep the Cherokee for towing and get her a Prius or mid-size hybrid or efficient conventional vehicle. (Whether a hybrid is "worth it" depends on the number and nature of miles unless you're willing to spend extra money to reduce gasoline consumption and pollution*).

With her in the Prius/other you can switch to the Suzuki and also reduce your consumption, as well as helping the Cherokee last longer.

Based on your description she's doing 10k+ commuter miles per year so better fuel economy should more than pay for owning an extra old vehicle.
What other non-towing miles do you do?
How many towing miles do you travel to ATV?

[Kevin108]

The Cherokee is far from ideal. It's fine for my daily transportation needs of my 25 miles a week for work. (At 2.5 miles away I know that's theoretically close enough for an easy bike ride but trust me when I say we don't have those kinds of roads here.) The Cherokee is also on its second engine, with the replacement being a used item that already had 165,000 miles on it. I've had 10,000 trouble-free miles since the swap but I'm not foolish enough to believe this engine will last forever.

The Suzuki being the newest, cleanest and arguably the most valuable will be traded in towards or sold prior to the purchase of the new vehicle.

Depending where we ride, the ATV areas vary between 25, 40 and 170 miles away. The two former locations don't scare me as I maintain a AAA membership but the latter could prove very problematic should we have a major mechanical failure that far away.

I also have a big problem with buying a Prius as given the mileage I was eeking out of an 05 Corolla (when I first found this site), the Prius wasn't worth the price premium in the least - well, not at the rate I was driving. That said, neither vehicle is what I consider big enough to be a family vehicle. Also my fiance doesn't plan to continue her lengthy commute indefinitely. She just earned her degree and plans to go into teaching and would work much closer than she currently does.

[EdwinTheMagnificent]

I'm wondering how much fuel those ATV's are using. And how much emissions ?

[Kevin108]

The trail riding we tend to do is not a fuel-saving exercise. My machines average 10 mpg but riding but the kind of riding we do you can only tolerate 15 to 20 miles per outing. The emissions are irrelevant to me as there is no electric or hybrid equivalent for these machines and these aren't daily drivers but weekend playthings.

[herm]

Wayne was getting some incredible mpg results from a Ford Edge recently, if your wife is willing to hypermile or just slow down to 55.. does your trailer have brakes?

http://www.ford.com/crossovers/edge/...ations/towing/

Maybe the new 1.6L Escape?

Note, not the V6 Edge but the 2L Ecoboost 4 cyl

[Kevin108]

The trailer has no brakes.

We've looked at the 2012 Escape previously and really liked it. The 2013 with the 1.6L sounds like exactly what we need!

[FSUspectra]

That would get my vote then. That Ecoboost engine should have enough torque for your application, and you'll look good doing it!