[RWebb]

Oddly enuff, Paul & I seem to sometimes lead parallel lives. He is searching for a sports or muscle car after de-911'ing himself (see e.g No 370 Z for me).

And I am looking to get rid of my Honda Pilot when the lease runs out in a month or two.

What I REALLY want is an updated and slightly smaller version of the VW Westie Vanagon. The Westie is the poptop (pivot top) camper version. I wanted - and thought VW was going to make - a new version with modern safety features, decent passing performance, and maybe even hybrid or other low pollution, high mileage features (like a diesel for example - we can get real biodiesel here). But they didn't and are just shilling for Chrysler with their new mini-vans.

So I've used SUVs while waiting for them to come out with something -- Toyota 4Runner, then a Ford Exploder, a MB ML-450, and then two Pilot leases (2003 & 2006).

The Basic Decision:
I could just lease a new Pilot. But they seem shorter in the cargo area, which makes it even harder to sleep in the back, and it isn't that great anyway. The floor is finally flat tho.

Here's what I need:
Off-road -- the Pilot is at the very edge of my "off-road" ability requirement. It needs to be able to get in and out of various places using 2-track "roads", fire roads, etc. It has 8" of ground clearance, and I figure that is a minimum. The Lexus RX350 only has 7".

Snowy Road Abilities -- I need to get to my backcountry skiing spots in winter. The electronic ESP stuff works great for this. The Benz SUVs seem better to me than the 2 Pilots I've leased, but the Pilots are fine too.

Hauling Ability -- I need to haul lumber, plywood, drywall, dirt, sand, gravel, flagstone... periodically. I don't need to haul sheets of plywood often, but the Pilot can take them flat with a couple feet hanging out the back. Nice to avoid using a roof rack - esp. when it's raining (and it rains all winter).


Car Camping -- I need to sleep in it for summer car camping (the Pilot is nowhere near as good as a VW Vanagon Westie would be). I like to just take off in the summer whenever I feel like it and roam around on the back roads of the West. With the 911 the driving is great, but I have to tent camp. That means no camping in Grizzly country; and also no canvas addons to a 4x4 pickup. With a Westie or the MB or Pilot SUVs (to a lesser extent) I can just stop and crawl int he back to snooze. And this may force me to have 2 vehicles instead of just one.

It gets me up into the mtns. in winter so I can backcountry ski.
Has a particle filter for dust on those desert 2-track roads, gravel, and smoke in the Valley from field burning.



Other Good things:
- Dogmobile Issues -- Low Dog Jump In/Out Height -- the Pilot's floor is too high for my Golden to jump out of w/o hurting her legs. Lower is better as lifting her down to the ground gets old after a while.

- Sunroof

- Particle Filter for Cabin Air - these things are great and keep out pollen and dust. My summer driving routes for this type of vehicle are way dusty.

- Heated seats - yeh, I'm gittin' old and these are fun, esp. if you open up the sunroof to watch the stars on a winter drive.

A major problem with having 2 vehicles (besides the 911) is that I live in a compact neighborhood with little street parking and not much ability to park 2 cars on my property (the 911 likes its garage).

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If I replace the Pilot then what single vehicle would I get?

'09 Toyota Highlander - way too short to sleep in. Too bad 'cuz they have hybrids.

'09 Pilot -- seems shorter in the cargo bed than my '06 model (which was not too great for sleeping in anyway); the '09 has a 72" long cargo bed. It is much flatter now, so that is good. Nicer interior with more cubbies for crap, and an iphone input.

'keep the '06 Pilot - I have to put a plywood sheet in the back to sleep in it as the floor slant differently. This means I can't just flip the back seats up and carry 4 people. The lease buyout is way too high, but I bet they'd negotiate down...

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Supposing I did bifurcate my Pilot - I could get a used Subaru Outback (which has a tad more ground clearance than the Legacy Wagon) for a pretty decent price. Then, I'd have a winter car and could look around for a used Westie. Any thoughts on which ones are the "best" years to buy? It seems they have been real late in putting ESC on them...

But any 2 car solution is a hassle re driving them enuff to keep the cars "happy." And then there is the parking hassle here.

Lexus RX350 - only 7" ground clearance. Deal killer I think. Would make a real nice hwy cruiser for trips where I don't want to take the 911 and be a good winter car tho. Could either lease a new hybrid one or maybe buy a used one.

Subaru Forester - anybody know anything about these?

- BMW x__ station wagon. I wonder how reliable these ar, or if I could even find one where I live...

Generally:
- I don't care about "Image" at all.
- Lower or same lease payments would be important. Just like Serena, I am cutting back.
- I set up my life so I don't have to commute much - and can commute by bike too. So gas costs are not an issue -- until it gets over $/gallon again.
- For running errands (like weird small metric parts of the 911), a smaller vehicle than the Pilot would be real nice to have.
- same on an auto trans. - nice for city driving.
- I live in a rel. isolated small city, so small volume items (like that AWD BMW wagon) can be hard to find used. My issues re that are much broader than Paul's tho. I can go to Portland if I have to to buy a used car.