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Yeah I wish I could've kept my escape.

We had a Mazda 3 but got rid of it bc it was really uncomfortable to drive long distances. The pathfinder is a nice ride with cushy leather seats. I prefer SUVs over cars.

 
Generally, SUV and mpg are not going to go together very well so there's a pretty good chance you're going to have to choose one. About the only way around it is to see if you could find something like the Jeep Liberty with the diesel in it. An SUV that's supposed to get around ~25mpg on the highway. The only problem with that is that now you'd have to start doing the math. I don't know what it's like where you are, but around here diesel can be anywhere from $0.50 to 1.00 higher per gallon than regular unleaded.

 
As much as I hate to say it, if you want a comfy ride and loads of room with decent MPG, you can probably find a Honda Odyssey minivan for under $10k. Even the higher mileage stuff lasts forever.

And as much as I hate them aesthetically, the Scion XB is kind of a baby suv/hatch/car mish-mash that are also decently dependable and can be found at that price point.

Both are also loaded with gadgets galore.

 
Thinking our plan next year is to let the kid drive the Tahoe and the wife's Prius some and I'm going to get a Tacoma truck with the 4 door version (whatever you call it) so we could still put five people in it if we had too. Lots of options for ski racks and other accessories and it would be nice to have a truck again.

And as a side note I have really enjoyed the CB radio. Lots of entertainment when I am on the road (a lot lately)and the last few trips up the mountains we had had some fun conversations with other people we would meet along the road with CB radios.

 
so people still use the CBs? I thought they were extinct and people switched to the family radio bands.

 
I think a lot of people have switched over to VHF radio's but there still a decent amount of traffic on the CB radio, enough to keep you entertained at least

 
Mr.Krak wants to get rid of pathfinder and buy a newer/better used car that's $10-12k. I'm still torn but when I'm driving home tonight when it's 80 and my AC isn't working.

 
Krakosky said:
Mr.Krak wants to get rid of pathfinder and buy a newer/better used car that's $10-12k. I'm still torn but when I'm driving home tonight when it's 80 and my AC isn't working.
Click to expand...


maybe you should do a little research on what you can get for the pathfinder? Chances are they are only going to give you about half of what you paid for it even though it's only been like a month or three... personally, that would be my biggest factor, how long had I had the car versus how much did I pay to use it for the time I had. Also, I would go back to where you bought it and make them fix the air conditioner, it's a reasonable request at least

 
Road Guy said:
Thinking our plan next year is to let the kid drive the Tahoe and the wife's Prius some and I'm going to get a Tacoma truck with the 4 door version (whatever you call it) so we could still put five people in it if we had too. Lots of options for ski racks and other accessories and it would be nice to have a truck again.

And as a side note I have really enjoyed the CB radio. Lots of entertainment when I am on the road (a lot lately)and the last few trips up the mountains we had had some fun conversations with other people we would meet along the road with CB radios.
Click to expand...
My husband drives a crew cab Tacoma and loves it. Definitely room for five people and then stuff. He loads it up and pulls the fishing boat with it. It had okay gas mileage until he lifted it to put the winch on.

 
we parked next to one at Copper Saturday, the guy let us put our kids in the back to see if they fit ;) He had an insulted cab/cover thing which I thought was pretty cool

You can do some short distance rides with 3 teenagers on a single row bench seat but you don't want to go very far or else it becomes just fucking miserable!

I figure if next summer we do another road trip we can just rent another mini van, which worked well when we did last summers road trip (so long as I don't see anyone I know while I am driving it)

Krak- you can get an AC charging canister at Autozone / advance auto parts and if your only low on (the Freon replacement stuff) that may do the trick- the newer environmental friendly crap you don't have to have a mech license to purchase- I topped off the Durango with mine 2 summers ago and it worked nicely. just follow the instructions-- but if the pathfinder has the good stuff (actual Freon) then you may have to go to a AC place

 
csb said:
Road Guy said:
Thinking our plan next year is to let the kid drive the Tahoe and the wife's Prius some and I'm going to get a Tacoma truck with the 4 door version (whatever you call it) so we could still put five people in it if we had too. Lots of options for ski racks and other accessories and it would be nice to have a truck again.

And as a side note I have really enjoyed the CB radio. Lots of entertainment when I am on the road (a lot lately)and the last few trips up the mountains we had had some fun conversations with other people we would meet along the road with CB radios.
Click to expand...
My husband drives a crew cab Tacoma and loves it. Definitely room for five people and then stuff. He loads it up and pulls the fishing boat with it. It had okay gas mileage until he lifted it to put the winch on.
Click to expand...
hmph. I wouldn't expect a lift to affect the MPG that much.

 
Road Guy said:
we parked next to one at Copper Saturday, the guy let us put our kids in the back to see if they fit ;) He had an insulted cab/cover thing which I thought was pretty cool

You can do some short distance rides with 3 teenagers on a single row bench seat but you don't want to go very far or else it becomes just fucking miserable!

I figure if next summer we do another road trip we can just rent another mini van, which worked well when we did last summers road trip (so long as I don't see anyone I know while I am driving it)

Krak- you can get an AC charging canister at Autozone / advance auto parts and if your only low on (the Freon replacement stuff) that may do the trick- the newer environmental friendly crap you don't have to have a mech license to purchase- I topped off the Durango with mine 2 summers ago and it worked nicely. just follow the instructions-- but if the pathfinder has the good stuff (actual Freon) then you may have to go to a AC place
Click to expand...
If the Freon is low, chances are it went somewhere. Depending on how fast it leaks out, the charge may only be good for a short period of time.

 

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