Best Small Dhingy Cars

Quick story on loving a car: An acquaintance had just had her car towed home a long distance for the third time in about a month. I asked why they didn't get a new car instead of pouring massive amounts of money into the old one - again. Her answer was that the tow truck driver (a knowledgeable authority) told her that he never saw her type of car at the side car the road... Of course not, he had them hooked to the back of his truck like hers was.

Best small dingy ever made?  Suzuki (Chevy/Geo) Tracker/Sidekick/Vitara 4x4 with standard transmission.  Reliable, convertible, fun to drive, high road clearance, good for off-road exploring, and seats four.  Weighs almost as little as a Smart car -- 2300 lbs.  Plus, it has a conventional rear-wheel drive layout that's easy to work on. 

But good luck finding one.  I looked for over a year.  The few I saw that hadn't been sitting on a deer lease for 10 years were priced as high as a late model Jeep -- way too much for a car that I didn't plan to drive every day.  If you go looking, the year they added the 7 digit odometer was 1996.  And they got much heavier in 1999.

With all the perennial interest in off-roading and Jeep's, it's hard to understand why Suzuki/Chevy quit making them.  But the 1999 model basically destroyed the concept of a small jeep by turning the Tracker into yet another SUV, so it isn't hard to understand why people quit buying them.

Best small dingy ever made?  Suzuki (Chevy/Geo) Tracker/Sidekick/Vitara 4x4 with standard transmission.  Reliable, convertible, fun to drive, high road clearance, good for off-road exploring, and seats four.  Weighs almost as little as a Smart car -- 2300 lbs.  Plus, it has a conventional rear-wheel drive layout that's easy to work on. 

But good luck finding one.  I looked for over a year.  The few I saw that hadn't been sitting on a deer lease for 10 years were priced as high as a late model Jeep -- way too much for a car that I didn't plan to drive every day.  If you go looking, the year they added the 7 digit odometer was 1996.  And they got much heavier in 1999.

With all the perennial interest in off-roading and Jeep's, it's hard to understand why Suzuki/Chevy quit making them.  But the 1999 model basically destroyed the concept of a small jeep by turning the Tracker into yet another SUV, so it isn't hard to understand why people quit buying them.

I just sold my 94 year old mother's cream puff 2002 Chevy Tracker 4x4 4-door hard-top ZR2 version with only 22,000 miles.  It looked new inside and out.  I tried my best to get more for it, but eventually lowered my expectations and settled for $5000.

It was a very nice vehicle.  I would have kept it except my wife's love for her Liberty.  I could not keep them both.

Ford makes a consistently good product, especially their E-Series.

My first car was a Plymouth Gran Fury police interceptor bought at auction for $800.  Loved that car.  Next bought a brand new 1979 F-150 upon graduation from college.  Sold that to my brother in 1982 or '83.  He still has it and it still runs.  Not sure if any of the body is still original though. 

Had an assortment of Fords and Jeeps over the years and depending on management or ownership at the time had good or not so good experiences.

Bought a Toyota Prius in 2005 and a Toyota Highlander in 2011.  The Highlander is by far the best vehicle I have ever owned. 90k on it now and never a single issue of any kind.  When we started looking for a toad Toyota was our first choice but nothing available that would tow so we ended up with a new Jeep Cherokee.  The Cherokee is nice and makes a nice toad but for daily driving I still prefer the Toyota.

I learned to drive on my father's 1967 Plymouth Fury-I (318 w/2-BBL carb).  My 2nd car experience was my first car purchased just before marriage, a 7 year old 1971 Oldsmobile Delta-88 (455 /w2-BBL carb).  Both vehicles were big boats.  My 3rd car (our 1st car married) was a 1 year old 1979 Phymouth Horizon, convinced by Lee Iacocca it was a good car.  But it was a disaster of a car.  9 months later we sold it and bought a new 1981 Toyota Corolla SR5 liftback and owned it for 17 years.  My next Chrysler was our 2006 Liberty bought used in 2009.  I think Irene knows better not to bring up another Chrysler product to me.  When we are through with it, I will be so-done with the company.

Our 2006 Liberty I replaced all these things with 75,000 miles of wear and tear and no children or pets during the years.  It was extremely clean, like brand new when we bought it 3 years old with 29,000 miles.
1 - driver's door window regulator
1 - passenger door window regulator
1 passenger rear window regulator
2 - driver rear passenger window regulators
1 - a/c pressure regulator switch
1 - serpentine belt idler arm assembly
2 - heater blower motor speed control resistors
1 - rear hatch electric-throw release mechanism

Today..... radio volume has a mind of it's own at times

We had a cloth interior that a drop of water would stain it badly.  After cleaning the cloth twice in hopes to create one consistently colored stain, I resorted to replacing the cloth interior with an aftermarket leather interior.

The plastic interior panels damage extremely easy.  The entire interior looks so beat up for no good reason.  The trunk area looks like we haul loose rocks often.

When I wired the vehicle for towing, I learned that Chrysler uses a very fine delicate wire for all it's harnesses rear of the dash board.  They route all the rear-most wires between the rear bumper and frame.  I can see that a light tap in the rear will damage the wire harness causing all kinds of electrical trouble.

This will be my last Chrysler.

Sorry for the rampage.  My apologies to you with Chryslers and love them.

Sorry for the rampage.  My apologies to you with Chryslers and love them.

I guess the only consolation is that Jeep is now a Fiat not a Chrysler.

Jeep is now fiat?  Not a move up that’s for sure. Jeep is out for us now after finding the wrangler hard top has no insulation and it’s much to hot where we live for that. 

So it’s back to the subject board.  I thought of Toyota Tacoma but they are not towable 4 fown with an auto transmission. 

Jeep is now fiat?  Not a move up that’s for sure. Jeep is out for us now after finding the wrangler hard top has no insulation and it’s much to hot where we live for that. 

So it’s back to the subject board.  I thought of Toyota Tacoma but they are not towable 4 fown with an auto transmission.

A Jeep is, well, a Jeep!  Bought this Jeep new in 1999.  Sold it with 217,000 miles on it, plus it had over 100,000 additional towed miles.  This pic was in Bryce Canyon.  I sold it because I wanted more comfort, but considering a 4-door now.  Jeeps are not for the faint of heart  .

Cheers 
Barry T

Jeep is now fiat?  Not a move up that’s for sure. Jeep is out for us now after finding the wrangler hard top has no insulation and it’s much to hot where we live for that. 

So it’s back to the subject board.  I thought of Toyota Tacoma but they are not towable 4 fown with an auto transmission.

By the way, Joseph, buy the Jeep and line the non-insulated top with Reflectix!   

Barry T

We just took a ride in my brother in laws 4 door wrangler and it rides too
rough for my liking. That and he advised on the it’s a very hot vehicle as well.  I don’t think it’s an option for us. 

Still waiting for delivery of my new PC (close to the end of the year), but wanted to get out in front with a towable vehicle.  I love my top line Santa Fe--it's just a great road car--but it would require a tow dolly and I didn't want to get into that.  There are a variety of options that can be flat towed of course (some more simply than others), but fairly extensive research pointed to various Jeeps as by far the most common.  I ended up sending private messages to several folks on forums that are towing Jeeps asking for their experience, and received pretty much universal praise for the later model Cherokee Trailhawks.  Received really no negative feedback, and several specific positive recommendations--not only as a tow vehicle, but also as just a nice driver.  In general, the owners consensus seemed to be that they really like what Jeep has produced with the Cherokee Trailhawk over the last 2-3 years.
Based on that effort, I just traded my Santa Fe  for a new Trailhawk that will be in this next week; I will be glad to provide an honest assessment of how that works out, but unfortunately it's still going to be a while. 

We have towed Jeep Wranglers for many years and used them up in the boonies of the Rockies and down to the beaches of Padre Island, Texas. Getting a little older now and enjoy our creature comforts so bought a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. One of the best cars we have ever owned. We can still go off road, tows 4 down, easy to hook uo. A little heavy (4000#) but not a problem. We looked hard at the 4 door Wranglers but had problems getting the old legs over the door sills. Have not had a lick of trouble with the Trailhawk and in the cold weather, those heated seats are wonderful.

We just took a ride in my brother in laws 4 door wrangler and it rides too
rough for my liking. That and he advised on the it’s a very hot vehicle as well.  I don’t think it’s an option for us.

We fulltimed for 10 years, our 1999 Jeep Wrangler was our only car along with a Harley Davidson motorcycle.  As I previously mentioned, it served us well as a toad.  When we got off the road and bought a real house, I was ready for something not so rough riding and a little quieter; in other words, something more comfortable.  Still needing a toad, I bought a GMC Terrain.  It is a great toad and an excellent daily driver.  My wife loves Jeeps and wants another one.  We will see what happens.

BTW, I take delivery of my 3100 this upcoming Thursday.  Really looking forward to it.

Cheers....

Barry T

Townes, the self imposed issue we’re having is we want to go down to one vehicle and use it as our dinghy as well. The Jeep just won’t work in that format . If it was just for a dinghy we’d buy a used two door wrangler. So our search for a all in one continues


Also now understanding fiat owns jeep I would never consider a new Jeep. 

Based on that effort, I just traded my Santa Fe  for a new Trailhawk that will be in this next week; I will be glad to provide an honest assessment of how that works out, but unfortunately it's still going to be a while.

Be advised the Jeep Cherokee is NOT towable 4 down as it is sold unless you get the manual transmission.  The dealer will tell you it is but they are wrong.  After I bought mine, (Cherokee but not Trail Hawk), I found out that it needed a special add on wiring harness to be able to safely tow.  The dealer wanted $1,700 extra to install it.

If you got the manual transmission your should be good and never mind.  If you got the automatic please search "Jeep death wobble".

http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f12/jeep-cherokee-death-wobble-123288.html