Current fleet - what should stay, what should go?

Brokeback (Matt) said:

I'm disappointed in the lack of Astro Van/Suburban answers but I guess that just means a (modern-ish) minivan is that much better.  

AWD Astro or a 6.5 diesel suburban could be a fun choice, although they are getting kinda old.  

I think something like this would be a good choice, practical but still can do some mild off pavement stuff.

In reply to Tk8398 :

Overland all the things!

classicJackets (FS) said:

I don't have twins and I won't claim it's the same experience, but I have 3 kids under 3.5.  We have an X5 and an older (2000) Expedition and we do 3 across in both cars. We frequently load kids + dog + cargo for big trips.
 

We did one long trip in a minivan, and it was fine - but hit road debris due to lower ground clearance. The cost to replace AC lines/underbody panels would have paid several years of gas price differences.

In the next week or so I'm planning to replace my Expedition with a newer Expedition Max. It just works. 

To be honest I'd prefer something larger (suburban etc) but my wife is generally used to/prefers smaller cars.  In this case it seems the minivan is probably the closest to car-like that we can get and also keep a lot of space etc.  I do find it funny that when she was pregnant, she insisited she wanted the 4 door mini-cooper thing - I'm not even sure you can fit 2 car seats in that :D  

STM317 said:

If it were me, I'd be trying to streamline and simplify as much as humanly possible. Having a bunch of vehicles takes a lot of time, money and mental energy that could probably be better used elsewhere for this season of your life.

Minivans are great for multi-kid duty, but they're not going to offroad or tow much at all. So if you want to continue those hobbies, that would mean you'd still have more vehicles to feed and maintain.

Does your camper have to be a 5th wheel? It seems small enough to be a bumper pull, which would open up several good choices in BOF SUVs. The right BOF SUV seems like it could combine the jobs of the dually, Montero, BMW, and Frontier (if you can flip it). Then you'd only have the Miata for the rare fun drive/commute and the BOF SUV to manage. It's going to cost more to drive than a minivan, but the savings from not registering, insuring, fueling and maintaining a fleet of vehicles should pay for any extra gas used by the BOF SUV of your choice.

 

If the camper cannot be changed to a bumper pull style, then I'd just use the dually for all truck/utility/family haul stuff and sell everything but the Miata. Or trade the dually in for a modern half ton to handle those tasks.

The camper doesn't necessarily need to be a 5th wheel - its a 27.5 foot but actual overall length is 33ish - but it does need to be a toyhauler as we go to the dunes with ATVs somewhat regularly.  I don't love the huge bumper pulls I see out there - they look crazy to me - but to your point I could get rid of truck/trailer and have a daily/tow vehicle.  I like Suburbans but I think the struggle lies with what my wife will put up with - she refuses to drive the truck :D 

I like your thought of less stuff to feed/maintain though and that's kind of the whole goal - but it doesn't necessarily need to be FEWER vehicles.  Just ones that require less maintenance. Although fewer also helps with maintenance/money costs.  

Rodan said:

If the truck and trailer are known and good, keep them.  Switching to something "better" will likely cost money in the long run and leave you with unknowns that may become problems.

I would absolutely keep the Miata.  Clean, low mile NBs are already fairly rare and only going up in price.  It's only going to appreciate.  Put it on a stated value, 'classic car' insurance policy (usually cheaper than regular coverage), and drive it when you have time.  It can also be a great 'date night' car when you're able to get a sitter and have time to get away for a few hours.

Everything else is fungible, probably ditch the Montero and BMW for a minivan.  I've never had a minivan, but it's probably the droid you're looking for... many of them are capable enough in snow, and it looks like that truck can be a backup for snowy days if needed.

 

Truck and Trailer are definitely pretty known - we've had the truck for 9 years and trailer for 6 - and the truck is in very good shape I believe.  Trailer is....a trailer so has some inherent problems but at least I'm used to it/know what to expect.  

I like that at Summer Camp you told me to unload the NB and get an ND if I wanted something faster :D but agree that clean NBs that are clean are pretty hard to find and when my wife can get out and drive it, she also likes it.  Plus I find it hard to justifiy ND money that sits around alot of the year....a "cheap" NB feels less wasteful. 

Tk8398 said:

Depends on how much money, but a Focus ST, GTI, WRX, or something like that.  

I want to like WRXen (lots of Subarus here in Flagstaff in general) but everyone I know has engine problems surprisingly frequently. Other than the BMW I prefer my vehicles to have an expectation of reliability ;-)

In general those are probably more expensive than I was considering but if I sold the Miata it would probably help with costs; I have some money saved up since I figured I would need SOMETHING vehicle-wise after the twins were born but not nice-ish minivan plus nice 4-door sporty sedan money. 

Agree that I don't want to get rid of the truck - I frequently wish I'd gone for a 1997 manual 7.3 as I'm realizing I am hopefully keepying it forever - but most of those were BEAT when I was shopping in my price range 9-10 years ago. 

LOVE the sienna you posted - that definitely seems lifted at least a couple inches? I would have to convince myself it could actually take us on 4x4 adventures as even the Montero struggles in some places - but either we end up doing less-gnarly trails or we still have another vehicle that's a true 4x4. 

Tony Sestito said:

My thoughts:

-I would ditch the BMW yesterday. Get that thing outta there! Wagons are cool and all, but that one has trouble written all over it. 

-Ditch the Montero. Also has trouble written all over it with 260k mi. 

-If you want to do 4x4 things, get the Frontier to replace the Montero (assuming it's a 4x4). Also works as a weekend dump/home improvement store runner better than your other stuff. Then again, the tow rig can do that too, so maybe get it if it's dirt cheap. 

-Keep the tow rig. Do family camping things with that. Family camping things are fun. 

-Wild card is the Miata. Might be nice to take a break from kid duty every once in a blue moon and scoot around in that for an hour here and there. But, I'd only keep it if you have the room to stash it for a while. This is a total frivolity and you have to be OK with it sitting for long periods of time. Plus, you will want this when things get back to some semblance of normal. 

-Minivan with AWD idea is a hell of a thing when you have kids or have to just haul people. It may be more room than you need, but they are comfortable, quiet, and useful. I would see if you can find a last-gen Sienna in your range. We have a family member who has one and it went everywhere with everyone in it with zero issues for about 10 years. She recently traded it in on a new hybrid AWD one. 

Last gen is 2010-2019, yea? is newer (I was eyeballing 2018+ for adaptive cruise and other safety features) worth the cost or can I go older to keep it under $10k but still be decent/reliable?

To the rest of it, I think that direction is how I'm leaning.  The BMW and Montero are probably the least-valuable 2 vehicles I own but also the most likely to require significant maintenance or break down while my wife is driving them, causing the ultimate death blow. Frontier I think will mostly replace the Montero for 4x4 stuff (it is 4x4 although a base model; I've shopped titan suspension/axle swaps already :D) althought if I had that money on hand I probably wouldn't have purchased the Frontier.  It's definitely the right price (VERY cheap) and I was clear that I might end up selling it if it didn't work for us - but I'd still feel kinda bad since we got it so cheap.  

I think that Sienna just has lift spacers on it, I just searched for a picture of what I was thinking of.  I haven't ever driven one, but have seen them being driven on rough roads and they seem similar in capability to a Subaru.  Not really something that will do 4x4 trails but at least enough to do get to more interesting places than a normal car.

Just to clarify, I did not advocate for just shuttering in and staying home... It's just with twins, your 'normal' is dramatically altered for a short spell.  Kids on leashes were mostly a joke, but containment is key.  As soon as they start running, all bets are off, haha.  

To answer the more pointed question-  Minivan or Suburban... there's really no other options imho.  You need copius storage space and seats.  Bonus points for easily removable seats for the always inevitable car washdown from a nuclear diaper, car sickness, or mass dairy spill. Weathertech mats and seat covers are your friends regardless of which vehicle you choose. 

In reply to golfduke :

We used to haul around 4 of them. Luckily no twins. It's definitely work.

Toyman! said:

In reply to golfduke :

We used to haul around 4 of them. Luckily no twins. It's definitely work.

and totally 100000% worth it work, IMHO.