What car- I'm being paranoid edition.

Ok, so this is an extension of my last question, which was an offshoot of the escalade. I was about 100% on a gmt900 escalade. Still am actually. But, there's a new twist. 

I want 4wd/awd. The big thing with the escalade was it was very easy to get a lot of luxury and towing capacity in a 2wd vehicle. Then, well.... we're not gonna talk about reasons, but I've become increasingly interested in the idea of a bug out vehicle. Something that has massive range and at least some off-road capability. The escalade could accomplish that with little effort. However, new rigs have come into the picture. Namely the toyota land cruiser and lx470. I know good and well how these are off-road. I know how squishy on the inside the Lexus one is in particular. (The levinson sound? Holy E36 M3).

I've also considered 4 runners because I Really like earlier 4runners. I'm actively kicking myself in the dick for not buying pimpm3s truck and letting it go to Ohio. That vehicle would be about perfect. 

The fj cruiser presents an interesting option, but apparently those were cast from solid gold bricks and actually hold value better than Tacomas. 

What else is out there? I'm thinking easy parts availability if I end up in the middle of nowhere and need to fix some E36 M3, so probably no germans or british. I'm not opposed to the fords (the excursion was a front runner for a very long time- even with the v10 the ridiculous gas tank has a 500mile range.) But I know very little about them. I'd prefer full size simply for tow capacity in the event the world doesn't end and I just need to drag home project cars, the exception probably being made for the aforementioned 4runner. 

Idk. I'm probably just being a little overly concerned with stuff I don't need to be and just need to buy an escalade- the Mrs has hated that idea the least of all the dumb E36 M3 I've suggested. But y'all have some of the best rationale of anyone, and maybe there's something out there I haven't considered. 

One last note, mpg not a concern. My jeep gets 10mpg right now and I don't care. I drive 5 miles a day. If it gets down to needing range and the ability to push a Prius out of my path, I definitely prefer that over said Priuses mpg. I'd say bonus for Diesel, but this is florida. Flogrown tax y'all. 

For parts availability anywhere, I’d say it’s got to be from the big 3 or Toyota.

Edit:  and make sure it’s not a weird drivetrain combo, and it’s new enough that parts are still stocked regularly.  Case in point, my local Meijer/Walmart do not stock air filters for GM TBI trucks anymore.

In this thread, Ron says all Denalis are awd and 6.0L? 

Might be cost prohibitive to buy one from these guys but they are sweet:

https://wagonmaster.com/collections/vehicles

Any of the "bug out" type vehicles are being snatched up by yuppies driving the prices crazy all so they can grab additional Instagram points.

Just get a 4wd escalade with a 6L gasser, plug in some cooler tires and a 2" lift if you must and go pound the pavement.

If things get so "bug out" that the escalade will not make it, you will need to worry more about ammo stashes and staying in place anyhow until Will Smith and that German Shepard call you on the radio.

If you're willing to slum some, my '06 Suburban 2500 checks the bug out boxes perfectly.  It's no Escalade though.

Crxpilot said:

If you're willing to slum some, my '06 Suburban 2500 checks the bug out boxes perfectly.  It's no Escalade though.

That would almost be perfect. Almost. I'm not opposed to slumming. My dd jeep liberty was 500$. I have no standards. HOWEVER- That's a hard sell to swmbo. The only reason this has floated this far is because escalades have squishy insides. 

preach (Forum Supporter) said:

Might be cost prohibitive to buy one from these guys but they are sweet:

 

https://wagonmaster.com/collections/vehicles

This is easily the coolest answer possible, but....I'd have to live in it. 

Look into Range Rovers. Their value plummets as they age, but they are more capable off road than the Toyotas and more luxurious than the Sclade. 

John Welsh said:

In this thread, Ron says all Denalis are awd and 6.0L? 

The denali is a possibility. I haven't really dug into those. 

Denali weak link is the tranny from what i read for heavy towing.   Day to day use no problems - just sold my dads 04 (yes 6.0 and awd and squishy interiors).  

Caprigrip said:

Denali weak link is the tranny from what i read for heavy towing.   Day to day use no problems - just sold my dads 04 (yes 6.0 and awd and squishy interiors).  

From what I understand it is a 4l60 as opposed to the 6l80 in the 6.2 escalade. So...a concern. But the heavy towing wouldn't be often. 

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

Look into Range Rovers. Their value plummets as they age, but they are more capable off road than the Toyotas and more luxurious than the Sclade. 

I question having to fix the damn thing. I've owned one european car. It was about enough to make me swear off cars. 

Mndsm said:

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

Look into Range Rovers. Their value plummets as they age, but they are more capable off road than the Toyotas and more luxurious than the Sclade. 

I question having to fix the damn thing. I've owned one european car. It was about enough to make me swear off cars. 

I said the same thing about GM. I've had far more stuff go wrong with my GM's than with my Audis, Porsches, and Rovers, and the GM failures more often than not left me stranded. Throttle pedal assemblies, AFM cam wipe, PCV failures, valve cover oil leak fires, failing transmissions...

I keep thinking of doing an overland build and Sequoia seems to be the best deal.

In reply to ProDarwin :

I LOVE the one I just got. 

4Runner, Land Cruiser, Taco, Tundra, and Sequoia are just gonna work.  Everything else will need fiddling with.  Your call.  For me it would be a close race between a 1500 Burban, 4Runner, or Land Cruiser.  They all have their ups and downs.  The LC200 Land Cruisers share a lot with the Tundra and other plebian Toyotas so parts are easy.  The 1500 Burban will need more work but parts availablility is excellent.   

What are you bugging out from and where are you bugging out to? Just "being prepared" is a bit too open ended to me. 

If I'm looking for something like this, 88-91 Suburban 2500 for me. simple leaf springs on solid axles. drivetrain I want a d-max and 4L80 out of a van and the 55 gallon fuel tank you could put on them. but that has nothing to do with your actual question. The GM products will be easy to service, common and plenty durable for what you want.

mazdeuce - Seth said:

What are you bugging out from and where are you bugging out to? Just "being prepared" is a bit too open ended to me. 

Seriously, this.

There's a huge amount of questions and things to think of here. Bluntly an Escalade would be near the bottom of my list in that situation. 

While I won't get into how likely the idea is I'll gladly help you to figure out what would make you feel better about life.

I've got a TRD Edition FJ Cruiser right now. Capable off-road in stock form (I've taken this thing far off into the desert and back without issue), very nice and easy to drive on-road. I like the truck, especially since it was 'free' (not really, this was my mother's truck, and we bought her a new CX5 to drive and I kept the FJ).

Here's the things I don't like about it:

It's abysmally small inside if you're carrying anyone besides a single passenger. The rear seats do not fold flat, resulting in an annoying hump that makes loading anything longer a pain and requires two people to load. I've done it, hauled an assembled engine hoist, a couple of rear ends, a gun safe, etc. If the whole truck were 2-feet longer OR the floor folded completely flat, it would work great.

The rear cargo area is abbreviated and the fender wells protrude in and up relatively high. The way the rear seats slant upwards, when they are upright cuts into the cargo space, such that taller totes that have a footprint that fit on the floor but taper towards the top, often won't fit.

The rear half doors cannot be opened if someone is belted into a front seat. The rear half-door windows also don't open. Effectively making the FJ have three windows, the two front doors and the rear hatch window. But the rear hatch window isn't powered and is only able to be released by inserting a key and turning it...in the exact direct it takes to lock all the damn doors. Chi-Town 4x4 does offer a power-window kit for the rear window. I'll have them install one on my truck this spring.

Speaking of the rear hatch door, it sucks. It swings out in a huge path, the gas strut support is poorly designed and often 'self locks'. There is a ghetto fix to them that is basically take the thing apart and wrap foil tape around the strut body so the lock no longer engages. Also, there is no release, of any kind, for the rear door inside the passenger compartment. Which reminds me, I need to have Chi-Town 4x4 rig a pull interior release when they do the rear window. 

___

All of this is my way of telling you - Sequoia, 4Runner, or the Lexus will be superior choices as both daily drivers and as off-roaders.

I think you should have a real honest chat with yourself about what 'bug out' means to you.

is your true goal survival or are you bored and looking for a toy?

What actual scenario are you prepped for?
Civil unrest/war? truck vs Prius is much less important than safe and easily defended position with arms and food, but you can't buy guns big enough to defend against an A10 or an Apache.

Nuclear? You're in FL so you die in a nuclear situation by default and even if you don't your vehicle is bricked by the EMP, soooo.

Anyway, if this is really a concern you should be looking to move deep rural Wyoming. But your wife insists on squishy so the magic 8 balls says "fat chance". If you don't have a predesignated off-road destination you'll be booy-trapped as soon as you venture off road anyway.

TL;DR whatever toy you want.

The sequoia doesn't suffer from the Land Cruiser tax and they're supposed to be great rigs. Tundra front end and drivetrain in a convenient wagon body.

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

Mndsm said:

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

Look into Range Rovers. Their value plummets as they age, but they are more capable off road than the Toyotas and more luxurious than the Sclade. 

I question having to fix the damn thing. I've owned one european car. It was about enough to make me swear off cars. 

I said the same thing about GM. I've had far more stuff go wrong with my GM's than with my Audis, Porsches, and Rovers, and the GM failures more often than not left me stranded. Throttle pedal assemblies, AFM cam wipe, PCV failures, valve cover oil leak fires, failing transmissions...

Lol. And my supermodel girlfriends have ALL been less maintenance than the nerdy ones. So anecdotally rediculous you can not be serious.

There was a recent study of vehicles with over 200k miles still on the road and I believe the #1 was tahoe/escalade/suburban based road warriors. I will need to search to see how many range rovers with 200k miles I can find for sale.

And yes I have owned all of the makes you mention and my experience has been so far the opposite I still cant believe what you posted wasnt some form of slap stick comedy.

The 911 in the garage just got a completely rebuilt suspension and pinned coolant lines (16k in service) at 70k miles and the two escalades in the driveway with a combined 340k miles have needed all of a fuel pump, knock sensor, air compressor, shocks, and tune ups probably totalling 2k all in.

I like my 11 gx460 pretty well. Its got 80k on it and needs shocks (and a lift anyway so whatever), it pulls pretty hard, if ypu drive it like i drive, you get 16, if you hypermile, you get 20+. Mark levinson audio is pretty amazing (going to add a type r 12 and alpine amp I've got at some point when i get around to it. I did a 40" led roof bar and a thule rack (both did not help aero). Mine's pretty well appointed, has factory rear entertainment, etc. but not air suspension. Off road capabilities are incredible, it hooks up like nothing ivedriven that wasnt a crawler.