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Old 12-28-2014, 07:13 PM
 
5 posts, read 8,361 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi all, my family and I will be moving to the sings area shortly and once a week I will be needing to make a trip down towards trinidad for work. We currently own a fwd scion xv and a ford f350 4x4. I am looking into buying another car/suv with awd or 4x4 so as to not waste fuel in the diesel. I will be keeping my truck for house projects, camping, fishing, dogs, etc. What would be a good commute vehicle or family vehicle considering that drive I have to make particularly in the winter? I'm looking at out backs of course, jeeps grand cherokee and cherokee, and a couple others. Thanks for the help
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Old 12-28-2014, 07:27 PM
 
Location: Downtown Co Sps
665 posts, read 1,295,211 times
Reputation: 1036
The cars you see most here are Subaru's and 4runners/Tacoma's and quite a few jeeps. I personally like the 4runner because it can tow the best.
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Old 12-28-2014, 07:29 PM
 
727 posts, read 1,366,178 times
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Phil - Why not just keep what you have? The scion will be fine for the vast majority of your commutes. If the weather gets nasty, drive the truck. If you have your heart set on something else, the ones you named will be fine, as would just about any awd or 4x4 crossover, pickup, or SUV.
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Old 12-29-2014, 07:48 AM
 
6,824 posts, read 10,518,651 times
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Unless you're getting quite rural in your commute down to Trinidad there isn't much need for awd for 4wd to make that commute. I just mention this because with that distance you will probably want the best fuel economy you can get and you can get better gas mileage if you expand your options.
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Old 12-29-2014, 07:58 AM
 
914 posts, read 2,206,248 times
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A round trip from Colorado Springs to Trinidad is around 250 miles - 3 1/2 to 4 hours. That is a very tiring trip to make every week in a Scion. A Cherokee or Grand Cherokee will save a disappointing amount of fuel. If you are going to be doing this every week indefinitely, a trade for a Subaru Legacy or Outback would be very reasonable - and the gas mileage on I-25 will be scarcely less than your Scion.

I agree in principle with Otowi above, but I own two AWD vehicles primarily for the last three miles of my commute.
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Old 12-29-2014, 09:03 AM
 
Location: Colorado
2,483 posts, read 4,372,004 times
Reputation: 2686
I own two subarus and they both do great on mileage and traction. The newer one is 6 cyl so I can easily tow a small trailer with it. The only drawback is that it's hard to pick out my car among all the identical ones in a parking lot.

If you already own two cars in decent condition it usually does not make financial sense to buy a new one just for gas savings. If anything, get rid of the giant truck, but I know how attached people get to those things.
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Old 12-29-2014, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Downtown Co Springs
208 posts, read 305,524 times
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You aren't driving through the mountains. Find something with the best mileage you can get and you'll be fine. We've had a handful of minor snow events this winter, non of which would have required an AWD on the interstate.
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Old 12-29-2014, 02:04 PM
 
Location: Manitou Springs
1,455 posts, read 1,859,463 times
Reputation: 1743
Quote:
Originally Posted by so cal phil View Post
Hi all, my family and I will be moving to the sings area shortly and once a week I will be needing to make a trip down towards trinidad for work. We currently own a fwd scion xv and a ford f350 4x4. I am looking into buying another car/suv with awd or 4x4 so as to not waste fuel in the diesel. I will be keeping my truck for house projects, camping, fishing, dogs, etc. What would be a good commute vehicle or family vehicle considering that drive I have to make particularly in the winter? I'm looking at out backs of course, jeeps grand cherokee and cherokee, and a couple others. Thanks for the help
Do a search here - there are other threads about what cars are best for Colorado - this is one of them:

//www.city-data.com/forum/color...d-car-suv.html
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Old 12-29-2014, 07:30 PM
 
Location: Just south of the river
55 posts, read 87,466 times
Reputation: 82
I've been commuting from Pueblo to CoS for 11 years now with a beat up old whoop-dee dodge caravan; front wheel drive and good all season tires. Absolutely no problem. Several 1.5 hour (usually 40 min) white-knuckle drives, but no worse for the wear. Had to ditch it 1 time, luckily in town, due to an erratic fast lane driver - passed me and flipped his Cherokee in the median. The Scion should have no problems.
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Old 12-29-2014, 09:04 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,707 posts, read 58,042,598 times
Reputation: 46177
I second the Minivan as a very safe and robust / cheap to insure / expendable / utility / EZ to replace.
Mine always got me 200k+

I got 30 mpg in a recent rental minivan (2500 miles)

But... I use Diesel VW's as long distance commuters. (they will go to 500k+) (don't use the electric windows, and dip the plastic door handles in Antifreeze BEFORE winter.) I do a $12 timing belt every 100k, new water pump every 200k, fresh filters (oil and fuel) every yr. Synthetic oil every 20k. I prefer the B4V ('96-97 TDI wagon) @ 52 MPG and 25 gal tank = 1250+ miles between Chinese restaurants.

Brewing your own fuel, or using discarded Jet A or heating oil can give you free = $1.00 / gal fuel.
Appleseed Processor Kit - Utah Biodiesel Supply

Use Brassiere feestock as Europe does (they enjoy a 100% BD full warranty instead of USA capped at 5% due to crummy Soy based BioD. There used to be some Mustard Seed Bio-D producers in Colorado. It is a great cold weather fuel (but not as good as Algae feedstock for cold weather use)

Last edited by StealthRabbit; 12-29-2014 at 09:22 PM..
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