Best road trip vehicle?

[Marcozi]

A car with a turbo-diesel, maybe 2 turbos.

 

[gman2304]

I’ve driven my old Avalanche coast to coast many times. It has a ton of room interior, back seat, bed, and roof racks. You can put the mid gate down for more room or if you want to lay down to sleep. Plenty of power (V8), not bad on gas and 4x4. Cheap and easy to repair and maintain. Tahoe / suburban would be just as good if not better. I also drove coast to coast in my old Pontiac vibe / Toyota matrix and it has a ton of room for its size, but I did it solo. Would be super tight w 2 people and gear.

X2 ! My wife even admitted my old 2005 Avalanche Z66 2WD rode better than her Lexus es350! The “wheel package” on her car required the ‘2 inch’ sidewall tires resulting in a harsh, noisy ride.

 

[jsean]

If you were buying a vehicle primarily for the purpose of taking 2-3 person multi-week road trips what would you choose? Probably it would see a lot of interstate miles and would need enough storage to hold a tent and some camping gear in addition to the normal luggage and stuff. It would be shared between drivers so an auto transmission would be necessary. Decent gas mileage would be appreciated so probably no giant V8, but AWD might be a nice feature for light off-highway travel on FS or BLM roads.

Minivan? Mid-size SUV? Put a roof rack and hitch hauler on my Scion? On two previous trips we’ve driven my Titan because both destinations involved true 4WD off-road usage, but the gas mileage was less than optimal for crossing the plains and everywhere except actually off the road.

I’m considering another trip now (no off-road) and the current plan is to take the 2012 xB once I replace the front struts, but I’m still actively looking for an AWD vehicle. I thought I was buying a 2014 CX-5 but it sold yesterday.

Just throwing other possible options. What about a 2011-14 XC90 AWD?
Should be plenty sufficient for you and wife to take long roadtrips. And it’s got those comfy Volvo seats.

There are also the 2010-12 Pathfinder and Xterras. We took our 11 Pathfinder over the entire East coast and on several trips out west. While the VQ40 wasn’t the most thrifty, it had plenty of go. Made quick work of road trips.

My preferred road trip cars if it’s ever just the two of us is either our w211 e350 or the Saab 95NG. Superb comfy seats, quiet cabin and plenty of go to get about anywhere in a hurry

 

[fdcg27]

Citroen XM Turbo Diesel

Even en France, non.

 

[Toy4x4]

Choose something where you don't HAVE TO get from point A to B, but GET TO. That is what I did AND it got over 32 mpg on my last trip! Doesn't meet your requirement for a little off pavement, though. Good sized trunk and extra in the rear seats if no kids.

 

[panthermike]

X2 ! My wife even admitted my old 2005 Avalanche Z66 2WD rode better than her Lexus es350! The “wheel package” on her car required the ‘2 inch’ sidewall tires resulting in a harsh, noisy ride.

View attachment 275419

Always had a soft spot for these

 

[PandaBear]

Did I hear you say off road, cargo space, and mpg?

I'm sorry but it seems like you have to pick 2 out of the 3. What is your ground clearance need?

 

[vwmaniaman]

We road trip in our Roadtrek Versatille. Ours is a 1993 Dodge with a 318 V8 and parts are easy. Has a bathroom and closet and stove , microwave and a 3 way refrigerator and it gets a solid 16 MPG. No tent is required and you just need some wood a lighter for the campfire and some folding chairs. Plus you can park it in a normal parking lot space. I make my morning coffee on the stove and it has 2 seats that face a small round table and the front seats swivel around to also use the table. We added a flat screen TV with built in DVD player and a Roku and our phone has a hotspot that works well for the Roku. We are planning a 3 week vacation in May in our home away from home. The older ones will be in your price range and they hold up very well.

 

[6.7 CTD]

Mega Cab Ram Diesel 20+ mpg highway with an excellent range on trips. Back seats recline and it has more space than you’ll know what to do with. Load up the kids, grandkids, friends, dogs, whoever; it’s like a living room on wheels

 

[dbias]

Best road trip vehicle I ever owned was a 2015 Passat TDI. Solid handling, smooth ride, limousine size back seat and large trunk. The 2.0 TDI engine and six speed DSG were made for each other. That thing literally ate up highway miles with ease. While following my daughter’s travel and college softball teams all over the place I put 62k miles on it in two years. Usually me my wife and most of the time my father in law and our luggage, folding chairs, a cooler and pop up tent.
I got multiple 900 mile tanks out of that thing. That figured out to close to fifty MPG loaded.

 

[Sienna dude]

Woodland Edition comes with AWD and is lifted.

 

[Sienna dude]

Lift kits are also available if you want more clearance. The AWD is pretty good.

 

[Sienna dude]

Sienna Woodland Edition going offroad

 

[Sienna dude]

Just in case that video was not impressive.

 

[edyvw]

Just in case that video was not impressive.

6.9” clearance is a joke for that wheelbase. Take into consideration that previous generation had 6.8” in all models, and I would scratch bike rack on any dip or coming out of driveway.

 

[Sienna dude]

6.9” clearance is a joke for that wheelbase. Take into consideration that previous generation had 6.8” in all models, and I would scratch bike rack on any dip or coming out of driveway.

Come on, it is a minivan lol

 

[tbm3fan]

Easy, my 2004 Buick LeSabre which is used specifically just for that.

 

[edyvw]

Come on, it is a minivan lol

I know. Absolutely horrible in anything that is not flat dirt road. I ditched it because of clearance (among other reasons) as I couldn’t access anything that would be accessible with any CUV like CR-V etc.
Like I said before here, if camping, the last vehicle to consider.

 

[Sienna dude]

I know. Absolutely horrible in anything that is not flat dirt road. I ditched it because of clearance (among other reasons) as I couldn’t access anything that would be accessible with any CUV like CR-V etc.
Like I said before here, if camping, the last vehicle to consider.

That 3" lift kit should help, at the cost of fuel economy of course. It should still do 30 mpg.

 

[edyvw]

That 3" lift kit should help, at the cost of fuel economy of course. It should still do 30 mpg.

Yes. But, not sure OP is up for that.
I personally wouldn’t like to know power delivery in that Sienna with 3” kit and fully loaded over some mountain pass.
There are far better options without modifying anything and compromising already shaky handling.