So a buddy and I are planning a month-long surf trip this December: my buddy wants to buy a car here in Vancouver and then make our way down to Sayulita, Mexico (near Puerto Vallarta) and use for a month down there, maybe driving it back up afterwards, or maybe selling it down there. We're looking for a cheap surf rig that's reliable and good on gas.
Here’s our additional criteria:
- Must be able to fit two 9-foot longboards inside (we’d use roof racks for traveling, so it’s more just for securing overnight or in sketchy areas away from the water),
- needs a little bit of ground clearance - Not for four-wheeling or serious off-roading, just for rutted/muddy roads.
- good on gas
- 4wd not necessary, FWD actually preferable
- manual transmission would be nice but not mandatory
- less than $5,000
So the cars I’ve come up with are ~10-year-old versions of the following:
- Hyundai Tucson and Santa Fe
- Kia Sportage and Sorrento
- Suzuki Grand Vitara
- Ford Escape / Mazda Tribute
I’d normally throw Subaru in there as well but I feel like we’d be paying a premium for AWD when we don’t really need it (not to mention the mechanical complexity and gas mileage penalty). As for Toyota and Honda, they’re blessed/cursed with ridiculously high resale value, so there doesn't seem to be much out there for <$5k.
Anyhow, thanks for reading and if you had any thoughts on the ones I’ve listed or other suggestions, it'd be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Lebowski
