Setting a Budget

This is where we need to be honest with ourselves… are we going camping in National Parks or some other well developed campgrounds, or are we going on five plus days of self-sustained backcountry camping on some difficult trails? To accurately set a budget for yourself its good to have some self reflection on what you are actually planning to do with this vehicle. You may need the bad-ass Jeep on 37’s, or you may be just fine with a Subaru Outback depending on what you want to be doing on weekend adventures.

Budget is a very personal thing, and to some a $50K budget is no problem and opens the door of endless possibility. Others just want to have the cheapest option possible that get them on some adventures. Things to consider for setting a budget for yourself are in the list below. It’s important to do some research on what these items cost, for they will be part of the initial budget plan you set for yourself.

• Maintenance – Will the vehicle you purchase require much maintenance upfront to be reliable for what you plan on doing with it?
• Tires, lifts, etc. – Will you need to change the wheels and tires that come on the vehicle when you purchase it? Depending on the vehicle and desired wheel/tire package you want to install, the vehicle may require a suspension lift to allow for these to be fitted.
• Protection and recovery – Will you need to install some additional protection to the vehicle or even a winch?
• Camping – Do you plan to camp in, on, or outside the vehicle?
• Other – Are there some items you can’t live without? Maybe a fridge, built out interior stowage, awning?

Thoughts/Experience with Older Vehicles

Old vehicles are NEVER going to be 100% reliable. It can be a Toyota but chances are, you’re still going to need to fix small things from time to time. I’ve experienced owning a ’06 Tacoma and they will require maintenance contrary to popular belief.

Its important to do some serious research on the issues each vehicle may have if you’re in the market. A lot of times old vehicles just need some love: routine maintenance, some oil and fuel treatments, fixing/replacing some tired components. Researching the common issues with a particular vehicle and checking the maintenance history can help choose a good vehicle.

If going with an older vehicle, it’s good to have some knowledge of general vehicle systems and maintenance procedures. This will save you a lot of money in the long run! YouTube and forums are a great place to start, nothing beats getting under the hood and learning the skills for yourself as you go.

My Experience

In my case, I wanted to have a vehicle that was comfortable on road but could get me deep into the mountains for fly fishing if desired. I wanted to stick to 15K as a starting point which is probably more realistic for the casual adventurer. I’ll work off of of the 15K budget number in this blog as that is what I have experience with.

After a lot of initial research I had the following list of vehicles in mind:

• Toyota 4Runner 4WD (Gen 3 or 4)
• Toyota Land Cruiser (80 or 100 series)
• Lexus LX (Gen 1 or 2)
• Land Rover Discovery (1 or 2)
• Land Rover Discovery 3 (LR3)

Along with this list of vehicles, I listed the “minimum requirements” the vehicle would need for what I’d be planning to do with it which were:

• Maintenance (good running condition)
• Offroad worthy tires and a full size spare
• Skid plates and underbody protection
• Good road and trail lighting
• “Campable” cargo space (I didn’t want to have to sleep in a tent or have a roof top tent form the start)

With the two lists above, and a 15K budget, I had two vehicles that took the lead in the hunt: Toyota 4Runner, and Land Rover LR3. While I knew that the Toyota would likely be a more reliable vehicle in the long term, the Land Rover looked easy enough to work on and came in at a much lower cost. Not to mention that the Toyota would have required wheels and tires, AND a lift, while the Land Rover would only require wheels and tires.

At the time I had the money and was seriously in the search for a vehicle the Toyota 4Runner was an easy 15K, while most Land Rovers were around the 7-9K mark (this was towards the peak of high used car prices unfortunately). I chose to go with the Land Rover knowing that work would be required as I go. That being said and two years in to ownership, I’m certain that I have done more trips with the Land Rover than I ever would have for the initial cost to get the 4Runner. This required a lot of work and research which will be outlined in a future blog post.