8 month road trip, what car you choose?

I've had this little thought in my head for awhile. I work remote and have no ties to anything and was thinking of just getting in a car and tour the country. It would be a mix of me working 6 hours a day in a place then traveling or staying to the next place (I'd be sleeping in car). I wonder what car would be best choice, I'd have about $5k to choose from, I was thinking Honda Element AWD (though I really don't like the way they look, and they are NOT a gas sipper). Would have to comfortable, parts aplenty, and damn cheap to fix (any mechanic wherever I was would have to be able to fix it eaisly)

My vote is Toyota based RV:

Or pretty much anything else you can comfortably live in and get parts for- motels will get EXPENSIVE after a few months.

Are you planning to sleep in the car a lot or spend most nights in hotels?

If the former I'd say you should look into small RVs. Not huge fun to drive but having your own bed to sleep in and a table to work at would be huge.

If the plan is hotels (whew, that might get expensive quickly) then I'd vote for a comfy wagon.

This is local to you. Buy it for challenge money and spend that much again going over the systems. It should run forever.

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/rvs/5583568969.html

Cheap, roadtripable, fix-anywhere car? My mind immediately goes to Panther. I'd look at a Grand Marquis and then buy a salvage P71 and swap rear ends, shocks, transmission, and whatever other features you wanted.

Another option would be a 6th gen Accord. It's an underrated platform, can be had for super cheap and makes for a fairly comfortable cruiser. 5-speed/F23 would be my choice. They don't break. Seriously. I had one that I put 225K on the clock and in that time it needed only routine maintenance until I put it into a guard rail. Stay away from the autos.

For more hauling capacity, there's always the full sized Chevy and Ford vans. Don't know much about them, but they're the go-to for conversion campers and DIY RVs, so they must put down the miles pretty well. Can't imagine gas mileage is all that good, though.

My oddball suggestion is a N/A Porsche 944. This fits neither criteria of being easy or cheap to repair, but it's a proven distance machine. These people took one across Africa.

Oh yea, I should have said. I'll be sleeping in it.

RV all the way then. Or a motorcycle and a nice tent.

Yes, RV then. Or camper van. Or miata + tent. Or early/mid 90s Caprice wagon. Swap on 9c1 bits and have at it.

mmmmm caprice wagon. i've always wanted one and just cram it into small parking spots in downtown

camper van or small RV type vehicle.

I was going to say a Winnebago, but the first post beat me to it. Besides the money savings, the biggest plus is that you can strap a dirt bike/scooter to it. Mountain bike inside, anywhere the 'Bago couldn't go, you could get to by other means.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMIvywLO2tw

I think I like camper van the best idea. As I think it's the right mix of car / rv.. And I think i could find an old ford, dodge, chevy, or VW and do the interior for living easily.

I think this would work.

hell yea, more.

Search "Class B RV" but you won't find any $5000 ones.

How about a biggish comfy car and a teardrop trailer to sleep in. Should not hurt mileage too much and would not have major impact on drive-ability. Also, you could drop it at a campground and still have wheels to get around.

The Answer for this is Westfalia and has been for decades.

Sure, you can get faster campers or bigger campers, but the VW is just right. It can act like a car when you don't want to be a camper, with everything tucked away and a city-friendly size. Just put a Subaru engine in it and you're done. I get 18 mpg and can cruise at 80 mph.

Unlike any other camper, they're appreciating so you can probably sell it for a profit when you're done.

No on-board toilet or shower, though. If you want those, get ready to up a size.

A friend is prepping his Westy for a six month trip of working from the road. Along with him will be a Dodge 2500 with a camper on the back. It'll be interesting to see how the two of them work out.

Maybe I'm getting old and less excited about car repairs, but my suggestion would be two parts:

1) pop up camper or small trailer. Nothing fancy, but a place to hang your hat and not feel like your homeless.

2) a new leased vehicle that could tow the camper. Gives more options for vehicles and no worries about catastrophic break downs wrecking the budget.

Of course you could also go the route of buying a class 8 truck with a nice sleeper and putting RV plates on it. Not fuel efficient, but you'd have a nice view of the country as you travel. Add some ramps for putting a small car in the back and you could have a fun vehicle for day trips.

Recently here on GRM there was this chatter about a guy living in a Honda Element complete with videos.

Net result seems that the accommodations are less than perfect but the Element itself is excellent at being very "stealth" and not looking like a camper in places where camping is not allowed weather that be actually illegal or just frowned upon.

Keith Tanner wrote: The Answer for this is Westfalia and has been for decades.

Dude, I love these. They expensive? No bathroom / shower is fine, as I plan on taking advantage of my 3 gym memberships.

I think a Roadmaster wagon or Caprice wagon would make for a good option. Cruise all day at 75-80, get 25mpg, plenty of room to sleep in the back. Mechanicals are proven reliable, parts are cheap and plentiful.

Take along a tent for the times you want to sleep outside the vehicle. Plenty of suspension upgrades available if you want to swap the cushy ride for something a little more sporty.

Edit: And the roadmasters have a nice panoramic moonroof for ventilation whilst sleeping.

Yea... I want a westfalia now..

Coldsnap wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: The Answer for this is Westfalia and has been for decades.

Dude, I love these. They expensive? No bathroom / shower is fine, as I plan on taking advantage of my 3 gym memberships.

The prices are on the rise. Depends on how much work you want to do, there are rough ones all over the place that you can use as a base. As with anything like this, get the nicest one you can afford. With the way prices are moving, you'll get your investment back with change. Mine has probably doubled in value since I bought it, although I did get a good price. I paid $7500 for a Subaru-powered one that had no immediate needs and had a very good but not pristine body.

One thing to remember is that they're all getting old, so you'll want to attend to things like wheel bearings and brake lines before you hit the road. There's strong aftermarket support and a lot of parts are common to VWs so they're easy to get and cheap. Some parts are NLA, like shifter bushings.

Pay attention to which one you're looking at, though. The bay window buses (green one posed with the girlie earlier) is a 70's vehicle and not necessarily as well sorted as the later ones. Rust can be an issue. They have character out the wazoo, though, and will make you smile.

The Vanagons (like my gold one) are the sweet spot, IMO. No rust issues, reasonably modern, very well sorted and supported. The Subaru swap is pretty straightforward and takes care of the weedy stock engine.

The Eurovans (like the dark blue van with the unfortunate red high top) are a FWD van. I think most of them were converted by Winnebago due to a change in ownership at Westfalia. I've never had a good look at the campers, but they're definitely the most modern and will have the best power. They don't have the following, though, and are considerably less expensive. Check into their drivetrains, I suspect that's the weak point.