[Homestead] Homestead vehicle choices
Gene GeRue
genegerue at ruralize.com
Tue Aug 31 12:43:14 EDT 2004
>We have generally taken a long time to select bargain vehicles, six months
>for the Nissan, which looks like it just came out of the box., and is
>eminently suitable for commuting as well as providing freight transport
>the Subaru Wagon could not.
I used to think a pickup truck was the ideal homestead vehicle. No more.
For my real estate business here I leased a new 2002 Toyota Highlander.
Wonderful vehicle. I will buy out the lease when I go home to Heartwood.
Then I will have a trailer hitch installed and will buy a tilt trailer that
will haul more than a pickup. That gives me a good vehicle for travel and
light hauling without the limitations of a pickup truck for everyday use.
One of my considerations is a dirt driveway with steep sections. An
unloaded two-wheel-drive pickup tears hell out of the road and eats tires.
A four-wheel-drive pickup gets worse mileage, costs more initially and for
maintenance and is unneeded 99 percent of the time. A front-wheel drive SUV
gets the ascent job done without tire slippage and will take a light
trailer up and a loaded trailer down the hill. Many of my friends have two
vehicles, a good-mileage small sedan plus a small pickup truck. The
one-good-SUV-plus-a-trailer plan saves money on initial purchases,
maintenance, insurance and licensing and is more comfortable and will carry
more on trips.
More information about the Homestead
mailing list