honda CRV.........
 

looking in the early 2000s. anybody have experience with these? 4runner? rav4? starting to look for a smallish 4X4. I don't really want a pickup right now. they just don't have enough storage.

does it have barn doors?:you:

out of those listed, Id pick the 4 runner., its a real vehicle. Easily goes 300k miles The CRV and Rav4 four are both front wheel drive cars with an after thought rear differential thrown in. Down side the the 4runner is it doesn't get that good of mileage. Personally Id be looking at a Tahoe, same mileage or better than the 4 runner, cheaper to maintain. 4 runner is a solid vehicle though.

Honda CR-V is a great vehicle, but it's not a 4WD, after 2007 they stopped making the 4WD version completely and now they just make it a "all wheel drive". 2007 and before they had a 4WD version, but even then it was computer controlled, not something you could shift in and out of when you wanted to. It was a front wheel drive vehicle that when the comp sensed the front wheels spinning would automatically engage the rear wheels. My brother has one and he loves it. But if you are not needing the 4WD feature then by all means look at the CR-v.

After all the trouble my son had with his Xterra I'd NEVER buy a Nissan again. 4 cat converters, knock sensor buried under the intake manifold, 2 radios that failed, door hinges that wear out, etc etc etc... No thank you on the Pathfinder.

Personally, if you are looking at that size vehicle I would look at the Jeep Liberty. My other son has a 2007 and loves it. 110K miles on it so far and zero trouble.

Heard good things about the Honda Element. Not very attractive or sporty, but lot of room and reliable. Not sure if available in 4wd.

Get a 4runner or go back in time and buy Spare's suburban.

guys, i'm talking about spending like 3k, tops. I've seen some decent looking "trucks" of both brands in that price range. obviously these are a bit older and have a fair amount of mileage on them. I knoe Toyota is a 300k vehicle. I wonder if the Honda can boast the same. I need to run through a little snow in the winter, drag around a 17-19 foot whaler around and carry a bunch of gear.

I know we've talked about the grand Cherokee, but are they really that bad?? these things are a dime a dozen and some of them are dam clean. there must be some good points about them.

Do a Google search on just about ANY vehicle and you'll find people that complain about them. Some years of the Grand Cherokee seem to have more problems than others. But I can tell you my brother has an older one (I don't know the year offhand) and he absolutely loves it. He's had it for years now and I don't think it's ever given him any trouble. But he doesn't haul anything, it's just a daily driver for him. From what I've read they seem to have a problem with the transmissions a lot, so maybe it's not a good vehicle for hauling.

You might want to look into the Dodge Durango's. Mine is a 2005 5.7L hemi and I love it. Gets an honest 22 MPG on the interstates, and about 15 in city driving. Full size vehicle and it has a 7700lb tow rating. Worst problem I've ever had with it is the gasket around the gas cap cracks over time and you get an error code saying there's an emissions leak. $18 for a new cap fixed the problem... I'm closing in on 200K miles now.. most expensive repair was a new exhaust system around 140K.

I'd go with the 4Runner! I've got two, a 92 and 02 and love both! We've got 9 Toyotas in the family. I've got a Tacoma 4x4 with 365000,3.4 v6 automatic, still running very strong. Just stay away from the old 3.0 v6s, some had head gasket trouble. the 4Runners are very dependable all around trucks.