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Our Two Cents: The Best “95% Of Our Needs” Vehicle
It is true. We automotive journalists are rightfully guilty of living in a dream world that most motorists could never even imagine. But sometimes one of us enjoys popping this academic Bubble of Automobilia (as it were), and this time it was our own Kyle Smith who asked something utterly reasonable to his co-workers:
What’s the best utility vehicle for 95% of our needs?
I was excited to see how we answered this one and immediately tried to justify something like a Ford Raptor. Unfortunately, backing up that choice was too much of a stretch for this thought exercise. So let’s see what everyone came up with, and why they came to that conclusion.
Hot Hatchbacks?
“It’s a Volkswagen Golf/GTI. Always has been. Always will be.” — Matt Tuccillo
Big Surprise, I Still Picked A Ford
“Since I can’t stretch the truth enough to make the Ford Raptor work as an answer, I want the OG Ford Escape from 2001-04. Those years had a rudimentary locking center differential when equipped with the Control Trac II system. I would get one with the Duratec V-6 for around $5k, throw a few grand of replacement parts from Rock Auto at it, and enjoy the Mazda-esque chassis dynamics that made the original Escape a truly sporting utility.
But one thing on my restoration list will diverge from factory, as modern off-road tires make it look like the original concept and provide excellent on/offroad performance. I mean, offroad tires have improved significantly since a Control Trac II Escape rolled off the assembly line. Restoring and modifying one of these to my needs ensures I can visit friends who live in places with dirt roads that tend to melt away in bad weather.
It won’t impress anyone, but I don’t need a 4×4 with a 4-low gear in its powertrain. The lightly modded Control Trac II Escape would be functionally cool, fun for grocery getting, and pretty easy on the pocketbook.” — Sajeev Mehta
Volvo Wagons
“I’ve had two generations of Volvo Turbo wagons—an 850 and a V70—that have suited me incredibly well. I can get ten-foot boards in there with the liftgate closed thanks to a front passenger seat that folds down, and the back is downright cavernous. Even with the open diff and front-wheel drive, snow tires are enough to get through Ohio winters (AWD would be nice, though). Best seats in the business, too. It’s hard to ask for much more from a utility vehicle.” — Eddy Eckart
Minivans
“I agree with Matt Tuccillo, but since he beat me to the brilliant Golf, I nominate the Honda Odyssey minivan. Or any minivan, because they fit all the goods and chattels of the average American family much better than any oversized and overweight SUV.” — Joe DeMatio
“The practicality of a minivan can’t be overstated. I love my Odyssey, but if I could do it again, I’d opt for a Toyota Sienna with AWD. A set of good A/T tires (with or without an inexpensive aftermarket lift kit) will get one of those vans just about everywhere I’d want to go here in the Pacific Northwest. Not as cool as a VW Vanagon Syncro or a Mitsubishi Delica, but far more reliable.” — Stefan Lombard
“Stefan and Joe are stealing my thunder! (You snooze, you lose! — SM)
I’m the proud owner of an AWD Toyota Sienna (pictured above), and also a somewhat-ashamed owner of a Chrysler Town & Country minivan: Yes, we have two minivans! It’s the best, most practical vehicle perhaps ever made. Beefy snow tires in the winter gets me, the wife, and our four kids pretty much anywhere in any weather. When summertime comes, the Class III hitch and a set of airbags installed in the rear springs allows us to rock a seven-bike rack and two rooftop cargo boxes for all our adventures. It excels as an everyday vehicle for groceries and kids and is better in almost every way than a seven-seater SUV.
The only SUV that can even compare in terms of people and cargo space is the Suburban, but unless you are regularly towing a boat or camper, a vehicle that large is incredibly obnoxious to live with. As Stefan mentioned, Sienna lift kits are easy to come by and easy to install. Do yourselves a favor and go down the internet rabbit hole of lifted Toyota Siennas.
One last thing to add: If you’ve never owned a vehicle with dual automatic sliding doors, you have never truly lived.” — Ben Woodworth
Subarus?
“I like the looks of the Subaru Crosstrek better than most any other small ute, and was impressed by how well it drives and handles. The mandatory CVT didn’t annoy me as much as most of those types of transmissions do, and with the 2.5-liter four-cylinder (which I’d choose over the base 2.0-liter), it’s reasonably powerful. A nice Crosstrek Sport prices out at $31,000, including shipping; not bad for a do-it-all vehicle.” — Steven Cole Smith
Having a Taco with a Ranger in a Colorado Canyon?
“It’s the mid-size pickup for me. I would argue that most individuals who own a full-size pickup for daily use hardly use theirs for the intended purpose. At least in my town, that seems to be the case. Why would you pay for more truck than you need? It was the case for me and my 2500HD Silverado I owned for 11 years. If you need a commuter vehicle and the occasional use of a pickup bed, then skip the Silverado and just get a Colorado/Canyon or a Tacoma or even a Ranger.
My Canyon has ample room for passengers and does the precise amount of hauling and towing I need. Enough capacity to tow the snowmobile or a utility trailer? Check. Enough truck bed for a yard of mulch or a dirt bike? Check. If you want a big truck because you like them or you need to tow, that’s fine, you do you. But speaking out of experience, most of us don’t need one.” — Greg Ingold
“I do find the five-foot beds just a wee bit short on those things. My parents had a Colorado with a six and then a Canyon with a five and I was surprised how the space went from adequate to ‘dammit I have to Tetris.’” — Eddy Eckart
“Fair point, it’s a pain going to Lowe’s and picking up lumber—lot of overhang. A standard bed length of 6′-6.5′ would be perfection.” — Greg Ingold
But Minivans, Again!
“With the above truck talk, I will add that I’ve brought home 4’x8′ sheets of plywood and drywall in my vans! And with the airbags installed in the rear suspension, you can also easily mount a motorcycle rack on the back. Same goes for towing things like snowmobiles or small utility trailers. Minivans can handle it.
Louder for the people in the back: Unless you’re in need of regular boat/camper/trailer towing over ~3000lbs, minivans out-truck trucks, and out-SUV SUVs in every way.” — Ben Woodworth
Been doing the GMC Canyon thing and just love it. Top fuel engine short blocks to 36 bags of Mulch in a short bed. It does it all.
Also a RAV4 hit me dead cent in front. She was totaled and I’m still rolling like new.
95% of the time, a Mustang GT convertible dos everything I need or want. When I feel the need to channel the queen, I get out the Bentley. And, if I need something from Lowes too big for the Mustang, I rent a truck from them, or talk them into delivering it.
That means that 95% of the time, I get to drive a car with a nice V8, and a drop top.
Minivan? SUV? Are you kidding?
I’ve been driving the 95% vehicle for the past thirty years–Suburban, or variant thereof. It does everything. My current Denali was bought new 20 years ago. There’s no kids around and I really can’t justify it as I run an F350 as well, but there’s no way I’d get rid of it. especially in the long NW WI winter. Hauling people and stuff that can stay warm is big up here when the snow flies. While towing. And it’s just broken in at 265K. Except for the tin worm..
Same here. Starting with a 1987 Chevy Suburban, then a GMC Suburban, a GMC Yukon and a couple of Cadillac Escalades. Great all-purpose vehicles. I currently have 2 that are approaching 300,000 miles.
Cessna Citation. Things have gotten so unbelievably hectic.
Wagons for sure. I ditched my ungainly full-size Silverado a couple years ago for a 1995 Mercedes E320 wagon. Way nicer to drive and park, gets better gas mileage, and certainly handles a huge amount of stuff in the back, or, if need be, on the roof rack.
Ungainly?? I drive one everyday. Sierra 1500 crew cab Z-71. I have no problem parking at Walmart or anywhere else. Roomy, comfy and dead reliable. Also way less expensive when you have to go have it serviced or repaired over anything European. Otherwise, yes wagons are cool too.
I went out car shopping for a 4 cyl manual or a 6 cyl and came home with a 1 Series BMW. I’m mostly an American Iron guy, so it wasn’t exactly my first choice, but it checked all of the boxes I was looking for. The local redneck car dealer I bought it from I don’t think knew what to do with it so I got it very reasonably. It’s peppy, handles very well, comfortable, and doesn’t drink too many dead dinosaurs on the long haul
Figuring out the “our needs” part of the equation is the hard part. Does one’s “needs” involve hauling, towing, off-roading, or just work commuting, grocery-getting, and Saturday morning soccer games? Living on a rural ranch in a sparsely populated state presents a whole lot different subset of “needs” than living in an apartment in a huge urban area.
For me, 95% of my needs are met with a mid-size pick-up with a V-8 and decent towing, 4WD and fairly aggressive set of tires. If that’s all I had, I’d be able to accomplish nearly every one of my daily tasks…but of course, I wouldn’t be reading and writing on this site, because I wouldn’t need Hagerty classic car insurance!
Oh, and for those who say they need a van or SUV so that their cargo is under cover? I have a tarp and some tie-down straps…
F-150 XLT Quad cab w 6.5″ bed. Coyote 5.0 engine, tow package with LSD. Added a fiberglass bed cover (can be removed in just 5 minutes), better brake pads and Bilstein shocks. 18″ wheels and better tires. Now it handles well, will tow anything short of a semi trailer, and will surprise a good number of vehicles in a “stop light grand prix”. Room for 4 comfortably and stays comfortable on a long trip. I recently knocked out a 1500 mile trip over 3 days and was just fine, so were my 2 passengers, both full grown men.
I’m with you give me a four-door pick up all day long every day. Have a 2017 Sierra SLT Z-71. Plenty of room for 5 adults, tow and haul what I want. Plenty of creature comforts and enough tough luxury too. I have an older Sierra HD Diesel, it as many goodies, but was always the go to road trip vehicle for all of us, especially when heavy trailer pulling was needed. I will never sell it. The best part of crew cab pick ups, whatever flavor you like, is they have a more stable ride rather than the hobbyhorse feel of a short wheelbase SUV or CUV that makes too many people cars sick if you’re not driving.
We had a Sienna and it was great until the electric doors got spooky. Look into the fix before buying a beat one with bad doors…
Where we now live some otherwise fantastic vehicles just aren’t winter practical due to the lack of road clearing. AWD is the minimum and more ground clearance has become advised.
For my own commuter (rather than the family hauler) I’d be willing to risk the ground clearance if they ever follow through on the “AWD Mustang” tease. In the meantime my next vehicle is probably a Colorado.
When my kids were small, I drove a lowered 2WD ’94 Jimmy for 9 1/2 years, and it was great. Now, with a 35 mile commite, I have a ’16 Kia Soul, which I love. Ice cold AC, great heater, decent easy to link to stereo, dials for HVAC, trans with gears, keeps up with 80+ MPH traffic, shockingly roomy, what more do you need? My current record is 14 8″ 2×4’s in it. I have a lowered Duramax to tow the boat and car trailer.
My old Subaru Legacy GT Wagon was the one car that met basically all my needs. On a tune with nearly 300hp on a turbo, AWD platform. Such fun. Unfortunately it eventually developed typical Subaru problems at 100k+ that I just had to say goodbye to. I still miss it.
I’ve hauled a dishwasher and a water heater home in my BMW 318ti hatchback. Yeah, won’t swallow a 4×8 sheet of plywood, but the Depot rents trucks for $20 bucks.
2008 Honda Fit Sport – lightly modified with CAI up front, big bore exhaust in back! Sounds great, loads a ton of stuff, reliable & low maintenance! 99.9% daily driving needs met!!
2017 Mercedes B250 4matic. Fast (208 hp turbo four), easy on gas, rock solid build quality. Came with an AMG package with 18″ wheels and slightly lowered suspension. Withe the seatbacks down the cargo space is huge, as is the back gate opening. Very comfortable for the two of us retired people on long trips. Only limitation is the car seat facing back for our littlest grandkids. Doesn’t leave much room in the passenger front seat. But these trips are short. Lots of creature comforts too, and super reliable.
Volvo wagon currently a V60 – They look at you funny when the 10′ stick of pipe or lumber disappears and the rear hatch closes. Since rarely need a full 4×8 I just have hd rip it to needed size. Great for a road trip- fast and unobtrusive. 0-60 in the low 6secs- so not super speedy but it can get out of its own way. I did like the C30 better but it is no more. 99.9% of the time i don’t need a backseat or 4 doors but a hatch or wagon I am all in.
First gen Integras are great pickup I’ve hauled 16′ lumber, differentials, engines, and more. In a pinch on a long distance trip I sometimes use my RSX Type S as well. I used to have a 🐇 pickup that was great as well.