Author Topic: Rec needed - car for camping  (Read 5658 times)

readerokie

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Rec needed - car for camping
« on: November 25, 2019, 02:45:22 PM »
Anybody have recs for a car or crossover that's roomy enough for long road trips, can pull a small pop-up camper, is widely available used, and is relatively long-wearing/economical?

We're planning to take up car camping for family vacations for the foreseeable future - did it and loved it as a kid, got lots of the gear, fits our budget, and we love exploring the outdoors.  We'd like to get a used pop-up trailer in 5-ish years, because we live in a part of N America where snakes, scorpions and the really bad kind of spider are prevalent, so tenting is less appealing than it is in other parts of the country.  That's about the time my spouse's current vehicle will probably bite the dust.

We're currently starting to save up/invest for his next vehicle purchase and the pop-up. It would be helpful to have some good numbers to shoot for.

StashingAway

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2019, 01:01:26 PM »
Hey, I have a couple of thoughts related directly to your question and some not. First off, minivans are great camping vehicles. They usually have V6's and can tow quite a bit! They carry lots of gear on their own.

Now, without sounding like a True Scottsman, I'm not sure I understand your reasons for a pop-up. There are different types of camping and comfort for sure, but your suggested reasons for getting a pop-up aren't super FI friendly. I want to preface one more time; I'm not trying to gate-keep, just trying to offer alternatives.

First of, for camping with kids, they love tents. Kids are robust young ones usually take well to the outdoors (it is quite natural to run around, piss on tress, build things out of rocks, and look at birds so the freedom of it makes sense to them). Pop-ups usually incur significant costs. They must be maintained and registered. They put more wear on your vehicle. They physically limit your camping locations. They must be stored (this might not be an issue for you). Overall, you are paying significantly more for equipment that you use occasionally.

I camped in Arizona for 10 years while I lived there (is that the snakes and scorpions territory that you're talking about?). All you have to do is keep your tent zipped up. It's only very slightly harder than having a raised pop-up in terms of keeping out the critters.

For long road trips and explorations, you can do a *lot* with the money saved from not owning a pop-up. If you take a week long camping trip, perhaps spend one night at a hotel or AirBNB to shower and recover. That costs $200 max, compared to the $4K you'd spend on a pop-up, not counting the other costs. You could do that a minimum of 20 times, conservatively before even getting to the cost of a trailer. Assuming you get an airBNB 4 times a summer instead, that's 5 years of camping with a luxury stop before a conservative break-even cost, and that's with heavy assumptions and zero maintenance cost assuming the family holds interest for 5 years.

I'm not trying to opposed the idea of pop-ups. They make a lot of sense for someone like my parents who have a hard time sleeping on the ground now. They are also good for folks living for significant portions of the year in a vehicle, such as a seasonal park ranger or the like. Or you just like them and camping in a tent kills the trip for you. But I think half of the fun of general camping is to do a lot with a little. The experience is in blending into nature rather than bringing a fold up house to it. But that's a personal preference/philosophy and is understandably not for everyone.

RWD

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2019, 02:22:56 PM »
The Mazda CX-5 can tow 2000 lb which should be enough for most(?) pop-up campers. The first generation is pretty roomy as well.

I also would recommend reconsidering getting a pop-up camper. My family had one when I was a kid and it wasn't as fun as a tent for a lot of extra effort and money.

StashingAway

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2019, 05:17:28 AM »
Just to add: the Minivans (Sienna, Caravan, T&C, Odyssey, Sedona) will all tow 3500lbs+. But they'll all get worse mpgs than the CX-5.

If you're looking to just get a second utility vehicle, then a minivan has more to offer for most situations. But if you're commuting then the larger size will eat gas more than a crossover.

cool7hand

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2019, 05:17:15 AM »
If you are going to tow, be sure to get a vehicle with a towing capacity that has plenty of room to spare giving the trailer's total weight when packed. My wife and I are addicted to freshwater bass fishing. While MMM might throat punch us for owning an SUV and a bass boat, it fits how we have structured our FIRE life. We towed our first boat with a RAV4 with a towing package and a 3,5000 lb. towing rating. The trailer and boat were at the edge of the towing capacity. Mileage suffered greatly and tractor trailers or winds in excess of 15mph blew us all over the road. Upgrading to a Pathfinder with a 6,500 lb. towing rating a few years later made all the difference on long rides to try new lakes. I hope this helps!

readerokie

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2019, 09:18:10 PM »
Thanks for the recs!

And to respond to some of the pro-tent comments: I also prefer a tent. I grew up camping that way. But I'm from the Northeast. We live and will camp in the SW, and my Texan husband flatly refuses to tent camp with a kid in this region. Since he's the one with extensive personal experience of scorpion stings, black widows etc, he gets to make that call. He also has a bad back and knees that make sleeping on the ground very unpleasant.

Also, "just keep the tent zipped" works really well for 1-2 adults. It does not work when your 5 year old gets up to pee at 2am! Source: long personal experience with myself, my sister's, my cousins, my Girl Scout troop, and most of the mosquito population of the NE-mid-Atlantic.

Gay Burqueño Dad

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2019, 10:55:13 AM »
I'll just note - my husband is similar with respect to bad back & camping, and we have two kids. We bought a minivan about a year ago on the theory that we would eventually buy a trailer to tow with it. Hasn't happened yet and at this point I wish we had just bought a Prius V or something. Maybe someday we will actually get/use that trailer but I would advise seeing if you can buy your new vehicle & trailer at the same time to make sure that you're actually gonna use the extra horsepower you're thinking about buying.

AO1FireTo

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2019, 11:02:03 AM »
Here's an interesting twist...  A tent made specifically for a Prius.

https://www.habitents.com/


StashingAway

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Re: Rec needed - car for camping
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2019, 12:42:45 PM »
Bad back definitely gets my sympathy for looking for something more substantial to sleep in. My elderly parents do fine with a mattress in the back of a pickup truck with a shell for this reason- albeit that doesn't work well for families.

I'd still wager that mosquitoes and ticks are far, far, more of a nuisance than scorpions in the desert. I've never even seen a black widow while camping (they're prone to dark, damp places like sheds and wood piles). Camping with mosquitoes in Minnesota or New England is just downright tiresome.

Have fun with your decision! I miss the desert and and open lands out there!

 

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