Thoughts and reasons for your chosen rig

[MrChris]

2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser...

I wanted some thing relatively light, with a big 6 cylinder...then add some longevity and this thing jumped into view as a prospect. Let's face it, as long as I stay away from the Rubicon, this thing will work out well

 

[leeloo]

We have different needs and criteria. My first overland vehicle was 2002 Subaru Forester. I was not sure I would like overlanding, I did not want to spend a fortune on a first attempt. It was ok, but load capacity was a problem.
So moved to a Landcruiser J120 2008, bought second hand, known in US as Lexus 470 I think, it had the 3.0 D4D engine. I loved that thing. My wife hates driving, but this was the only car she was actually asking me to let her drive it. Had to let it go, I started to have a lot of issues very costly and I also moved to country with high taxes on big engines.... .
So I got a Toyota Hilux, main reason was that pick-ups in most Europe have flat low tax. It is a fine vehicle, but after you "tasted" a Landcruiser and got the Landcruiser bug, it is hard to like something else.
In the mean time I moved again, in a low tax country so I am seriously considering to get back in the Landcruiser, this time the 150 or Lexus GX460.
I actually have an appointment for a drive test tomorrow.
I though the missus would take my head off for considering selling a 1 year old vehicle but she actually was all smiles and asked to join me .... :) .
I remember having the Prado J120 , it s was parked outside, and every time I was passing by it ( i had another small car daily driver ) I always had this feeling of just getting in it and go someplace far....
Now I go down in my garqage, I see the Hilux and I just see an appliance... When I had the Prado, I would make any excuse just go even for 1 day trip seeing some villages and doing some back country roads...
So for me even if I know I will have less space in the Landcruiser, this other factor is important as well..

 

[Cypress]

Price, Size, lack of useless options, and ease of repairs were most important. XJs are cheap, simple, reliable as anvils, and are fairly small.

 

[obchristo]

First car was a 1980 Datsun 2wd pickup with a shell. Made a carpet kit and camped out of it a lot. Moved on to an 85 Toyota 4WD pickup- again with shell and carpet kit. Drove it all over Baja, Southwest and lots of Deadshows. Loved that thing until it rusted to death at 385K. Was given an 84 Toyota Tercel 4WD Wagon. Surprisingly capable car if packed light. Moved on pretty quickly to a 97 4wd 4Runner. Did a lot of trips with that one too. It was getting pretty small with our growing family so when it craked a head at 365K I knew I wanted something that combined the qualities of my trucks, the 4Runner and a minvan- I wanted a 1st gen Toyota Sequoia.

Looked all over but everything was way high milage and I figured that boat had come and gone until the first one I lusted after became available 2.5 years ago. A 2005 4wd SR5 Sequoia that my neighbors owned for going to their cabin in Mammoth. It was always a CA car- 63K highway miles and always serviced at the dealer.

It can't wheel as hard as my old truck or the 4Runner, but given where I am in life it works great. I can take my daughters and 5 of their friends surfing during the week, pull the 3rd row and take the family into the desert or down into Baja without overloading it.
My wife and I can sleep in the back on weekend getaways.

It's basically a 3rd Gen 4Runner + 30%. Exactly what I need.

 

[Oranger]

I had a 1997 TJ which made me fall in love with top and doors off. When that vehicle was totaled I knew that another Wrangler was 99% likely. When I saw this used 2012 JK I knew that was what I wanted and emailed before they had the images posted on their website.

I like their capability, I like their mod-ability, I like that stupid waving thing. It is just fun.

 

[grubworm]

i was driving my superduty f-350 as a daily driver and when i sold my construction company, i wanted to downsize to a smaller pick up so i bought a tundra in 2018. a couple months after i bought it, i started dating my now wife. about 4 months into dating, we did a long trip and slept in the back of the tundra and then right after that, we got heavy into travel and turned the tundra into our "overland" vehicle with a shell and all that. it has actually turned out to be the perfect vehicle for the way we camp/travel. i kept my small excavator and the tundra even has enough ass to it to tow my excavator....so it is my daily driver, overland rig, AND tow vehicle

 

[RatAssassin]

2020 Tacoma. Bought it for a dedicated camping vehicle. Fits in the garage well. Reputation for longevity and reliability. Wife likes to drive it because it's smaller than our other 4 full sized trucks.
Horrible transmission, but much better after the "Drivability Concerns TSB". Get it! The frames are known to rust right out from under them, so it stays in the garage in winters here until we go out on a trip. Then an undercarriage wash and back in the garage, Winters are for driving work trucks as sacrificial fodder to the salt Gods.
I like it.....don't love it. It does nothing well but everything kinda ok. I like the retro but modern truck feel of it. It's a fun toy. Like a street legal side by side with heat and a shitty radio.
It's slowly grown on me over the past year. I plan to do many trips with it.
I don't understand the insufferable fanboyism over these things. But I'm in for the long haul. It fits in the garage. Meh......

 

[MMc]

I have owned a bunch of small trucks, in 99 I picked up a 1/2 ton and drove it for years it was totaled one night by a guy running a red light. I picked up a 3/4 ton a couple of years later. My wife had passed and I was a bit lost. I decided what I wanted to be doing in 5 years and camping or living on the road was a big part of my future. I went big as I was tired of camping small. I now have all the room I need with my gear. I may change to a flatbed with a pop-top if I go on the road full-time. It's pretty well kitted out for how I overland now. I has a 12' rack to haul my Kayak/s, surfboards, and fuels on top. The camping stuff goes inside the shell. It's not a fashion piece but a purpose built rig for how I camp, nothing is added if it doesn't help the performance. I am old school with my gear going in and out as I set up camp, It will be easier to sell with out all the stuff hanging off it.