Whats the Perfect Detecting Vehicle?:shrug:..discuss

[mudpuppy]

I need to replace my former rig..('97 subaru outback) .I need something that gets good MPG, is easy to work on, and cheap..Is it the Ford Focus or Chev Aveo..or should a guy be looking at a VW diesel?

What do you all find that is THE Perfect Vehicle fitting these parameters? I'm a buyer in the 2k market, so its gonna be an old piece of junk that nobody would want to steal and can pay it off quickly with clad..

Anybody hunt off a motorcycle like a Honda Rebel?

Mud

 

[leddel]

here it is ...
it will get you anywhere ,

but more importantly it will get you out too.

 

[mudpuppy]

Dude! I said economical! Each one of those 36" Mickey Thompsons cost more than the entire vehicle I'm looking for!
Mud

 

[Southwind]

It's a 10 minute drive to get from one side of town to the other so MPG has never been high on my priority list. My brother was in a crash in a smaller vehicle than the other guy and it took 2 hours to cut him out. He lost 1 eye, 1 leg and the use of 1 arm and just lucky to be alive. I prefer something a bit bigger.

 

[OldBeechnut]

I'm with you on this MP, that's why I have two Honda's, A pilot and a accord manual shift. The pilot gets about 18 the other close to 30mpg, I do like the big guy better but when your going those 2 hour drives the accord can cut the cost in half. The Pilot I got mainly for family and towing the pirate ship.

 

[mudpuppy]

Sorry to hear about your Brother Southwind! ...I hunt about a 50 mile loop, and cannot spend 20 bucks fuel for 10 bucks clad. So I hunt a lot of gold...even then, its a fools errand to try to break even dropping so much money on fuel, and prohibits me from hunting where I need to be going. C'mon! we are snowed in so toss out some ideas of what your perfect hunting vehicle would be, or a pic of what you currently have, including the interior set up for gear and why? For instance, that little Sube was great, I pulled out the rear seat and kept all my gear in the back that was easy to access from the rear door drivers side...it got @25mpg. would go anywhere, cheap and invisible...see? Then my kid wrecked it. Now thats a nice set up OBN!
Mud

 

[Elton]

The one that gets you to sites with only Silver and Gold finds..and then gets you back home again.............

I thought you knew mudpuppy ......







.just teasing you buddy....... Trying to put a smile on your face !!

 

[leddel]

Dude! I said economical! Each one of those 36" Mickey Thompsons cost more than the entire vehicle I'm looking for!
Mud

no said you had to put 36 inch mickey thompsons on the jeep Mudpuppy . Jeeps are very economical and a lot easier to work on than the types of cars you highlighted.

 

[mudpuppy]

I'm listening Leddel...please continue...I've had a few Wagoneers, that were as you said, unstoppable, in and out of all sorts of areas. but really poor on fuel, back when it was less than a buck a gallon, who cared? .granted, the Jeeps have a huge following with all sorts of parts and aftermarket support...but c'mon...they dont get any where near 30mpg...hell, I doubt any CJ with the cheapest narrowest 14's would get 20, downhill with a tailwind!
Mud.

 

[leddel]

I'm listening Leddel...please continue...I've had a few Wagoneers, that were as you said, unstoppable, in and out of all sorts of areas. but really poor on fuel, back when it was less than a buck a gallon, who cared? .granted, the Jeeps have a huge following with all sorts of parts and aftermarket support...but c'mon...they dont get any where near 30mpg...hell, I doubt any CJ with the cheapest narrowest 14's would get 20, downhill with a tailwind!
Mud.

Mud
with all due respect they haven't built a CJ in 28 years , its true most are brick on wheels and still get less than 30 mile per gallon . My Daughters 2000 TJ was a 4 speed auto and got very close and i paid only $2000 for it . runs great and flies well on the highway too.

 

[mudpuppy]

Ouch! Damn, I'm olde! Thanks a pantload for that dose of reality!...that was a cheap shot though..(less than a buck a gallon should have tipped you off)
Next guy who comes along will probably recommend me a Hoveround, with a basket full of adult diapers, and one of those pushbutton necklaces for when a guy falls down and cant get back up? Or maybe a mule? You know, one of the old timey hay burning mules that has four legs and not one of the gas burning mules?

Still, you are wrong Leddel, a jeeps not a good effective runner for detecting at all..somebody pipe up with some realizm and get this guy off my back wouldja! First one that says "Tesla" can go straight to hades too! Ok, sure they use a bunch of AA's. 2400 to be exact, just like my detectors do, so thats understandable, keeping everything standard and all. but C'mon!
Mud

 

[bootyhoundpa]

[attachment 283087 phpmNKB0eAM-1.jpg] hear ya go mud. 97 mazda protege. 1.5 liter engine,30 miles per gallon or there abouts if you have a strong enough tail wind.. in town probably 25 mpg. Perfect? No. I would call it very adequate.trunk is alot bigger than you might imagine. I have plenty of room for all my beach hunting equiptment, waders, scoop , ect ect.only thing I dont like is very little clearance between road and main exhaust pipe.had to fix twice.but other than that its good.no its not for sale.good luck.

 

[togamac]

Hey Mud, have you thought about taking a sawzall to your wrecked Suburu and making it a convertible? LOL It looks pretty good from the hood down.

My son is a carpenter and uses an old Honda Accord to carry his tools around in. He took the back seat out and made a platform with aluminum diamond plate and has plenty of room. He jokes that it can carry a cord of wood, Accord, get it?

 

[OldBeechnut]

BH that's a nice ride, 25 to 30 is excellent.

 

[Minas man]

This is a hobby so well it costs. In my neck of the woods Atlantic Canada gas is $5.10 a gallon now. For that reason I do not go to far for a special hunt as my ride is a Toyota Highlander 6 cyl AWD and it is a pig on gas but very good solid vehicle. Detecting is usually a secondary activity when away from home and we take my wife's Honda Accord 4 cyl when we travel and my gear goes into the trunk that has a liner. My other ride is a Yamaha Zuma known in Canada as Yamaha BWS 50cc scooter. It is a stock all terrain scooter with a heavy duty frame and off road tires and a large trunk under the seat that can hold a helmet and more. Insurance $60 a year and mileage is 60 + or - miles per gallon. The all terrain capabilities of the Zuma gets me into places quickly and discretely as stock exhaust is very quiet. My Tesoro collapses into 3 pieces so it is in my back pack. This scoot can handle a passenger but it is no tire burner even with only one rider but with 1000's of after market parts both acetic and performance this scoot the perfect for customizing. The scooter has an automatic transmission for ease of use whether on the road, trail or beach.
Where I live you need to have a Motorcycle license to drive one of these but check you state or province as this law does differ so you might not need a special endorsement to drive in your jurisdiction.

Minas man

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I live about 30 or so miles from three different beaches. If I am traveling more than a short distance to go detecting I take my wife's 2003 Ford ZX-2 (Escort). I like the 30 mpg that I get with it. Shorter distances I use my Ford Ranger Pickup. I owned a 2000 Dodge Ram-1500 4X4 for five years. It became too costly to keep as the repairs were eating me alive. Got rid of it after driving it 65K miles. After owning that piece of Junk I walk across to street to keep from getting close to a Chrysler product.

 

[JimmyCT]

Mud, check out the Saturn Sedan. I know they are no longer in production but they are very economical and low maintenance. I have a 2002 Saturn 5 speed and get 28 around town and 36 on the highway. They also made a Saturn station wagon.(I wish I bought it) I believe the last year they made them was in 2003. They came with a 4cyl or 6cyl. No need for the 6cyl (although) they moved like rockets lol. The 4cyl is plenty. Whether it is the perfect detecting vehicle I do not know. I do know the sedan works very well for me. The seats in the rear flip down so you can put quite a bit of gear through the trunk. Best part, you can pick these little cars up in the $2000.00 range. Best of luck to you in your search - Jim.
Oh on a side note, they have steel side beams for much added safety.

 

[Goldrings]

Try one of these and mount your detector to the front

 

[Rick(ND)]

I too drive a 1997 Saturn, my son has a 2002 Saturn, my daughter has a 2001 Saturn and 2 of my hunting buddies have Saturn's too because they are good on mileage and seem to have very little trouble with them. I had a 1996 Saturn that had 273,000 miles on when it just lost oil Pressure which I think is a broken spring in the oil pump that ran just perfect before the oil pressure dropped, so still deciding on fixing it or not.
All of them are 4 doors and the S1 and average 31-34 miles to the gallon, so we have saved a lot of money on gas.
The one buddy has a 1997 and is the one that gets up early Saturdays like 3 AM and heads out so he is a good 200 miles away and sometimes even 500 one way as he goes down to Iowa and detects until dark and drives back, so from the time he goes and gets back is around 24 hours. He saved a lot of money on fuel with his Saturn that it paid for itself in 1 year time, got it used for $2000 and has put over 150,000 miles on it.
Watch the classified as there is some good deals on them as the 2001 I got for my daughter had 76,000 miles on it and got it for $1500.
The back seat folds down, so there is room for the detecting stuff plus you can sleep in it if you had too if you hit a hot spot and a long ways from home.
My only problem is getting in and out as I have bad knees and arthritis in my back and knees, so it takes a while.

Rick

 

[mudpuppy]

Great! Thanks everybody! I had no idea about the Saturns being a good little car...never occured to me...I'll check them out on CL...that Saturn wagon is about a perfect replacement for the Sube...twice as invisible too....as long as theirs parts still available, and they dont have any real fatal flaws like the head gasket on the Sube...I'd like to do some extended running this coming year, a few bounce dives deep outside my home area like Ricks buddy does...
Mud..