4 cyclinder trucks are way better on gas. Perhaps just a downgrade would be more economical.

When it comes to bug out, all I hear is 4x4. Pretty much limits you to truck or SUV. Personally I'll take truck, just for the capability to load it up if needed. I like my V8 crew cab GMC 1500 - its only a 2x4, but it gets me into my back fields just as well as the tractor does. With a cab on the back and some thought, it could make a rudimentary camper as well as gear carrier.

And truck gets my vote because the parts for them are relatively inexpensive (unless it's diesel, but they are harder to break) and not overly difficult to repair/replace in the yard or driveway.

I do remember the old 'tracker' brand mini SUV. Throw a roof rack on that thing and let er rip. I am trying to think budget here.

The chevy Tracker is the same thing as the suzuki Samurai I think... very similar in structure anyway. Offroaders love them because they are so light that they can go almost anywhere that a quad can go. Of course they had ones with lift-kits etc but they are pretty good offroad as is. We had a four-door version and it did just fine in winnipeg blizzards when the snow was not yet cleared. We were literally pushing the snow with our bumper and it kept moving.

Hey again.

Can anyone recommend vehicles or vehicle types that can make good escape/bug out vehicles, while also being practical? As a student, I'm on quite the budget, and I am planning for the future. As much as I love the pick-up I'm driving (the Mom-&-Dad's rental special), its huge and hard to fit into the city, eats gas like it was at a Chinese buffet, and is in desperate need of repair. Over the summer, my school sets us up with a paid co-op, and if I can get onto the lake boats like I hope, I'll be able to afford my own ride. It's only a 2-year course, so I'll be needing it eventually anyways when I graduate and potentially move away.

As much as I love pickup trucks, they're much more expensive all-around from what I've seen.

Here here!
I am also soon to be looking for a used 4 x 4 to replace a vehicle I am about to scrap.
It should be AT LEAST 5 - 6 passenger and be able to shift in and out of 4 wheel.
I have been looking at the Dodge Durango for it's passenger and cargo capacity...any thoughts?

Also on my radar are the older Chevy Blazer / Ford Explorer types.
I would consider a pickup if it were 4 door or at least have a back seat big enough for 2 child booster seats!
Input on quality vehicles is appreciated!

Don’t forget the TRAILER hitch and the transmission cooler to haul the trailer with all my supplies and tools. Hmmm, maybe a transport truck with a 53 ft live in shop/trailer would be more feasible. Lottery be nice to me.

Blazer over Exploders any day. We have a 2002 F-150 Super crew. It is gutless and a hog on fuel. Buttt we bought it 3 years ago from an old man with really low KM's (82,000). I will pay extra for fuel if it means I save 25K over buying new.....thats a lot of fuel to make up the difference.

I always buy used...and pay cash.

I was a die hard Dodge man for many many years. I've just made the switch to GMC/Chevy in the last 2 months. I still like the Dodge, but the bodies on those things seem to melt at around the 6 year mark. My almost 13 year old GMC I bought used and fixed up still has a great frame and body on it. Needs some touch up body work in some of the usual places, but it sure is in far better shape then any of the similar year Dodges I've looked at.

I feel similar about the F-150's. They don't seem to have any guts. F-250 or 350's are a completely different story as best as I could tell - I don't handle as many of them as I used to and everyone I know is either driving Dodge or Chevy now.

The Tracker was mentioned earlier. I had forgotten about that thing. There was one on my friends farm where we cut wood once a year - a backwoods toy we fool around on when we aren't felling trees. That thing never got maintenance done on it. We crashed it into trees (sometimes by accident) and it once got driven into a swollen stream on the property that came up over the floor boards (it had to be pulled out with one of the trucks)...despite it being extremely abused it never died. It's still going and I've been cutting wood with this fellow for almost 8 years now.
This same friend of mine had a Ford Explorer 4x4. He called it his headache. He's a licensed mechanic, been as long as I've known him, and he hated that thing. It was his wife's vehicle and he was always doing something to it. He got rid of it last year and replaced it with a used Suburban 4x4, which hasn't cost him a cent so far except for oil changes and gas.

Had a sidekick for a few years. It's the tracker rebadged, made in same factory. Mine was the last year where you had to manually lock the hubs. Decent little 4 wheeler. Not sure what the new ones are like. Drive a Rav 4 now. Jury still out on that one. 3 recalls so far. Not up to the standard of my last 2 Corollas.

Why cant Cummins and Allison get together 🙂

Ah but they can, I've seen trucks with a Cummin's engine and an Allison transmission.

We have a ford explorer for years, it was just retired at the age of 15 and just shy of 400,000 km on it, it was bought new in alberta and traveled with us in both NWT and was flown into iqauit for the time we were there and flown down with us when we moved to ontario.. miss that truck! Got the van and the moterhome at the moment, but are planning on adding back in a SVU or small ford ranger at some point in the next while.

The moterhome is older and its a powerhouse..

Ah but they can, I've seen trucks with a Cummin's engine and an Allison transmission.

In a 1 tonne?

No but a good Idea, It was a 5 tonne (Military field grade) dump//Semi.