Yes. I require AWD. My rural land I own is in the mountains. It gets plenty of rain and snow in the winter. My waverunner trailer doesn’t have its own brakes, have to rely on the tow vehicle for braking, 100% also. So when I’m towing bikes or the ski, well honestly AWD is just going to be a requirement for me. Sprinter, you want AWD, that puts you into mandatory high output diesel as it is tied to the drivetrain, $60k for starters, with zero options. I went through this in 2019 when I bought my truck, for $33.5k new. I can get a used tricked out enclosed m/c trailer for $5-7k. So it would be an extra $20k to have the Sprinter and not have to tow a trailer. Well I take that back, if I look up what my trim of truck costs now it’s $43k so a $17k difference and still too large even if I was making the decision today. Everything is so got D overpriced today.

I also looked at selling my truck and my EV/DD and combining two into one with an EV truck but look at what those cost. Insanity. So I’m just going to upgrade the EV to a newer one next Spring and I’m out this game. I’ll be buying more vehicles when I move rural, but they’ll all be at the powersports store vs. the car stealers.

and remember, if you are paying cash, never tell them you are paying cash, just read the loan terms to confirm that the loan doesn't have any early termination fees.

it's critical to understand that a dealer makes money on selling you a loan, and the higher interest rate loans make them more money.

negotiate the sale price of the car and go easy on the rate negotiation.

the dealer will probably give you a bit more off on the sale price if they think they are going to make that money off the loan.

if you go in waving cash in their face, you won't get the best deal on the car because they have to make the money they would make on the loan in the sale price.

anyway, once you sign all the paperwork, call the bank and pay off the loan immediately.

short story: never tell them you are paying cash, just confirm that the loan doesn't have early termination fees, let the dealer think they are making extra money from selling you a loan and pay the loan off through the bank a day later.

We have a 2014 Sienna awd, very practical, ski, beach, mountain bike ride, Loes/homeDepot, etc etc. We also have a 2006 Sprinter 3500 RV, excellent 5 cylinder diesel engine. Labor Day weekend went on a mountain bike ride trip.


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That sprinter is just about the perfect sized RV in my mind.

Dudes at the track will have that, and a tricked out m/c enclosed (large) trailer behind it. Has the tent/canopy fold over deal mounted on the Sprinter. I look over and think man I’m ghettoing this track day, big time.

It is a 24’ RV, has a 6’ expandable section that helps tremendously. Sleeps 4 adults and 2 kids comfortably. We mainly use it for beach and mountain bike trips, works really well for us.


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Agreed that’s perfect size.
The thing about the Sprinter is they’ve gone up in price. Depends on which version you’re looking for. Cargo or passenger. Usually they were going for 60K bare bones with the 4x4 diesel. But it seems dealers are marking them up like crazy. As I’m seeing the passenger van in the 80k+ region. That’s absolutely ridiculous no matter which version it is. It’s not even modified.

But to me, that’s pound for pound one of the best all round best vehicles. Closest we get here to like a Mitsubishi Delica or something. A people mover that can get you to Disney world with your kids dogs and extra family/friends, easily go under the radar at the mall parking lot, and then go tackle mountain roads.

Sir, this is a WRX thread.

Well look at it this this way. As long as GM can get 80k+ for a Tahoe, an 80k price tag for a passenger version of a sprinter sound reasonable. Especially if that is a4x4 diesel. Just goes to show how much profit is in a Tahoe / Suburban. Those things are easily overpriced by 20k dollars.

as long as people are stupid enough to spend that kind of money on one, they'll charge that. I bet they could still make a profit selling them at 50k.

I keep a spare bag of microwave popcorn ready for when the bottom drops out.

and look, I don't want to tell you guys how to live the van life, but this **** is where it's at for 80k.

https://www.classicvans.com/new-conv...e-pending.html

I shake my head every time I see one of those on the road with temp tags... who the f thinks the tahoe/suburban is worth that kind of money? It's just bonkers. I really want one, but **** at that price, I could basically buy two highlanders... yeah, it can tow and it's bof and all that, but 99% of the time they're not used for that. Absolutely insane. Used prices are more reasonable, but still bonkers.

And that is precisely why I got a minivan. 55K out the door for Sienna 25year edition AWD. Not that I asked for that specific one, but if anyone knows how Toyota works, you know how it is. All I asked was AWD.

Anyway, yeah, I never considered a minivan and was looking at the bigger SUVs. Once you factor everything, they just make no sense. The only advantage over a minivan is that it has higher clearance. Nobody is putting big tires on a Tahoe and taking it off road. Literally no one. I rather just wait to get a used rig for shenanigans or a truck. Nothing beats the minivan for roadtrips.

minivan would be fine size wise, but I do need the extra ground clearance for winter mountain pass driving. Gotten into too many situations where ground clearance was critical, it's ultimately why I ended up moving on from a performance awd car and got into a highlander instead. I like the road presence that the BOF suv's have, but it ain't worth that markup, especially since I wouldn't use the benefits like the towing capacity.

yup I just wish it had more ground clearence to the point where maybe all I had to do was add some beefy offroad tires.



that's why I wish we'd get something like the Mitsubishi Delica. Thing's a beast. If you're up in WA you should see them a lot. My buddy had one in Seattle.



Funny thing is apparently Mitsu is thinking of finally bringing it to the US in the future with their Momentum 2030 plan. We need more variety other than SUVs and CUVs. Ohh by the way, the new Armanda is coming with a Pro4X trim, which will finally be a true Nissan Patrol equivalent for the US market.
At least there are some cool things in the horizon.

Really, we are getting a patrol... I knew the New Armada was like mostly a patrol under the skin. Only problem is they are so expensive...

they are putting 24x12s with 4" spacers on it with a lift to cruise the outdoor mall parking lots and show the other bros how hard they are.

They were always a watered down version, the rest of the world got the Patrol. But now with the new one, the Pro4x IS a real Patrol. It’s still cheaper than the Toyota products. I’d take it over the new “Land Cruiser”, which is not a real Land Cruiser it’s a Prado. The real Land Cruiser here is the Lexus LX

Ha lol yeah you’re right.
Every time I see those I just laugh. Goofiest looking things on the road lol

Let’s start talking about cladded up WRXs again and not these hillbilly hotels on wheels

^^ this guy vapes

I vape, but only weed. I don’t understand kids these days, vaping nicotine without ever ripping cigs. Driving around with their cladding smh


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Right, because weed is healthy.

What are you, 1000 years old?


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Damn Rod! That Rig is sweet. I have an uncle that more or less took a Base sprinter and added a sink, bed, cabinets, etc. Really neat little adventure rig for sure.
I used to smoke cigs in my younger days in college. Vaping came around (Those metal Battery tubes from those chinese websites) and it helped me quit. It was only fitting that I drove around an 08 LGT at the time lmao.

Nobody in the history of mankind has ever died from it. It’s healthier than vaping nicotine or smoking cigs by a country mile. And it’s also healthier than alcohol. It’s 2024, not the Nixon era.