Car Camping: Who does it?

[bigjohn358]

I'm leaning towards purchasing a Toyota Highlander Hybrid when the time comes. I think this vehicle could be the ultimate fishing vehicle. All wheel drive, 35mpg (better than most sedans), lots of room for storage, seats fold down perfectly for sleeping. I think I'd do more long trips if I had a vehicle like this than my pickup that averages 15mpg. Now don't get me wrong I'll always have my pickup but having an SUV that gets that kind of mileage and the storage is very appealing to me!

 

[mt_flyfisher]

I'm leaning towards purchasing a Toyota Highlander Hybrid when the time comes. I think this vehicle could be the ultimate fishing vehicle. All wheel drive, 35mpg (better than most sedans), lots of room for storage, seats fold down perfectly for sleeping. I think I'd do more long trips if I had a vehicle like this than my pickup that averages 15mpg. Now don't get me wrong I'll always have my pickup but having an SUV that gets that kind of mileage and the storage is very appealing to me!

I have an F150 that I use for fishing/camping now, and I have had a new F150 hybrid on order since the end of last December, that is now finally in production.

I ordered the new truck with all the bells and whistles, including the built in generator that comes standard with it, thinking it would be even better for camping than my present truck, but Ford deleted several of the options from my initial order that they are no longer offering so I’m planning on canceling my order and not buying it.

My local Ford dealer is also a Toyota dealer, and I’ve talked to them about the possibility of buying a Highlander hybrid or a 4 Runner instead of the truck, but I really wanted to see one first, and for the last couple months they haven’t had one on hand long enough for me to get in there to see it before it is off their lot - everything seems to be pre-sold, and in short supply - just like everything else seems to be these days. (Plus, my understanding from what they told me is that you can’t pre-order from Toyota, as you can with Ford, you have to take what Toyota ships them.)

However, I’ve got a couple concerns about the Highlander hybrid. First, the middle row seats don’t fold perfectly flat, in what is an already limited space. And second, my understanding is that the Highlander hybrid doesn’t have near the horsepower of the other Highlander models. Neither of those would be a deal breaker for me, however, I do take lots of things with me when I go fishing, and want to have plenty of room to sleep too.

While the hybrid does get really good mpg as you say, that’s not my primary goal in buying a fishing/camping vehicle. As an alternative to the hybrid, I think the new Subaru Outback Wilderness model is also appealing. (We’ve owned 4 Subaru Outbacks in the past several years and really like them.

 

[poopdeck]

Just my meaningless two cents. We looked at a new highlander when the axle dropped out of my 2003 highlander and punched a hole in the transmission. Test drove a new highlander. The doors felt like I was going to break them every time I closed them. The performance was terrible. Worst car I’ve ever driven as far as performance went. It was Slooooooooooooooooooooooooow with a capital S. My wife even commented that it was way to slow to survive I-95. I’m not interested in MPG when the performance is that poor and the car feels light and cheap.

We bought a Subaru Outback XT (turbo charged 4 cylinder) it only gets 22 MPG but it’s fast and it’s true 4 wheel drive all the time. The boxer engine puts the center of gravity really low making the car a dream to drive and corner in. so far we Are very happy with the purchase.

i‘m not camping in it so I can’t comment on it’s sleeping accommodations.

 

[bigjohn358]

I have an F150 that I use for fishing/camping now, and I have had a new F150 hybrid F150 on order since the end of last December, that is now finally in production.

I ordered the new truck with all the bells and whistles, including the built in generator that comes standard with it, thinking it would be even better for camping than my present truck, but Ford deleted several of the options from my initial order that they are no longer offering so I’m planning on canceling my order and not buying it.

My local Ford dealer is also a Toyota dealer, and I’ve talked to them about the possibility of buying a Highlander hybrid or a 4 Runner instead of the truck, but I really wanted to see one first, and for the last couple months they haven’t had one on hand long enough for me to get in there to see it before it is off their lot - everything seems to be pre-sold, and in short supply - just like everything else seems to be these days. (Plus, my understanding from what they told me is that you can’t pre-order from Toyota, as you can with Ford, you have to take what Toyota ships them.)

However, I’ve got a couple concerns about the Highlander hybrid. First, the middle row seats don’t fold perfectly flat, in what is an already limited space. And second, my understanding is that the Highlander hybrid doesn’t have near the horsepower of the other Highlander models. Neither of those would be a deal breaker for me, however, I do take lots of things with me when I go fishing, and want to have plenty of room to sleep too.

While the hybrid does get really good mpg as you say, that’s not my primary goal in buying a fishing/camping vehicle. As an alternative to the hybrid, I think the new Subaru Outback Wilderness model is also appealing. (We’ve owned 4 Subaru Outbacks in the past several years and really like them.

I work in the auto industry. I decided to build on a workshop on my garage instead of saving for a vehicle. I know buying a vehicle right now is nearly impossible. I'm hearing very mixed reviews of these electric or hybrid F-150s. I work at a Ford dealership and there all different kinds of rumors about how Ford is going to be selling a lot of their vehicles (especially the electric) moving forward. I really do not want something that is 100% electric. I just don't trust it and I do not see that as the way of the future. As far as horesepower is concerned I'm not that worried about it although the next post below yours has me wondering...who knows with the way vehicles are being made I might not have to worry about buying anything because they seem to just not exist. The Ford dealership I work at has 2 new vehicles on the whole lot right now. Oh and the Explorer hybrid I don't even know why they make it. The mpg is awful for a hybrid.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

Just my meaningless two cents. We looked at a new highlander when the axle dropped out of my 2003 highlander and punched a hole in the transmission. Test drove a new highlander. The doors felt like I was going to break them every time I closed them. The performance was terrible. Worst car I’ve ever driven as far as performance went. It was Slooooooooooooooooooooooooow with a capital S. My wife even commented that it was way to slow to survive I-95. I’m not interested in MPG when the performance is that poor and the car feels light and cheap.

We bought a Subaru Outback XT (turbo charged 4 cylinder) it only gets 22 MPG but it’s fast and it’s true 4 wheel drive all the time. The boxer engine puts the center of gravity really low making the car a dream to drive and corner in. so far we Are very happy with the purchase.

i‘m not camping in it so I can’t comment on it’s sleeping accommodations.

Is your Outback the Touring XT? If so, Im surprised it only gets 22 mpg. We have the Outback Limited model now, our 3rd Limited, and get anywhere from 28-32 mpg. The EPA rating for the XT is just 3 mpg less than the rating for the Limited Outback.

(We had an Outback Touring model several Outback’s ago and I don’t recall that it got appreciably worse mpg than our other Outbacks - although it might have had better performance, I can’t remember.)

 

[salmo]

At age 72 and not being pressed for a buck, I prefer a B&B or cheap hotel. My biggest concern with car camping is having to relieve myself in the middle of the night. I have a bladder the size of a stunted acorn!

 

[salmo]

Hi everyone! I took a few days of vacation the week of Memorial Day and spent 2 nights sleeping in my truck before heading to camp in Potter County. The first night I slept along the bank of Penns Creek and the second on the Little Juniata. The fishing was great and you can check that out below if you're interested!

In my opinion this was beneficial for a couple of reasons:
1.) I live over an hour away from good wild brown trout fishing. I like to get on the water early and fish until after dark. This means waking up around 3:30 and getting home around midnight which pretty much eliminates consecutive days of wild trout fishing. Sleeping in my truck solved this issue.

2.) It keeps costs down. Not paying for a hotel, Air BNB, or something along those lines is definitely a plus. It also saves some gas instead of driving back and forth which can add up pretty quick these days.

I'm curious how many others spend some nights in their vehicles? Or do you prefer a tent, driving back and forth, hotels (or similar), or just staying closer to home.

If you do car camp, what are some of your essentials? It is something I am hoping to do more of this fall.

What size tippet were you using?

 

[afishinado]

I work in the auto industry. I decided to build on a workshop on my garage instead of saving for a vehicle. I know buying a vehicle right now is nearly impossible. I'm hearing very mixed reviews of these electric or hybrid F-150s. I work at a Ford dealership and there all different kinds of rumors about how Ford is going to be selling a lot of their vehicles (especially the electric) moving forward. I really do not want something that is 100% electric. I just don't trust it and I do not see that as the way of the future. As far as horesepower is concerned I'm not that worried about it although the next post below yours has me wondering...who knows with the way vehicles are being made I might not have to worry about buying anything because they seem to just not exist. The Ford dealership I work at has 2 new vehicles on the whole lot right now. Oh and the Explorer hybrid I don't even know why they make it. The mpg is awful for a hybrid.

Here is an article that appears to be kind of honest about the reliability of electric vehicles right now >

Are Electric Cars More Reliable? | GreenCars

EVs are often praised for helping drivers save money, but how reliable are they? GreenCars.com looks at why electric cars are more reliable right here.

greencars.com

 

[mt_flyfisher]

Here is an article that appears to be kind of honest about the reliability of electric vehicles right now >

Are Electric Cars More Reliable? | GreenCars

EVs are often praised for helping drivers save money, but how reliable are they? GreenCars.com looks at why electric cars are more reliable right here.

greencars.com

Without getting into a lot of discussion as to whether electric vehicles are more or less reliable than other vehicles, they certainly take more time to recharge the batteries than filling up a tank with gas.

My fishing trips generally range from a couple hundred to a couple thousand miles (or more) from my home. In real life driving conditions, I could only expect to get a couple hundred miles + or - before requiring a battery recharge on an electric truck. Using the fastest chargers available now, it would take about 45 minutes to recharge a Ford Truck battery from 10% to 80% charge (according to Ford).

There’s no way that I’m going to waste an hour recharging a battery when there’s trout to be caught!

 

[poopdeck]

Is your Outback the Touring XT? If so, Im surprised it only gets 22 mpg. We have the Outback Limited model now, our 3rd Limited, and get anywhere from 28-32 mpg. The EPA rating for the XT is just 3 mpg less than the rating for the Limited Outback.

(We had an Outback Touring model several Outback’s ago and I don’t recall that it got appreciably worse mpg than our other Outbacks - although it might have had better performance, I can’t remember.)

The turbo really drops the gas mileage. It was billed as 22mpg and it’s exactly what we get when highway driving. 28 to 32 MPG is for the non turbo. We did test drI’ve a non turbo 4 cyl and it was dog slow so it was the turbo or nothing. I wish they still had a 6 cylinder option.

 

[bigjohn358]

The turbo really drops the gas mileage. It was billed as 22mpg and it’s exactly what we get when highway driving. 28 to 32 MPG is for the non turbo. We did test drI’ve a non turbo 4 cyl and it was dog slow so it was the turbo or nothing. I wish they still had a 6 cylinder option.

You just can't get a happy medium. There really has been next to no improvement mileage wise on a vehicle since the early 90s. They seemed to max out on everything mpg wise. They can get more horsepower but the mileage never seems to improve. Seems like a lot of these vehicles that are getting better mileage have such a drop in power that its almost not worth the gas savings.

 

[CRB]

never had a problem in 25+ years owning a jeep xj Cherokee sport. 24 mpg on high way . it always felt like a truck to drive with the solid front axial. drove it till it could not pass PA inspection due to rusted out rear frame. I would purchase a replacement just like it w/+ manual roll up windowns now if jeep still built one. Ev may just be a fad...........

 

[GeneBeam]

I've got a 2022 Chevy Equinox and I getting between 27 to 28.5 mpg, I have not car camped in it as I only got it in April but at 5'-3" I don't think I would have a problem, but like Salmo I’m retired in my mid 70s and prefer a hotel so would my back.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

I'll sleep in the truck on occasion, but don't make a habit of it. If my destination is 2 days away I might elect to overnight it on day 1 but usually I am in some sort of cabin, though it might be rustic. Back in the day I used to camp all the time in my cargo van, which I used for work during the week. Just a sleeping bag, cooler, and a grill.

 

[chadm]

I have camped in the back of an F150 with a cap and a Chevy tahoe a bunch. The biggest issue is condensation and air flow without letting bugs in. In the F150 with a cap there were screens on the sliding window s so it was no issue at all in the tahoe I have experimented with multiple screen options but have not found a good solution that I don’t wake up in a truck full of condensation and fogged up windows.

 

[Off The Path Outdoors]

What size tippet were you using?

5x fluorocarbon

 

[AFISHN]

I have owned and slept in my 2000 Ford Diesel Excursion for 22 years..it is super roomy and I have a great comfortable sleeping set- up. I get 15 MPG, but the high price of diesel the past year has definitely cut down on the number of my fishing trips where I sleep in the car.I also have a small car that gets 28MPG and use that when I plan to sleep in a motel and share the expense with a fishing bud.HOWEVER:.Even at 81 I still find sleeping in the car comfortable....but to me ,the real advantage is to be very close to the fishing(and hunting) and on longer trips to take a power nap when I get tired

 

[Swattie87]

You just can't get a happy medium. There really has been next to no improvement mileage wise on a vehicle since the early 90s. They seemed to max out on everything mpg wise. They can get more horsepower but the mileage never seems to improve. Seems like a lot of these vehicles that are getting better mileage have such a drop in power that its almost not worth the gas savings.

It’s consumer demand that’s driving this. As consumers we’ve wanted more power, more than we’ve wanted better gas mileage. At least since the sting of the 70’s oil crisis wore off. There was an era following that, until the mid 80’s or so, where manufacturers downsized cars and deliberately decreased power output via smaller displacement engines to improve fuel economy. Because that’s what the car buying public wanted. This era is referred to in the car world as the “malaise era” and cars from this era are generally considered boring and slow. But they were fuel efficient. The original Dodge Caravan from 1984 had a 2.2L 4 banger that made about 100 hp, and took 15 seconds to get to 60. Could you imagine that selling today?

More recently, car manufacturers have focused their R&D on making more power, and less so on fuel economy. Because it’s what people have wanted to buy. For example, in the 90’s a naturally aspirated medium displacement (3.5L or so) V6 made about 200 HP. That same engine size now commonly makes 300 HP. Gas mileage is about the same, mid 20’s in a mid-size FWD sedan that they’re commonly found in. Think Camry or Accord (before Honda went to turbos), or Maxima. The new engine is far more efficient still…it gets the same gas mileage but produces 50% more power. That’s a huge advancement in efficiency! It’s not that the manufacturers can’t produce more fuel efficient engines. They can, and would, if it’s what would sell more cars. But for the last 30+ years, getting the same fuel economy, but being more powerful sold more. It’ll take another energy crisis to shift consumer demand to efficiency over power.

Electric cars generally solve both of these issues, but, until they have range equal to or greater than gas cars, and we have an infrastructure network to fuel them as easy and convenient as it is to fuel a gas car, they’re kind of a pain in the butt and there’s some pretty tough compromises you have to live with. Right now, if you want fuel economy, the best answer is still a small displacement 4 cylinder just like in 1984 with the Caravan, only now with a hybrid system. But even the Prius has seen its power output increase far more than has its fuel economy increased since being released. People complained the original Prius was too slow…

 

[TimMurphy]

Hi everyone! I took a few days of vacation the week of Memorial Day and spent 2 nights sleeping in my truck before heading to camp in Potter County. The first night I slept along the bank of Penns Creek and the second on the Little Juniata. The fishing was great and you can check that out below if you're interested!

In my opinion this was beneficial for a couple of reasons:
1.) I live over an hour away from good wild brown trout fishing. I like to get on the water early and fish until after dark. This means waking up around 3:30 and getting home around midnight which pretty much eliminates consecutive days of wild trout fishing. Sleeping in my truck solved this issue.

2.) It keeps costs down. Not paying for a hotel, Air BNB, or something along those lines is definitely a plus. It also saves some gas instead of driving back and forth which can add up pretty quick these days.

I'm curious how many others spend some nights in their vehicles? Or do you prefer a tent, driving back and forth, hotels (or similar), or just staying closer to home.

If you do car camp, what are some of your essentials? It is something I am hoping to do more of this fall.

Dear Off the Path,

Years ago, my brother and I traveled all over the state spending weekends sleeping in a pick-up truck with a cap. We had a great time staying wherever the truck was parked, mostly in pull-offs in State Forests or in a tent site in a State Park. One time it was pouring rain, so we got a hotel, and that quickly became history.

But that was when you could easily get a decent clean hotel room for $ 40.00 a night, and there were passable places for even less than that. Now that a hotel room is $ 100.00 a night or more, staying in a hotel has lost its appeal for me.

I literally practice car camping every day at work. I can take a nice nap in my Subaru Outback in the parking lot at work during lunch and I do it year-round. I work for a trucking company and can sleep through diesel engine starts, air horns, emergency vehicle sirens, and the sound of the Carlisle Pike at high noon with no trouble at all. My wife likes to knit, and she made me pillows and cubbies that can keep me comfortable in temperatures near zero.

I recently bought a larger older SUV and plan to spend a night or two or three sleeping in it this Fall. If you see a white Lincoln Navigator that sounds and smells like a snoring bear is sleeping in it, that'll be me. I really want to get a set of window screens with rain visors though before I try it. The night air in the Fall and Spring is awesome.

Regards,

Tim Murphy