Chase vehicle options

[Bill Tabor]

Hate to break it to ya, but they don't. The last 3 cars I've owned, all bought brand new, and all had regular scheduled maintenance performed by me or by a Honda dealer.
1993 Honda Civic EX, put 140,000 miles on it. Only major problem was a clutch failure at 110,000 miles that stranded me 2 miles from work.
1998 Honda Accord EX, put 120,000 miles on it. Only problem was that the auto gear shift froze at the top of Loveland Pass (11k ft) for 10 minutes until I figured out how to work the manual override. Dealer fixed as part of extended warranty.
2005 Honda Accord EX, currently has 58k miles. Had to replace a tire at 10k miles, but that's b/c I drove over a piece of metal the size of a sharpie marker, and the battery at 50k miles, but that's b/c an interior light was left on for 36 hours, but the dealer warrantied it anyway even though I truthfully told them why. Original tires still have 4/32 tread, but I'll replace those before end of year.

My father is on his 4th Accord in 25 years, none of which have ever stranded him or had a problem that has kept it out of service for more than a day. My neighbors have a 1998 Accord with 150k miles on it that has never left them stranded. If you take care of these cars, they will return the favor.

Not completely true. I used to have an Isuzu Rodeo and I had an alternator go out on in in Grand Forks ND right at dark with tornadic weather all around. Actually there was a big block tornado just to our west. I could hardly drive at all because without the alternator and battery the car would barely move and I had no headlights. It took a number of days to get a new alternator. We had to rent a jeep for the next days chase in Omaha NE but because of the break down were late to the show and missed the action.

Later on another occasion in KS I hit a deer and it took nearly a week to get it fixed enough to drive and that was because of parts issues as well.

It is for that reason that I bought a Chevy Tahoe which I had for about 8 years. It did break down a few times, but they always quickly had parts.

Then again, now...I just bought a Suzuki so it's sort of back to the future for me.

 

[Bill Tabor]

A car with 30 mpg or more. More gas money = more chases. SUV's are for the rich or those who don't chase frequently or put on a lot of miles. If you're tall, like my chase partner and I are, a mid-sized sedan is a wiser choice over a more fuel efficient, smaller car. Two big guys in an old Honda Civic with no air conditioning and room to move is no picnic. 4 wheel drive would be nice, but if you're careful and have GPS, you can avoid a lot of the muddy roads...and (to me) isn't worth twice the gas money.

That's why I went with the Suzuki SX4. I'm about 6' 3'' and I have about 6 inches of head room and with two people there is still decent shoulder room in the front seat. I got mine with all wheel drive for driving through hail swaths or for when I might get stuck by pulling on the muddy shoulder. That and I currently get ~30mpg hwy which is supposed to continue to improve as I break it in. Then I put in my synthetic oil, K&N filter, maybe mod the air intake or even put an air dam on front and spoiler on back and I may be hitting 36mpg or so I'm hoping. Split between 2 or even possibly 3 (a bit tight with equipment) and that's some fairly cheap miles. Plus....the sweet news is that a barrel of crude has gone from the July highs of nearly $150 barrel to now about $90. As the inventory of gas goes up when should have sub $3 / gallon gas again. It's a scam if we don't.

 

[Bill Tabor]

It all can be avoided by staying out of the mega stones, though easier said than done sometimes they can be just to inviting...

Yes, truth is if you chase long enough eventually the mega stones will find you even if you are attempting to be careful.

 

[Dan Rupnow]

Yes, but from my experiences a sunroof is made stronger and not as likely to break period. Not to mention every car with a sunroof that I have ever been in has a sliding lid that blocks the light, should the glass shatter have that closed and it will catch the glass and keep you relatively dry.
example...
http://blogs.discovery.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/12/dsc03729.jpg

Yes they'll break, I'm just saying from my experiences if your gonna loose your sunroof you have already lost your windshields, at which point if on a chase I could care less rather or not the sunroof held up.

It all can be avoided by staying out of the mega stones, though easier said than done sometimes they can be just to inviting...

I never knew about that sliding lid deal. In the couple cars I have been in with a sunroof, neither had it. I agree, it would help in a pinch. But when the vehicle is stopped, I believe a sunroof is slightly more vulnerable than the windshield just because hail is generally gonna hit it at more of a right angle. Of course this isn't always the case (wind, position of vehicle), but usually hail that hits the windshield will do it with a little more glancing effect due to the angle of the glass (depending on the vehicle). Obviously nothing is gonna matter when it comes to gorilla hail though.

 

[Jason Foster]

all imports are not the same.

Not completely true. I used to have an Isuzu Rodeo .......

Hey, but Isuzu's were known to be a piece of crap...just look at any car review magazine of the time. Why do you think they don't build any of their own cars now-a-days. Newer Isuzu's are all GM products, and barely survive as a company at that.

Honda and to much lesser extent Toyota have been well known for the reliability of their small and mid-sized cars. It is their bread and butter for profits, so they focus most of the attention there. The American companies focused on the trucks because that's their main profit area (or was). That's why the trucks would outlast a import car. Toyota unfortunately has grown to nearly match GMs size (produces more than Chrysler now I think), and so the quality of Toyota products has suffered, ranking below American auto products according to some quality review groups.

So for sake of discussion of this thread, be sure if your going to go import car/truck, don't assume all imports are the same.

 

[Patrick Martin]

Hey, but Isuzu's were known to be a piece of crap...just look at any car review magazine of the time. Why do you think they don't build any of their own cars now-a-days. Newer Isuzu's are all GM products, and barely survive as a company at that.

Honda and to much lesser extent Toyota have been well known for the reliability of their small and mid-sized cars.

Agreed, my wife has a "Honda" Passport, which is a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo, and it has a Chevy engine in it. It's got 90k miles, and I absolutely can't wait to get rid of it. It's been through 2 fuel systems, a water pump, and a host of other issues. Honda lost money on us with the extended warranty which paid for itself 3 times over. We are waiting until my car is paid off to buy her a new vehicle, but I absolutely can't wait to get rid of it.

My earlier post was referring to my direct experience with actual Honda cars and not necessarily other makes/models.

 

[Cory Schuller]

I think I may have come to a conclusion that my next chase vehicle will be a Subaru Outback. My question now is what is the better years? I'm partial to the 1997 to current models but how do the older models compare? I know it has been mentioned before, to take a look at the service records, is there anything else to look at besides the timing belt, head gasket, general maintenance (oil changes)?

Thanks again
Cory

 

[John Erwin]

I know it has been mentioned before, to take a look at the service records, is there anything else to look at besides the timing belt, head gasket, general maintenance (oil changes)?

Service records are a nice thing to have, however while it might tell you if a vehicle has been well maintained or not, it may not demonstrate if there is a current problem that hasn't been rectified.

A reputable seller shouldn't mind you having an independant mechanic go over a car you are seriously considering. They can do a compression check, a good visual of several common wear items and a diagnostic scan all within a very short period of time and give you a decent idea of what kind of shape the car is in.

As a bare minimum don't go alone when car shopping. Bring along somebody objective that knows a thing or two about car maintenance and that can "prompt" you to ask the right questions.. and perhaps suggest to you to think about it and compare with other offerings.

Regardless, good luck! I've considered a Subaru as my next vehicle too, will have to see what happens.