My First Chase Vehicle: Whaddya Think of It?

[David Wolfson]

I think this was discussed sometime back in another thread (and it's a little bit off-topic) but old minds do tend to repeat themselves....

Renting has worked out well and I plan to do it again in the spring. It's important to get unlimited miles, no regional restrictions, and the CDW or its equivalent. Hertz has a deal right now with AAA (at least here in AZ) that's pretty good. Unlimited miles, no state restrictions, and ability to add additional drivers w/o charge if they're also AAA members. The rental cost will work out to less than $0.10 per mile which is less than you can maintain a decent car for.

AMEX has a credit card option that provides a very comprehensive all-risk primary coverage for $30 per rental. TTI if you return the car in one piece and pay for the rental with another credit card, you don't even end up paying that.

It's a good idea to try to get a second key 1) so a chase partner can access the vehicle themselves; 2) so you can get into the car in case you lock the keys in the ignition in a moment of excitement.

The questions of "What're you doing? Where're you going?" I've answered with: "We're going to be doing some nature photography in Colorado, Nebraska, and possibly other places on the Plains." This answer is, of course, absolutely truthful if ever called to account but doesn't reveal any unnecessary details.

I've become very attached to Velcro, as it were. An industrial-strength roll of Velcro from Sam's Club, a scissors, electrical tape, and cleaning wipes are enough to attach about anything to a rental temporarily without lasting damage.

 

[Mike Gauldin]

Originally posted by David Wolfson

I've become very attached to Velcro

Heh, no comment.

 

[Terry Kollmeyer]

Stories like Mike H and Dustin's are all too familiar as well. My last chase vehicle was an '01 Monte Carlo SS. It was comfortable, got excellent mileage and was plenty fast, too. Get it on a wet or muddy road, even with the traction control and forget about it.

Earlier this year, I gave that car to my wife and I bought a new (well, few months old) Dodge Ram 3500 Diesel 4x4. I love it. I think diesel is the way to go, despite fuel prices (which are slowly coming down).

Mine is just out of break in and gets an honest 20 - 22 mpg highway, which I think is pretty good for a one ton! The truck will fall apart before the engine does (Cummins says avg. life span of 350,000 mile, hauling included). Used ones aren't all that expensive anymore and you don't have to worry about getting a new chase vehicle every few years due to high mileage.

Unfortunately, I've used it more for pulling people out of ditches as of late(I have 30' of chain in my toolbox, if I see you and you're stuck, cancel the tow truck ) and plowing.

Ahhh, maybe next year I'll get some "real" use out of it.


You did good, Mark. Good luck with it!

 

[Mark Farnik]

Wow. I didn't expect to generate such a heated and interesting discussion. To all you naysayer I-only-spent-500-to-2000 bucks on my first ride: I have to drive this car THROUGH COLLEGE. I am going to be driving this car at least 6 years, probably more. For you older guys, remember back in the day $500 for a used car, adjusted to accomodate inflation, was the equivalent of paying $4000-5000 for a used car. It would make no sense for me to spend $2000 on a POS, spend another $2000-5000 fixing it up, then have to get another one when the first one wears out. Why spend $9000-12000 buying and fixing up two POS's when you can have one $7000 vehicle that will last twice as long as the POS cars and have decent resale value when it comes time to sell. Second, I am a country boy, I've been driving on country roads since I was ten years old, no that doesn't make a me a perfect driver but I'm a hell of a lot better at it than my naive city kid classmates who have never been behind the wheel before they got their permit. Their driving is scary. Third of all, it's going to double as a family car, as my mom's 2000 Chevy Malibu LS is getting up there in miles (just turned 73,600 miles) and is beginning to show typical GM reliability issues. So it will be doing triple duty as a school car, family car and chase vehicle for at least the next year or two; then it should be just used as a school car, because I plan on getting a chase vehicle, which I will get to momentarily.
As far as chasing with this, yes I realize it would be a pain in the ass to find parts for it if it would break down in the middle of nowhere hundreds of miles from the nearest Mercedes dealership. Since it's a German, it's just had $4500 in routine maintenance performed and it's built like a tank I don't anticipate having any problems but you never know. A year or two down the road, if I scrimp and save, I might get an older Aerostar van with a true 4 wheel drive setup (they did come with them) and lower (read: less than 120,000) miles or maybe an older Jeep Cherokee/Ford Explorer with 4WD for about $1000-2500 bucks and use it just for chasing.
I'm going to pick up my Mercedes on Thursday; I'm excited. 8)
Thanks for all your replies! I always expect the unexpected when I post on Stormtrack, since we're such a diversified group of weather nuts.

 

[Mike Gauldin]

I might get an older Aerostar van with a true 4 wheel drive setup (they did come with them) and lower (read: less than 120,000) miles or maybe an older Jeep Cherokee/Ford Explorer with 4WD for about $1000-2500 bucks and use it just for chasing.

As a former used car salesperson, I would advise against an Aerostar. While any properly maintained vehicle will last hundereds of thousands of miles, the Aerostars don't seem to stand the test of time that well. Almost everyone we got at the lot had issues before they were sold, and a good chunk of them came back during the 6-month 6,000-mile warranty. As far as I know, they never made a 4WD Aerostar, but they did make RWD ones. I believe Chevy was about the only 4WD mini-van made, and those are older models (80's?). I would stick to an import or Chevy mini-van or an SUV (I personally would avoid Chevy small SUVs, like the S-10 blazer). Again, it's all about how well the car was maintained, but some cars (domestic) break more than others (benz) over time. Imports tend to be built to last, while domestics seem to be built to break (excluding truck and SUV lines). I think domestic automakers go by the saying "There's no money in something that's built to last," pretty much, if you build something that doesn't break eventually, people won't have to buy more or pay to fix it. It's all about the money. Period.

 

[Mark Farnik]

Thanks for the advice, Mike. If they're that problematic, I'll avoid an Aerostar. And yes, they did come with an Electronic 4 Wheel Drive option, which was actually a fairly popular model. It only came in the extended wheelbase version, however. You're right: anymore, domestic cars from the 1990's and early 2000's just seem to be a waste of money; they're unreliable, have questionable build quality, use interior materials that are inferior to those in competing import models (read: Japanese), and depreciate with horrifying rapidity. Take my mom's 2000 Malibu LS for example: we paid $10,800 ($1000 over book; it was an aggravating situation) for it back in September of 2003. It had 36,000 miles on it. Now it has just under 74,000 and is worth about $5100 trade in by the NADA resale guide. It has lost $5700 putting 38,000 miles on it in two and a quarter years. It is disgusting and depressing. My dad swears he will never again buy an American cookie cutter sedan. My mom wants her next car to be an AWD, so either a Volvo, Subaru, or another Mercedes AWD sedan or wagon will replace that next spring or summer.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

Not much reason to buy a cookie cutter sedan from the US when you can get a Corolla or Civic for a bit more. I see 10+ year old Civics/Accords day in and day out... everywhere. How many Cobalts or Ions do you think we'll see in 10 years?


Aaron

 

[Greg Campbell]

That is a perfect vehicle for you. The upgrade options, both in performance and looks, are almost limitless. With a little work:

Perfect car for work and play.

LOL! Maybe you can get Solberg hooked on chasing?! Never miss another storm due to poor road conditions!

 

[Mike Gauldin]

...Aerostar. And yes, they did come with an Electronic 4 Wheel Drive option...

My mom wants her next car to be an AWD, so either a Volvo, Subaru, or another Mercedes AWD sedan or wagon will replace that next spring or summer.

Wow, didn't know Areostars got that advanced, hehe. That's cool, I was impressed when I learned of the RWD models. I've seen a LOT of old Aerostars running around, so I could be wrong in general about them, but I just know the ones I dealt with (like a lot of ford cars), they go down the tube around 60k miles, with the exception of the older Tempo's and Escorts. I have a buddy that owns both, late 80's I think, and he punishes them like no other, and by goly they keep on running with not a lot of maintainence. Unlike the 90's Contours that blow head gaskets after like 50-60k miles.

Props for your mom making a smart decision on cars. Might check out Lexus as well, my mom has a RX-300 (now the RX-330) and it's awsome. The smoothness of the ride decreased some over the years (so she says), but I'm so used to driving rough-riding cars it's nice to me. Has all of the creature comforts and is roomy.