New truck before or after?

[MattyIrie]

Hey travelers,

My wife and I are going to be traveling starting in Feb and continuing for approximately 2yrs or so before settling down to start a family. We currently own a subaru wagon with 150k miles and no major issues (yet) which is paid off and moderately well maintained. We are a bit tired of it and being outdoorsy people are kind of wanting a more capable vehicle for the mountains (climbing and camping and such) while we travel. The other side of us wants to be fiscally responsible and keep wringing out the benefit of a paid off car that will do OK and avoid buying a 30k+ truck just to put a load of miles on it right away. Any advice from experienced travelers? Would it be easy to pay off the truck quickly? Btw it's tacoma 4x4 or bust.

[NedRN]

Stick with the Subaru. I started traveling in 1995 with a Subaru FWD used wagon with I think 100K miles purchased privately for $2,500 - virtually my entire savings - I didn't have a car. Darn thing wouldn't break other than the expected CV boots. Not a dime for mechanical parts or service. 30 mpg at 75. New tires went 90K. I finally gave up at 211K miles in 2001and sold it for $1,000 to a young expecting couple in D.C.

I still have sellers remorse but I was in the grip of serious new car buying fever. My one Subaru downside was I couldn't carry my bicycle in the car and sleep in it as well. The new PT Cruiser fixed that but at a cost to mpg, reliability, visibility, and turning circle (I love u-turns)!

Your wagon is perfect for camping and such unless you are planning on Jeep type roads. Try it for a year and see how it works out for you. 4x4 trucks are expensive and have crappy mpg. At least buy one used - they are far better values.