Scuba-friendly automobile suggestions?

[Northeastwrecks]

I use an F150 Supercrew. I can fit three divers, six sets of doubles, stages, and gear into it, along with enough food for a 6 hour drive to the St. Lawrence.

If I were buying today, I'd probably look at a Dodge Hemi quad cab 4X4. If you can live without the quad cab and the four wheel drive, the new SRT 10 is nice.

 

[Sean326]

F-250 lariat 4 door V-10 4X4

Huge cab almost like a camper lots of room for 5 divers and equipment. Put the front seats far forward and even a big guy like me 6' 1" 280# can put on a dry suit easily in the back seat.

 

[KrisB]

Volkswagen Touareg. But make sure you get the TDI engine.

 

[IslandHopper]

I can't believe no one has mentioned my Excursion yet. I actually got it to haul around my family ... 4 kids and all the strollers and crap that go along with them.

But in the last several months , it has turned into a pretty handy tank-hauler. I'd rather have a little pick-up here as the weather is never a problem... but stateside, it would fit the "enclosed" bill for poor weather and still has a ton of room.

I pretty regularly haul aroound 8 tanks and gear for 4 to do beach dives all over the island.

 

[PurduEE]

One of the guys I was in a class with had a Chevy Avalanche. Not the greatest looking car, but he had all our gear (4 guys, 12 AL80s, gear bags, etc.). I was impressed. I still don't understand the whole 'converts from an SUV to an SUV without a back window' thing, but I was impressed with how much gear we could cram into it... Now, the back is exposed to the elements - if you have a concern with your gear getting wet before you get to the divesite, it might be a problem...

 

[tme623]

Hi! I went from a Honda Civic to a Honda CRV back in 1998. It took me literally 5000 miles to get used to the change in power because my CRV has the same engine as my 1994 Civic. But one day I was driving down the freeway at 85 mph, fully loaded, and realized that yes, the CRV does have enough power to get me where I need to go.

Now I love the CRV! It fits two divers, four tanks, two sets of cold water gear including dry suits, a cooler and heck maybe even room for one more diver.

The new CRV's look great and have a bit more power than my old 98 CRV. I also have 108,000 miles on it and have never had a thing go wrong with it. Besides oil changes and tuneups I've replaced the tires, that's it!

The new ones look really cool....

Tammi

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Well, I like Vans. I got a Chevy Venture Cargo Van, it only has two seats, and the back is wide open. I was thinking about putting another two seats in it. Right now, I can load up with alot of gear (Ive had six sets of doubles, eight deco bottles, and three divers gear bags, and cooler). I like full size vans also, but they are pretty expensive. You can generally find minivans pretty cheap.

A couple friends of mine have Suburbans. Those are nice. You can haul lots of gear and people with those. The smaller SUV's are OK, but you sacrifice cargo area.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

PurduEE, what do you mean the back is exposed to the elements? The Avalanche has a hard cover over the bed and you don't have to remove the back window when you do the conversion. I vote for the Avalanche (biased here, my husband owns a Chevy dealership :biggrin.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[CBulla]

This thread will likely quickly turn into a Ford-Chevy argument but I'll risk it.
I am in the market for a new car and since I've been in a Honda Civic (the antithesis of a scuba-friendly automobile, IMHO) for three years, I'm looking at better options. Never one to care much about what I drive (obviously), I should say appearance isn't my primary concern. Neither is an enormous engine or AWD. I want to haul tanks, gear, a friend or two and be as comfortable as possible when doing this.
As a starting point, I'm considering (oh no) the Honda Element. It's so ugly I can't resist but want to know if scubaboard has any suggestions.

Thanks!

This is an intersting question since the type of diving you do - shore entry type you'll probably find that something you use as a gear platform will benefit you greatly. Personally, both of my vehicles are good for this (a 98 ranger pickup and my wifes jeep cherokee classic). Both provide ample room to set up, break down, and change out gear.

Conversely if you dive from a boat, this is not something you have to worry about and it would be more an issue of gear stowage for transit to the boat.I can't suggest anything there since I have no real experience in diving smaller vehicles.

 

[diverrick]

I have a Subaru Legacy wagon. I haul everything from Hay bales to dogs, to dive gear. It has the plastic tray with high sides in the back, so water can pool up and not bother anything. It has almost the same back space as a S-10 Blazer believe it or not, You can lock everything up in it, Lots of leg room, Great gas Mileage, handles superbly especially in rain or snow, goes just about anywhere, easy to work on, and affordable. And last but not least, they run forever! I have had three, the only reason I had three was First one the ex took, second one was stolen, third one is still going strong at 185,000. I have never done anything but regular maintenance to it. Heck I have not even changed the plugs yet.. gets 27 MPG reularly at 70 MPH cruise speeds. I love my car!