Scuba-friendly automobile suggestions?

[mgdive]

In a pinch, I took a 2 door ford focus hatchback 250 miles with 2 divers, 4 tanks, and gear with no problems and much comfort. Great gas mileage too!

 

[scubacalifornia]

Ford Expedition. I've had one for six years without a problem. Great for a wife, two kids, a dog and whatever else takes up space. Great for scuba. Fold down the second and third row bench seats and there's a ton of cargo room. The Expedition belongs to my wife, but I've claimed it on weekend mornings and appropriately renamed it the "dive support vehicle".

 

[B84Shark]

I normally dive with several friends and usually there's between 3 and 6 of us. I just bought a Chevy 1/2 ton crew cab Z71 and it's wonderful. There's plenty of room for passengers and plenty of room for dive gear for several people. Oh, and that 4 wheel drive comes in handy for those beach dives!!

 

[kvl1027]

I drive one of the NEw Toyota Matrix XR's, i love it kind of sporty looking, and lots of room on the inside. When the back seats are folded down, you get a large flat surface with all Hard plastic construction, so you dont have to worry about damaging anything. There are rails cut into the plastic where you can hook straps to keep your gear from sliding around. the best thing is that you get great gas mileage, and the reliability of a toyota. With the Gas prices as high as they are today, that should be a concern. Not to mention that most Divers are conservationalists, so why not help out the environment.

 

[Humba]

'97 Landcruiser with the rearmost seats removed. Get the towing packing!

 

[RonDawg]

I recently came across this thead and found it rather interesting to see some rather gas-guzzling recommendations...until I looked at the dates on the posts and realized many of the recommendations were made well before fuel prices started heading towards the stratosphere.

Knowing what we all (sadly) know about fuel prices today, how many of you would still stick to those recommendations? I'm not talking about the ones recommending Subaru's, but those who recommend less fuel-miserly choices like the Excursion?

For comparison's sake, I drive a 2003 Nissan Altima 3.5 V-6. I once fit three divers and their massive dive bags in it, albeit with no tanks (the boat we were going on supplied them). Two of the bags fit in the trunk, and I folded the 1/3 part of the back seat to fit the third bag. When I had to lug around two tanks for the beach dive part of the O/W cert I could fit four tanks in the trunk along with one bag, and a second in the back seat.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

I would opt for a Suburban or H2QUOTE]

When the H2 first came out I remember seeing a TV show about it. The H1 was made by AM General, but Chevy bought the rights for the H2. It's basically a re-bodied Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon. Same drive train and suspension. I'd opt for the Tahoe/Yukon as they're cheaper and not as ugly, IMO.

In my experience, the Suburbans and Expeditions are too big to navigate through a parking lot. The Tahoe/Yukon or Explorer would be a better bet. The shorter wheelbase means less cargo room, but how much do you need?

I've been daydreaming lately. I think my inlaws are having trouble making the payments on their Chevy Express 12 Passenger van. Hmmmm. It's a 3500, so should tow a rather large boat. Maybe convert it to a dive camper? Toilet, shower, kitchen, privacy...

 

[mstudley]

Gas guzzler or not, I drive a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4WD with a 4.9L V8 and a 6' bed.

I can fit anything in it, tow just about anything, drive anywhere I need to and it drives like a luxury car (with rear wheel drive that is).

As far as I'm concerned it makes for a great SCUBA vehicle. I've been thinking about getting a cap for the bed but I like it open.

 

[inter_alia]

This is the original poster to this thread. Months ago I was car shopping and I will report that I got a Honda Element afterall. Spacious, tall, green and I'm averaging better gas mileage than they advertise -- especially on the freeway, where I'm getting about 28 mpg even with some crosswind.
So I hope this thread carries on as it has been, I do enjoy getting the updates and am thrilled to see so many pages dedicated to this very superficial topic I was sure that only I would be interested in.
Cheers.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Sorry to hear that, I want to find the designer of that Honda Element. You know he was having a crappy day when he designed that thing, it's soooo square. What ever happened to aerodynamics............Granted the 04 is begining to look less than a bread delivery truck.