Looking to buy a second vehicle
 

So, I am looking to buy a second vehicle to compliment my F-RS. I'd like something that can tow a small trailer. I'm pretty open. I'll be putting a lot of miles on this car, but don't have more than about 7500 to spend on it. I thought about a forester but to find one in that price range most have well over 180km. I know they have problems with head gaskets as well.

The short of it is... Any suggestions?

If your open to trucks, getting a used tacoma/tundra would be my suggestion.

Older 200x expedition. They have great tow capacity. Can also use to hall parts around for the frs lol.

Depends on how small a trailer. Honda Fit = 200 lbs. tongue weight, 2,000 lbs. towing capacity. You get small, dependable and cheap to operate. My wife had one a few years back and the interior cargo space is hard to believe until you see the way they have the fold down rear seats configured.

the FJ Cruiser compliments the FR-S very well.

Wait for the Diesel Mazda CX-5. It will tow a small trailer.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a small SUV that gets 40+mpg on the freeway and has a ton of torque? (rhetorical)

Amen. We traded the 2008 Sienna for the FR-S, and my wife took over the 2012 Camry Hybrid. We are totally thinking about an FJ for the camping/towing/abusing vehicle next.

My dad had an FJ Cruiser..., it's seen a rough 90k miles and still running strong. Love that truck!

The only vid I could find of the two together. but a you can see they do look good together.

I advice muting the vid and watch for the panning shots.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOLp30PIh5s"]Tejas Toyota - 2013 Hot Lava Scion FR-S - YouTube[/ame]

I came in here to say an FJ. But seeing as the budget is 7500, that might be hard unless its high mileage and beat up.

FJs are nice but besides initial price, cost to operate is also quite high.

Can buy a nice used Nissan Altima for your suggested price - decent power even from the 4-cyl, comfortable with some nice amenities and will run just about forever with very minimal cost. Can even get a MT if that's important to you.

Bought one for my Granddaughter as her first car - still running strong after 3 years and she loves it.

I was in a similar spot as you but had a 6k budget, picked up a impreza rs 2.5 non turbo that I really like as a 2nd car so far. Love the awd drive in case of bad weather (already used it once). I was also eyeballing 4 runners though.

Thanks everyone,

These are all good thoughts.

I have a question though. At the local Subaru Dealership I've found a 2003 Forester with 143xxxkm. They've got all the service records. Struts, drive belt, brakes, new tires, and every six months (which seems to be about 3000km on this vehicle) it had an oil change.

The price they want is 7500 safety certified and emissions tested. I asked about the head gaskets and he had said if I were to go through with it, they could do the HG as well.

Thoughts?