Wagon, SUV, or Truck
 

I want to buy a beater/hauler. I can't decide what's overall more practical. A small SUV/truck (a la 4runner, older Tacoma) or a wagon (Leggy Outback or Volvo 740 turbo). Thoughts? I can see the advantages of each for different tasks. I've experienced first hand just how much stuff you can cram into a wagon, and it locks. A truck allows you to carry things that are awkwardly sized (washer/dryer etc) and an SUV is kind of the middle road between the two.

I'm afraid if I got a wagon I'd want to go all wagon mafia on it and spend money on making it look cool, but I do love me some wagon goodness. :D

Everyone needs a truck at some point.

Personally, I'd get a Legacy Wagon. They seem to run forever and always seem to run at mint condition on the road. If I got one I'd become a victim of modifying into dream wagon machine.

My wife has a Mazda3 hatch and it's a useful car. We can pack it with tons of stuff, but there are still times where it's just not enough and we need more room. For just hauling stuff, I would think that a small pickup would be your best bet. Or if you want to be able to lock it, although I'll get flamed for this. . .a minivan can haul tons of crap.

My wife's car is a Honda CR-V and there's nothing we want to do that we can't accomplish.

Yea I had to cram 8 people and their luggage into a car: The fleet was a Nissan Armada and a Dodge grand caravan. The minivan looked a lot smaller but ended up swallowing more luggage, while the poor souls that got stuck with me in the SUV ended up having 40 pound suitcases on all of their laps.

Depends on what you want to spend on the vehicle.

Legacy wagon/Outback but only if it has a 2.2. The 2.5 is still a decent engine but not quite the "Bombproofness" of the 2.2.

And if you go this route, try to look for a 2.2 without EGR. Less things to keep you from passing inspection.

assuming you can find one for a reasonable price

pre tacoma toyota pickup (<95)

love my forester too, but that truck was fantastic till it rusted away, and still resold for a chunk

I have a 03 matrix, and it's great. Everything but the driver's seat folds flat and the back is all plastic, so you can get anything in there and not worry about scratching up the back. Plus, if you get a 2003, you can get a 2ZZ with 180hp that revs to 8000!