Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Outback vs. Tacoma?

Mine as well. I have the extended cab, not the crew cab. Cab size is perfect for errands and the dogs. Not so much if you carry more than one other person.

Have an Outback (wife's car) and I would see the CVT as the weak point. Subaru does back it though. A few years ago, they upped the warranty to 100,000 miles. As far as the Taco, get a Decked system for the box. Lockable weather proof slide out drawers made to custom fit each model. Me personally, the Tacoma.

I have a 2018 SR5 premium or some extra package upgrade. I use mine as a hunting rig, and lab transport. I love mine. Almost 21mpg over 33,000 miles. I think mine was 40K withe the deluxe/premium package that gives heated seats, fake leather, moon roof, other stuff. vinyl l seats are cool for the dog fur and mud.

Tacoma with a locking shell. Put down the tailgate and you can sleep in the bed it it is not raining.

I'd do a Tacoma 4-door and put a canopy on the back. Stay away from any tire stiffer than a "C" rating and the ride should still be okay. The newer models have pretty nice interiors. I expect to keep my 2011 model for a long time.

With my family and friends It seems to split about 30% Subaru and 70% Toyota. We have had no reliability issues with either brand.

I have a Tundra and a Tacoma. For my part, I would (and will in a few years) go with a new Tacoma Double Cab. It will have an easy to remove LW canopy with rails and a basket. I often use a smaller utility trailer with the one I own now.

For her most recent purchase, my wife chose a new (2017) Outback. Her earlier car was a Camry. She doesn't see much difference (she wanted a back up camera. It gets very little off road use and predictably handles well in snow and ice. It works OK with the familyLab but not as well as the pickups.

One son's Subaru got lots of off road use and except for ground clearance it worked well. My country sister loves hers for mimicing Crocodile Dundee.

Our youngest at 35 is on his fourth Toyota Tacoma (a 2018). He tends to run them into things well before they wear out.

Don't buy anything with a CVT...............................................................

Ok, I am going to out myself as a lesbian here....I have an Outback at my place in Montana. For the most part it's for getting around town, but I also use it to get to my hunting cabin. I have an F150 as well, but the Subrau has won me over for most needs. The Outback we have is the 6 cylinder and it actually has pretty good power and MPG. My sister has the 4 cylinder Outback and it actually is not bad on power and gets better MPG. I have something of a leadfoot, though, and for the long stretches of road in the state where I can get by with triple digit speeds, I like the extra power of the 6.

Here's the thing I didn't expect with the Subaru...it's a really good vehicle for many off road conditions. It won't crawl through water obstacles or climb rocks, but for ranch roads and trails, it's amazing. It has something called X Mode that is a lot like how a Jeep will basically walk itself over obstacles at low speeds, without having to ride brakes, and that has been very useful. The stock tires on the Subaru were awful for off road use, though, and I swapped them out for Geolanders after the second tires puncture in the first 800 miles of driving the car. With the better tires, the Subaru is hard to stop.

I've use the Subaru to haul all of my hunting gear, plus my brother's, plus a field dressed mule deer, and it was very comfortable.

It's too early to talk reliability, as we just got the Subaru a year ago and have only put about 10,000 miles on it. I've heard people complaining about the head unit for the nav/radio/etc, but we've not had that problem. The OEM battery also sucks, but that was an easy fix. Otherwise, it's an efficient, comfortable and pretty tough vehicle, especially in the snow.

My recommendation would be go with an AWD SUV type vehicle of your choice, either already equipped with trailer hitch or have one installed, then pick up a small, light, utility trailer for whenever you might need to haul something that you can't or don't want to inside your SUV.

(You also could buy a bicycle carrier and/or extra carry capacity rack that mounts directly into trailer hitch.)

Short answer:
Toyota Tacoma with a camper shell/truck cap, preferably a commercial one with side access.

Long Answer:
I own a 4-door Nissan Frontier with a commercial truck cap. It is about the handiest vehicle on planet Earth. Only way it could be handier is if it was bigger and/or had 4WD. Seats 5 in a pinch, but still can haul a bunch of stuff without it getting wet. Can sleep in the back. Cap locks up and has handy side access (commercial for the win).

I went with D load rated AT tires and would go E-rated AT next time. They ride as good as the OEM passenger highway tires, handle better, and are much tougher when rocks are an issue.

Only downside is fuel economy, but Subarus are gas hogs for their size, so you're not losing much.

Once you mentioned 2000lbs of towing, I was leaning against a unibody auto and the CVT tranny is a non-starter for towing. Capacity may be 2700lbs, but anything over half of capacity can be hard on the tow vehicle, nerve-wracking while driving, and increase wear & tear.

If you voted for Hillary in 2016, then buy whatever you want.

But if you voted for President Trump, at what point in time do you start taking his message to heart?



When seated in a Tacoma, your legs are splayed out in front of you like a $2 whore. Not comfortable, unless perhaps you're a $2 whore.

Do a search for Subaru's needing the engine removed to reseal the jugs as the vehicle gets up in miles. And extending the warranty on the CVT transmission is just a cheap alternative to actually fixing a weak transmission.

Ford has what you need. And don't even bother with the but but but they're made here. Unless the company has its headquarters here with profits flowing INTO the U.S. it's not American.

need I say more ?

pic won't load click link

[Linked Image]

Tacoma fur me

Agreed. That's why I went Toyota.

My wife has and Outback

I have a Tacoma

If you are putting dead stuff in it, or hauling things - it would NOT be with an outback...

Dang thing uses 0-20 motor oil, and you hear lifter knock every time you start it up... it’s a comfy city ride, w/ city street 4x4 dive,
NOT for serious mud 4x4’ing..

Mines a 2007, her outback is a 2012.

Simply stated - the Tacoma's a truck, the Outback is a car. They both have 4x4 but you can't compare off road performance. Which is better all comes down to where you plan to drive it. They both have very good reputations.

3,000 with the 4 cylinder motor on the SR.

You can get the crew cab w/ a 6ft bed but that puts you in the mid-thirties, price wise.

Next question:

Tacoma 4WD: 2.7 L inline-4 or 3.5 L V6?

Towing over 3,000 lbs not anticipated.

study up on the newer 3.5L Tacoma motor

I have two of the 4.0L Taco trucks

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/3rd-gen-tacomas-2016.186/