So we actually ended up moving forward on a used Gold-certified ‘22 Highlander XLE with a pretty clean carfax and somewhere between 45-50k miles. Has a V6, AWD w/o rear diff, electric tow hitch. Clocks in at 1390 lbs cargo capacity. Gonna have the shop take a look at it as soon as we can get it off the lot once it’s ready.

We are ditching the RV idea, though in the future this should leave room for that if we really wanted to settle down with that much further down the line, within the discussed constraints. So thanks again for your input! What I’m curious about is the electric dongle you’ve attached to get those readings — Do you recommend one in specific? Not sure if they come universal, or need to be model-specific.

Yeah, what’s funny is during all this we noticed our Malibu’s cargo capacity is rated at almost 1,000 lbs in the door jam sticker.

Now, obviously, as you say it’s definitely not translatable to a tow hitch rate, and we’d never attempt something stupid like attaching a hitch and towing with it. But we found it funny that (aside from interior space) for cargo travel alone, we’d be better off with what we already have than a 4runner! (again, generally, obv there are a select few base models that do a lil better.)

I just don’t get why the 4runners are getting rated so low for what seems to be their most attractive feature. We saw the land cruisers seem to be a lot bulkier in the undercarriage.

Thank you for the little history lesson! (not /s)

😬 That’s some serious softwaregore. Whoops!

Thank you for the link! Will definitely check them out. The last 2 days have been so frustrating because I basically depend on gum to distract my AuDHD brain enough to get through difficult social interaction outside of the house. Had to stop myself more than once from finishing off the trident in my purse.

I understand where you’re coming from! OCD tendencies can spawn myriad little habits like that that can be near impossible to kick. Kudos to you for understanding your own limitations

Like another response stated, the big concern to me was the ambiguity that companies are allowed to have behind “gum base” as an ingredient, and this article dove into that more than others I could find on short notice.

I have no buy-in to the source, so please downvote and report to remove it for infactual information! I will leave it here to foster thoughts and discussion around unusual sources of unexpected materials we may unwittingly put into our bodies.

I’ll admit lately I get more than freaked out anytime I hear about potential microplastics getting into my system orally. It would be a relief to know this is a false alarm, though I’ll still personally be looking into alternatives instead of grabbing whatever off the checkout lane next time.

Yep, one more thing added to the pile of never again 🤢

That’s a salient point about the fuel economy. I’m assuming it won’t just halve after attaching a semi-loaded RV, but maybe third or even quarter?

Atm I can’t say we would or wouldn’t be staying in one spot for a week+ at a time, at least not at first, so we’ll definitely have to weigh the short-term vs long-term timelines further.

Thanks for the comprehensive response!! 🙌

Lots of good thoughts to chew on here, I’ll take some time to consider these points! And thanks for not just saying to get a truck instead. I do have some previous experience driving with a truck & trailer combo, though that was only a simple flatbed, so not a very apt comparison.

e: Oh also we’re not locking ourselves into only new vehicles. Just what’s available in the market in our price range, ~30-45k. Lots of carfax diving lately

I can expound a bit:

We’ve chosen this one because of its total weight, the solar panels, and the shower and bed. It doesn’t need to be big, it just needs to work with what we can get. It’s the smallest comprehensive package we’ve found, although I’m sure there’s plenty of other brands we haven’t come across yet. We’re aware it’s at a premium, and have decided the benefits outweigh the extra cost.

The first thing we’ll do with it is take it up into Canada to do some university tours. Optimally we’ll be able to dry camp at worst in between visits. If we like it, we may very well just keep doing that instead of renewing our soon-ending lease. We already practically live out of a suitcase anyways, the apartment is just a big storage for all our junk.

Did you have any specific SUV suggestions that would work alternatively? None seemed (at first) so reliable as a Toyota. Again, we’re exhausting all SUV options before considering trucks.

Yeah, that’s what’s immediately putting cinderblocks on the whole operation here. Thank you for the channel rec! I’ll admit the built-in solar panels and battery of the NuCamp is the largest draw towards it. Curious to see how one can retrofit an SUV with one, but we are being careful to adhere to US-CA border restrictions around vehicular modifications.

Try scottish breakfast! Its similar to irish, but much darker and “punchier” imo. It’s my go-to when I’m out of coffee and need the closest thing to caffeinate up in the morning

Fuck you.