I third the opinion against Mini Coopers. My sister was foolish enough to get one and has had nothing but high maintenance costs on the stupid thing since then. And now she's looking at buying another Mini, this time a Countryman 
I forgot about Subarus. They're pretty good too, I have a coworker that swears by them if you live in a place that gets a lot of snow (they're very popular here in WI). And they don't really break the bank used (at least from what I see in my area). Ford Explorers are still very good, as well as the Escapes, I just barely missed an opportunity to get a 2010 Escape for $9k with only 25,000 miles back in March! I can't speak to everything being good from Ford, I know F150s across the board are some of the best trucks outside of Toyota Tundras right now, but I'm very skeptical about their turbo-charged eco-boost engines and longevity (longevity being the main selling point for a cheap-o like me). My wife had a 2013 Ford C-Max Energi and it was a rolling piece of garbage.
GM is generally crap nowadays. So if you look at something like a Blazer or TrailBlazer, go for one from the early 00's or earlier. I just ended a Lease on a 2018 Silverado that left a bad taste in my mouth after the starter went out after only 36k miles.
Mini Cooper vehicles just look deformed somehow. Same with that HHR vehicle. Ugly-butt car. I don't drive ugly.
It's probably going to be a 4Runner. This is not a purchase I need to make immediately. I've got a guy out here in the exurbs whom I promised, when it came time to buy a car, I'd call him first. Word of honor, that is what I shall do, then go from there. Carmax has pretty slim pickings when it comes to SUVs.
On a side note, why are rental cars so scarce, and so expensive anymore? Time was, you could get a serviceable rental for $35/day. Now, when you can even
find a car, they start around $75. I thought I might need to do that the other day. Cheapest thing I could find was a business utility van (!) for the low $50s per day. I would have rented it. If I need a car in a hurry, I don't care if it's Borat's ice cream truck. Wheels are wheels.
Topic: What is the best SUV for car camping (and just overall)? (Read 2496 times)