Retiring Baja Conundrum

[KensAudio]

Oh, all wise and wonderful ScoobyTruck minds and Baja drivers...

Here's my situation...
Yesterday my shop found out that the reason my Baja's been overheating was that it was internally leaking coolant through a cracked cylinder head. I trust the shop. They showed me how air pressure into the cylinder was bubbling up through the radiator. In any case, this was relatively soon after a replacement thermostat, which was relatively soon after something else. According to their records, over the last 4+ years and about 60k miles, I've been spending a bit over $2k/year on repairs & maintenance. This is a bit more than the $1200-$1500 they'd expect to see someone spend on a vehicle with this mileage (about 123k). Granted at the ~90k mark I dumped a bunch of money on the timing belt, head gaskets, etc.... but even filtering that out of the average, I think I'm still at the upper end of the bell curve for maintenance costs.

Now it gets interesting.
A) I don't want to get rid of the Baja - but not because of emotional reasons. As best I can figure, this is the ONLY 4 cylinder, 4-door, 4-wheel-drive, vehicle rated to tow 2000#. It's really in a functional sweet spot. However...
B) I don't want to hold onto it if it's financially irresponsible to do so. The catch is that no new (or near new) vehicle I can find has this combination of efficiency & functionality. If I aim for a truck, the best I can find is a Toyota Tacoma or Nissan Frontier. But to get 4 doors (i.e. carry 4 comfortably) I'll be forced into a 6 cylinder engine and/or an automatic transmission. If I aim for a 'crossover' or a compact SUV, I can carry people comfortably, but I don't get the ability to carry a couch, or other odd/bulky stuff easily. Not to mention most such things will town only 1000-1500#. Not enough for a decent pop-up camper, which I hope to get/use in the next couple years.

The best match (generally) I can find would be a 1st generation Tacoma, with the 2.7L 4-cyl and extended cab. The latest of those was in 2004, so then I'd be staring at trading my 120+k miles used vehicle for a 50-60k miles used vehicle... trading the devil I know for the devil I don't when it comes to used car problems.

So finally I get to a question (yeah, I'm wordy...) :
*IF* I decide to leave the Baja community, what would the next best option be? I don't mind doing research, and have (and am) reading up on such beasts as: Tacoma, Frontier, Forester (pre-2013, when it could tow 2400#), Outback & Tribecca, even Hyundai Santa Fe & Tucson of certain years. What have other Baja (former) drivers turned to when their Baja needed to retire? Why did you opt for what you did?

Any words of (relative) wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks, - K

p.s. I don't usually get political, but follow this to help repeal that absurd "Chicken Tax" so we'll all have more small-truck buying options. http://www.petition2congress.com/10975/ ... icken-tax/

[KensAudio]

Oops.
Just realized I posted under Tech discussions. Meant to post under Anything Baja. If some kind moderator could put this where it does the most good, it'd be appreciated.
- K

[TastyHuman]

I bought my Baja for the same reasons you are reluctant to move on. Since nobody makes a compact truck anymore the Baja was the vehicle that met my needs best. That said, they won't last forever, but I am keeping it as long as it stays reliable. I don't mind spending money on expensive repairs every few years but I don't want to get stranded all the time.

I'm hoping there is truth to the strong rumor that Ford will be coming out with a new compact truck for the US that is smaller than the mid-size Tacoma and Frontier.

[mikenmel08]

Sounds more like a blown head gasket to me.....which these trucks are notorious for.......