I have a Baja. It is a great vehicle for me. Hauls bikes and crap in the bed. Daily driver. Has got some pep, but I have the possibility of moding it up. Could be a 300+hp trucklet with a nice interior. Current interior is pretty spartan and I would have to spend some monies to make it nice, but far less than ten grand. Manual, which is good for me, but is a no-go with the wife. Has a body only the most enamored could love. (the baja; my wife is bangin')

I want a Honda Ridgeline. Closer to a truck, bigger hauling/towing/bed. Could tow RX8. Safer for the new lil' one. Autotragic. Cool trunk in bed. Bluetooth/nav/leather. Less ugly. Little on the tall side. Serious money. I will have a considerable car payment.

Suck it up and stick with the Baja? Or go full baller and buy the Ridgeline?

Considered and experienced responses only please. (that means if you are <18y.o. stfu)

 

there is nothing full baller or trucklike about a ridgeline, its a car based chassis, its ugly its fat it fails tragically. Baja's kick *** and look awesome. I lose respect for those who get rid of their turbo charged scoobs. :-D

 

Your overall point is well taken; however, the Ridgeline has a differentiated body even from the pilot. It is essentially a combination of a unibody and body-on-frame, but the fact that it and the Baja drive carlike is appealing to me. I recently owned a Silverado and hated the way it drove.

But yeah, I certainly lose points if I were to give up on my baja turbo manual. It is absolutely unique. So plus 1 on the scoob. Any other opinions?

 

bump for daylight

 

Depends on different factors...

If you need more tow then for overall use I'd get the Ridgeline if those were the only options you were considering. If it were me and I wanted a similar look, I'd get a Chevy Avalanche instead; keep in mind neither that nor the Ridgeline appeal to me in the first place.

My experience with them in the truck genre has been good. For trucks I'd tend to stick with American brands, they've been doing it a lot longer and IMO (key word for those **** about American brands) build a better robust one than foreign competitors. All my previous vehicles were Chevy trucks and never had an issue with any of them other than wear and tear items.

 

+1 on the baja. Ugly as F, but so is the ridgeline. The honda is a big piece of crap.
The baja's are ugly but are few and far between.
I am always drawn to them to see how many "safety" stickers the owner has left on/took off.

Honda Ridgeline = fail

Why go so big, Taco's are nice and proven if you need somethin' stronger.

 

Vlase, Yeah. I had a Chevy. I am agnostic on buying American cars, but I see the appeal. It was a great truck and I hauled literally tons of stuff. But it drove like a truck and I grew to hate that. Hence my baja purchase. Except now, I find the Baja just a tad small. It works, no doubt, for 95% of things.

BUt you couldn't haul a refrigerator in it.

Chad, what is a Taco?

 

Taco = Tacoma.

 

couldn't you borrow a small utility trailer for something like that? I had a HUGE F200 and downsized to a slammed Ranger and just got used to using a small trailer for things like that.
Considering how often you actually need that bigger truck (5%) doesn't sound like it would be worth the hassle.
and I bet the baja is considerably better at everything else. like mpg's and drive comfort.

 

I would stick with the Brat/Baja. Cheaper, prettier, faster, more fun. Like the previous poster said, if you only need the extra space every so often, just rent a trailer, or better yet, just buy/build yourself a trailer!

 

Bought a new Ram - 390hp and over 20mpg on the highway, with a coil spring rear it feels like a car, no comparison with other 1/2 tons. Driven 14 hour days - seats are incredible - it's a Laramie so you can option it with heated & cooled seats, heated wheel, etc. Drive one, then see.

Drove the Honda - no pep, and I swear the Ram more fun to toss about with the 275/20's on 'em. And its capacities are a joke for a "truck".

Never drove the Subie...can't bear looking at 'em.

 

Honda Ridgeline unless you plan to do a prius-baja hybrid.

http://www.tunemytoyota.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4411

 

Baja is badass. And teach the wife to drive stick.

 

I'd stay away from the ridgeline. It's hauling and towing capacity is terrible, and you need a step ladder to get anything into the bed. Unfortunately, if you want a full on truck, it's gonna ride like a truck. Tacoma's are nice and proven, but they've gotten to big and expensive. For the 28K you'd spend on a ridgeline, you can buy an F150 and a used 8.

If i were picking only between the subie and the ridgeline, I'd take the subie any day.

 

Keep the scoob or get a Ram

 

Have you looked into the defender series? You like your turbo baja try a Defender 110 with the 5th gen engine in it.

 

Are you talking Land Rovers? If you are, he'll be hard pressed to find a defender 110. They only brought 500 to the states, and only in 1993. He'd have better luck finding a 90, but they stopped in 1997 and they're still in the the low 20's for a super high mileage one on up into the 40's. They're a lot of fun, but they ride like **** and make an 8 look like a prius as far as gas mileage is concerned.

If you're not talking about land rovers, my apologies.