Olympus
Platinum Member
Hey guys, about 4 years ago I bought a UTV, a super clean, low mile/hour Yamaha Rhino 450. At the time, all I had was an old Honda 3-wheeler, so this was a nice upgrade. I mainly used it for riding around the subdivision and running up and down the gravel roads "cruising". It is a great machine, but my biggest complaints are that it's slow. 37MPH is wide open. Second complaint is that it's loud. Not exhaust loud, but engine loud because the engine sits in between the two front seats. Even just riding around the yard and acreage at slow speeds, the driver and passenger can't talk without yelling. Within those same 4 years, I ended up buying a large hunting property. After buying the property, I was taking my UTV out there to ride the trails, hunt, etc. I quickly found out that the UTV is not suited for woods. The trails were meant for ATVs so limbs and branches were getting caught on the top and sides of the UTV and driver and passenger were constantly having to keep there arms in front of their face to keep from getting whacked with branches. And towing the UTV was getting old. So I ended up buying a little used 4x4 ATV for $1500 and it works perfectly for my property. My dad gave me a little 4x7 trailer that my ATV fits perfectly inside. And when I get out to my hunting property, I unload the ATV from the little trailer and then hook the little trailer on the back of the ATV and pull it. Works just as good as the bed on the UTV and even better in some cases like when I'm hunting by myself and I can't quite lift a deer into the bed of the UTV by myself. I can just drag it into the little ATV trailer and away I go.
So now, I'm using my ATV probably 80% of the time and the UTV is just taking up space in my shop. I do use the UTV around the yard for picking up limbs, raking up stuff when I trim the shrubs, and when my wife and little boy want to go for rides. But my little boy is 2 years old now and he can sit on the console covering the engine in the middle between me and my wife. But he won't always be that small. Eventually he will get his own ATV, but it still goes back to the noise level and my wife hates that we can't talk without yelling at each other when we ride the UTV. And that leads me to thinking I might just sell the UTV and get something else....but what?
My first thought was a Japanese mini-truck. I have a very large, very reputable mini truck dealer just down the road from me. G&R Imports. They stock, sell, and service a TON of mini trucks and have a warehouse full of parts. They're roughly the same size as a UTV, except basically a little truck. Fuel injected, 4x4, power steering, heat, and air conditioning. They have a big bed with sides that fold down and convert to a flat bed. They are able to be lifted and larger ATV tires and wheels put on. So they're really very much like a UTV, except they're quiet like a regular truck. The downsides that I see are that they're not exactly cheap. Probably $7000 after adding the lift kit, bigger tires, and wheels. And I don't really know how much more I'd use it than I do my current UTV. My UTV is worth $5000, so that would be like spending $2000 to get an enclosed cab, heat, a/c, power steering, fuel injection, and QUIET. I can't really decide if that's worth it when I factor in how often I use the UTV. The mini truck would work great for around the yard and property, but probably be the same as a UTV when taken out to my hunting property. You wouldn't have to worry about getting whacked with limbs though. Top speed is more like 50-55MPH though, so running around the gravel roads and "cruising" would be much better. In the summer, I like to go on rides with several other friends who also have UTVs and I would be able to keep up with them since they all have bigger UTVs.
My next thought would be like finding a used Suzuki Samurai or maybe even a Toyota Tacoma. For $5000, I could probably buy something like that without having to add any more money. I'd lose some "off-road" ability compared to the UTV, but I'd gain a lot more "on-road" ability since they'd be legal to license for the road. This is kind of a big plus for me because during hunting season, I'm driving 100 miles a day every day back and forth to my hunting property using my nice F-150 truck and taking it down a long, rough gravel road to get to my property. With a Samurai or Tacoma, I could drive it to my hunting property and even tow my ATV and little ATV trailer. I would lose the ability to go "cruising" on the gravel roads with my friends with UTVs. Or maybe not....but a vehicle driving around with a bunch of UTVs would look kinda stupid. I could still use it around the yard, but driving around the subdivision wouldn't really be the same as it is on the UTV. You also get the plus of having a third vehicle which I would like for times when there was snow or ice and having a second 4x4 vehicle that my wife could drive would be nice.
Or I could always just keep the UTV. It's not costing me anything to keep, but every year the value goes down so I'm think I might should sell it now while I can still get a good bit of my money back for it and put that towards something I would use more. Anyone have any thoughts?
So now, I'm using my ATV probably 80% of the time and the UTV is just taking up space in my shop. I do use the UTV around the yard for picking up limbs, raking up stuff when I trim the shrubs, and when my wife and little boy want to go for rides. But my little boy is 2 years old now and he can sit on the console covering the engine in the middle between me and my wife. But he won't always be that small. Eventually he will get his own ATV, but it still goes back to the noise level and my wife hates that we can't talk without yelling at each other when we ride the UTV. And that leads me to thinking I might just sell the UTV and get something else....but what?
My first thought was a Japanese mini-truck. I have a very large, very reputable mini truck dealer just down the road from me. G&R Imports. They stock, sell, and service a TON of mini trucks and have a warehouse full of parts. They're roughly the same size as a UTV, except basically a little truck. Fuel injected, 4x4, power steering, heat, and air conditioning. They have a big bed with sides that fold down and convert to a flat bed. They are able to be lifted and larger ATV tires and wheels put on. So they're really very much like a UTV, except they're quiet like a regular truck. The downsides that I see are that they're not exactly cheap. Probably $7000 after adding the lift kit, bigger tires, and wheels. And I don't really know how much more I'd use it than I do my current UTV. My UTV is worth $5000, so that would be like spending $2000 to get an enclosed cab, heat, a/c, power steering, fuel injection, and QUIET. I can't really decide if that's worth it when I factor in how often I use the UTV. The mini truck would work great for around the yard and property, but probably be the same as a UTV when taken out to my hunting property. You wouldn't have to worry about getting whacked with limbs though. Top speed is more like 50-55MPH though, so running around the gravel roads and "cruising" would be much better. In the summer, I like to go on rides with several other friends who also have UTVs and I would be able to keep up with them since they all have bigger UTVs.
My next thought would be like finding a used Suzuki Samurai or maybe even a Toyota Tacoma. For $5000, I could probably buy something like that without having to add any more money. I'd lose some "off-road" ability compared to the UTV, but I'd gain a lot more "on-road" ability since they'd be legal to license for the road. This is kind of a big plus for me because during hunting season, I'm driving 100 miles a day every day back and forth to my hunting property using my nice F-150 truck and taking it down a long, rough gravel road to get to my property. With a Samurai or Tacoma, I could drive it to my hunting property and even tow my ATV and little ATV trailer. I would lose the ability to go "cruising" on the gravel roads with my friends with UTVs. Or maybe not....but a vehicle driving around with a bunch of UTVs would look kinda stupid. I could still use it around the yard, but driving around the subdivision wouldn't really be the same as it is on the UTV. You also get the plus of having a third vehicle which I would like for times when there was snow or ice and having a second 4x4 vehicle that my wife could drive would be nice.
Or I could always just keep the UTV. It's not costing me anything to keep, but every year the value goes down so I'm think I might should sell it now while I can still get a good bit of my money back for it and put that towards something I would use more. Anyone have any thoughts?
