u/michigandank

Looking for recommendations and advice from car campers

I’m looking into starting to sleep in my car so I’m able to try out more resorts at an affordable cost to me. Hotels typically are what hold me back, especially since further resorts in the Michigan UP or lutsen are a long drive for me. Eventually I’d like to take my car to the Rockies and do something similar. I’ll probably end up getting a hotel every 3rd night for sanity purposes.

I got a bigger car recently, a Honda passport, and when the seats go down it’s completely flat with tons of space. My plan is to lay a camping mattress down on one side and pack up my car with the remainder of my stuff.

So far my list of “must haves” are the following:

1. Camping mattress (looking at hest, expad, lost horizon and a few others)

2. 0F sleeping bag, looking for -10/-15 as well. I’ll plan to pack a down comforter + extra blankets. My car also has an auto start, so as long as there isn’t a huge snow storm I can start my car for 15 minutes remotely to blast some heat

3. Power bank

4. Cooler for food/snacks

5. Baby wipes

6. Camping chair for sitting during breaks outside my car

7. Extra/backup layers in case I get wet

8. Reflectix on windows to prevent frost

This is my general list, I’ll plan on getting all the snow off my skis but they’ll likely lay next to me off the bed (no ski bag). I’m sure I’m not thinking of everything. Also looking for general advice, I’ve never slept in my car before. I won’t attempt it til winter most likely which I’m sure isn’t the best idea but I’ll be buying everything I need slowly over the next few months.

Need to purchase a new jacket and I know which brands are good, but each brand has multiple jackets. I think I might go with the Patagonia powder town and use layers. But I’m not sure which other ones I should look out for. Price is a concern, powder town is on sale for 200 now.

Also, I would like a new pair of skis but am unsure with what to go with. I ride glades when they are open, but being in the Midwest that’s not often. So typical “black diamond” groomers is 70-80% of my riding. Right now I’m riding my old twin tips with 100mm underfoot. Planning on keeping them if we have powder days, so I’m looking for a carving ski that isn’t afraid to go off piste when needed.

I’m advanced intermediate/beginning expert level if that helps.

My girlfriend and I are heading to Madison this weekend for our anniversary. We had tons of plans outdoors and now that it’s raining, we aren’t sure what to do.

Originally we were gonna bike around town, rent kayaks, go to the botanical gardens, and explore downtown.

Now we’ll still explore but biking/kayaking and the gardens are probably a no go with the rain

My girlfriend is debating on trading in her car. It had a random transmission/electrical issue that cleared up, but is making her feel uneasy to drive. It’s down to finances for her and we aren’t sure the best solution.

She owes 20k on the loan but the trade is worth 13-4. She has no option to privately sell since she needs her car every day for work.

She has a nice savings put away from the sale of her house during her divorce. She has 20 grand put away into savings.

Her general month to month is tight, so she’s hesitant to dip into savings. I think it’s best to get ahead of the bad loan and potential mechanical issues.

I am needing my first oil change but wasn’t sure where I should go seeing that this is a CPO. Is it worthwhile doing all the services through the dealer or is it okay to go with an independent shop? I just don’t want to deal with warranty issues

This happened locally to where I grew up. Heard about it through friends and haven’t seen much attention until recently.

Girlfriends car got this error message yesterday and got stuck in the middle of the road. Luckily restarting the car she was able to get it into reverse and park it.

When we go to start the car it struggles to turn over and when it does the whole car shakes.

Planning to tow to an independent mechanic since it’s past the warranty (66k miles, 6 years old). Just trying to determine what we should be expecting if anyone’s had similar

Taking a trip soon and passing through all three cities. Coming from the UP so I figured these would be the best areas to look. Looking for the best first time deals and places that have good BHO/rosin. Superior flowers is always on my list but also looking for some budget options

Would prefer to sell this as one lot. I can assist moving but cannot move by myself. Unsure on my pricing but I’m open. Have young kids, no time. Getting into camping and outdoorsy stuff again and would like to clear out my apartment.

2 7cu ft chest freezers. One is converted to a 2 keg tap, the other just is used as a fern chamber but no modifications have been done

Anvil foundry, 7 years old but still works great. Not valuing this at much, maybe 50-100 total

20 lb CO2 tank

5 lb CO2 tank

Missing regulators, I’m borrowing one now I would need to return

Spike flex plus with spike spunding valve

4 5 gallon kegs

2 floating dip tubes with filter

8-10 lb of New Zealand hops from EGGERS (only commercial brewers typically get this farm) mainly 2024-2026

Vac sealer for hops

5 gallon decoction pot

Misc brewing supplies (salts, mash paddle)

Tilt 2.0 digital hydrometer

ISO $750

If this is too high of an ask I’m willing to adjust

I’d like to start car camping and trying to plan my setup. I think what concerns me the most is rain on nights where you need airflow in the car (hot nights). I found bug nets that would fit my windows and rear trunk so I could keep them open at night, but when it rains I’d have to close everything up. How does everyone prep for that?

Just bought a CPO 2021 elite with 39,000 miles. I went through and made sure oil changes were done in the history but forgot to check transmission and differential fluids were done.

Should I do a drain/fill at my next oil change or wait until 60k miles when I do the spark plugs?

I have an older Coleman tent that’s been in storage for 4-5 years and had heavier usage 3/4 years prior to that. Before putting it away the main issue I had was the zipper not staying shut, I’d zip it and it would unlatch after a few minutes. Is this an easy repair or should I just opt for a new tent?

I think the rest of the tent is good, may just need a waterproof coating on it again

I’m newer to Wisconsin and am getting back into hiking. Last year I went to Kohler Andre and bought the year pass which is now expired. I figured that pass was good for all state land. Yesterday I went to Kettle Moraine for a hike and saw I needed a trail pass. I purchased one of those for the year and noticed I have to keep some sort of proof of purchase in the dash instead of a sticker.

My question is, is this the same pass for Kohler Andre state park or are they separate? It wasn’t clear to me when I looked online

My ex and I have been doing split schedules for a year now but last month we switched to a true 50/50 schedule. Prior to that it was I had 5 nights a week but she watched the kids while I worked. She worked nights and I watched them on her work nights.

Since then she’s asked for two upcoming days for me to take her days. She worded it as a trade, but she has no schedule flexibility to actually trade me. So it’s more I just take an extra day, which I truly don’t mind in terms of having the kids. I’d have the kids full placement if I could.

She first asked to go to a concert, which I was originally reluctant to say yes to since we just started our schedule and we shouldn’t have to swap days so soon. But to keep the peace I said yes.

Today she let me know the child care is closed for a holiday (July 3rd) and she needs me to watch the kids for her. This is something that she knew about ahead of time but didn’t bother consulting with her job about her availability for childcare. Now it’s effectively my problem in her eyes to help her. She has very poor planning in general, so I see this as a potential ongoing issue.

I said I can see what I can do, but this can’t be a regular occurrence to need to have me take one of her days. If it becomes consistent I’d prefer to change the placement schedule to something she’s able to handle.

AIO? I’m mainly just trying to keep what I think of as healthy boundaries.

Edit: for some more context, I’d regularly take extra nights from her the past year when I had the kids 5 nights. I ended up taking a lot of fridays (every 2/4 weeks over the past year to allow her to have some free nights given the shitty original schedule

Just got a 2021 passport elite and I love it so far. I’m just not nuts about the 20 inch wheels. I was hoping to switch to 18’s but wasn’t sure what wheels to get.

I’d also like to take the vehicle “overlanding” for camping and light off roading. Nothing crazy but was wondering what everyone else has done. It’ll still be a pavement princess most of its life but I’d like it to handle a more technical trail if needed.

Also a huge skier and intend to take this out west for ski trips.

Recently bought a 2021 passport that i love so far. However, when i plug my iPhone 17 pro it does not connect. My phone connects to my girlfriends GMC’s CarPlay without any issue

Had a conversation with my girlfriend today about a new car purchase and just am looking for general advice. We place to move in together in the next year and both have 2 kids (4 total).

My car is higher mileage (200k) and I still owe on it. So I’ve been browsing CPO’s for good deals. Found a car, negotiated my trade in up using local market and KBB.l to get more than I owed to help with the financing. Given a limited budget and needs, I was limited on options. The car I found is only a 2 row SUV but a great match for my current needs. If I continue to wait it’s just hoping something might come in that’s in my exact price range and needs.

I did look around other major cities and found 1 other option that did have 3 row. I plan to call them and see if they can match my trade in offer. If not I’m really leaning towards purchasing the 2 row I saw today.

I just wanted to bring this up with my partner since ultimately this decision affects her down the road as well. She is really wanting me to consider finding a 3 row and wasn’t particular on car brand. I’m hard set on Toyota and Honda, which limits things. She seemed overall supportive but shared concerns about limited space in the future.

I’m leaning towards getting the car and having more security with vehicle reliability. If the other dealer works out with the 3 row I’d opt for that instead, but is it selfish to get the other if the numbers don’t work out?