For any Amigo owners out there, do any of you use your Amigo as a family vehicle? They appear to have a fair amount of room, but once loaded up I imagine the distinct lack of space must be an issue for more than 2 people.

Also, does anyone know the towing capacity of the 'Migo's? If it can pull a small camper/trailer, I might be able to convince the wife that it could be a sensible purchase.

We lover our Troop, but the gas mileage, gas prices, and auto trans have me considering other options...

Cheers,
BH

I think it is rated at 4500 lbs and you will only get 2-3 more MPG with the amigo.


as for more space I would recommend a carrier the slips into the hitch mount.

I agree. The 2nd gen Amigo is no lightweight vehicle. The best I even got was 22 mpg, but after all my mods it's lower now (18-20 mpg with ideal driving).

Getting in and out of the back seat is hard for many adults, but kids have no problem. It tows well. I love mine, but I would never call it a family car. Any short wheelbase car is going to be a bit more dangerous to drive.

Pete

I have a 94 and it is ok for running around in but I would not want it to be my main family car. Any more than two is pushing it as far as room goes, at least on a trip and they all seem to leak water so I would stay with a 99 or later with the factory hard top. The 2nd gens look a lot nicer inside and have better visibility, those are a few things to consider.

When my son was born, my wife said ôweÆre gonna need a family caràThat 2 door is just too small, we need a 4 doorö <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> I said ôYOU NEED A 4 DOORàThat Migo is not going anywhereö<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/mrt.gif" alt="" /> I managed to put the car-seat on the rear seat with my new bornà Now, 5 years later, he loves to climb on the back seatà He told me, once he is old enough to drive; he wants the amigo to be hisà<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

That's awesome...

BH

We've had our 1999 amigo since the kids were 10. They NEVER had any issues climbing into or out of the back seat (including using the rear moon roof when that was removed!). As far as what you can carry, we could load up the Amigo with all of our gear for a three day trip to Moab, including a cooler, with two kids in the back, a dog, my wife and me. That was for hotel camping - so our gear consisted of whatever clothes, etc. we would need for the three day trip, plus my normal recovery gear and tools. It was packed pretty tight in the back behind the rear seat, but the kids had plenty of room for the 6 hour trip there and back.

As far as towing, we used ours to pull our popup trailer all over Colorado. It weighed in at under 2,000 pounds fully loaded, and the amigo did just fine (pretty slow on some of the big hills here in Colorado though). I personally wouldn't recommend much more weight if you are going to be hitting any big hills. On our last trip to Crawloween, we had the amigo loaded with gear and kids (both 17 years old now), the dog and me and the wife with a Samurai behind us on a tow dolly. That load really slowed us down on the steep hills (3-4 of them between Denver and the Eisenhower Tunnel, plus Vail Pass).

My kids love it, especially when the top is off.
It's getting a bit long in the tooth, but when the temperature is right, they love it.