Just one question - do we really need a 4WD SUV?

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bovinda

New member
Jan 21, 2009
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...or can we get by with less?

Renting for one week, driving to these places:

Puerta Plata
Cabarete
27 Falls
Las Galeras and Samana Peninsula
Maybe a side trip to Jarabacoa
End at Punta Cana.

Can anyone say - do we really need a 4WD SUV for this? Can we get by with a full size? The price difference is significant, for a week, especially after getting all the insurance.

Since we're leaving in four days, any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :)
 
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Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
Unless you plan to purposely look for big mudholes to drive through or alltogether unpassable roads, no. I have had a 4 wheel drive here for 3 years and used it once.
 
badpiece33

badpiece33

Silver
Jun 24, 2002
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496
83
San Felipe de Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
bovinda said:
...or can we get by with less?

Renting for one week, driving to these places:

Puerta Plata
Cabarete
27 Falls
Las Galeras and Samana Peninsula
Maybe a side trip to Jarabacoa
End at Punta Cana.

Can anyone say - do we really need a 4WD SUV for this? Can we get by with a full size? The price difference is significant, for a week, especially after getting all the insurance.

Since we're leaving in four days, any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :)
Click to expand...

Done all those areas in an intermediate car from either budget or avis and had no problems, just drive slow between Gaspar Hernandez and Rio Sanjuan on your way to Samana, really huge potholes that are not easily seen in the shadows from the palm trees in the daytime.
 
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Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
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The roads in the Saman?-Las Galeras area are in very poor condition so an SUV will make the experience less uncomfortable, especially if you also want to get to Playa Rinc?n.
 
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MrMike

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Mar 2, 2003
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You can do without, but will feel much more comfortable in an SUV. Comfortable in the sense that you will not feel you are destroying the cars suspension. Roads here are terrible.
 
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bovinda

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Jan 21, 2009
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Thanks everyone, I appreciate your feedback! That's very helpful. It sounds like we will be fine except for possibly the Samana area, especially if we want to get to Playa Rincon, which I think we will. We'll consider all this.
 
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caipiranha

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Feb 15, 2008
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bovinda said:
It sounds like we will be fine except for possibly the Samana area, especially if we want to get to Playa Rincon, which I think we will. We'll consider all this.
Click to expand...

Hi,
if you don?t leave the mainstreets on Samana, a normal car will do. But you really have to be very very careful with the pottholes. To go to the Rincon, you also could go to Las Galeras and make a boat trip over there. El Valle isn?t possible without a 4WD, you have to cross some rivers.

Saludos
 
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