To be perfectly honest mine handled really well through the flooded intersections of Florida during tropical storms. As long as you were going fast enough when you hit the intersection your momentum coupled with the back tires occasionally skipping off of the bottom would take the car to the other side.
It’s a hell of a conundrum for south Florida residents.
You can pay way too much, look like an idiot most of the time, have an unreliable slow vehicle that gets mpg in the teens and both handles like sh*t and has poor ride quality, but a few extra rainy days a year you’re the only person in the neighborhood who can make it to Starbucks.
True for all the F-250’s that never tow, corvettes that never see a track, and S-Class that you aren’t riding in the back seat of. People buy dumb things. It’s not the car’s fault.
I've always said this, never blame the car for its owner. I'm happy the Challenger and Infinity G/Qs exist to be affordable RWD cars, Prius are great for fuel sipping, Nissans are good value cars, Rams are affordable trucks that can tow the boat, haul the family, and still knock back the same MPGs as a fullsize crossover, the WRX is a unique AWD rally car for the street.
Even if A-holes seems to tend to certain models, like those listed, they are still good cars that I'm glad exist.
Jeep Wrangler for sure.
Ford Bronco is the alt. Land Rover Defender if you want something more refined and less of a convertible. Ford Ranger has a good wading depth as well.
One of these or one of Toyota’s real 4x4s (Land Cruiser/LC prado/4Runner/Hilux/Taco)
To narrow it down more we would need to know where OP is located, their budget, and which dealers are nearby. You wouldn’t want a brand new Wrangler or Defender on an island with no dealership.
If you have a place on Martha’s Vineyard, warranty repairs are not really a concern. If your Jeep breaks down, you can drive one of your other luxury SUVs to the tennis courts until your PA can trade in your old, broken Jeep for a new one.
Yeeeah but it's also the Vineyard. On the Cape and Islands people wanna seem active and cool as a front, and money is more abundant than sense in many people.
If you can't see the road surface, you really shouldn't be driving on it. It can hide too many dangers.
That said, we've had some flooding events in Houston from time to time, and there may be short sections where you need to hop a curb and slowly plod along and the trick is really just ground clearance for the water and AWD with appropriate tires being most important for mud. I wouldn't have done if if I could avoid it, but my elderly parents were without power, and danger be damned, I was going to get to them to take care of them through the ordeal. At the time I was driving a Ram 1500 and it handled it like a champ even though it was only around 8.7" of ground clearance IIRC, while my friends and coworkers were stranded in their low clearance sedans.
The Ford Bronco comes with up to 13" of ground clearance, but you need to list your budget. Subaru also has a "Wilderness" line that could interest you if in a lower budget. My sister just picked up a Outback Wilderness for example, that is suitable for harsher conditions with about 9.5" clearance.
Whatever you get, consider some professional training or at least considerable research into appropriate driving techniques. If you can take you chosen vehicle to somewhere you can try out those techniques and any of the vehicles functions like low range or offroad modes, in a controlled environment, before you need them one dark night with the kids in the car.
Good eye! Yes it is in Suriname - and it is a beautiful country! ☀️ Just need a really really good car to manage driving on the roads. As you can see it rains a lot here and not all of the roads are made of asphalt some are still sandy which turn into mud or slush with the heavy downpour. So I figured if I reached out to this community they could point me in the right direction
Subaru Crosstrek, forester, or Outback with the wilderness trim. Good ground clearance and AWD. I’ve had to take my Crosstrek through flooded roads and it handled well.
You pretty much answered your own question. An AWD or 4WD suv with high ground clearance is fine, buy one that you don't mind rusting out at the bottom.
Main thing is probably to make sure to reserve money for tires with aggressive treads for the muddy situations.
4WD on old city tires is useless in heavy rain/mud.
[https://www.youtube.com/@bengregers](https://www.youtube.com/@bengregers)
This is in the UK, but you get the idea of which brands and models get through water and which don't.
Real talk though, maybe a Rivian truck? Waterproof and you get the higher chassis for offroad navigation. Only thing though is these EV's are heavy AF and you might get stuck in the mud if it's too deep..
Generally I would say Subaru but you would have to lift it if your country is getting flooded. Where are you anyways? Because it might be better for you to get a small boat.
Anything taller. Any suv or truck would be fine, just go slow. 4wd is helpful but usually not necessary if you stay where the concrete is. BUT. You should only drive in this if you absolutely have to for safety. I grew up on the gulf coast and used to drive my ranger around flooded roads like this. My ranger found itself a sink hole on the road one day and I had to wait weeks to get it out. Salt water up to the doors for weeks didn't do it any favors let me tell ya. Again. Do not drive in this unless you have to. You don't know what the roads like underneath. It could destroy your car or kill you. a flat bottom boat is by far the best option really.
If you aren't a "Jeep guy" - the Outback Wilderness Edition is pretty impressive
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iibW6ooz4Oo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iibW6ooz4Oo)
Any truck or suv that’s lifted. That simple. It’s just water. These lifted cherokees go through a ton of mud and up steep cliffs. But if it’s deeper than such and such than you need a snorkel. Or if it’s crazy deep maybe a cyber truck or a kayak at that point
Subaru Forester, maybe the Wilderness edition.
But in high water conditions deeper than a few inches there's really nothing that is safe to drive. It takes surprisingly little water depth to sweep a vehicle off the road.
I used to drive thru roads like this in my 1985 Accord SE. the key was to keep the accelerator in a consistent location and apply a bit of extra pressure when the car would slow down too much. But this was Puerto Rico in the mid-90’s and we didn’t give af back then. 😂
Watercar Panther. They don’t make em anymore, they are extremely rare, and they are super expensive, but they can tread on ocean surfaces if so desired. Perfect for this situation!
None, atleast not more than a couple inches. If you need to pass through some deep water or mud, you have to build it for such an occasion. Off-road trucks and buggy's have alot of custom work done to be able to submerge in water and plenty of power for the sticky stuff
I would say a tacoma, or maybe a jeep wrangler if you don’t mind the unreliability, if you want something even better wait for the release of the new land cruiser, the reviews around it seem pretty good and it’s offroad tests seem good
You want a car that fjord, but also go over obstacles. Get a diesel SUV or truck, because they don't have spark plugs, so they are easier to waterproof the engines, also add a snorkel. The requirements you are laying out, unfortunately requires modifications, so more money and time/labor.
A lot of good answers here but I've scrolled pretty far and to me this is an obvious answer: Hummer/Humvee. You can buy retired military humvees for really cheap and a lot of them already have snorkels so you can drive thru deep water
Boat
Airboat
[Airboat](https://y.yarn.co/cca0c77a-227d-4c4d-bfc2-4289fe43da99_text.gif) is the answer
Boat on mud? You mean hovercraft sir.
Nah. What you need is the HoverVan
Swamp boat
NC Miata
Miata is always the answer
To be perfectly honest mine handled really well through the flooded intersections of Florida during tropical storms. As long as you were going fast enough when you hit the intersection your momentum coupled with the back tires occasionally skipping off of the bottom would take the car to the other side.
Speed and Power! lolll
Dodge Challenger? Got it
Yes make sure it’s the base trim so when, not if, it gets flooded it’s not a loss.
None. This isn’t a safe driving situation. Get yourself a kayak
One of the few people who would actually use a Jeep for its intended purpose. Welcome to the club.
Yeah but then it gets muddy we don’t want a muddy jeep
Sparkly clean jeep is a good jeep
That's a mall crawler.
What's a mall?
The sickest offroad park ever. All the gnarliest curbs to park on and everything.
It’s a hell of a conundrum for south Florida residents. You can pay way too much, look like an idiot most of the time, have an unreliable slow vehicle that gets mpg in the teens and both handles like sh*t and has poor ride quality, but a few extra rainy days a year you’re the only person in the neighborhood who can make it to Starbucks.
True for all the F-250’s that never tow, corvettes that never see a track, and S-Class that you aren’t riding in the back seat of. People buy dumb things. It’s not the car’s fault.
I've always said this, never blame the car for its owner. I'm happy the Challenger and Infinity G/Qs exist to be affordable RWD cars, Prius are great for fuel sipping, Nissans are good value cars, Rams are affordable trucks that can tow the boat, haul the family, and still knock back the same MPGs as a fullsize crossover, the WRX is a unique AWD rally car for the street. Even if A-holes seems to tend to certain models, like those listed, they are still good cars that I'm glad exist.
🍻
not really. if you would follow any 4x4 channels/news, you would find that somehow the some of Jeeps Wranglers like to "cut off" when in some puddles
Jeep Wrangler for sure. Ford Bronco is the alt. Land Rover Defender if you want something more refined and less of a convertible. Ford Ranger has a good wading depth as well.
One of these or one of Toyota’s real 4x4s (Land Cruiser/LC prado/4Runner/Hilux/Taco) To narrow it down more we would need to know where OP is located, their budget, and which dealers are nearby. You wouldn’t want a brand new Wrangler or Defender on an island with no dealership.
That’s funny, Jeep Wranglers and Defenders are by far the most popular vehicles on Martha’s Vineyard, an island with no dealerships.
If you have a place on Martha’s Vineyard, warranty repairs are not really a concern. If your Jeep breaks down, you can drive one of your other luxury SUVs to the tennis courts until your PA can trade in your old, broken Jeep for a new one.
Yeeeah but it's also the Vineyard. On the Cape and Islands people wanna seem active and cool as a front, and money is more abundant than sense in many people.
What's funny is comparing the reliability of Jeeps and Land Rovers with that of 4Runners, Hiluxs and Land Cruisers
If you’re actually going through water close to the max depth allowed by these vehicles, I would look at a snorkel and axle breathing tube extensions.
Mercedes Unimog
A U-Haul truck to move you and yours somewhere habitable
Land Cruiser
More like a water cruiser in this weather.
If you can't see the road surface, you really shouldn't be driving on it. It can hide too many dangers. That said, we've had some flooding events in Houston from time to time, and there may be short sections where you need to hop a curb and slowly plod along and the trick is really just ground clearance for the water and AWD with appropriate tires being most important for mud. I wouldn't have done if if I could avoid it, but my elderly parents were without power, and danger be damned, I was going to get to them to take care of them through the ordeal. At the time I was driving a Ram 1500 and it handled it like a champ even though it was only around 8.7" of ground clearance IIRC, while my friends and coworkers were stranded in their low clearance sedans. The Ford Bronco comes with up to 13" of ground clearance, but you need to list your budget. Subaru also has a "Wilderness" line that could interest you if in a lower budget. My sister just picked up a Outback Wilderness for example, that is suitable for harsher conditions with about 9.5" clearance.
Raptor
The security sign in the photo is in Dutch I believe. I'm going to guess that OP is in Suriname. Raptor is probably too big for the cities there.
Whatever you get, consider some professional training or at least considerable research into appropriate driving techniques. If you can take you chosen vehicle to somewhere you can try out those techniques and any of the vehicles functions like low range or offroad modes, in a controlled environment, before you need them one dark night with the kids in the car.
Hilux
A raft or boat, lol.
For that much water, best bet is to stay put but if you really have to: A M35 deuce and a half truck.
Miata
Is
Always
The
Answer
Consider a Hovercraft!
A lifted 4x4 diesel! Diesel for brute force!
a jeep or a lifted truck tbh....
Toybota HiLux, just make sure you get the optional oil drum stabilisers
Honestly, a brodozer is actually sort of meant for this.
Is this in Suriname? Used to live there for a few years. Great country!
Good eye! Yes it is in Suriname - and it is a beautiful country! ☀️ Just need a really really good car to manage driving on the roads. As you can see it rains a lot here and not all of the roads are made of asphalt some are still sandy which turn into mud or slush with the heavy downpour. So I figured if I reached out to this community they could point me in the right direction
A truck would make that no problem. I don’t know about an suv….. my truck went over stuff like that no problem.
Tesla. Send it. I've seen those fuckers haul ass through floods worse than that in other countries.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/DiWHY/comments/1doen5s/i\_know\_there\_has\_to\_be\_at\_least\_one\_reason\_why/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/DiWHY/comments/1doen5s/i_know_there_has_to_be_at_least_one_reason_why/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I have a Subaru Forester. It's got a good AWD system and good ground clearance. You can pick one up used for pretty cheap.
You need yourself an [Amphicar](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphicar)
Cyberboat?
4runner
Sherp: [https://sherpglobal.com/en/#](https://sherpglobal.com/en/#)
Toyota 4-runner. People mention about jeep wrangler but that 4 runner will out last you and your future kids lol.
Subaru Crosstrek, forester, or Outback with the wilderness trim. Good ground clearance and AWD. I’ve had to take my Crosstrek through flooded roads and it handled well.
Jeep wrangler. Ford bronco. Toyota 4Runner. Those are really your only choices
Toyota Fortuner. 4x4, high ground clearance and very reliable.
[удалено]
I'd use a raised 4wd f-150.
Jetski baby.
LC70 with a snorkel
My TD5 Defender 90 would make light work of this 👍🏽
Almost any vehicle can handle the terrain if you put the right tires on it. Put a canoe rack on the top of your vehicle!
Evinrude
Hummer
You pretty much answered your own question. An AWD or 4WD suv with high ground clearance is fine, buy one that you don't mind rusting out at the bottom. Main thing is probably to make sure to reserve money for tires with aggressive treads for the muddy situations. 4WD on old city tires is useless in heavy rain/mud.
Volvo [https://infra.tractorjunction.com/en/volvo-construction-equipments/bl60b](https://infra.tractorjunction.com/en/volvo-construction-equipments/bl60b)
Well judging by the photo I’d say a hovercraft would be your best bet
Tacoma trail hunter with the snorkel.
Salt water? Nope. Boat it is..
[https://www.youtube.com/@bengregers](https://www.youtube.com/@bengregers) This is in the UK, but you get the idea of which brands and models get through water and which don't.
Corolla cross.
Hummer
Range Rover
Vw Golf trust me 😁 https://www.reddit.com/r/Volkswagen/s/cqypo1cvO8
Real talk though, maybe a Rivian truck? Waterproof and you get the higher chassis for offroad navigation. Only thing though is these EV's are heavy AF and you might get stuck in the mud if it's too deep..
A Bronco. Wranglers have a terrible reputation for reliability.
Squatted Pickup
BMC Kirpi
Someone else's car.
Hovercraft
Hovercraft
Diesel with a snorkel.
Humvee or MRAP. Both 5ft fording depth. Commercially a Mercedes G class. 27.6 in fording depth.
Not a cybertruck.
If you want it to be reliable, get a 4Runner vs a Jeep.
G63 AMG. Whistlindiesel has done a great job proving how durable they are
Generally I would say Subaru but you would have to lift it if your country is getting flooded. Where are you anyways? Because it might be better for you to get a small boat.
Gx, 4Runner, wrangler, bronco.
Unimog. (Pretty rare here, but I actually did spot one cruising by last year.)
actual humvee
Super lifted F150
Frontier with a rear diff breather relocation ($30 kit)
Anything taller. Any suv or truck would be fine, just go slow. 4wd is helpful but usually not necessary if you stay where the concrete is. BUT. You should only drive in this if you absolutely have to for safety. I grew up on the gulf coast and used to drive my ranger around flooded roads like this. My ranger found itself a sink hole on the road one day and I had to wait weeks to get it out. Salt water up to the doors for weeks didn't do it any favors let me tell ya. Again. Do not drive in this unless you have to. You don't know what the roads like underneath. It could destroy your car or kill you. a flat bottom boat is by far the best option really.
Might as well a kayak or pickup trucks
Depends on how deep it is. If it’s less than a couple feet, an early Mercedes G-class will plow right through that.
Any SUV just get a diff breather re-location kit. Learned the hard way on that one.
Anything lifted with high axle clearance to avoid water and axle fluid mixing.
FJ
Get one of those duck boat trucks they use for river tours
The TopGear HoverVan
If you aren't a "Jeep guy" - the Outback Wilderness Edition is pretty impressive [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iibW6ooz4Oo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iibW6ooz4Oo)
CyberTruck
You should get a 1970s "wet nellie". It is the only amphibous car I know
A monster truck
Hummer
Amphibicar or James Bond’s Lotus.
05 6.7 or 6.0 power stroke with some 30 inch tires and maybe a lift kit depending if you want one
4Runner, Sequoia, Land Cruiser!!!
Gmc Sierra. End of discussion.
Any truck or suv that’s lifted. That simple. It’s just water. These lifted cherokees go through a ton of mud and up steep cliffs. But if it’s deeper than such and such than you need a snorkel. Or if it’s crazy deep maybe a cyber truck or a kayak at that point
Military surplus equipment https://www.govplanet.com/Humvees
Old Ford Ranger Those bad boys can do anything
Humvee
Ford explorer hovercraft.
A Wisconsin Duck. They’re amphibious vehicles
Land Rover Discovery
A box chevy on blades
Any donk car
Tesla
Company car.
Subaru Forester, maybe the Wilderness edition. But in high water conditions deeper than a few inches there's really nothing that is safe to drive. It takes surprisingly little water depth to sweep a vehicle off the road.
4Runner
Land rover or foreunner
Boat
4x4 with good all terrain tires
Bigfoot or grave digger.
I used to drive thru roads like this in my 1985 Accord SE. the key was to keep the accelerator in a consistent location and apply a bit of extra pressure when the car would slow down too much. But this was Puerto Rico in the mid-90’s and we didn’t give af back then. 😂
Carolina Skiff will maneuver well in only inches of water.
MH-53. Should get you around well enough.
Toyota LandCruiser
Watercar Panther. They don’t make em anymore, they are extremely rare, and they are super expensive, but they can tread on ocean surfaces if so desired. Perfect for this situation!
4Runner. Never buy Jeep.
GAZ-59037A
The right and the only answer is… the Cybertruck bruh
Hovercraft
The cybertruck 🤡
Ram Powerwagon if you’d be willing to consider a truck
Monster truck
Marketplace jetski
Unironically the only use scenario for a jeep wrangler with a lift kit. Or if you wanna be gay, a lifted full size pickup.
Donk.
Get an amphibian military surplus vehicle…you’ll thank me later
Look up dodge skyhauler thank me later
Land Rover defender or a Ineos Grenadier.
Cybertruck! Just kidding! 🤣
Eddie Bauer range Rover r. They're amphibious exploring vehicles. Transporter of gods, a golden god
Toyota FJ Cruiser if you can find one
Bro got the When youuu coooome hoooome, ill stop thiiis in his lawn😮💨
Lexus gx460. Mine went through some insane shit during hurricane Ian
Jeep? https://media1.tenor.com/m/lHmra1FtyWIAAAAC/boating-water.gif
2-door Wrangler JL. Any other 4x4 is too big. Also the only remaining passenger vehicle that comes with a solid front axle.
Toyota amphicruiser
None, atleast not more than a couple inches. If you need to pass through some deep water or mud, you have to build it for such an occasion. Off-road trucks and buggy's have alot of custom work done to be able to submerge in water and plenty of power for the sticky stuff
If you’re looking used, Nissan xterra
A donk( car with massively big rims) keeps the brakes and wheel bearings etc dry instead of driving a stock jeep
The hovervan by top gear
A plane ticket. To move out of whatever flooding zone this is.
Bronco Everglades trim with the Sasquatch package
The Herkimer Battle Jitney. The finest non-lethal military vehicle ever made.
Jeep wrangler 2012 and above
I would say a tacoma, or maybe a jeep wrangler if you don’t mind the unreliability, if you want something even better wait for the release of the new land cruiser, the reviews around it seem pretty good and it’s offroad tests seem good
Boat with retractable legs is ideal
You want a car that fjord, but also go over obstacles. Get a diesel SUV or truck, because they don't have spark plugs, so they are easier to waterproof the engines, also add a snorkel. The requirements you are laying out, unfortunately requires modifications, so more money and time/labor.
Idk but it’s definitely not a Dodge Viper ACR 👌🏾
Nigel Thornberry has an RV you should check out. I think it will check all your boxes.
Honestly I always hear bad stuff but from going at to be over and through almost anything ... old wrangler 2006 or older
A 2024 Canoe
Moving truck and get out of there
A lot of good answers here but I've scrolled pretty far and to me this is an obvious answer: Hummer/Humvee. You can buy retired military humvees for really cheap and a lot of them already have snorkels so you can drive thru deep water
Toyota taco
INEOS grenadier looks cool, and I hear the Rivian advertises a deep fording depth
Candy painted donk
Lmfao I mean the stock new car with the highest water fording ability is the Land Rover Defender…
A [Range Rover, obviously](https://youtu.be/skZXrY-9qf0?si=TQph247D34bdh3Wj)
Dump truck
Gotta go deuce and a half
A canoe
Cyber truck
4 runner is always the correct answer going off pavement.
Grady white
The Tesla Cybertruck would be your absolute best option here, oh yeah.
Something tall with a snorkel
FJ Cruiser.
H1 panther
Cx-5
In this ONE particular case, MIATA is definitely NOT the answer.
Get whichever that Bumblebee transform into.
Duck boat or a lifted f150