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Tow Vehicle Recommendations (Help)


MustGoFast

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So I need a new tow vehicle for the T22, the explorer won't cut it anymore.  My issue is I drive a fair amount when I'm not towing and can't find anything I want to drive every day that can also tow enough and isn't $$$$.  In addition I've never owned a truck and know very little about them other than the are way more expensive than the interior feels worth to me.

Needs:  I need to make one 600mile round trip a year one or 2 100 mile round trips and a half dozen or so 10-20mile round trips  (total mileage if 1 vehicle is about 14k/yr).  I lease my daily drivers and like getting new ones every few years.

Option 1:  Lease a small(ish) car that I'd enjoy driving for normal items and spend say 10-18k (hopefully) on a used Tow Vehicle  -- What would you target here?

Option 2:  Find a daily driver that can tow - Would like to lease for <$600/mo.  My favorite so far has been the Grand Cherokee Overland V8 (right on the border of this price tag).  I've looked at the Nissan Armada (like the car, the price not as much) - after that I was looking at the run of half-tons Titan, F150, Silverado, Sierra, Ram.  All of these in the trims I was willing to live in daily was going to push around 50k and none had good lease support so that might have just been off the table (the lease deals are always for base models it seems)... That and even at 50k I felt like I wasn't getting an interior even as nice as my explorer sport (which was a big step down from my prior vehicles).  -- Any advice or recommendations here?

My preference is Option 2, but I'm starting to lean to Option 1 right now as I feel like I'll be happier when I'm not towing, likely save $$ every month and save on gas too.  Thoughts?

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It’s hard to make option one work and make sense financially (I.e. justify cost of insurance, maintenance, etc). I was bored one day so I threw together a quick break even calculator in a spreadsheet. You have to drive a lot to make it work (I was driving 25k miles a year at the time) and I still had to go really cheap on a very fuel efficient daily driver to get the breakeven to two years. But that was paying cash for the daily driver so ymmv. At 14k miles a year, I’d probably lean towards option two. 

It’s too bad the tow rating of the explorer sport is only 5k lbs. 

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Live in WI @Stevo.  Budget is somewhat flexible.  The reason I started leaning towards option 2 is I realized I could buy a  2007 Tundra V8 5.7 w/ 75k miles for around 17k - to make the comparison the same that's like $200/mo and for $400/ mo to get to the same price as my Grand Cherokee I could have a fun little car the rest of the time...  I just don't know much about used trucks.  I agree the math is close to a wash @Pnwrider the question is will I be happier in the car I get with the same budget for the 90+% of the time I'm not towing than the "truck" compromise.

I just wanted to go buy a raptor, but their still a rip and the interior frankly is "cheap" for a truck pushing 60k

 

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Option 1 all day long. When I had an A8 also had a 10 year old F250.  The A8 beat the truck in comfort, mileage, and everything except towing.  Well maybe not hauling a mattress now and then.

The F250 was essentially costless and yet priceless for what I needed it to do.  And if you really want to be a "truck guy" an old truck gives you some cred.

 

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Go option 1. I've done it 2x now. Wife had been driving 35 miles each way in a yukon. Buying,  insuring and driving an Altima saved us about 150 bucks a month. That was in 2011. Still have the Altima as a commuter car, and it felt like getting paid to own it.

Last fall I needed to get a pickup truck again, rather than buy a new one, I found a solid used one, payed short money for it, and it became my primary driver. Adding it to the garage saved me 300 bucks in insurance alone and I don't worry about scratches when I go get things like gravel or mulch. Yes it needs some maintenance, but I can deal with that.

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Both options have their place, but IMO it is based on budget. Let’s just say op’s overall budget is 40k. he could, under option two (trucks as an example, but replace with jeep or Durango if you must) get a lightly used, well optioned f150 eco boost (a motor and interior he is familiar with), a used 3/4-1 ton of his choice, or some combination of truck and daily driver. The latter is where the debate comes in. Do you splurge on the daily driver where you spend most of your time, but risk the 600 mile family vacation on the 10-15 year old truck with 200k miles that you spent 10k on? Or do you suffer with a econobox daily driver to have peace of mind when you have two kids under 5 going on said 600 mile vacation? Or compromise on both and have nothing you really want/like? Cases can be made both ways. I went with the cheap econobox daily driver and the more reliable tow vehicle since I have two young kids and being on the side of the road on vacation travel sucks (am I right @Stevo?).

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3 hours ago, MustGoFast said:

So what was your budget for your "tow truck" if I can ask @minnmarker & @asnowman - Any thing I need to "look out" for or target?

Paid about 15.  Sold it for about 12 three years later.  Look for one without a 5th wheel hitch (wasn't towing a big horse or equipment trailer) and a crappy interior (didn't care and cheaper).

It's a hauler, not a luxury car.

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I drive a Toyota Camry daily I bought new in 2014 for 18,500.  I plan on keeping a minimum of 10 years/250k miles.  I put about 22k a year on it. Reliable, smooth ride and cheap maintenance.  Nothing exciting about it but better than a corrolla or civic. 

Our tow rig is my wife's 2016 Toyota Sequioa.  Huge interior, confortable and pulls the boat just fine.  She loves the "truck" size/feel.  Downside...it's sucks gas...a lot of it.  She's mainly uses it as a grocery getter and running the kids around. We also use it for all our long trips too.  

Have you considered a Ram Ecodiesel or a Canyon/Colorado Duramax?  Both would tow your T22 fine but also give you 27+ mpg highway (not towing that is).  The RAM interiors have came a long way. Just another option to look at...

 

or... buy a Durango SRT.  8700 tow rating and 0-60 in 4.4 seconds.  Best of both worlds.  You can find new ones in the high 50's.  I trying to convince my wife she needs one..

Edited by Cazan
Thought I'd something else
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What @Cazan said! Go find a vehicle that can tow the boat but also gets great fuel economy.

The logistics of driving a beater for family road trips when you’re used to something nice isn’t really desirable. With today’s technology decent gas mileage can be had with a more powerful/bigger vehicle. 

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11 minutes ago, Cazan said:

 

or... buy a Durango SRT.  8700 tow rating and 0-60 in 4.4 seconds.  Best of both worlds.  You can find new ones in the high 50's.  I trying to convince my wife she needs one..

This is exactly what I did! 😬 and loving it!! Ummm... it’s thirsty but I don’t care, the sound it makes more than makes up for it.

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2 minutes ago, gregtay said:

This is exactly what I did! 😬 and loving it!! Ummm... it’s thirsty but I don’t care, the sound it makes more than makes up for it.

Do you plan on keeping your's for a while? That's my biggest hold up...I tend I keep my cars a long time and I worry that the SRT Durango won't hold up 7-10 years.   I guess the resale value is too early to tell but it looks like the SRT Grand Cheerokee is holding pretty strong.  It's scary jump since I'm coming from Toyota and going to a possible Dodge...  

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48 minutes ago, Cazan said:

or... buy a Durango SRT.  8700 tow rating and 0-60 in 4.4 seconds.  Best of both worlds.  You can find new ones in the high 50's.  I trying to convince my wife she needs one..

Truck people......

Must live in a place with very straight roads.

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Option 1.  What I'm doing have the polar opposites in vehicles.  Got a used Chevy Volt and an 05 Diesel Excursion.  Volt is a great commuter if you drive less than 40ish miles you don't burn any fuel.  

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7 minutes ago, minnmarker said:

Truck people......

Must live in a place with very straight roads.

What do you mean? You don't think the SRT would be decrnt tow rig for a T22? 

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1 hour ago, jb 156 said:

Option 1.  What I'm doing have the polar opposites in vehicles.  Got a used Chevy Volt and an 05 Diesel Excursion.  Volt is a great commuter if you drive less than 40ish miles you don't burn any fuel.  

Until a battery dies and you’re out big money. 

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1 hour ago, Cazan said:

What do you mean? You don't think the SRT would be decrnt tow rig for a T22? 

I tow over mountains with both my Durango SRT and my wife’s Jeep SRT.. we tow our 23 LSV over curvy windy mountain passes and they tow great. I have towed with a newer 5.7 Tundra, Armada and a few other tow rigs and the SRT does an amazing job, a T22 would be no problem at all... even with mountains and curvy roads.

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2 hours ago, Cazan said:

Do you plan on keeping your's for a while? That's my biggest hold up...I tend I keep my cars a long time and I worry that the SRT Durango won't hold up 7-10 years.   I guess the resale value is too early to tell but it looks like the SRT Grand Cheerokee is holding pretty strong.  It's scary jump since I'm coming from Toyota and going to a possible Dodge...  

I would say yes... but I tend to keep cars for 8-10 years (my Touareg V10TDI for example) or I only keep them for a year or two. So far I’d say the Durango is a longer term keeper. I’m not worried about it being a Dodge... it’s a well proven platform (meaning the current gen DD has been around for 8 years) and FCA offers some very reasonable long term warranties (including lifetime.)... and even beyond that.. it’s damn cheap to maintain and repair compared to the German rigs (no question the German SUVs are better.. but the DUrango is based on the old MB platform and it is more impressive than I expected.

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A couple of the local dealerships offer the "lifetime powertrain" warranty. It's not through FCA but though a separate company.   A friend of mine purchased a used 2015 F150 3.5 eco boost from them with the this warranty.  Less than a year later with 68k the motor blew while towing his camper through the mountains of West Virginia. Left him, wife and two kids (one a new born) broken down.  They gave him a hard time because he missed a oil change by 100 miles but they ended up covering it and he got a new long block...he did admit that he paid a little more on the purchase price but ended up saving him thousands.

 

Watching a a bunch of reviews on the SRT Darango the negative I've heard is the oil temp seems to run high. 

 

What kind of real world MPGs are you getting? Which mode do you primarily drive in? 

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I would never buy an extended warranty unless it was through the manufacture... in most cases those warrenties are a total rip off. One from the manufacturer (if you don’t pay massive mark up on it) can be very useful.

You don’t buy an SRT if good MPGs are anywhere on your list of important features when buying a car. I do almost all in town, very slow traffic commuting(seriously never see 40mph during my commute) and so I only get about 12mpg but my JK Wrangler was only marginally better at 13mpg with no power under the hood. Traffic just sucks here and I only live 5 miles from my office and it is all 2 lane in town, lots of stop lights... crappy drive.. so I ride my bike or run to work most of the summer when the weather is nice.

Edited by gregtay
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I've tried some version of option one 4 times, looking for some sort of fun or snow or towing vehicle.

The first time, I bought a supercharged Mazda Miata.  I kept it for less than 2 months before I sold it and bought a much more expensive Honda S2K, which was kept for about 3 years and then sold for a Cayman S.

I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee as a winter car, which I actually liked.  When my needs changed, I sold it, but I still kind of miss that for what it was.

When I bought the Malibu and decided not to tow tandem, I bought a 11 year old 2500 Suburban.  It did a fine job as a tow vehicle, but just wasn't quiet or comfortable.  That lasted 1 season before I sold it off, spending much more to replace it with a 3 year old Yukon Denali XL.

Most recently, I bought an older Toyota RAV4 for a foul weather vehicle.  It was another that lasted less than 2 months, replaced by a Lexus Rx.

My point is, that when you are used to having a nice car to drive most of the time, it is difficult to lower your standards to drive a lesser vehicle.

Maybe it is just me, but I have not been successful with "option 1".  Maybe you would have better luck.

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3 hours ago, RyanB said:

My point is, that when you are used to having a nice car to drive most of the time, it is difficult to lower your standards to drive a lesser vehicle.

Maybe it is just me, but I have not been successful with "option 1".  Maybe you would have better luck.

That’s what I’m afraid of. My prior 3 were BMWs and the explorer hasn’t made me happy.  Found a deal on a loaded Sierra Denali today going to check that out when I get back next weekend hoping there’s enough lux to keep me happy.

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