Affordable tow vehicle......

[bgreene]

Various fishing web sites ref the very expensive vehicles used for boat towing....used trucks selling for $50,000 etc so I'm writing a " Value Tow Vehicle " thread.

Early to mid 2000's era Ford Explorer
The good:
1. Lots of these for sale and decent condition in the $3-$5,000 dollar range.
2. Tows fine up to 5,500 lbs.
3. 9-10 mpg towing.....18-20 mpg highway without towing, same or better than other rigs
4. Lower cost repairs and maintenance since a common vehicle.

The not so good
1. Fair amount of " dash light alerts" for assorted things.....ABS, 4 wheel, whatever that often means nothing wrong except the well know electrical alert bugs.
2. Transmission has lousy reputation;.but 150,000 miles on mine - towing/ not towing and no issues so can't all be bad.

Tows best with overdrive ON.....go figure

[phatdaddy]

I ve got an 02 tahoe 4wd that s about the same. Got 235,000 miles on it, 5.3 is a little weak towing, but does ok. My local trip to the ramp is about 4 miles, so not that big of a deal. These can be had here for 3,000-4,000 in decent shape.

My wife wants a newer Toyota Sequoia, 2011-2015. Thats 25,000-30,000.

So i guess in 3-4 months, i ll report back to let ya ll know how it tows

[bgreene]

Good for you ref the current Tahoe.

Sequoia has very good reputation and as you stated - costs a lot more

[Destroyer]

Dodge Durango. 2006

The good:
Factory towing package.
Hemi Engine available (4.7 and 5.7) (Mine is a 5.7L [345hp beast])
Rated for 9900LBs towing on the automatic trans. Mine hardly knows my boat is back there.
Lots of upgrades available from bare to luxury.
Prices in the $4000-6000 range.
Gas mileage is 12-14 city and an honest 22 on the interstates @65 w/ cruise control

The bad:
Lousy rust proofing. Any place they use salt for winter is deadly to them in about 10 years. (They get lighter every time you drive them). My 2005 had holes all over it. I bought my new 2006 from a private seller in Az. a few months back. (Zero rust). First thing I did was have it undercoated. We'll see if it helps.

[Sangster]

07-14 Yukon XL Denali

403 hp 6.2L V8, 8k towing capacity

Mine is a 2013 that I got for $24k with 90k miles last year. It's been flawless and tows very nice. Gets 19/20 on the highway, 16 average, and 11 towing the V20.

[phatdaddy]

This tahoe is the first Chevy/GMC product i have ever owned, for 30 years i was a dodge truck guy. I gotta say i am very impressed with the tahoe. I would get a newer one, but in the 4wd version, the don t have 4wd low. The options are 2wd, awd, 4wd. At least on the ones i have looked at.

D, I heard rumors dodge is bringing back the Ramcharger. I would love to see that vehicle again. The Durango is a little small for our travel needs.

The sequoia is a proven platform, but fuel mileage is an issue.

Edit: did look up some Yukon’s on carmax, they do have 4wd hi lo range. Might go that route