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

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

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.

I had a 1985 Ramcharger with the 318 engine in it. Agreed.....Great vehicle/

Durango too small? I have 3 rows of seats...seats 8 total. (Although truthfully with the third row in use the storage behind it is a little sparce, but with the third row laid flat I can fit all my coolers, kicker engine, gear and a host of other things in there. Hell, I can probably even fit Giorgio's Bacon bagel in there...

[phatdaddy]

We had 2 or 3 of the Chrysler mini vans when the kids were younger and got used to all the room in them. When we would travel my daughter would suit in the passenger seat reclined back with a book. My wife would be in the stretched out in the middle seat handing out drinks and boiled peanuts and reading. My son would be in the back seat stretched out with a book or game boy. And we still had room for luggage, coolers, etc.

I wanted a newer tow vehicle and thats when we got the tahoe. Everyone still had their seats and I had a V8 that would tow 7000 lbs

But like D said, no room in the back for luggage when all seats are up. I wanted to go the suburban Yukon XL route like sangster has, but wife didn t like size, too long to park.

I can t believe you can t get a full size SUV with the room and footprint of a mini van

[oteps]

Im not a chevy guy but an older Tahoe or burb are cheap and reliable. I don't like 98 and up ford gas engines. too many spark plug and coil issues.
My tow rigs are 99 f350 4 door 8 ft bed 7.3 diesel with some work done to it, will tow anything u want.
And my plow truck, 95 f250, 460 auto. A little beat, fell over on its side once but gets the job done. Afraid to check gas mileage.

[Pipe_Dream]

I might as well chime in, as I have two. All my towing for the past 14 years has been with my company truck, a 2000 Suburban 1500 4WD. It has 4LO which is great on steep, slick ramps. All my towing is local, less than 20 miles, and the 5.3 L V-8 is plenty capable even today after it's gone 360,000 miles. It's been and continues to be a great truck.

However, the miles are a concern when traveling with the wife, 2 dogs and loaded with luggage, etc. when we travel north to see family, particularly in the winter. So we bought a used 2012 Sequoia 4WD which is our go-to road trip vehicle. Very stable feel, plenty of power. But you're never going to get better than 16-17 mpg, I don't care what you do. It should tow fine, but I've never towed the boat or anything else with it because the Suburban has always been there. The ride is stiffer than the Suburban, and it sits higher, which can be both good and bad.

I'm all in on the Suburbans.