Unique Tow Vehicle Situation... Input, Please!

Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) said:

Steve_Jones said:

Carvana is offering $2k more than he paid, not what he owes. They re also paying retail for vehicles at the moment, and it's an easy transaction (especially with a payoff). Selling it privately might not be worth the headache at the moment as the market is strange. 
 

Carvana is going to announce a buying freeze in a few weeks, so that offer might not be there when you need it, just a little insider tip. 

Well, Vroom offered me another $1,500 on top of the Carvana offer. I think whether I sell it to a company like either of theirs or do the whole thing privately, it's reassuring that the truck is desirable and I've got some positive equity.

The truck is desirable now because of the new truck shortage. That can change quickly. Vroom and Carvana are on a buying spree at the moment and paying up, that can also change quickly. 

John Welsh said:

Steve_Jones said:

Carvana is going to announce a buying freeze in a few weeks, so that offer might not be there when you need it, just a little insider tip. 

Just curious, how would Carvana stay in business if they stopped buying cars?

Or, does Carvana have too many cars and needs no more?

Closer to #2. They are worried about the market resetting, and will be slowing down on purchases soon. Carvana is a bank when you get down to it, they sell loans, using cars as the way to get those loans.  Auto loans are slowing down at the moment and they have enough supply for now. 

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

I have an almost identical trailer to yours. I tow it with an F-150 and I really wouldn't want anything less. Can't imagine using a Cayenne... long enclosed trailer + short wheelbase tow vehicle, physics are physics. I also can't imagine dealing with renting tow vehicles 25 times a year. The weight distribution setup is specific to vehicle height, so unless every tow vehicle has the hitch at exactly the same height the setup would always be wrong. Race weekends are stressful enough, do you really want to mess with that stuff every time? 

So I guess I'm in the minority when I say keep the truck. It's familiar, it meets your needs, and if it loses value at all it will happen slowly. 

I'd only end up renting a tow vehicle maybe... four times a year? Five? 

With the vehicles I've worked with each week, it's been easy enough to get the WD set up and at this point, messing around with a new-to-me vehicle comes pretty naturally. 

The shortest wheelbase tow vehicle I've used that has performed well with this trailer has been a new Defender 110, which is about 119". I'd truly have to get my actual trailer behind a Cayenne to see how well it worked, I couldn't buy one on blind faith from others' recommendations.

This thread prompted me to take a look.  I also got quotes of over what we paid.  It sure is tempting....

logdog (Forum Supporter) said:

This thread prompted me to take a look.  I also got quotes of over what we paid.  It sure is tempting....

The problem is that you then have to replace your truck with... another one. I guess if you can deal with no truck for a few months (or just rentals), wait for the market to correct and inventory to go up, then it would all be worth doing.

Having sold my truck in January (because minimal use), I kind of wish I had a truck.  That said, I've also owned a car trailer that got used just a few times a year, so selling that thing was easy, and there was no regret.  Uhaul trailers kill any flatbed car hauler, anyway.  Given the choice and not a need for dollars, sell the trailer and keep the truck.  It sucks not having a truck.

rustomatic said:

Uhaul trailers kill any flatbed car hauler, anyway.  

You're the first person I've ever heard say this.  Everyone else I've ever asked has shared my opinion that U-haul car hauler trailers are pretty much the worst open trailer you could ever use from a motorsports perspective.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

You're the first person I've ever heard say this.  Everyone else I've ever asked has shared my opinion that U-haul car hauler trailers are pretty much the worst open trailer you could ever use from a motorsports perspective.

That has certainly been my experience with U-Haul.  Heavy as hell, hard to load lowered cars, hard to adjust tongue weight, surge brakes instead of electrical, etc.

On the other hand, trailers are selling for crazy money right now too.  Supply is nonexistent and you can't find them anywhere.  I bet I could sell my enclosed for 20-30% more than I paid a year ago.

rustomatic said:

Having sold my truck in January (because minimal use), I kind of wish I had a truck.  That said, I've also owned a car trailer that got used just a few times a year, so selling that thing was easy, and there was no regret.  Uhaul trailers kill any flatbed car hauler, anyway.  Given the choice and not a need for dollars, sell the trailer and keep the truck.  It sucks not having a truck.

Oh I hate UHaul trailers. They're heavy and generally under-maintained and force you to load the car allllll the way up at the tongue.

Trailer is not going anywhere, it's an enclosed and the racecar lives inside full-time and it's paid for. I have secure parking for the trailer for relatively low cost so that's actually pretty easy.

I priced out renting from Enterprise and a four-day weekend would come in around $600 after all fees and tax and so on. So, not really financially any better than my current loan payment (more expensive, even) and I'd not have a truck any other days of the month. 

I guess I'm leaning toward selling the Ram to Vroom or Carvana (or privately) and seeing what I can pick up in cash that'll tow well enough and cost like... $20k or less.

The UHaul car trailers do weigh a ton and have crap-ass surge brakes.  But depending on the length and weight distribution of the car, the need to push it all the way forward can sometimes be fixed by just loading the car backwards so the heavy end is over the axles. 

You only have to load them all the way forward if you use the Uhaul tie down system.    Use your own straps and put it anywhere you want.

But yeah, low cars with air dams are a challenge.

Steve_Jones said:

Carvana is offering $2k more than he paid, not what he owes. They re also paying retail for vehicles at the moment, and it's an easy transaction (especially with a payoff). Selling it privately might not be worth the headache at the moment as the market is strange. 

Not around here, they're not.  I thought I would get a quote from them hearing all about how they're paying huge money for used cars.

My truck is worth an easy $3k and Carvana offered me $500.  Granted, it's a little older than they typically buy, but exactly zero of the rumors I constantly hear about used cars being so valuable have actually been proven true.  Ford dealer offered me $250.  The lots here are stuffed full and dealers are still spouting their same old stuff.  "get up to $2000 over KBB on your trade" and then they actually offer 1/4 of wholesale.  Same exact game.

Having said that, I just specifically sought out a GM for towing duty, and I detest everything about Dodge ownership, so the only thing I can suggest is to snag the nicest Explorer you can within your budget.

An Explorer is NOT a "go to" tow vehicle.

Its a short WB SUV, you'll be arm wrestling that heap down the highway.

My new tow rig has a 137" wheelbase.

I was previously spoiled by a 4dr pickup tow rig.

It was replaced by a bucket list S10 2wd Blazer, I towed a 12ft enclosed trailer ONCE!

Traded the blazer for a E250 van, much better tow rig and a better choice for the swap meets and races I attend.

My Ram is a 2016, Carvana and Vroom and these places don't want old vehicles like Curtis' Branger. Like it or not, the resale factor isn't there for older makes/models. I think I'm in the sweet spot of "new enough" and "low enough mileage" to get real offers.

Explorer is way too small with not enough tow capacity. I need 6500 lbs capacity minimum, 7k is more appropriate. 

I'm taking photos of my truck tonight and plan on listing it for sale private-party to start. No rush at all but if someone will pay me square in the middle of the KBB private-party value, I'll take it.

That, and Curtis' Branger is a pile of E36 M3 with a nice wrapper

Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) said:

My Ram is a 2016, Carvana and Vroom and these places don't want old vehicles like Curtis' Branger. Like it or not, the resale factor isn't there for older makes/models. I think I'm in the sweet spot of "new enough" and "low enough mileage" to get real offers.

I don't think it's a matter of resale values so much as the big places depending on being able to offer financing.  There aren't many banks that will write used car loans on 10+ year old vehicles, so even if (to pick a not-so-random example) 2007 LBZ crew cab silverado 2500 classics are going for $25-30K private party, places like Carvana aren't going to offer more than $10K.

Talked to a good friend of mine yesterday and he's got a 2007 F-150 that he's driven 3,500 miles in two years. 160k on the clock and looks new. He maintains the heck out of it and just doesn't drive it much as he's got other stuff to daily. He offered it "whenever you need it" so I'm gonna clean up the Ram and take photos tonight. Will see how a private sale goes, to start.

If nothing else, I can sell it and take my time finding a replacement.

Update: sold my Ram about a week ago, private party, for a $5,000 profit over my purchase price nearly two years ago. I drove it 10,000 miles in that time and it cost me a few hundred dollars in warranty claims ($100 per service ticket as the CPO deductible). I will miss it tremendously but have been really pleased with the notion of no car payment and the Ram's replacement being something a bit smaller that I enjoy driving more.

Ended up driving a racing buddy's Cayenne diesel and am now in the market for one of those. Looking at the second-gen (958) made from 2011 to 2018, the early ones have depreciated to the point of being a cash-friendly purchase. I have press cars lined up to review through the end of July, so I am not in the biggest rush to purchase, and thus can be picky about paint color because black/gray/white/silver are all awful when real colors exist.

Currently looking at a Jet Green CD with 165k on it - two owners, serviced every 5k miles, could be a good one at the right price. Also found a Carmine Red (bright red, which I love) CD with ~120k but no photos yet. Waiting on those from the dealership where it's located. 

This will likely be the first time I do a sight-unseen purchase and have the car shipped to me, which is a new and exciting adventure. I'm not particularly concerned about higher mileage as the 3.0 TDI V6 seems to be reliable and I'll have anything the car needs taken care of upon its arrival. And I'll likely only put ~4k miles a year on it anyway.

I'd highly suggest you NOT do a sight unseen purchase on an older, higher mileage Porsche.  That's a recipe for disaster, no matter how few miles you plan on putting on it...

docwyte said:

I'd highly suggest you NOT do a sight unseen purchase on an older, higher mileage Porsche.  That's a recipe for disaster, no matter how few miles you plan on putting on it...

That's fair. From what I recall, you've owned/own several Cayenne Diesels... what would you consider "high mileage" and what sort of mileage would you feel comfortable purchasing? I'm well versed in old/high-mileage BMWs and am appropriately scared and scarred. I'd rather find a CD that's in the 70-90k mile range but also know that being picky about color just makes things more difficult.

bentwrench said:

An Explorer is NOT a "go to" tow vehicle.

Its a short WB SUV, you'll be arm wrestling that heap down the highway.

My new tow rig has a 137" wheelbase.

I was previously spoiled by a 4dr pickup tow rig.

It was replaced by a bucket list S10 2wd Blazer, I towed a 12ft enclosed trailer ONCE!

Traded the blazer for a E250 van, much better tow rig and a better choice for the swap meets and races I attend.

An E250 / 350 diesel is a bucket list vehicle for me.  Just try finding one though.

I have heard stories on both sides about the cayenne.  If you are going to do that, then make sure you buy an equalizer hitch which may rquire upgrading the hitch on the cayenne.

You didn't describe what you were going to pull.  Possible solution a 10 year old box truck from U Haul, etc that you can step up into.  Now your car is inside.  The Moving companies have ramps that are fiberglass base and used for cars, and cost < 200 for a pair.  Buy a 10 -15k box truck, go thru it from one end to the other (at most another 5k) and go with it.  This is for a gas powered truck not diesel.  Diesel add another 5 -10 kon the front end and another 5k on freshiening it.