What car...large (?) SUV for a road warrior, his wife and big dog edition

Yes, yes, I know.  I change cars as often as some people change underwear.  However those are more often "toys" than daily drivers.  Over the past years I've settled into having some form of BMW E90/82 consistently, as well as a truck/tow pig.  As I'm finishing up my second motorsports season living mostly on the road, my needs/priorities for a large vehicle are getting more focused and I want to find the right fit.  I asked a similar question before, but it was a while ago and I'm more dialed in now.  Here are the factors in play:

Whatever I get will be used as back up transportation when we're not on the road, with the BMW as primary.

Our traveling with said large vehicle will be sporadic.  We may go two months without needing it because we fly everywhere, then we may go 4 straight weeks using it to drive city to city.  Basically we're thinking < 8 hour drives, or longer drives if we're doing back to back to back events within the same geographical region.

The vehicle probably needs to be an SUV.  Pick up trucks have traditional back seats.  I have a 100lb black lab who will be riding with us.  For an 8 hour drive, I'd much prefer something with a large flat floor for her to be able to lay in more than just one position.  We also need room for our luggage and maybe a mini 12V fridge.  Minivan is ideal, but lacks towing capability.

We will bring a bumper pull RV fairly often.  We've done the Goldilocks approach.  Our first was like 22' and was too small.  Our current is 37' and while we absolutely love it, it's too big for easy tow/drop/pick up/tow/drop/pick up.  We're thinking 30-ish feet, < 7000lbs roughly. 

We'd prefer to stay under $10k, but can go a bit higher as needed.  Don't want something from 199x, I'd prefer something around 2007+.  I'll of course be looking for a documented service history with something old/high mileage.

What say you?  '07-'09 Suburban/Yukon XL?  Same year Tahoe/Yukon?  '12+ Expedition/Armada?  Would a hemi Durango fit the bill?  The Sequoia and Land Bruiser are probably out of price range, along with Escalade and Navigator.  

I think you're on the right track with Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon. Don't forget to include the Escalade in the search but they'll probably be too expensive or too worn out compared to the GMC/bowtie models. 
 

I wouldn't rule out the Sequoia, they seem to go for less than they should. Also, don't forget about the Lexus GX. They seem to go for less than comparable 4Runners and Land Cruisers. 
 

5 of my family members, including myself, have really disliked the Armada that we rented for a road trip. It didn't do anything wrong, but we found ourselves continuously annoyed with the car.

7,000 lbs. of towing ability really narrows the field.   $10K price limit lowers the field even more.

7000lbs of towing is a ballpark, I'm sure we could get by with 6000lbs.  Just can't work with a minivan that's limited to 3500lbs.  

Anyone have experience with the "mid size" SUVs?  Explorer, etc...  Are they very roomy with all seats down/out?

What about a Nissan Armada? I am not sure what you get for $10k but I believe that would fit all the requirements and could potentially be a little lower priced than other makes. 

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

Pick up trucks have traditional back seats.

Depends on the truck...

At least the 09-14 F-150 'supercrew' has a large flat rear floor, with more than enough room (standing, sitting, or laying) for any dog, placed at a significantly easier height for them to get in/out as they age vs the back of a full-frame SUV.

Thinking back to the Suburban we looked at before buying our F150, sure acres of space in back for a large dog to lay out, but also probably a bit short on height for sitting and standing.

What about a full size, 3/4 ton van? 

You're coming off a long bed, crew cab Super Duty.  Do you like it enough to do the SUV version of that same thing...Excursion?  
You're typically not adverse to higher mileage vehicles and they arr old enough to fit your price range.  That range might not get you a Diesel 4wd but I'll bet a V10 2wd

Your Super Duty is spartan XL trim.  Excursions were more often build with higher trim luxuries.  

Random Sample: Diesel 2wd w/181k @ $9.3k

The truck is great, just lacking the giant flat floor.  The Excursion is just too old, we'd really prefer something a bit newer.

How about something bought or built for current truck?  

The nicest 7.3 excursion you could find. I had a 2wd that went all over the country, towing, people hauling etc. Drove with my ex wife and son with her car in tow from southern California through Texas in August heat. Even handled a tornado on the same trip. Was stock besides bigger transcooler. Now I have an ecoboost Expedition that replaced it. 

The Expedition knocks down the miles faster and better but doesn't tow as well. The Expedition didn't feel like a freight train though. 

If the Excursion is too old and the Ecoboost Expedition is too complicated then maybe a 6.2 Escalade.

The requirements list reads like a design brief for the Tahoe (and related siblings). For real dogproofing, get an ex-cop unit with a cage or waterproofed rear. Heck, you can probably find a K9 unit.

https://www.carfax.com/Used-Chevrolet-Tahoe-Police_t2359

In reply to Driven5 :

Ford's fully flat floor isn't anything new. My '89 F-250 does that.

I have a 2011 Expedition I originally bought thinking I would flip it.  It's a 312a package XLT (leather, heated and cooled seats, nav, max tow pkg(9000lbs).  I bought it with 159k and it's now at 172k.  I paid $5k for it (4x4) and invested about $2k in maintenance and service work (everything got new fluids, loaded struts, 4 wheels of brakes, new tires).  We have driven it CT to MO two round trips with zero issues.  The only downside it poor fuel economy which is common to any large V8 suv and not unexpected.  I get about 12.5 in town and 16ish highway.

Don't let the 5.4 scare you.  So long as they don't have a timing chain rattle or exhaust manifold leak they are super robust engines.  

These things are SO cheap compared to a similar Tahoe and tow more with a roomier interior!  Highly recommended!

Wife unit had an Expedition Max Ecoboost as a courtesey car while her GMT400 Suburban was in the body shop.

It was very impressive for the short time we had it but way out of the budget and the Suburban is paid for and has a fresh engine.

My 5.4 powered 2008 E350 tows my loaded enclosed trailer (5500 lb) fairly well.  200,000 happy miles.

Re-reading your original post, got me thinking.  When I was traveling a lot covering pro-races all over the east coast for 7 years the perfect setup became a used 35' gas  V10 motorhome towing a nice vehicle behind.  Also worked well the weekends when I raced towing the enclosed trailer.  And our dog was very happy on the RV all day in the paddock, and traveling down the highways.  Just saying.  Maybe an RV towing something like a SUV is in your future.

I second the full-size van thing. If a minivan suited you but didn't tow enough, get a non-mini-van?

I did just look and the GRM perennial favorite Chevy Astro ended in 2005 and didn't tow nearly what you're looking for. 

In reply to P3PPY :

Yeah, I'm trying to get my wife to see the potential of an E350 but making little progress.  She says she doesn't want to look like a contractor or have a "Chester Molester" van.  Sigh...

The police package Tahoe is interesting.

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

Conversion van? I suppose a 3/4 or 1-ton conversion van is a unicorn but maybe some "underutilized" examples exist (like RVs purchased and used very little).  

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

In reply to P3PPY :

Yeah, I'm trying to get my wife to see the potential of an E350 but making little progress.  She says she doesn't want to look like a contractor or have a "Chester Molester" van.  Sigh...

The police package Tahoe is interesting.

I can 100% confirm the E-350 is an amazing tow rig, and it does have a flat floor.

Most are White, but your budget could include paint/ decals/ new wheels to spice up the appearance.  The one pictured below was recently sold with over 278k trouble free miles.

10/10 would recommend 

The Chevy vans, at least in my experience, drive much better than the Ford E vans. 6.0+6 speed auto should be plenty to tow what you're wanting and do it happily, and it's always nice to have some extra space. 

For a 30 foot 7k lb camper, I personally would be shopping for a 3/4 ton something or other if it's one of these older suburban/van/etc solutions. I don't know enough about the newer Ecoboost max tow expeditions and such, but half ton capability seems to only have truly gone up to comfortably handling that weight in the last 10 years or so. 

The Chevy vans, at least in my experience, drive much better than the Ford E vans. 6.0+6 speed auto should be plenty to tow what you're wanting and do it happily, and it's always nice to have some extra space. 

For a 30 foot 7k lb camper, I personally would be shopping for a 3/4 ton something or other if it's one of these older suburban/van/etc solutions. I don't know enough about the newer Ecoboost max tow expeditions and such, but half ton capability seems to only have truly gone up to comfortably handling that weight in the last 10 years or so. 

The wife is opposed to vans, shrug....  Starting to think maybe an Ecoboost Expedition could be a good fit.  They're in my price range and I know there are some good tunes for the 3.5 that focus on towing/fuel mileage.

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

The wife is opposed to vans, shrug....  Starting to think maybe an Ecoboost Expedition could be a good fit.  They're in my price range and I know there are some good tunes for the 3.5 that focus on towing/fuel mileage.

I'm assuming you're looking at high mileage ecoboost Expeditions from 2015-2017 if you're looking in the 10k price range. I'm not sure I'd want to do a whole lot of towing a 30ft enclosed with my 2015 Expedition EL and it has the tow package etc.

It has the power, for sure. But the suspension is softer than the same gen f150 etc. You can upgrade the suspension some to help with that. It CAN do it for sure, just not as well as I would want it to. I'd prefer a 3/4 truck or van for a 30ft enclosed, which is why I recommended an Excursion if it HAS to be an SUV.

EB Expedition would need to have the tow package (look for integrated brake controller) to technically meet your needs, but also watch out for the as-built (door sticker) payload being lower than advertised. A quick search shows reports of 1.3k-1.6k. With people, dog, luggage, and mini-fridge, that could be under 750 left for tongue weight. Even for a 'lightweight' 30 foot travel trailer I'd probably want more than that, and don't think I'd accept any less than 1.5k. The as-built trailer tongue weight will also be higher than advertised, especially after adding battery/batteries to the tongue, and they're designed for typical loading to be tongue biased as well.

Admittedly my wife would probably have a similar aversion to a 'commercial' van. As such, I would at least be looking for a 'max tow' package EB or Coyote F150 crew cab for more like 1.6k-1.8k payload. Dog gets the whole flat rear floor space, luggage and mini-fridge in the bed under a tonneau or cap. Add the 'HD payload' package (7 lug wheels) for a 2k+ payload '5/8' ton option. Stronger than a standard 1/2 ton, softer than a 3/4 ton. If that's a no-go, I think yupididit might be right about jumping to 3/4 ton SUV.