For several years now I've had a Passat DD and a 3/4 ton Suburban tow beast. They are both feeling their age and with the new (to me) super capable SUVs on the market I'm wondering if I could combine the two in an upgrade. I tow a 5,500 lb enclosed trailer pretty regularly so it needs to be 7,000+ capable and I really don't see a use for a truck or the inevitable truck tax so unless there is a screaming deal on something with a bed, SUVs just make more sense. My commute is really short but I'd like to be able to take long road trips in comfort and not be concerned with reliability halfway across the country.
I really like the 2018+ Expedition/Navigator as that gets the aluminum body, 3.5 ecoboost motor, and 10 speed transmission. Is it possible to find a non-abused one for under $25K? I'm willing to travel to get one.
Anything else in that segment really call out to anyone?
wae
UltimaDork
6/5/24 6:05 p.m.
I'm in a similar boat... I thought I had settled on a 2018ish Armada or QX80 - 8500lb towing capacity - but now I'm reading that maybe they have some fatal transmission flaw, they like to suck bits of the catalysts into the engine, and the interior falls apart.
Yukon/Suburban/Tahoe, but they're very GM inside and the AFM horror stories worry me.
I thought I'd like the Expedition/Navigator, but if you look hard enough, maybe the 3.5 Ecoboost has expensive problems?
Sequoia seems like a decent answer, but a little lower on towing capacity and finding something under 100k miles with the options I want (4WD/AWD, adaptive cruise, rain sensing wipers, heated wheel, heated/cooled front row, heated middle row, no rebuilt titles, around 70k on the odometer) for under $40k is a trick. Similar for the GX from Lexus.
Maybe the Escalade is a good answer, but those are also hard to find in my budget (which is similar to yours). I thought that maybe they had the bigger motor that didn't do AFM?
Maybe some of the problems that I keep reading about are way overblown. After der Scheißwagen, though, I'm a little nervous....
In reply to wae :
A few days ago I drove a late model Lincoln Navigator Max and a similar GMC Yukon Denali XL back to back. The 3.5 kicked the snot out of the 6.2 for power and the entire vehicle felt smoother and more comfortable. Somehow the GMC felt more "jittery" over the same stretch of pavement than my 04 2500 does and far worse than the Lincoln.
In reply to KyAllroad :
To me, a Passat/Suburban combination, compromise would be a VW Toureg or a Porsche Cayenne
What about a full size 3/4 ton van? It doesn't really fit your comfort requirement (at least a cargo version) but it might be an alternative to a large SUV in regards to towing capacity.
In reply to John Welsh :
Does the long term reliability of one of them in the $25K price range match something American made?
I bought an Expedition Max last fall. Wife dailies it, we'll trade off on autocross days after I get my trailer finished.
John Welsh said:
In reply to KyAllroad :
To me, a Passat/Suburban combination, compromise would be a VW Toureg or a Porsche Cayenne
This is where I ended up. I have a 2014 Touareg TDI. It is a beast of a tow rig with a 7700# rating. I bought it at 95k and it now has about 115k on it. I have had a coolant leak at the oil cooler, the alternator puked, and it just threw a code for the DPF. So, not as trouble-free as my '00 Suburban or '06 Ridgeline but more trouble-free than my '07 Silverado.
I will say for day-to-day commuting, it's a damn good car. Comfortable, well-mannered, and quick. If your commute is short, I'd probably go with a gas over the diesel. The diesel likes to be driven hard and gotten hot enough to keep the DPF burned out.
docwyte
UltimaDork
6/6/24 12:48 p.m.
I had an Expedition as a rental and it was very nice. Surprisingly powerful, very comfy but it was H U G E. Like wouldn't fit in my garage or driveway huge with commensurate blind spots.
I also ended up with a '14 Touareg TDI, so far perfect for me, bought it with a little over 100k miles and have a little over 105k miles now. We've owned our Cayenne diesel from 18k miles and now have around 118k miles on it. Basically trouble free was well. Both are commuters, I've got a 9-10 mile commute, my wife has a 16 mile commute. That seems to be enough to get them hot enough for the DPF to go into regen mode...
In reply to docwyte :
What year cayenne diesel and how different is it from the vw version?
docwyte
UltimaDork
6/6/24 5:59 p.m.
In reply to yupididit :
It's a 2015 and just about out of warranty. Same chassis and powertrain, but very different on the inside. The nose of the cayenne is different vs the touareg and the cargo area of the touareg is larger because the hatch isn't as slanted. The cayenne is much nicer inside compared to the touareg, nicer leather, more available options, etc. I like the simplicity of the touareg though, the hvac and button layout is much more pleasing to me. It's hard to find a cayenne equipped as you'd like because everything is an option. If I'd been able to find another one with the same options as the one we currently have, I would've bought it vs the Touareg. I'm happy with the Touareg tho.
In reply to docwyte :
Thank you. I want to downsize from my Expedition.
A coworker just went the diesel Cayenne route - I think also with a 2015, because he's out of warranty next year. I have to say I'm impressed with how it tows on trips, watching from the outside. He's very much enjoying having a car that was made after 1996 :)
ShawnG
MegaDork
6/6/24 7:01 p.m.
But...
If you're not using a 2-5/16" ball, are you even towing? 
The Touaregs and such are great tow rigs and I know my Suburban and Silverado are "all GM on the inside" but they're sure cheap to fix when they break.
The aforementioned Cayenne was towing a 20' enclosed trailer that uses a 2 5/16" ball :) There was a Miata and a whole lot of other stuff inside.
In reply to yupididit :
Just got a very plain Expedition, very nice shape nor the higher miles. for my wife; very happy with it. The Audi stayed in Detroit with my friends son.
I might be interested in yours as I recover from buying this.
then I might keep this one for me!
LukeGT
New Reader
6/6/24 9:27 p.m.
Interestingly the newer Mercedes GLE350 (like 2016-2020ish) has a 7k+ towing capacity and can be had for low 20s with decent miles. Noticed that when I was researching this very subject.
Depending on your price range, I'm a huge fan of the 2019+ Ford Ranger. Those will also tow 7500lbs as long as it has the tow package and can be had for mid 20s, crew cab makes it SUV like inside anyway.
