Tow vehicle, ideally an SUV, to tow 7500lbs or less and is reasonably sized

BoxheadTim said:

Thanks for the replies so far. A couple of notes:

• Appreciate John's suggestions regarding the Fastenal trucks - that would be a great idea if I was looking for purely a truck to do truck things. However part of me veering towards an SUV is that I would probably end up taking the truck/SUV for client visits (so I don't have to get another daily driver) and appearances matter a bit, so I'm looking for something that has a bit less of a "I'm here to fix your plumbing" and more of a "I'm here to help with your IT issues" vibe. Although fixing the plumbing might also be a lucrative career .

This almost makes me wonder if a work van might be an appropriate choice. Customers might assume it's full of CAT-5 cable, spare hard drives, and diagnostic tools.

Audi Q7
BMW X7
Cayenne
Range Rover (but they aren't the best at towing.  To squishy)
Land Cruiser
Armada
QX80
And, obviously any of the US full size SUVs pretty much.

MadScientistMatt said:

BoxheadTim said:

Thanks for the replies so far. A couple of notes:

• Appreciate John's suggestions regarding the Fastenal trucks - that would be a great idea if I was looking for purely a truck to do truck things. However part of me veering towards an SUV is that I would probably end up taking the truck/SUV for client visits (so I don't have to get another daily driver) and appearances matter a bit, so I'm looking for something that has a bit less of a "I'm here to fix your plumbing" and more of a "I'm here to help with your IT issues" vibe. Although fixing the plumbing might also be a lucrative career .

This almost makes me wonder if a work van might be an appropriate choice. Customers might assume it's full of CAT-5 cable, spare hard drives, and diagnostic tools.

If I was on the hardware side of things then definitely. As I'm on the software side I don't have to transport quite as many bits...

Although a conversion van might work, but are those even available in 4WD?

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Looks like we seem to be mostly in agreement re potential tow pigs. Although I'm be a bit surprised about the Range Rover comment, because every self-respecting dodgy used car dealer in the UK tows with one.

Fly to Tulsa, drive home. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1250543352075903/? Not sure if it has Towing package.

*Consider a PPI at Rennsport Tulsa or your preferred shop prior to commitment of course.

Looks like this is going to become a little more urgent than I had hoped for, unless I can 100% rule out that my wife's Range Rover is suffering from either a headgasket issue or sinking liners. And all the symptoms are pointing at least one liner that has sunk.

Anyway, if it's a RR replacement, it'll probably mean I'm looking at VW/Audi/Porsche, Land Rover LR3 or maybe a QX56 or an LX470.

BoxheadTim said:

Looks like this is going to become a little more urgent than I had hoped for, unless I can 100% rule out that my wife's Range Rover is suffering from either a headgasket issue or sinking liners. And all the symptoms are pointing at least one liner that has sunk.

Anyway, if it's a RR replacement, it'll probably mean I'm looking at VW/Audi/Porsche, Land Rover LR3 or maybe a QX56 or an LX470.

Why not include the Toyota version in the search as well? 

In reply to mtn :

I don't have anything against the Toyota version of the LX470, other than it feels to me like the Lexus versions are a tad cheaper.

Hmm. Just found out that early G500s can tow up to 5k. I really didn't need to know that, although I feel like I would need to polish my Arnold accent.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

They can but they suck at it. And they really don't ride well in general. I want one so bad but after driving a lot of them I just can't pay so much for something that feels like an enclosed tractor lol. 

Easy to work on though. Drivetrain is very common. G specific things are $$$ though. 

Get an LR4 or one of those supercharged 5.0 RR

Is the GL an option (I haven't read the thread at all). My uncle has really enjoyed his, though the stuff that he tows could be pulled by a Corolla. 
 

EDIT: I see yupididit is on top of this!

The GL is a little bit on the large side. My wife really doesn't want something much bigger than her current Range Rover, so a GL is pushing it a bit.

Get a VW Touareg diesel or Cayenne diesel...

In reply to docwyte :

That would be the ideal vehicle, but I'm not sure I can convince my wife to drive a Diesel. So we'd most likely be looking at the V8 versions instead.

But either way, Touareg and Cayenne are at the top of the list so far.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

My wife had never driven a diesel and she likes the cayenne.  It doesn't smoke, smell or sound very much like a diesel.  The only real change is she needs to fill up at the "green" pump and has to do it half as much as before.

I love love love my Cayenne Diesel. It replaced a 2016 Ram 1500 becauase the market is stupid, I got dumb money for it, and I wanted something smaller as a city vehicle. It does both of these things pretty well for what it is:

In reply to docwyte :

It's the "remembering to fill up at the green pump" part that we're both a bit concerned about.

In reply to Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks - that looks like a pretty substantial trailer you're towing, and certainly bigger than what I have.

BoxheadTim said:

In reply to Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks - that looks like a pretty substantial trailer you're towing, and certainly bigger than what I have.

20' enclosed, aluminum. Total weight with E36 inside is about 6,800 lbs with proper tongue weight for the Cayenne. I wouldn't go an inch bigger but it pulls this one just fine. Small mirrors are the biggest complaint, and you can solve that with some Amazon specials while towing.

It'll do 34 MPG unloaded at 75 mph with 2-3 people inside. Great seats, Bose audio is just okay, fantastic through a corner. The Cayenne is stiffer than the Touareg and otherwise tuned a bit differently. Drive both if you decide you "just want a TDI" because they feel way different in practice.

BoxheadTim said:

It's the "remembering to fill up at the green pump" part that we're both a bit concerned about.

Note that different parts of the country use different colors for the pumps.  In CA the diesel pump handles are green, in the northeast it's the gas ones that are green and the diesel ones that are black (or at least it was a few years ago, maybe that's changed?)  I'm told the gas pump handles are green in Europe too.

So you have to look at the writing, the color of the handle isn't enough.

In reply to Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks again - that's definitely a bigger and heavier trailer than mine. Good to know that it's no issue towing this trailer.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah, the "green is petrol in Europe" vs "green is diesel in the US" has almost caused a few issues in the past. These days mostly when I go back to Europe, though.

It boils down to my wife not being that comfortable with running a Diesel in case she puts the wrong fuel in. Not sure I'll be able to talk her out of that concern.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

You physically can't put the "regular" gas nozzle in the filler.  It won't accept it, only the diesel nozzle.  So no worries about putting the wrong fuel in, which I was concerned about with my wife as well....

docwyte said:

In reply to BoxheadTim :

You physically can't put the "regular" gas nozzle in the filler.  It won't accept it, only the diesel nozzle.  So no worries about putting the wrong fuel in, which I was concerned about with my wife as well....

I don't think that's true, at least not universally.  There are lots of stories out there of people needing fuel systems replaced after putting gasoline in their diesel cars, and I'm pretty sure most of them didn't use a funnel to get it done.

AFAIK the only universal "won't fit" nozzle thing is that the gas fill tubes on unleaded-only cars were required to be smaller than the common nozzles used to sell leaded gas, but that happened in the 70s.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Maybe in other diesels, or older diesels but you definitely can't stick a gas nozzle into the Cayenne/Touareg diesel...