Tow vehicle suggestions

[SDNAH2OSKIER]

My partner has an Acura MDX that is able to pull the boat (2004 Malibu Respnse LXI) but we go out to the Colorado river which requires going up and down a couple of long grades and the motor spins like a hamster wheel on crack. I offer to let him take my truck but he doesnt like the borrowing routine. I think he is going to trade a lot of everyday comfort but he wants to get something a little more capable of towing the boat the 3-4x a year he tows it out to the river. Half of those trips the boat is behind my truck anyway. BUT that said, what can you buy that is still a pretty comfortable sport ute but that would tow the boat a little more competently? We talked about a Lexus GX470 or maybe a MBZ GL450, what do you guys think?

[jhughes]

What's the budget?

 

I'm a Toyota Land Cruiser guy. Really neat and somewhat rare but incredibly capable vehicle. Holds value insanely well. Made for traveling overland anywhere, not just for soccer games and the mall. Made 100% in Japan FWIW.

 

The 4th Gen 4Runner V8 is a great car too. 5speed auto mated to a 4.7L V8, very capable vehicle, 2003-09. GX470 of the same vintage is the same vehicle and is also terrific.

[Texas6]

Infiniti QX80 tows really well and has plenty of room and more than enough motor

[6balls]

The Mercedes GL tows great and is a very comfy, luxurious SUV with a usable 3rd row even for normal sized humans. We have a 2008 GL 550 and the one and only thing I don't like about the vehicle is I find the steering effort to be lighter than I would like it to be. Otherwise amazingly athletic for a vehicle with 3 rows (or any SUV for that matter). We have a 2007 ML 63 AMG and it tows like a beast with over 500 hp. Mileage...not so much.

 

If you don't need to go that upscale...look at a new Durango. The Grand Cherokee is on the Mercedes ML platform from the Daimler-Chrysler days and the Durango is a stretched version of same. Hemi has plenty of "go". My brother has the R/T, if want more luxo bits get a Citadel. 360 hp, 390 lb feet, 7200 lb tow rating. If you don't need the 3rd row look at a Grand Cherokee.

[MISkier]

My 1996 Chevy Tahoe seems to get the job done, even at 265,000 miles. Best part is that I haven't had a car payment for 16 years.

[TEL]

I hear that Jeep is going to release a Hellcat Grand Cherokee 707 HP that will pull a boat you will never be late to the lake

[gregy]

My wife has Jeep Commander with a 5.7 hemi. Tons of power and its a limited with all the goodies. You can pick them up used for a reasonable price. I do most of the towing with my 96 Suburban with 312K miles on the engine.

 

Nissan coming out with a 5.0 Cummins diesel V8. If they put that in a SUV it would be great for towing.

[GOODESkier]

Any new truck has tons of creature comforts, I chose TOYOTA, been best rig ever for us!

[6balls]

@tel yah the hellcat Jeep is gonna be cool. Might be the replacement for my ML63 AMG when the time comes.

[kingshredd]

Ford Raptor, that way if you ever get stuck in the desert on the way to or from the river you would be ready. Also it has a very comfortable ride. I know it's not an SUV but very roomy!

[SDNAH2OSKIER]

He wants something upscale. Talked a little about an X5. Budget is 40k. Probably try to find a 2-3yr old rig with 25K miles. I love the land cruiser but yeah they are few and far between and almost impossible to get a deal on. Infinti is a good recommedation, I will look into that. I like the Cherokee, I have a 14' Ram and still very impressed with that but probably not the right logo on the hood. Thanks for the input so far.

 

[texas_slalom_trick]

I'd say, an older suburban with not a lot of moles on it.

[texas_slalom_trick]

Then again... I'd say a truck.

[texas_slalom_trick]

Stupid auto correct ,miles not moles.

[Razorskier1]

My 2007 X5 with the 4.8 liter towed like a beast. You wouldn't know you had a boat behind you.

[Nick Sullivan]

My brother just got a VW Toureg TDI to pull his Wakesetter. That is a hell of a tow rig, it pulls that heavy wakeboard boat stupid easy.

[oldjeep]

Gx470 /460 with the air ride tows really well and is actually a truck(body on frame), rather than a unibody car like most suvs . My dad had a gx470 with the air ride until a 3/4 ton plow truck rear ended it at 50 mph, they take a pretty good hit. He replaced it with a new gx460 that did not have air ride. I towed with both of them and don't care for the feel of the non air ride suspension when towing. The gx 470 was almost as good as towing with my crew cab pickup, there just isn't a substitute for the handling you get with a longer wheelbase.

[kc]

Really like my Nissan Armada. Tows great and has all the bells and whistles.

[Ajskier]

+1 for the Touareg. It pulled my boat home from VT like there was nothing behind it. Btw, the drive ended up being 12.5 hours.

[mkerzie]

Since you are considering the Lexus 470 is appears that 8 cylinders are fair game here. On that note, I tow my boat with an Escalade and LOVE IT! You can barely feel the boat behind you and the SUV has all the amenities you could wish for. Ive heard the Infinity's are quite nice as well.

[RAWSki]

I have a 2015 Grand Cherokee with the V6 and it does just fine here in 'mostly flat' Michigan. Have also used the RAM 1500 with a Hemi V8 and that is very nice, both use a version of the FCA 8 speed transmission that works very well.

[Skoot1123]

How about an F150 Lightning? That would be pretty cool!

[dbski]

@skoot1123, just got done towing my Malibu to the storage barn with my Lightning. Since I live on a lake I don't tow much, but when I do I don't lack for power!

[mopowpow]

We just got a 2015 Toyota Sequoia so we can tow our boat on non-flat surfaces. The Platinum edition does everything but wipe your butt, or look at the Lexus version.

[wolfgang]

I have a 2004 LXI and tow it behind a Q5 Audi with the supercharged 3 litre V6. It as amazing torque off idle, like a diesel , and lots of top end. For more space the Q7 would be ideal. Never had a hint of tire slip on our hard pack, fairly steep ramp.

[RichardDoane]

recommend looking at a F150 4 door 5.5' bed, get Lariat or Platinum for bells/whistles

[OldboyII]

Big boys with big toys ))

Let me also add few cents - since I got MB G500 Im prety confident that towing of any kind of things is not an issue any longer.

[oldjeep]

@richarddoane - if we are getting all the way up to an actual truck then a Ram 1500 hemi crew is hard to beat, 122k on my 09 2wd without any big issues. My boat weighs another 1000 lbs more than the average ski boat and it tows it like it is not there. But if we are being honest about it, a ski boat on a trailer weighs about the same as an average utility trailer that most folks would tow with a minivan.

[andjules]

I'll voice a contrarian view: Americans, at least in the view of most Europeans (disclaimer: I'm somewhere in the middle, as a Canadian), have an obsession ('sickness'?) when it comes to towing. The caricature/cliché is the American who buys a dually HD pick-up to tow two jet skis 5 miles to the boat launch twice a year... however, the reality is not far off, in my experience: Americans are (typically) terrified of getting anywhere close to their vehicle's max tow rating.

 

A few points:

- (Most?) North American tow ratings assume your trailer has NO brakes

- - Almost all ski boat trailers have surge brakes

- North American tow ratings are not always (rarely?) determined by engineers. America is a more litigious country with a history of class action law suits against car companies.

- - Many, many vehicles have significantly higher tow ratings in Europe, while being mechanically identical to their US counterparts. Great example: VW Tiguan. US/Canada tow rating: 2,000lbs. European tow rating: 4,400lbs. (To be fair, Americans do tend to drive at slightly higher highway speeds, but not by enough to explain the discrepancy in tow ratings).

- Despite what your dad implied in the 1970s, you're not irreparably damaging your engine when it revs above 3500RPMs.

- The fact that you can 'feel' your trailer is not a sign that your tow vehicle is underpowered or too small or that the tail is legitimately wagging the dog. The fact that you feel like you can't stop as fast and should drive more defensively is not a sign that your tow vehicle is underpowered or too small. Trying to achieve the sensation that you're-not-even-aware-of-your-3500lb-trailer is not a reasonable goal. You can be safe while still aware that your vehicle is under load.

 

It sounds like your friend tows a couple of times a year. It also sounds like his principal discomfort stems from the engine revving high on long inclines. Perhaps it's a hold-over attitude from the days of low-revving american V8s, but there's nothing wrong with a Japanese engine running at 4k+ RPMs up an incline for 20 minutes.

 

If he were towing 20, 30 or more times per year, it would make sense to invest in a more capable tow vehicle. But twice a year is no reason to spend the rest of year driving around the suburbs in an oversized, gas-guzzling SUV or truck.

 

Oddball recommendation (given that he drives a luxury compact/mid SUV): Audi Q5. Even with the base 2.0l (non-diesel), it has a north american tow rating of 4,400lbs. Like his MDX, it'll work hard going up those Colorado grades. But it'll feel pretty nice the rest of the year.

 

[OldboyII]

Believe me or not. I know the guy who pulls MC190 with Nisan Almera )))

[oldjeep]

@andjules there is no way that American tow ratings are for without brakes. The owners manuals specify the un braked limits which for many small suvs in the range of 1500-2000 lbs. I'm trying to imagine towing my rated 10,000 lbs with no brakes trying to stop nearly 16,000 lbs

[andjules]

@oldjeep I'll admit that may be too much of a blanket statement. I know I read it a couple of times, but I don't have a source. My understanding is that rules/regulations on brakes vary throughout the states, so the ratings assume no brakes. I don't believe most vehicle manuals make the distinction. Things may be different for big vehicles capable of larger loads—like yours—but my understanding is that tighter brake regulations in Europe are a big reason why a Tiguan would be rated for 4400lbs there but only 2000lbs here.

[oldjeep]

@andjules - a quick search reveals the reason for the disparity in the us vs European Tiguan - they are not the same. The us version has a different crossmember than the European that supports the hitch.

 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5617560-Tiguan-tow-capacity-North-America-Vs-The-rest-of-the-world

[jhughes]

It's nice to know that if I need to, I can:

 

[andjules]

@oldjeep Let's save the world a detailed Tiguan debate, but I'd read that page before and it's not really backed up, nor is it really my point: the Tiguan is a dramatic example but it's true of many European and Japanese cars and small SUVs. Lots of examples of cars with minor or no differences from their 'Rest Of World' counterparts, where NA tow ratings are 1,000-2,000+lbs less (although to be fair, I don't think the MDX is one of these). Lots of discussion about brakes vs no brakes. And lots of europeans reliably towing their 3000lb+ campers behind cars and small SUVs.

 

One of many other discussions on the web: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=376006

 

And again, if I towed often or far, I'd of course be more comfortable in a stronger tow vehicle; I'm just arguing that there's nothing fundamentally unsafe about occasionally driving conservatively/defensively/mindfully while near or at your vehicle's tow capacity, and that I wouldn't dump a nice daily-drive SUV because it works hard going up steep grades when towing a ski boat twice a year.

[swc5150]

There are simply too many mid to full size vehicles that would tow great for your needs to mention. We have a Cayenne, and it tows great. We went with the Porsche because it was the most nimble SUV we tested. My wife wanted something that drove more like a car, and that was easy to park in a lot. I guess what I'm saying is you may also want to look at other factors outside of towing that could guide your purchase.

[Fast351]

@andjules While I agree that some people tow with overly large vehicles, my guess is (our current audience excluded, because ski boats by design are small and light) most people towing towboats are towing with significantly underrated vehicles. Just because the vehicle will move the trailer, doesn't mean it's safe.

 

This is why it is required that trailers over 3000# have their own brakes. And why without a weight distributing hitch or some oversized vehicle/hitch setup (read 1 ton+) most non-weight distributing hitches max out at 5000#. Yes, that means that the guy with a 3/4 ton diesel and a G23 behind it is significantly over the design limit of the vehicle. PN has had a great ongoing conversation about this recently:

 

PN Towing Discussion

 

I, for example, would not do this (even though this guy has just installed a WDH, as you can see in the picture:)

 

 

I tow a SV211 weekly, and I tow it with a 1/2 ton pickup. I wouldn't tow it with anything lighter, and it's probably only 5500# with trailer as opposed to these new boats that are in the 8000-9000# range.

 

Remember, pulling the load is only a 1/3rd of the equation. Stopping and steering it are the other 2/3rds, and with the size of some of these newer boats, I would have serious reservations about anything less than a full size SUV (like a Suburban) or a 1/2 ton, and even then, the hitch setup is very important.

 

That said, for our boats where you're talking 3000-3500#, yeah, that comfy luxury SUV is perfect.

[gregy]

I grew up around farming / ranching. Been around trailers, heavy equipment etc as long as I can remember. When I was about 20. I lost control of a trailer I was pulling with a 3/4 ton truck. I found myself sliding down the interstate sideways. One of those things were your life flashes before you, 18 wheeler barreling down on me. So I'm a big believer in having more tow vehicle than I need. When people ask me I always tell them you want a vehicle that can handle the load under a high speed maneuver or a quick stop, you may never need it but it could be the difference between an accident or not. A lot of vehicles now days have power but do they have the suspension, weight, braking to handle the load during a special situation. I personally think a lot of the 1/2 ton pickups are overrated by the manufactures.

 

My present Response is the first boat I've had with a dual axle trailer. I really like the way it pulls on the highway. I really don't think its necessary for a tournament boat but it make for a more comfortable ride in the vehicle and with the 4 wheel disc stopping is not an issue.

[DaveD]

Does that luxury SUV have a transmission designed for towing?

[thager]

Gotta pull their trailers of cash with something!

[swc5150]

Our Cayenne is rated just under 8,000#, and the tranny has no issue with our 196. The suspension, brakes, tranny cooler, etc are head and shoulders above what are late Tahoe had, so I'm not sure where we're going with the luxury SUV thing here?

[bigtex2011]

hmmm Audi, Acura, Porsche, BMW. Hopefully those are company cars. My wife has one. She gets her nails done and takes her friends get drinks with umbrellas in them . Get a truck and maybe swing by the lumber yard or the plumbing supply store. Chuck Norris does. You'll be glad you did.

[swc5150]

Race you to the hardware store;)

[slvrbulit]

@bigtex2011 that's some funny sh!t. I hope my Silverado is Chuck Norris approved.

[bigtex2011]

@slvrbulit . Chuck called and gives a massive thumbs up.

[boarditup]

As a dealer how much it costs to replace an alternator in the VW diesels.... Great performance, but the cost of routine replacements for wear items is pricey. Always ask for the cost of a replacement starter, alternator, water pump, and radiator before buying. Some cars are cheap as used vehicles for good reason.

[swc5150]

 

Just got off the phone with Chuck. He's a Porsche guy;)

[bigtex2011]

What I see in this picture is a guy securing his girlfriends car while she shops at Victoria Secret.

His truck is idling in the shade with the AC running while his bird dog takes a nap next to the gun rack.

[swc5150]

Now that's funny!! You'd be fun to drink beer I think...or cosmo's, whatever you Texas guys drink;)

[bigtex2011]

Come on down and ski. bring ur shorts its warm.... there are lot's of trucks. you might even want to buy one :)