Does it Matter if You Like Your Tow Rig?

I drive my tow rig 1000 miles per week.

Matters to me.

I drive my tow rig for work a lot. It gets more compliments than any other vehicle I have ever owned and I still hate it. It rides rough and consumes metric tons worth of diesel fuel (King Ranch F450) All the time I am guilty of hooking up my (ugly) beat up twice wrecked 04 Durango and dragging things around just because I hate driving the (beautiful) truck around. I am always scared I am going to scratch the truck, I hate putting miles on it and watching it depreciate. Meanwhile the Durango puts a grin on my face every time I get in it. It is totally reliable (also drinks gas but not as bad and if it gets scratched I rattle can the spot with whatever I have laying around. Unfortunately I have loads way too big for the Durango or it is all I would drive at work. Ultimately it is up to you. Land Rovers are fun but a pain on maintenance. Toyotas, Fords and Chevy trucks are the rule for work trucks for me, but the next guy might say something totally different.

I needed a tow vehicle- so I picked up a very clean 1998 GMC Yukon. I've towed to one event with it and it did the job well

Looks like the OP doesn't have a problem as far as I can tell.

The older I get, the more I realize there are "tools" and there are "toys". I've been jonesing for a new truck lately, and the other week was in a rental 2015 GMC 1500 4x4 (they can tow 11k pounds, cool). Overwhelming disappointment. It didn't do anything better than my duramax. So why spend $20K+ for something that doesn't change anything?

I think you are kidding yourself if a daily driver that functions as a tow rig is ever going to be "enjoyable" from any point of view besides power. I know I can hop in and tow 10k kms at a moments notice with my truck. That makes me happy. I know I can back a trailer past the shop with pine trees scraping the side of it and not give a crap, that makes me happy. I can make a mess of it and not care.

A truck is a tool. If you are using a truck as a car/toy, this changes things, but OP didn't say that. I'd save the effort and money and find a vehicle that IS a toy if that is a problem.

Wow, things have happened since I last checked this thread! The majority of you have said what I probably needed to hear- it's a tool, treat it as such. I think I can make some tweaks to make it better at its' job and be just fine with it, and maybe replace my other reliable utilitarian vehicle (Toyota pickup) with something loony to compensate

I like my tow rigs for very different reasons than I like the cars I'm towing with them. It will be reliable enough to turn-key and tow anything, anywhere, any time, and old enough that I don't care about using it like a tool.