Downsizing tow vehicle

Sold my enclosed trailer and just posted my E350 van for sale and I'm looking for interesting ideas on what to buy to pull a trailer.  I'll be buying an open trailer and will be pulling a Miata to the track, but also have a C5 that might want to follow me around sometimes.  The E350 won't fit in the garage by about 3 inches, otherwise I'd keep it since it's in great shape. 

My goals are:

• Not real expensive to buy and run - $12K?  At least OK gas mileage in normal driving.
• Needs to be able to pull at least 5K lbs, more would be nice.
• Will be a daily driver in the winter and during lousy weather.
• 4 passengers minimum.
• Fits in garage - less than about 6'9" high

A pickup would be great, but they seem to have a pretty big premium and most of what I've found has lots of miles and look like they've lived a hard life.  An old Roadmaster wagon with a tow package would be my ideal, but they're getting pretty hard to find these days.  What's a cheap and decent vehicle to drive to work and pull a race car?

jwagner said:

My goals are:

• Not real expensive to buy and run - $12K?  At least OK gas mileage in normal driving.
• Needs to be able to pull at least 5K lbs, more would be nice.
• Will be a daily driver in the winter and during lousy weather.
• 4 passengers minimum.
• Fits in garage - less than about 6'9" high

• Not as low priced as you would like but much newer than you hoped. $28k for 2018 w/ 30k miles.  MPG is probably as bad as the van.
• Tows 8,500 lbs
• Spectacular winter driver w/ 4wd (caution, the offer 2wd as well)
• 4 - 7 passengers
• Should fit in garage but verify

Off rental-car Nissan Armada in the low trim of SV (but still well equipped.)    Point yourself directly to the car sale sites of Hertz and Enterprise.  

E350 with 4 inches chopped out of the middle?  Actually an Expedition might fit the bill, or a Tahoe.

I would agree - full sized SUV with a towing package. Just about all are 4WD and don't seem to have quite the same resale value as a similar pick-up would have.  

I was looking for the same thing recently.  Pretty much any of the mid-size/compact pickup/SUVs will be great.  Durango, Trailblazer, Explorer, 4Runner, etc.

I ended up with a B4000 (ford ranger) and it has been fantastic.

I'm continually shocked at how inexpensive Toyota Sequoia's are. That'd be my pick. 

In reply to mtn :

This morning in the school drop off line, I was behind an older Sequoia with a mild lift (or maybe just big tires.). Boy, did it look good. A just right mild aggressive while looking like a bigger 4runner.

Good choice 

Just picked up a 11' Touareg TDi for my wife, it will double as a tow vehicle once a Rallycross car build gets off the ground.  Ours was $19k, but 10' and older models go for much less.  It tows 7700 pounds, and gets close to 30 MPG highway unloaded.

In reply to jwagner :

Details on your E350? I’m currently shopping for a full-size van. 

If you're going to stick to an open trailer... 2007-2009 Range Rover, full size (not a Sport). The Jaguar V8 is solid, it's paired to a ZF gearbox and runs on Bosch electronics. Full-time AWD with terrain response means it's excellent in the snow. They are right-sized, have great visibility, and are very comfortable. If the air suspension has issues, which seem to be rare on the L322 chassis, Arnott and Suncore sell replacement bits that are far cheaper than OEM. Mine was an excellent tow vehicle but lacked wheelbase for the enclosed trailer that I eventually bought.

Other good options include the already-mentioned Touareg TDI (V6, not V10), Sequoia, Armada. Expeditions went from the 5.4 to the 3.5 EcoBoost and the 3.5's are going to be out of your budget while the 5.4 is kind of universally panned. My Range Rover was more reliable than my GMC Yukon, which says a lot (and my experience was not a one-off) and makes me super hesitant to recommend a GM given their universal disregard for safety. If that doesn't bug you much, get a Suburban or something.

Pete Gossett said:

In reply to jwagner :

Details on your E350? I’m currently shopping for a full-size van. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/2008-e350-tow-vehicle-fs/159835/page1/

I don't think you can find a truck shorter than that van without compromising more than you want to. I'd go Armada in this case. 

GMT-800 Suburban 2500 for 60% of your budget.

2002-2006 Cadillac Escalade. Picked both of mine up for well under $10k with near 100k miles. Heavy duty trans (with cooling), GM 6.0L, rear air leveling, and room for 8 easy (if you get the bench middle). 

I am a broken record, but believe them the best value in tow capacity/comfort available per dollar. 

Suburban/Escalade/Yukon is your answer. 

John Welsh said:

In reply to mtn :

This morning in the school drop off line, I was behind an older Sequoia with a mild lift (or maybe just big tires.). Boy, did it look good. A just right mild aggressive while looking like a bigger 4runner.

Good choice 

Ridgeline. 

That said, to tow a Miata and daily, I'd get a previous generation 4runner. The sequoia would be cumbersome as a daily driver.

Brake_L8 said:

If you're going to stick to an open trailer... 2007-2009 Range Rover, full size (not a Sport). The Jaguar V8 is solid, it's paired to a ZF gearbox and runs on Bosch electronics. Full-time AWD with terrain response means it's excellent in the snow. They are right-sized, have great visibility, and are very comfortable. If the air suspension has issues, which seem to be rare on the L322 chassis, Arnott and Suncore sell replacement bits that are far cheaper than OEM. Mine was an excellent tow vehicle but lacked wheelbase for the enclosed trailer that I eventually bought.

Other good options include the already-mentioned Touareg TDI (V6, not V10), Sequoia, Armada. Expeditions went from the 5.4 to the 3.5 EcoBoost and the 3.5's are going to be out of your budget while the 5.4 is kind of universally panned. My Range Rover was more reliable than my GMC Yukon, which says a lot (and my experience was not a one-off) and makes me super hesitant to recommend a GM given their universal disregard for safety. If that doesn't bug you much, get a Suburban or something.

You have this post just sitting in a Word file don't you? 

Interesting ideas.  I never would have thought Range Rover or Touareg due to reliability concerns.  Also need to look at the Escalade too.  The less I stick into pulling the track car around, the more I can stick into the toy car.  Ridgelines and Toys generally have really good (bad for me) resale values.  Was wondering about Nissan Frontiers which seem to be universally panned (maybe there's a reason for that) which makes them relatively cheaper.

Here you go:

7716 lbs towing capacity for less than $1/lb

Don't forget the Avalanche, also comes in 2500 trim.

08-09 gl550 

In reply to jwagner :

I think they are panned because it's an OLD truck at this point.....built on the same platform for 15 years. Interiors are known for quality/longevity...

They are cheap though, and the V6 is still pretty strong considering 

Wasn't there a RWD 4Runner V8 about to go on sale by a board member? Seems to me to be the easy button and should be under 10K