SUV DD/Tow vehicle

What about a crew-cab truck? You get a diesel for that money.

My commander has the same horrible horrible 4.7, throw in the aerodynamics of a brick and you have a real winner. haha

Well, i drove a hemi commander and it didnt feel that great at highway speeds either.

I like the 4.7. It feels great in the earlier dakotas and durangos, but add enough weight and you can make any engine feel crappy i guess.

Im throwing out Aspen 2-mode Hybrid because im going to keep throwing it out until someone buys one.

Thought about a crew cab, I can get a '05 Duramax for high teens. Just not sure if I want to drive one around everyday.

Vigo wrote:

My commander has the same horrible horrible 4.7, throw in the aerodynamics of a brick and you have a real winner. haha

Well, i drove a hemi commander and it didnt feel that great at highway speeds either. I like the 4.7. It feels great in the earlier dakotas and durangos, but add enough weight and you can make any engine feel crappy i guess. Im throwing out Aspen 2-mode Hybrid because im going to keep throwing it out until someone buys one.

The 4.7 isn't that bad of an engine, its been used for years, its reliable. But it SUCKS down fuel. The aerodynamics don't help the mileage, neither does the fact that its in 4wd all the time.

Mine was able to haul a full sized uhual and completely full 2nd and 3rd row seat area, completely stuffed full of everything my girlfriend and I owned from Texas to Oregon with no problems. Obviously had a little trouble on some of the mountain passes, but I was fairly confident is wasn't going to blow up...

Mine was poorly cared for an getting an average of 10.4 mostly city, started replacing parts and I am up to 12.6 but I still have LOTS of work to do. This thing was neglected, good thing the engine is tough!

Here you go for the Tow Vehicle:

Go big, or go home.

Back to the original reason for the thread here are the trucks I personally would(and might in the future) buy. I have driven 3/4 of these cars, but haven't owned one.

• Cayenne Turbo. You can get these for crazy cheap money, even super clean, well maintained models! And SUV + Brembos is ALWAYS sexy.

• Trailblazer SS. This is dead equal with the Porsche on how much I like it, but I would be more likely to buy this truck. The power train is awesome, available AWD. Everytime I look at one I see a modern Typhoon. Available AWD. My favorite part is that the SS package is an engine package, not a trim package. So you can get a base interior or the suede/navi/etc interior. The real drawback for me is the interior, I really dislike trailblazer interiors. The top of the line interior improves it, but still feels cheap to me. I would never own any trailblazer except the SS, its the drivetrain that made me fall in love with this one. Look on youtube for a video of a modded one spinning all four wheels from a launch, I test drove one the day after I saw that video!

• 2WD Excursion 7.3 Diesel. Always wanted a really modded one with functional bags and big wheels. More room and towing capacity than you will likely ever need and they are cheap.

• SRT8 Cherokee. Never driven one, never sat in one, But they are gorgeous. However I personally won't buy another Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler/etc for a long time after owning my Jeep.

Well, if an expensive vehicle has depreciated rapidly, there's got to be a good reason for that.

My "OMG RICH" fantasy is to buy a Cayenne Turbo and use it as a tow rig. I figure $20k/year to pay someone else to keep up with maintenance and repairs.

Knurled wrote: I figure $20k/year to pay someone else to keep up with maintenance and repairs.

Are repair costs and/or maintenance schedules really that crazy? Anybody know how hard they are to work on? I imagine the engine bay is a little cramped in the turbo but its still a pretty standard vehicle mechanically...

Well, oil changes are freakin' expensive (many quarts of >$10/qt oil) and if you want the engine to last you do NOT follow the absurd service schedule. Brakes ain't cheap, the electronics are the usual German junk (sorry) that you're lucky if everything works when it's NEW, and every little module is hideously expensive to replace.

I'm also figuring on a trans rebuild every year, because ZF. I wouldn't trust a modern ZF trans to do anything but fail early.

And Porsche techs aren't cheap, either

How much Touareg stuff swaps to the Cayenne?

Given this depreciation and the inability of most Touareg/Cayenne owners to leave their garage without an iphone glued to their head I bet there are a lot of these in JY's by now.

Cayenne turbo brakes are cheap. Rotors are $80-100, front brake pads are $120 for the set. That does change for the Cayenne Turbo S, those have huge, 2 piece rotors and different pads that are very expensive.

If you're used to brake pads for $20 and rotors for $10, then yeah, Porsche parts cost more.

However, compared to other Euro makes, the parts on the Cayenne Turbo aren't OMG expensive.

All V8 Cayenne's have plastic coolant pipes that should be replaced with the newer aluminum ones. Coil packs are known to be flaky (same issue with the VW/Audi's) and after some time a driveshaft bearing can go bad. New driveshaft is $400.

Other than that, all my research has pointed to them being really reliable. Not Toyota/Honda reliable, but still good.

All be damned...

Anyone else spot the surprise?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OK-EXPORT-2012-PORSCHE-CAYENNE-AWD-NAVIGATION-BOSE-XENONS-TURBO-II-WHEELS-/270966949263?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f16e3858f#ht_60681wt_960

And another

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RARE-6-SPEED-MANUAL-NAVIGATION-BLK-BLK-1-99-FINANCING-/150795772961?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item231c20e421#ht_78995wt_960

Gotta say... I hated Excursions when they came out, and for a LOT of uses (including DD such as in this thread title) i still do.

But having driven a 7.3 Excursion, i was shocked by how much i LIKED driving it.

The engine bay definitely sucks. Under the truck is just fine (trans, u joints, etc).

If one were going to use it as a tow vehicle or very short distance commuter, id recommend it. If you drive any distance over 5 miles without a trailer, i still think it's hedonistically excessive. But i drive a 40mpg car whose mileage is disappointing me, and i have a 50mpg car that id like to push up another 20 mpg, and i drive almost all long-distance highway.

docwyte wrote: Thought about a crew cab, I can get a '05 Duramax for high teens. Just not sure if I want to drive one around everyday.

Get a GM 2500HD for high teens, spend the $5K left in your $25K budget on a Miata. DD the Miata, and leave the HD at home most of the time.

it's really hard to beat suburban/yukon for what you want to do.

bonus for gen3/4 small block 6.2 awesomeness.

I'm going to check out duramax's tonight.

Can't get the 6.2 in the Yukon unless you get a Denali, and they're $$$.

Suburban's and Yukon XL's are too big, I want a "regular" Yukon/Tahoe....

docwyte wrote: Cayenne turbo brakes are cheap. Rotors are $80-100, front brake pads are $120 for the set. That does change for the Cayenne Turbo S, those have huge, 2 piece rotors and different pads that are very expensive.

That's... significantly cheaper than my cost for pads/rotors for a Turbo (non-S).

I didn't bother looking for a price on calipers, which are a regular maintenance part around here, especially aluminum ones.

Check out pelicanparts.com.

Decided I'm doing this the wrong way. The SUV's are stupidly expensive, mid to high $20k's, some into the low $30k's.

Decided I'm going to buy a 2005 Duramax crew cab for high teens and use the rest of the cash to get something fun to use as a daily driver.

I bought a '08 Expedition EL last year and couldn't be happier towing with it and using it as the family hauler. 20mpg on the highway if you are nice to it, 14mpg towing an open trailer. It's great around town and you can't beat the comfort on the highway

docwyte wrote: Check out pelicanparts.com.

D'oh! I forgot about Pelican. Thanks for the reminder.