In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
I'll bet the only Durango you'd want is the 2011+ design. This had the 3.6L V6 which is good and a V8 Hemi. Earlier models are less desirable V6 engines but the Hemi remained. It was in 2011 that the redesigned Durango became more a mate to the Grand Chreokee.
Might be tough to find a 2011+ Durango in your budget.
Dodge towing says:
V6 = 6200 lbs
V8 Hemi 5.7 = 7200 lbs
V8 Hemi w/ tow package = 8700 lbs
Early-mid 2000's Montero (not sport)
Or 2001-2008 Chevy Trailblazer
John Welsh said:In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
I'll bet the only Durango you'd want is the 2011+ design.
Daylan's comments were actually about a 2011+:
"it's a bloated charger" I believe was the tl;dr assessment. It's possible the Jeep Grand Cherokee got more love/attention in development, and is thus the better pick? I'll admit to being more of a 'Ford person', when it comes to domestics... doesn't help that my grandma died in a k-car.
sleepyhead the buffalo said:
I'll admit to being more of a 'Ford person', when it comes to domestics...
wearymicrobe said:
Ford Flex had a 4500lb towing limit with the 3.5 and tow package and it moves. Love mine.
Yeah, I reckon there's a pretty good argument to be made that I should just find an Explorer or a Flex, and just adopt 'the proper attitude'. And, with a wide enough lens and good enough scenery, you can make a Flex look like this...
but, having driven that particular Flex, both in the rolling hills of SWVA, and the snarling traffic of NoVA... I'm confident that it'd end up being a driveway anchor. To me, the steering is overboosted without feel, the suspension is floaty, and the engine/trans creates a 'non-linear' accelerator response... that just combines into a sensation of 'ponderousness'. Maybe that's just something I have to reconcile myself to accepting, if I want to accomplish all the missions outlined?
edit:
Also, I spent some time yesterday doing a test hunt on a couple different sites for Highlanders with Tow Package. Outwardly, that seems like the option that checks the boxes all enough. With the slight issue that it can be difficult to find/see/figure-out which used Highlanders on the used market have that package installed. There's going to be an element of exigency in purchasing this car in a tight time-window after we return; so, I may have to narrow in on an option or two that suites the primary missions (4+bags, & towing) and is readily/easily found.
If shopping Toyotas, use the Toyota Owners site detailed in this thread. Aside from full dealer service history, there is also a tab for vehicle information which will list the specific factory options installed to that vin.
If shopping Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep of 2013+ then https://windowstickerlookup.com/
Site says it does Ford....it does not.
In reply to John Welsh :
I'll make sure to check that out.
I've also been diving further into Q7's and Touareg's... which also lead me to Q5's.
I reckon sleepywife and I would like having the Q5, from a day-to-day perspective. But, the 1050-1250# payload, and 4400# tow rating... which, if I'm reading the owner's manual correctly, is impacted by the presence of the panoramic sunroof (something that's specifically called out in the Q7 owner's manual)... then I reckon we'd be on the edge of capacity comfort. And, looking around, I don't see many (any?) Q5's without that sunroof.
So, I may end up isolating down my search to 2011+ Touareg VR6's (to get the 8-speed), and 2009-2012 Highlander's. There's a bit of a toss-up there. VW reliability 'fears', but access to lots of parts-bin and aftermarket bin parts on the Touareg, along with higher tow rating. And, Toyota reliability and lower buy-in with the older chassis, with much less opportunity to 'tinker'.
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
I mean if you're looking at Durango's, the Tahoe is 2" different (other than height at 4).
sleepyhead the buffalo said:sleepyhead the buffalo said:
I'll admit to being more of a 'Ford person', when it comes to domestics...
wearymicrobe said:
Ford Flex had a 4500lb towing limit with the 3.5 and tow package and it moves. Love mine.
Yeah, I reckon there's a pretty good argument to be made that I should just find an Explorer or a Flex, and just adopt 'the proper attitude'. And, with a wide enough lens and good enough scenery, you can make a Flex look like this...
but, having driven that particular Flex, both in the rolling hills of SWVA, and the snarling traffic of NoVA... I'm confident that it'd end up being a driveway anchor. To me, the steering is overboosted without feel, the suspension is floaty, and the engine/trans creates a 'non-linear' accelerator response... that just combines into a sensation of 'ponderousness'. Maybe that's just something I have to reconcile myself to accepting, if I want to accomplish all the missions outlined?
edit:
Also, I spent some time yesterday doing a test hunt on a couple different sites for Highlanders with Tow Package. Outwardly, that seems like the option that checks the boxes all enough. With the slight issue that it can be difficult to find/see/figure-out which used Highlanders on the used market have that package installed. There's going to be an element of exigency in purchasing this car in a tight time-window after we return; so, I may have to narrow in on an option or two that suites the primary missions (4+bags, & towing) and is readily/easily found.
It sounds like you want an SUV with sports car driving dynamics: the only real option is a Cayenne. The engine options wildly change the character of the truck, but the dynamics are the same across all. It's been one of the few SUVs/Trucks I've driven that I would want to take out just for a fun drive alone, it's that good.
We also drove a Touareg and found it had a much different feel than the cayenne , even though they're the "same" platform. It felt like more of a comfy highway cruiser, not as nimble steering feel as the Porsche and definitely more utilitarian. I recommend either driving both, or not driving the Porsche at all since that will totally skew your expectations! We did not drive a Q7 to complete the platform trifecta test drive.
engiekev said:sleepyhead the buffalo said:sleepyhead the buffalo said:
I'll admit to being more of a 'Ford person', when it comes to domestics...
wearymicrobe said:
Ford Flex had a 4500lb towing limit with the 3.5 and tow package and it moves. Love mine.
Yeah, I reckon there's a pretty good argument to be made that I should just find an Explorer or a Flex, and just adopt 'the proper attitude'. And, with a wide enough lens and good enough scenery, you can make a Flex look like this...
but, having driven that particular Flex, both in the rolling hills of SWVA, and the snarling traffic of NoVA... I'm confident that it'd end up being a driveway anchor. To me, the steering is overboosted without feel, the suspension is floaty, and the engine/trans creates a 'non-linear' accelerator response... that just combines into a sensation of 'ponderousness'. Maybe that's just something I have to reconcile myself to accepting, if I want to accomplish all the missions outlined?
edit:
Also, I spent some time yesterday doing a test hunt on a couple different sites for Highlanders with Tow Package. Outwardly, that seems like the option that checks the boxes all enough. With the slight issue that it can be difficult to find/see/figure-out which used Highlanders on the used market have that package installed. There's going to be an element of exigency in purchasing this car in a tight time-window after we return; so, I may have to narrow in on an option or two that suites the primary missions (4+bags, & towing) and is readily/easily found.It sounds like you want an SUV with sports car driving dynamics: the only real option is a Cayenne. The engine options wildly change the character of the truck, but the dynamics are the same across all. It's been one of the few SUVs/Trucks I've driven that I would want to take out just for a fun drive alone, it's that good.
We also drove a Touareg and found it had a much different feel than the cayenne , even though they're the "same" platform. It felt like more of a comfy highway cruiser, not as nimble steering feel as the Porsche and definitely more utilitarian. I recommend either driving both, or not driving the Porsche at all since that will totally skew your expectations! We did not drive a Q7 to complete the platform trifecta test drive.
+1, if you are shopping a Touareg, also drive a Cayenne. I just picked up a Cayenne Diesel and drove a Touareg TDI while on the hunt. They feel entirely different with the same drivetrain, to the point that I decided I didn't want a Touareg at all. Both the VW and Porsche can be had with the 3.6L VR6 or 3.0 TDI. Porsche adds some V8 options as well. The VR6 and TDI are both widely considered reliable, the Cayennes all have an issue with transfer cases going bad (unless you get the diesel) that the VW does not share. 8-speed on both is by Aisin, same folks who do automatics for Toyota.
In reply to Brake_L8 (Forum Supporter) :
The transfer case issue does not affect the diesel Cayenne's, gas engine only for some reason. Cayenne V8 engines have issues with bore scoring at high mileage >100k and will consume oil. I drove the VR6 Touareg and it felt adequate but not necessarily punchy for a vehicle that weighs 4700lbs, that's why we opted for the diesel.
Similar discussions but slightly different vehicle objective in my "What car" thread:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/what-car-yes-another-off-road-luxobarge/182625/page3/
I should probably say from the outset that I did seriously consider everyone's feedback. Thank y'all for taking the time to give your opinion, experience, and perspective. I came very close to buying a Touareg... I read around a bunch about the small issues that gen has. I watched SpeedAcademy's vids on their TDI. but, I couldn't quite get over my concern about what/if I was going to have to do to keep it going.
The math on towing was particularly important, and definitely swayed me to the following, instead of a Pilot.
In the end, though, I succumbed to the familiar... meet Guinness:
Build thread to follow?
two years and four months later... no build thread ever materialized.
this car had a habit of about emptying the oil pan over the course of a 5kmi oil change. It had a gnarly electrical gremlin that killed the battery randomly... that I think I tracked down to an A/C relay. I wasn't thorough enough in buying it, and discovered a couple days later that the passenger side middle row seat drop was broken... killing a goodly portion of its usability. All the other little issues, and coming to terms with the fleet meant I never got around to fixing the seat.
It still gave us over two years of service, and 20kmi of 'get to grandma', vacations, and some GridLife trips... despite the niggles. The sleepykids loved it, naming it "the van". I never ended up towing with it.
We've been thinking about replacing it for a while. After about a three month journey of thinking about all kinds of fleet needs, car options, and other considerations, I made the inadvertent discovery that BMW X1's have gotten incredibly cheap. sleepywife really likes BMWs, she sat in an X1 at the Frankfurt Auto Show on their debut. Then I read about N20 timing chain things. She really wanted a blue one, but finding one with corrected timing chains (or one cheap enough to pay to fix them)... seemed a bit too much of a hurdle.
then, the last couple of days, the MDX picked up a tire air leak that was ~10psi a day. So, today she took time off, and we found ourselves at a dealer swapping the MDX for a 2017 (i.e. B48 engine) X1 in grey. It's got the common sunroof droopy shade thing, that I'll probably get to "fix" via removal. But, it seems to drive well, and sleepwife is quite smitten.
Buffalo Adventures continue
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