My wife telecommutes, so on a busy driving week she might do 20 miles. Currently she is running my old daily driver, which is a 2000 Subaru 2.5rs coupe. That car because of it's good condition, still holds it's value. Thinking about sending it down the road, because it's still in good shape, and get something that suits my wife a bit better. Think soccer mom. We have one son who is 7. She loves to cart other peoples kids around too. A 2 door doesn't really work the best. We have a 16 wrx in the household, and a 96 chevy conversion van. Have an open car trailer and a wrx race car that needs towing, and also a small enclosed trailer for my son's go-kart. The van currently is used in the warmer months, but is not used when there is snow on the ground(we are in Vermont). The van gets pulled into super kid carrier, when available. Said van is showing warning signs that it's days are numbers(disappearing coolant). The hope is when the van dies, we'll replace with a small class c RV.
So.....what would you do? I'm thinking the RS, should be replace by a used SUV. Maybe something with a V8, capable of towing 5000lbs. Bonus points if it has a 3rd row seat. That being said, shorter is better, suburbans and excursions are not on the want list due to size. Looking for 2008-2012 vintage. What are the options that can tow 5000lbs, and can schlep 2 adults and 3 or more kids? Budget no more than $20k. Grand Cherokee and V8 Explorer are on the list.
Of course we could just skip the v8 thing, and probably trade the RS even for a Subaru Legacy wagon, and it could do most of what's needed, as it could tow the kart trailer, but not the big trailer.
