Wife doesn't want us to have 3 cars... What gets good MPG and can tow 5000lb

Well, the 3 cars is asinine thing is a battle that she will eventually lose. But she's also telling me that my car should be a Miata, so I'm not complaining about that. But that means that rather than us having a 3rd car that is the tow vehicle, she needs to have the tow vehicle. It can't be a pickup. It can't be a minivan.

I think the obvious answer is Minivan, but I have a long uphill battle with that. Otherwise, what gets 25MPG (or better) in the city in normal driving conditions, and can tow 5000lbs? I'm coming up with potentially the Pilot and the Highlander/RX.

We'd be towing a boat that is around 4100lbs completely unloaded. Using it enough that renting isn't an option, but its main duty would be a DD/Dog hauler.

If the answer is impossible, then we go back to my original plan that makes a lot more sense to me ($3,000 Miata, $2k-$8k tow vehicle)

EDIT: For the towing, it is short distances, but there is one pretty big hill that must be navigated.

Your original plan. Nothing gets 25mpg in the city and can tow 5k lbs.

2nd gen Ford Edge?

Tesla Model X- you didn't give a price cap

Other than that, probably nothing. The Pilot/Highlander/RX are not going to get 25 mpg city, and while there are things that might hit that economy number and will survive towing 5k lbs, they won't be rated for it.

Ram or Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel. Lease it so you can drop it off before the end of the warranty.

DaveEstey wrote: Your original plan. Nothing gets 25mpg in the city and can tow 5k lbs.

This. Seems like anything capable of towing 5k lbs gets 20mpg city. Pilot. Grand Cherokee. Ford Explorer. I even considered the hybrid GMs thinking that they'd get decent city fuel economy, and while their 20mpg is a notable improvement vs regular Tahoe/Yukon/Escalades, it's still well under your target.

We have a highlander. Tows 5000 and gets 20MPG mixed driving but mostly in town.

Well, allegedly a 2wd 12V Cummins might at least come close to your MPG requirements, and would certainly tow enough, but I highly doubt that's something your wife would want to daily drive.

I don't that I'd want to put 5k lbs behind something like a Pilot with any regularity or over any significant distance. I remember following one pulling a horse trailer one time and it looked a bit scary, even on 35-45mph back roads.

I just bought a Jeep Liberty CRD. They only made them for two years so they are hard to find. But 5000# tow and high twenties.

Supposedly, a diesel Liberty will get 26 on the highway and 22 in town and tow 5000lbs. But I agree with your original plan of three cars. Just really no decent way around it. Plus (and it may just be me) but towing at the limit of what a vehicle is rated at isn't much fun.

-Rob

Buy a lighter trailer, my aluminum one is very light, but it was also expensive. With a very light trailer, you have more options for the tow vehicle.

Much as I love minivans, towing 5000lb is pretty much out of the question.

Duke wrote: Much as I love minivans, towing 5000lb is pretty much out of the question.

Astrovan?

Here's a good question- where are you going to tow that 4100lb package?

Bear in mind, the rating is mostly about keeping the powertrain cool going up a desert mountain in the middle of summer fully loaded with full drag.

If all you are doing is simple flat stuff, just pulling the boat out of a lake, then a 3500lb tow rating will be just fine.

And given the nature of your question, you are in the same boat as we are- the smallest vehicle to pull X- and now we know that a 2.0l turbo Escape fills our needs just enough. It's got way more than the Ranger that can "tow" 2000lb more- more power, more cooling, more brakes, etc. And it's a smaller vehicle that's a good DD.

So I'd suggest your favorite small SUV/CUV.

My 16 Taco comes pretty close to that. 6,600 lb tow capacity and according to the built in gage I'm averaging 23-mpg per tank around town. The system has read higher for individual trips. Got it to read 29mpg on one trip average speed 45 with no stops, but routinely get 24-25 on an individual trip. Now saying that, it's fun to play with trip mph but I think the tank average is more accurate.

In reply to alfadriver:

I'm glad to hear that. The Escape is on SWMBO's short-list, and since it will be replacing our T&C I was concerned with how it would tow our 5'x8' enclosed trailer on our 840-mile 1-way trips when fully loaded. With the Escape having a shorter wheelbase and less power than the T&C I was afraid it might not tow as well.

Is there an actual reason for not having 3 cars?

I bought a $1500 Silverado to tow my Miata. It costs $400/yr to insure and $50 to register. Any of the half-ass "solutions" you can think of that will get 25mpg (I don't even get 25mpg on my miata!) will suck at towing, get even WORSE mileage while towing, and be worse for her to daily.

Buy a cheap full size truck. 2wd regular cab vehicles cost almost nothing.

This was a problem I had for awhile. I eventually selected a BMW X1 as a solution but we have since bought my wife a 2016 Chevy Colorado which I will be using. The X1 is rated to 2,000kg (4,400lbs) for Europe. What you get is basically a previous generation 3 series wagon that is slightly lifted. The xdrive28i uses the very good 2.0l turbo engine putting out 230hp and 260 lb/ft paired to the 8spd ZF transmission. It feels nice to drive, handles pretty well, the transmission is telepathic, and I average 27-28mpg mixed driving.

There are some caveats to using it to tow. The US versions are not rated to tow and if a warranty issue arises you may have problems. You also need to import the Euro spec tow hitch which is not cheap. European towing is also different from US towing usually they have 55mph speed limits with a trailer. You would need to respect those types of speeds while towing I wouldn't push it much more than 60mph if you are at max weight. Your trailer must have brakes the X1 is not heavy enough to handle any emergency braking on its own. So if your distances are somewhat short and you are not in a hilly area the X1 can be a good alternative.

Grtechguy wrote:

Duke wrote: Much as I love minivans, towing 5000lb is pretty much out of the question.

Astrovan?

The very newest of which is 12 years old at this point, and getting older.

The only reason not to have 3 cars is that "having 3 cars is asinine".

When pressed for why, "it just is".

Yeah, well, guess what... the cars thing comes with me. You should know that by now.

Another vote here for the cheap tow-pig third vehicle option. I haven't started my Suburban in a month but it's sitting there for when I need to haul kids and cargo.

Right tool for the job man, anything else is just a bunch of compromises.

Edit: Cayenne diesel. city MPGs are a little low but if you stick her in a Porsche she's unlikely to complain too much.

In reply to mtn:

Maybe point her at the "how big is your fleet" thread. I still feel like a probationary member cause I only have 4.

mtn wrote: The only reason not to have 3 cars is that "having 3 cars is asinine". When pressed for why, "it just is". Yeah, well, guess what... the cars thing comes with me. You should know that by now.

Having a non special car sitting around doing nothing is, to me, a valid concern. We hated having a truck just sitting around in the back yard- regardless of it's age.

Would much rather have more collector cars/stuff than a plain old truck.

And for us, the small SUV/CUV filled the DD niche quite well. (For us, it was a FE improvement, since a 164LS isn't exactly a fuel sipper)

RevRico wrote: In reply to mtn: Maybe point her at the "how big is your fleet" thread. I still feel like a probationary member cause I only have 4.

That's not going to work. You have to sell it as actually the most sensible way to go.

A vehicle needs to be the right tool for the job. You don't have 2 tools in the house just because there are 2 people. You don't have 2 pairs of shoes. You have more than 2 rooms in the house because there are more than 2 tasks.

So sometimes having more vehicles than you have drivers is required to do the job. Especially if having 1 do-it-all-poorly vehicle is actually less cost- and use-efficient than having 2 that are ideally suited, even if 1 of those is not driven frequently.

alfadriver wrote:

mtn wrote: The only reason not to have 3 cars is that "having 3 cars is asinine". When pressed for why, "it just is". Yeah, well, guess what... the cars thing comes with me. You should know that by now.

Having a non special car sitting around doing nothing is, to me, a valid concern. We hated having a truck just sitting around in the back yard- regardless of it's age. Would much rather have more collector cars/stuff than a plain old truck. And for us, the small SUV/CUV filled the DD niche quite well. (For us, it was a FE improvement, since a 164LS isn't exactly a fuel sipper)

The problem is that we "need" that third car. Kind of.

-We do need a dog hauler.
-We "need" a tow vehicle.
-I "need" a sports car in the sense that I won't be happy if I don't have one--like right now, I've been missing it greatly
-She needs a car with decent gas mileage, since she drives about 20 miles a day.

I only drive about 2 miles a day. I will be riding a bike for a good portion of that too, so it will be even less. It makes more sense for me to split DD duty between my eventual sports car and the tow vehicle, which will almost certainly get poor gas mileage. I also like having an extra car around for when something breaks.

If I could be happy driving an SUV instead of a sportscar, we wouldn't be having this conversation. If we decide that we can trade cars with our parents for a week, we wouldn't be having this conversation--but to be honest, I hate relying on our parents for our vacations.

Oh, and we do have a 2.5 car garage that can hold 3 cars. We currently have the TSX, Accord, and E30 in there with some room to spare. (For those keeping score at home, the E30 is my dads, I'm storing it for the winter. Accord is going to be taken to the scrapyard soon, the TSX is awesome).