What to look for in a tow vehicle?

I'm moving from Boston to Durham, NC very soon, and I have a lot of stuff to move, including some cars. I'm thinking about buying a truck. I figure it would be cheaper than transporters or several u-haul rentals. So I started cruising Craigslist and realized I have no idea what I'm looking at.

I do not want to spend more than $5k, and if I can get anything good for substantially less than that, I would be very happy. The heaviest car I need to tow would be about 3500 lbs. I could use a 2 wheel dolly, but I would probably prefer to have a trailer if I'm going to keep it after I move. I might have to commute in it for a little while, so it should use as little gas as possible. A pickup would probably be better than an SUV because I have a couple mopeds to transport. Beyond all that, I don't know what to look for. Brand, model, engine, fuel, transmission, etc.? I'm sure there are other considerations that I have no clue about. Any suggestions and tips are welcome. Thanks!

Is it possible for you to buy in NC rather than Boston in an attempt to get a rust free example?
Are you moving in one trip?
If not, drive a car down. Buy truck and return north with truck to gather other vehicles.

In reply to jrw1621:

I'll be making several trips, so it would be possible to do that. Will something from NC be a lot better? They still have weather.

I am not sure of NC's weather but I suspect that they do not use the E36 M3 loads of salt that Boston puts on the streets in the winter.
I just thought it would better to avoid a rusty Boston truck in exchange for a less-rust NC truck.

Also look at full size vans.

angusmf wrote: In reply to jrw1621: I'll be making several trips, so it would be possible to do that. Will something from NC be a lot better? They still have weather.

You won't believe how much better. Absolutely buy in the south.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/1693423270.html

Whenyou're done, sell it in Boston. More profit.

If you don't really "want" a truck long term, I'd do some research and find out what has the best resale [edit: I really ment to say "best/least depreciation"]. As in, 4wd vs 2wd, Diesel vs. Gas, etc. This is if you want to be able to sell it easily when you're done. This advice doesn't apply so much if you're planning on keeping it for a while.

I'll warn you though, once you experience life with a truck (particularly one capable of towing a car) it is HARD to go back.

I'd stick to full size. They won't have good gas mileage, but they've got the heft to stop a tow package.

If I were in your situation, I'd find out if I could get a cummins dodge for under your price cap. I doubt you could find a good one...but I'm out of touch with their prices.

ClemSparks wrote: I'll warn you though, once you experience life with a truck (particularly one capable of towing a car) it is HARD to go back.

I've had a hard time living without even my Rabbit Pickup. In fact, I bought another one, but it won't be in service for a while. That's part of why I might not want to keep the bigger truck. The VW will haul anything I need 99% of the time. Anything bigger would just be sitting around the yard.

I guess I will look for something full-size on the theory that while I need it, I'll need something relatively serious. Any details beyond that, though, I really don't know. There's so much out there, and I feel like I could easily get screwed by my lack of knowledge.

Bought in NC for under $3000. A bolt-in disc brake swap and some mag wheels later, here's what I've got. It's not great going up hills but rolls on the highway at 65-70 no problem with that heavy-ass trailer. Up north where I live it's probably worth at least a grand more than what I paid for it.

ClemSparks wrote: If I were in your situation, I'd find out if I could get a cummins dodge for under your price cap. I doubt you could find a good one...but I'm out of touch with their prices.

I bought my 95 Dodge dually with a cummins and built automatic for less than his budget. A few cheap mods later and I had 600ft lbs of TQ to the wheels . It was is fair shape with working AC and was the extended cab 2wd. Normally you can find 2wds in my area for under 5k.

If you're looking to buy a trailer, get it down south. For some reason, trailers all seem to cluster there. It's almost worth driving down to GA and dragging a trailer back to Colorado for the price difference for me.

bet this would do the job... http://pensacola.craigslist.org/cto/1695995014.html or this http://pensacola.craigslist.org/cto/1695893001.html

er anyway seems we have one of these posts pull up fairly often... ford seems to be the way to go for towing with a gasser... for diesel always seems to go between ford and dodge.

but any full size pick up would do the trick... but so would a full size van... an astro van could be had and pulls 5500 lbs but that may be pushing it for what you want... i'm sure others will post... but a little bit of searching should give up some good info

SVreX's brief guide to truck buying:

A Rabbit can't tow.

A full sized truck can tow, and will hold it's resale value (at least in the South). In other words, it's money in the bank. Whatever you pay for it you will get back later (assuming you pay a fair price).

Buy in the South (Northerner here). No question about it.

Diesels last longer. A gas burner with 100K on it is the equivalent of a diesel with about 250K.

Diesel repairs are much less frequent, but more expensive when they happen.

While Cummins are the most awesome engine ever, I wouldn't buy a Dodge. Repairs are high, transmissions suck, and there aren't enough loyal Dodge fans to keep the resale value up.

Fords are better for tough off-road applications. Chevys have a better highway ride.

Don't buy an early Chevy diesel.

Gas burners should be at least a 5.7L (350c.i.). Anything less will have issues towing long haul.

There's no point in buying a manual trans truck, unless you are snow plowing.

Your 3500 lb car plus the trailer puts you in the 5000 lb towing capacity range. That's full sized truck, though an easy pull for a full sized truck.

Your $5000 budget is reasonable. Don't settle for junk.

Install trailer brakes on the truck.

You don't need 4x4. Even though we all THINK we need 4x4, you don't need 4x4.

Extended cabs are extremely nice, and everyone knows it. That's why their pricetag is higher.

REALLY long trucks (like crew cab full sized beds) are like driving a freight train. No fun.

Dually trucks are wide. You WILL take out a mailbox, and wear out more tires unnecessarily.

Chicks dig trucks with bench seats.

Trucks suck gas. Get over it.

We are going to have some incredible GRM representation in NC soon. We should all do something. Everyone is moving here!

I live 45 min from Durham and work about 10 minutes away.

Yeah, we have salt on the streets but only about 3 days of the year. Typically, if the weather is "bad" enough for salt, everything is closed anyway so no one is out driving and nothing rusts.

I'm in for burgers and beer!

The weather here is great and like Carson said, they don't salt the roads that often. The certainly don't salt every road. I'm in Raleigh now but when I lived in Durham they mostly used sand.

Welcome to the area!

Oh! I live in Harnett county and we don't use anything, not even sand! But Wake, where I work, does salt and sand like ECM said.

SVreX wrote: Dually trucks are wide. You WILL take out a mailbox, and wear out more tires unnecessarily.

Duallys also make for very expensive drive through window visits..

Your post is excellent.. btw.

my friend's (miatame on grm) mother-in-law has a really clean (so he tells me, i havent seen it yet) 2wd suburban for sale in peabody MA for a lot less than 5k. i think it has the v6, but it'd still be a full size long wheelbase big interiored vehicle. i think he said its somewhere between a 99-01.

Wheelbase, wheelbase, wheelbase.

ddavidv wrote: Bought in NC for under $3000. A bolt-in disc brake swap and some mag wheels later, here's what I've got. It's not great going up hills but rolls on the highway at 65-70 no problem with that heavy-ass trailer. Up north where I live it's probably worth at least a grand more than what I paid for it.

Nice rigs! Rigs.

What to look for in a tow vehicle? One word, Cummins.

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ClemSparks wrote: I'll warn you though, once you experience life with a truck (particularly one capable of towing a car) it is HARD to go back.

Even worse than a truck is buying a full-sized van. I miss my van.

I had trucks for years... thought I loved them.. Then I bought a van... had that for a number of years... sold it... bought a truck again. I hate it. It's even a Cummins... Extended cab... long bed... 5 spd... 4x4... and would tow a 3500 lb trailer like it wasn't there... It's everything I thought I wanted in a truck [previously mentioned annoying issues aside, the fact remains that I really don't like driving the thing].

I used to complain about my old Toyota p/u that it was too small to be a good truck and kinda sucky as a car... now that I own a truck that couldn't be much bigger, a pick-up still sucks for hauling things... and REALLY sucks as a car. Now I really, REALLY, REALLY miss my van...

For lack of any better way of putting it: when you need to haul crap, nothing is better than a big box on wheels. Espcially if you want to keep said crap dry and/or out of sight. The van (at least my old E150) was much nicer for travelling long distances.

If someone were to offer me $5K for my truck (far less than I have into it over the past 3 years of ownership), I'd take it and dance for joy. And then go look for another van.

SVreX wrote: Gas burners should be at least a 5.7L (350c.i.). Anything less will have issues towing long haul. Your 3500 lb car plus the trailer puts you in the 5000 lb towing capacity range. That's full sized truck, though an easy pull for a full sized truck.

My only issue are the above lines. For one Lease session (two years), we towed a 3500lb total package with a 3.0l Ranger, for 3 more of those (7 years since one was a 3 year lease) we did the same with a 4.0l ranger (205-220 hp)- both towed just fine. For the 3 Challenges, where we towed from Michigan to Florida, across the hills in the center, the 4.0l was the motive power- never a single issue.

Yes, the 5.4 F150 was quicker, but all in all, it wasn't all that awesome.

The rangers were 14-15 mpg, the F150 was never more than 14mpg while towing.

Now, though, we have an Edge that's rated at 3500lb- LOVE pulling with it- that thing is SO much a better vehicle than the trucks....

As long as the vehicle is rated for the weight, the cooling system is capable in all locations in the east (the rating is based on a steep grade in the desert, hot day, just over max tow, high drag).

So if all you can find is a Ranger or Explorer kind of vehicle, don't shy away.

But it is true that neither have the same resale as large trucks relative from south to north (IMHO, you will get better resale $$ from a full sized truck).

Eric